Skip to main content

random diaper musings

do you ever feel at odds with yourself?

i constantly feel like i'm a big wad of contradictions. and being the living-in-my-head, overthinking type i can spend years, i mean hours pondering things. it can really get me down. example: diapers. one would think that this was a relatively easy thing to handle. i've got 3 kids. i'm pretty familiar with diapers. it seems so simple; your baby needs a change so you take the old diaper off and put a new one on. done. right? no. i have this constant dilemma going on. cloth or disposable. i have 25 perfectly good fitted cloth diapers that i paid a lot of money for when i decided a couple years ago that i was done filling up landfills. so micah wears them a good share of the time. but it bugs me that they're so bulky, especially with the covers on and clothes fit funny and that totally drives me nuts. so at home, he just wears the diaper w/ no cover and when we leave the house, i put a disposable on him. not usually a big deal, but it won't be summer forever and then there's the whole pants issue. you can't use a cloth diaper w/ no cover with pants and in january, it's too cold to not wear pants. and besides, baby clothes are so cute and i'm only using the top half of his wardrobe. i also think that the diapers get stinkier when you use the covers (probably because you haven't noticed that they're wet and you leave the kid in them longer) and it also kind of irritates his skin when i use a cover. but there's the environmental issue to think about and then, of course, there's the financial issue. the cloth diapers are already paid for. every disposable used means one more that i have to keep paying for. and then there's the disposable dilemma. i know people (and i mean most people by this) who pick a brand of diapers (usually huggies) when their first kid is born and stick with it until the last is potty trained. not me. when shane was born, i used huggies for awhile and then pampers. not sure why. i think it had to do with what costco carried and what sorts of cool freebies you could get with the points. i had heard that luvs were cheaper, but at the time, they had barney on them and there was no way i was going to have anything to do with that. i told you... i overthink things. so with layla, happily, barney had been dismissed in favor of blue's clues. i like blues clues! this made me happy. luvs are cheaper (especially at target) and they smell good. well, that brings up another issue. what is that smell? that can't be good for your baby, right? and layla has such sensitive skin anyway i hate to put anything extra next to it. not a huge deal since she only wears one diaper a day (when she goes to bed) but still, i decided to get something different. right now it's been the target brand, because they're the cheapest at target and i'm there anyway because that's where i buy the luvs for micah. yes, i know. what about the whole smell issue? still bugging me. but i don't like the target brand for every day. they're not as good of a diaper. not as stretchy and they get all bumpy when they're wet. so i still buy the luvs. but this shouldn't really be a big issue because i'm using the cloth ones most of the time, right? it still requires a great deal of thought, apparently. my latest idea is that i will get a big box of the costco brand diapers next time i'm there. why? who knows. quantity? no smell? price? i really have no idea. oh, and i almost forgot the lesser evil of disposables, the chlorine-free seventh generation diapers. i used those for a long time, but they're so freakin' exensive. i can't seem to justify it lately, even though i know i should and i therefore feel guilty every time i buy a kind of diaper that's not chlorine-free.

and this whole thing occurs to me EVERY TIME I CHANGE A DIAPER!

seriously, i have problems.

Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 27, 2008 at 5:22 AM

    I just have to say that I am now exhausted...and I haven't been up that long. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. rachelAugust 27, 2008 at 8:49 AM

    see??? this is why i can never get anything done!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. twinmommyAugust 27, 2008 at 9:07 AM

    We're using gDiapers with Baby Boy... kind of a hybrid between disposable and cloth. They're flushable, so no diaper pail smell in the house. Very cool.

    Good luck with the dilemma!

    ReplyDelete
  4. rachelAugust 27, 2008 at 10:26 AM

    i looked at those before holly. they're very very cool, but i just can't justify investing in a new diaper system when we already have one and micah is already almost a year old - didn't just say that :(.
    besides they're freakin' expensive! i love the compostable aspect of them though. where do you get yours? i keep my diaper pail just outside the doorway to the garage (and conveniently right next to the laundry room) and since we do changes on the living room floor (classy, huh?) it's super convenient to just open the door and toss it out. btw, how's the bulk factor w/ the gdiapers?

    ReplyDelete
  5. MomstartAugust 28, 2008 at 9:41 AM

    We missed you yesterday rachel! I hate buying diapers and I never thought about all that. Wow, I also never knew you could buy hybrid diapers. Very cool.

