Never really thought of myself as an Earth Momma, and I still don't, but I guess by some definitions I am. I don't think I ever intended to go that route either; it was more to save money. I'm talking about cloth diapers and making our own baby food.
Cloth diapers: How do I love thee?! I love thee to the depth and breadth and height...oh sorry. We bought 16 bum genius 3.0 and 24 (12 of 2 sizes) of prefolds with thirstie covers. In the beginning when A was tiny (at 8lbs lol) we used the smallest prefolds because they were small enough on her without being too bulky. We loved them. We thought we'd love them more than the BG3s.
Then we started using the BG3s. I love them more than anything! They're no more difficult to deal with than a regular diaper. It is a bit frustrating that so many of her pants are tight or don't fit when the top does because of the diaper, but we deal.
Before we decided to CD...I had asked a friend of our's how much they spent a month on diapers: $50-60 a month. Over the course of a child's life (assuming in diapers until 3) that's $2,160. Even if we replaced our entire CD wardrobe every 6 months it wouldn't cost that much. With me not working, and having next to no income we need to save money where ever we can.
And honestly the extra laundry isn't that big a deal. During the winter I have a drying rack we place over a heat grate and they dry in a couple of hours, in the summer on the clothes line. If it's rainy or I need them NOW I put them in the dryer for a bit. And I always have some 'sposies on hand in case I run out or have any emergency. Let me tell you those come in really handy for nosebleeds too (yea, I had one at the wedding and didn't have tissues).
It's not for everyone, but for us it's awesome and we love it!
As for baby food. I bought a 12 pack of Earth's Best Organic veggies and one of fruits; just to start A on with solids. From there I realized there wasn't much variety as to the Level 1 food choices. I found an awesome website called Wholesome Baby Food and they are a wealth of information. Everything from what foods at what ages as to recipes on how to prepare it.
I try to buy organic foods whenever we can. So far I've made carrots, butternut and acorn squash, avocados, and apples. I'm planning on making green beans later on this week. It's really not a lot of work and I know what she's actually getting.
One thing that makes it really easy is I have an immersion blender. I just put the steamed foods in a bowl and hit it with the blender. I freeze what we won't use in a couple of days and put the rest in little containers in the fridge. Not for everyone, but it is another way for us to save money
8 comments:
That's great! I so wanted to do clothe diapers but since we don't have our own washer and dryer it just would have been a nightmare. Perhaps someday when we have more of our own place.
I also wish I could make their food. Again maybe when we move and our life isn't so crazy from everything. You're such a good mom!
(And I can't wait to see you again)
I love our cloth! It's so great to not have to go to the store to pick up disposables all the time. We use them at daycare and one of the workers was hauling out 2 giant sacks of dirty diapers and complaining about how heavy they were and then looked at me and said, "Well, at least none of these are from your kid." It was said in a way that made me feel good.
I can't wait until we, hopefully, have a child so I can make baby food! One of my friends was telling me how she did it a couple years ago and I've been intrigued ever sense...of course, you need a child to go along with the baby food you make so I haven't tried my hand at it yet. Thanks for the website!
More power to you on the cloth diapers. They were not for us, as I knew we would not be able to keep up with the laundry.
I am interested in making my own baby food, though. I have an immersion blender and a food processor. I figure between the two, I ought to be able to do it. It does sound easy and fun!
I'm still on the fence about CDing, but it's not off the table yet. You make me want to give it a try!
Can't wait to make my own baby food! I honestly never even thought about it with Miss O., but I'm determined to do it with the twins.
I've been making some food for Hampton, but I was getting bored with the options, so thanks for the site!
We made our own baby food too. Poured them into ice trays and after they froze, dumped them into gallon size freezer bags. Then when we needed some, just pulled out 2 or 3 cubes!
We do/did both! I feel the same way - I've never considered myself a hippie or anything, but people look at me like I'm this out-there tree hugger when I tell them we CD and made our own baby food. I do it to save money!
I think times are changing though. More and more people are doing both!
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