Cloth Diaper "Choices"...

I "found" this article today (it was posted on Facebook by Sweet REpeat Kid's Resale Boutique originally).  It's one of those hard things to justify with people when they find out we (I mostly) are planning to 100% cloth diaper, no disposables here!  Some people are put off because "plastics" are more convenient, although I am well aware of the stench those suckers put off...  I get a lot of "Well, you'll want disposables for when you leave the house" comments, even from family!  Honestly though, what do these same people think happens to little ones pretty clothes when said disposable doesn't "catch" all the mess?  You toss it in a bag (plastic grocery bag, Ziploc, whatever) and bring it home to wash it...so why can't I do the same with my diapers?  Seems just as convenient to me anyway.

I don't have a very good diaper stash yet though...I have purchased a whopping 8 diapers as of right now, I'm sorta kinda holding off until next week when we will hopefully (fingers, toes, legs, arms crossed) find out if our little one is a boy or a girl!  I know it's just diapers, but most of what the resale shop has had in stock are pinks and purples and while I don't see any issue in putting a little boy in a pink diaper, I don't really want to stock up on them either! 

On my To Do list, is making a stash of snail shell diapers...I have the fabric all washed, ironed, and ready to go to in roughly 10 prints!  With a minimum of 1 yard of each print, I have enough to make somewhere around 20 to 30 diaper shells in the small size!  Of course, I don't plan on making quite that many...I'd like to make 2 in each print and then make matching bibs if I can, maybe some burp cloths...or maybe even just save some of the fabrics for another project down the road!  I also have plenty of flannel to make some cloth wipes out of.  My main issue and the reason I still don't have the diapers made has been just cutting out the pattern, I hate that step!  Once I get them all cut, it shouldn't take more than a day or two to get them all sewed up and ready to use!

Other options, of course, are to purchase more pre-made cloth diapers.  Also found in the article I linked way up at the top, I found my way today to Sweet Bottoms, a store that appears to be based in North Carolina (though I could be incorrect about that).  I love the "deal of the day" feature, it's like a mini sale that changes every 24 hours!  Of course, today's item I'm not super thrilled about, but mainly because even at the discount, I find it out of my self-imposed price limit per diaper (under $15 for new, under $10 for used).  A few other reasons I like this site though...

• the diaper trial--choose any number of styles from 20 choices (you can choose 1 or up to all 20)
• price here ranges from $7.50 to $24.95 per item ($352.80 for one of everything)
• This option lets you try a bunch of different styles without commiting a ton of money to any one style.
•  Newborn Diaper "Rental"--You can return these for store credit or a refund
• For $215, you get 24 new/used newborn sized diapers to use for 3 months
• When you return them, you get either $100 of store credit or a $90 refund, your choice
•  They offer all sorts of baby "stuff"...but those two are my current favorites!

Another option we can consider is just using a diaper service...there is one in town, Babyland Diaper Service.  They recommend 80 diapers a week (11 diapers a day) for a newborn, but I would feel more comfortable with starting at 100 (14 diapers a day) and seeing what we had "leftover" at the end of a week!  100 diapers a week is charged at $19 ($76 a month).  Not "too" bad if you compare it to the cost of cheap disposables, it could actually work out cheaper if you use the more expensive brands!  But, these are diapers that you have to trust other people to get clean and use detergents that won't irritate little skin!  I realize this is what they do for a living, but that doesn't mean some babies don't have issues with it!  I'd probably consider this option more seriously if they had better prices or at least had a little competition in town...but since they are the "only choice" as far as diaper delivery services...I suppose they can charge whatever they like!  I also don't think their website has been updated in the past 2 decades...this is always a red flag for me.

I guess I'm really planning on sticking to making them or buying them when I can find them for cheap...but there are our other "options", lol.