    ReplyDelete
  6. BrendaSeptember 2, 2008 at 6:22 PM

    If I still had to deal with diaper buying, and when I was (not so long ago) I was there with you. When Joey and Mackenzie were young, it was "easier". Since I was shopping at the commissary, it was whatever brand had the best coupon. But with Joel, well, things changed and every time I'm wondering if I should switch to cloth, go with store brand and deal with the fact that they don't hold up well, or just throw my hands up and go the easy way with the mondo Costco box. My theory: you buy the big amount and you don't have to think about it for a while. That's the key with us I think. Finding the fastes way out of our respect heads. It must be the day we were born :))

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

all comments are moderated. unkind comments will be deleted.

you may like...

beef stew recipe

another taken from the betty crocker cookbook, but i mess with this one so refer to the disclaimer … 1 tbsp olive oil 1 clove of garlic, pressed (or some good shakes of garlic powder) 1 lb. stew beef 3 cups of hot water (I probably use closer to 3.5 or 4) 1/2 tsp salt 1/8 tsp pepper 3 medium carrots, cut in thick coins 2 stalks celery, cut into 1/2 inch pieces 1-2 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces 1 small onion, chopped 1/4 tsp salt 1 bay leaf *optional: 1/2 bell pepper of your choice; 1 turnip; 1/2 tsp browning sauce (whatever that is) 1/2 cup cold water 2 tbsp all-purpose flour heat oil in large pot. cook beef and garlic in oil about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown. add hot water, 1/2 tsp salt and the pepper. heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. cover and simmer 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until beef is almost tender. stir in remaining ingredients except cold water and flour. cover and simmer
Post a Comment
read more »

tater tot casserole recipe

i realized i forgot to post this last week when we had it.  i actually like it a little better than the hash brown one, but both are good.  it’s VERY similar. once again, this is something i’ve made so many times that i just kind of wing it now, although i do have the recipe that kate sent to me after she made it for my family when micah was born. i like to keep the recipe because it has some little ‘britishisms’ throughout, just like kate! ;-) who, by the way, rocks, having called to check up on me the other evening when she saw that the power in our area was out AGAIN!  thanks kate, smooch smooch! but now i’m getting distracted… big surprise. here goes. you will need: 1 lb or so ground beef (or ground turkey) 1 chopped onion a bunch of veggies (kate’s recipe calls for a ‘tin’ of mixed veggies, but i use fresh carrots & celery if i’ve got’em, frozen beans, peas, corn, whatever).  maybe 2-3 cups. 1 can (or tin) of cream of something soup (i use celery usually
2 comments
read more »

it just keeps getting better...

so obviously, from my earlier post, the dinner-making portion of my day was a little less than spectacular.  oh, that was just the beginning. dave worked late today. after dinner, i ran a bath for the younger 2 and in the process of getting them from the dining room to the bathroom, micah knocked the container of cheerios off the table and they dumped ALL OVER the floor.  i scooped up what i could and threw it back in the container, then, mindful that the water was still running in the tub and i didn't want to flood the bathroom, i herded the kids into the bathroom and dumped them into the tub. i went back into the dining room and proceeded to sweep up the mound of cheerios that was left on the floor, all the while keeping an ear open for both voices and giggles in the bathroom (as long as you can hear them, their heads are above water, right?).  that took all of about 2 minutes. i looked in on them (both happy as could be) and discovered that both of my younger, happy ch
4 comments
read more »

does home ec even exist anymore?

my last post got me thinking about how i somehow missed 'learning' all of those things which are essential in running a successful home. i'm wondering who dropped the ball on this (because, i can't possibly take responsibility for my own shortcomings here). i guess traditionally, one learns these things from their parents. i suppose i did learn a lot of my domestic skills at home. for example, the husband is supposed to eat the leftovers in the fridge. when making a bed, the 'top' of the top sheet goes down so that when you fold the edge over the blanket, the 'top' side is then up. why this matters when you are just going to cover the whole thing with a pillow and comforter is totally beyond me. but that's how you do it. so yes, my mother taught me how to iron, do laundry, clean a toilet, etc. my dad taught me how to plant a garden, mow a lawn, appreciate baseball, etc. and then there's home ec. do people still take home ec? i took it
4 comments
read more »

for my not-so-american friends

i didn't have an actual roll w/ the green plaid on it, but i found a refill and an empty roll in my junk drawer (yeah, i know, that should tell me something).  but even the empty one says 'scotch' on it.  there you go!  SCOTCH TAPE!
8 comments
read more »