T Rex Family

T Rex Family

Monday, May 30, 2011

Flats and Vacation...The End

Sigh...


That's me taking a deep breath since the Flats and Handwashing Challenge is done. It was certainly enlightening. In the end, I washed 41 diapers. It does not sound like much but when you're wringing each of them multiple times, it does add up. Of course, the weather could not cooperate this week but as you saw, I made do and the laundry room did fine drying them over night.


Where do I go from here? Well, I've opted to switch out all my pocket diaper inserts and fold the flats into them. I like my microfiber inserts - they are super trim. However, they do hold some stink and I have noticed the natural fibers like cotton do not. Plus, the flats dry faster and absorb more. They are a bit more bulky but nothing too bothersome.


I did notice this challenge did motivate me to have our daughter practice elimination communication more frequently. I think I only counted 3 or 4 BMs in her diaper this week. She usually does 2-4 per day so that's actually about 75% to 80%. We're doing good. I think she enjoys the story time on the potty. Lately she's been signing to go potty but I think it's because she wants to have one-on-one reading time because she knows Brother is not allowed in the bathroom with us. (Don't worry, he gets his morning privacy and reading time, too.)


What did this challenge demonstrate to me? Well, cloth diapering on a very tight budget is possible. It is possible to cloth diaper a baby from birth to potty training for less than $150. This would buy flats, covers, and soap with some extra for water and power usage expenses.


Something I thought of while I was writing this posting was, the old proverb, 

"Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”—Author unknown 

Let me change this up a bit : 

Give a family a box of disposable diapers, and they can diaper their baby for a few days. Give them a box of cloth diapers and covers, and they can diaper their baby for its lifetime.  


I think this was the key point of the challenge from my perspective. It is possible to help low income families keep their babies dry and clean and it does not have to cost thousands of dollars and waste tons - literally - of resources. 


There you have it - my take on the flats challenge.


The vacation was lovely. For four days no cooking or cleaning for me. Bebe Sister and I pulled a couple of all-nighters as she is teething but T Rex Dad was wonderful about letting me sleep in and catch up on my rest. And I did finish one more small project during today's nap time. I'll be previewing this week.


In the mean time, a shout out to all our service men/women past and present. Thank you for the freedoms I enjoy. Even just being able to write my thoughts and opinions in this blog is something I do not take for granted. And thank you all for listening to my opinions and being supportive. Some of you are so wonderful to me - I know you don't use cloth diapers or even have an interest, yet, you support me. I cannot tell you how much this warms my heart. 

Now, I'm off to enjoy the last few precious moments of vacation time with T Rex Dad before tomorrow comes and he's back to work. Me? Well, I'm still out of school for the summer but I have a shower to scrub, strip, and reseal as well as some items to drop at the consignment store. Plus, T Rex and I have our dental appointments this week. We'll keep you posted.


If you've read my postings this past week on the Flats and Handwashing Challenge - what do you think?  What do you think of my quote from above - "Give a box of cloth diapers..."? Would it work? Why or why not?

14 comments:

Kim said...

First of all I love that quote you rejigged. And I am stunned at the cost breakdown. I can't believe how much we could have saved if we weren't so lazy. I think you are a true scientist through and through that you can do neat projects like this and then share your findings.

I may steal the book idea on the potty. Deaglan is doing AWESOME with bm's on the big toilet. I can't tell you how much more I like helping him there than changing his diaper:) I'm looking forward to seeing what you tackle next my energetic, efficient and wonderful friend!

kisatrtle said...

Hip hip horray. I know what i am bringing to my next baby shower. Eye opening

Emily said...

As always...AMAZING!

Sorry about the teething all-nighters...no fun.

Good Luck at the dentist!

Keep up all of your wonderful work!

RVT said...

I think this is a more realistic quote but not sure how it would translate to diapers:

"Give a man a fish, you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.”

Unknown said...

I'm just first finding your blog, through Green Mama's! Love it and all of the photos. The kiddos are so adorable!

xoxo
Katie
http://loveiseverywhere.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

Hello - following you from the Green Mama Blog hop! Looking forward to learning more about you and reading your blog! Stop by Sprout's Green Family

TheTreeHugginMomma said...

Newest Follower via Green Mama's Blog Hop! Congrats on making it through the flats challenge!!

http://www.thetreehugginmomma.blogspot.com

Jill said...

Good for you trying cloths! I used them for both my girls the majority of the time. Now - years later, they are still great cleaning cloths! Good tough fabric and they just last and last ....

Just stopped by from the Green mama blog hop. I'm following you now and hope you'll visit my blog sometime too!
Have a lovely week!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

April said...

Your children are adorable! We cloth diapered, and I don't regret it one bit. Found you on the Green Mama hop! New follower!

Frugally Green Mom

Unknown said...

Hi there! I'm a follower from the Green Mom Hop! :) I cannot wait to go back and read your posts about the Handwashing challenge...we use prefolds and covers and as we're moving to an apartment soon I'm thinking about trying to wash them by hand...we'll see how it goes! :)

-Hope
dreamingmommy.blogspot.com

RaisingGreenRichmondKids said...

Hi,
I am your new follower from the Green Mama blog hop. Hope you stop by. Thanks,
Dorinda
www.RaisingGreenRichmondKids.com

septembermom said...

You're becoming a crusader in this area!! I have always loved your blog since I was lucky enough to find you here. Hope the dentist appointments went well.

T Rex Mom said...

@ RVT - thanks for the comment. Guess it's a good thing T Rex Dad and I don't partake in beer. Cloth diapering seems to be a better addiction, don't you think?

Julie Kieras said...

I am so happy this worked out so well for you! Amazing that you've decided to switch all your microfibers and I totally understand why! :) I would love to do the same at some point but I need more flats! :) I would probably prefer to get insert that are cotton to avoid the folding. BUT I am glad I have my flats for camping! :)
Your quote is VERY realistic and totally doable if parents would take a bit of time to learn about CDing and how easy it is! I still sometimes shake my head that people STILL think it's so hard!!!