Top 5 Must Haves & Top 5 Would Like to Haves BEFORE Baby!

I love lists.  No really, I LOVE them!  So today I want to make a list of MUST HAVES before baby comes.  I have two more small baby showers before my due date, the last one is on April 5th, so I will need to wait until then to buy up the Must Haves in case someone gets them for me.

So, in order of importance:

MUST HAVES

#1.  Cloth Diapers - I would like to have ~25 All In One Cloth Diapers.  I'd prefer to have the majority be BumGenius diapers.  I know that I have gotten 9 Cloth Diapers from my first baby shower and they should be arriving any day.  I have found a deal on craigslist for another 18 diapers (10 of which are BumGenius), and there are some Alva New Born diapers that I might be picking up within the next couple of days.  So, hopefully I will have all of these by this weekend!

#2.  A bed rail -  We are planning on co-sleeping.  I'm guesstimating this to cost me $40, and will probably wait until April to buy.

#3.  An Ergo Baby Carrier - I just found a resale shop in our area that says they regularly carry these used as at a discount.  They usually cost a little over $100, and I'd like to get one for about $60.

#4.  A diaper bag!  I'm hoping I'll get the one I registered for at one of the remaining baby showers, so if not I'll order in April.

#5.  Cloth diaper accessories! This includes cloth wipes, wipe warmer, diaper sprayer, trash can, 2 washable trash can liners, waterproof zippered wet bag.  I'm estimating it all to cost me ~$150

WOULD LIKE TO HAVES

#1.  Changing Table & Pad - I'm keeping an eye out on craigslist for a white changing table.  I'll probably hold off on buying the pad until after the showers.  My limit on the changing table is $50.

#2.  Pack n' Play - I'd like to have one, but it isn't a must, at least right away.  I will be helping a friend with her baby though, and so I would like to have it then for sure.

#3.  Swing OR Bouncer - I haven't decided on which.  Might depend on funds since bouncers are so much cheaper.  I'd of course love to have both.

#4.Another car seat - we have already gotten one car seat, but is the one we are planning on putting in my car.  The one for Josh's truck is one of the infant/carrier car seats, and it is the kind he prefers.  We are planning on taking the truck to the birthing center when I go into labor, but of course we could always use the car seat that we already got in a pinch.

#5.  Misc small products; a few bottles, my breast friend pillow, organic diaper cream, first aid/hygiene baby kit thinger (haha), tummy mat and/or play gym, some extra receiving blankets, etc.  

Tonight's Big Fight - Cloth vs. Disposable

The reasons I'm choosing Cloth vs. Disposables...

Cost - 25%,  Environment - 5%,  Health of my Baby - 70%

1.  The Cost - Since I want to stay at home, cost is a HUGE factor.  I need to conserve money where possible.  I even plan on line drying my disposables as much as possible to reduce energy costs, though one load every few days is not going to hurt me much.

The average cost of disposable diapers for a 2 year period would be ~$1,600 (see the bottom of the post for my source).  I plan on buying a total of 24 cloth diapers to last me this entire 2 year period (possibly 3 years), at an average cost of $15 per diaper.  I'll even say that I might buy an extra 6 cloth diapers for fun and replacements, that is another $90, and if I buy extra inserts we'll tag on another $100.  That is a total cost of $360.  I will be doing an extra load of laundry every 3 days.  I do not anticipate my water bill to go up more than $10/month on account of this ($240 over two years).

(I should note that if you are wondering about cost of detergent; I make my own detergent and it costs me approximately $10 total per year.)

WINNER Cloth Diapers = $790
Disposable Diapers = $1,600

2.  The Environment - While the environment is not the biggest factor for me regarding Cloth vs. Disposables, I would be blind to not see the obvious comparison between the two.  Here are some highlights;

  -  92% of all single-use diapers end up in a landfill.
  -  In 1988, nearly $300 million dollars were spent annually just to discard disposable diapers, whereas cotton diapers are reused 50 to 200 times before being turned into rags.
  -  It is estimated that it takes a disposable diaper between 250-500 years to decompose.
  -  Disposable diapers are the third largest single consumer item in landfills.
  -  Disposable diapers generate sixty times more solid waste and use twenty times more raw materials than cloth diapers.
  -  The manufacture and use of disposable diapers amounts to 2.3 times more water wasted than cloth.

You can find more of these fun facts here:  http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php

WINNER Cloth Diapers

3.  My Baby's Health - The biggest reason I want to use cloth is for my baby's health.  Here are some fun facts for you;

  -  Disposable diapers contain traces of Dioxin, and extremely toxic by-product of the paper bleaching process.  It is a carcinogenic chemical, listed by the EPA as the most toxic of all cancer-linked chemicals.  It is banned in most countries, but not the U.S.
  -  Disposable diapers contain Tributyl-tin - a toxic pollutant known to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals.
  -  Disposable diapers contain sodium polyacrylate, a type of super absorbent polymer (SAP), which becomes a gel-like substance when wet.  A similar substance had been used in super-absorbency tampons until the early 1980s when it was revealed that the material increased the risk of toxic shock syndrome by increasing absorbency and improving the environment for the growth of toxin-producing bacteria.

And the list goes on....

WINNER Cloth Diapers


Source - http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php