Changing Diapers FuzziBunz Giveaway Winner!

My question is on the amount of diapers you need.

i have 3 boys. i fully in diapers. he is not yet 1 year. then i have 2 in night time diapers. i try to use only cloth for all of them but 2-3 times a week i run out.

i have
6 fuzzibunz
1 grovia aio
5 groviao shells with 7 inserts and 4 booster
3 softbums echo with 7 inserts
1 bestbottoms with 3 inserts plus boosters
4 thirsties duo wraps
1 thirsties duo diaper is on the way

then i have a lot of extra inserts. but i run out of shells, as daycare does not reuse shells but uses them only once.

i wash every other day, but basically have to diaper rotation. i always use all of them.
do i need more. if feel like i already spent so much money…. how will i still be able to save money vs. disposables?

thanks, susanne

Susanne, congrats, I’ll be attempting to contact you today, and given your comment, I’m excited for you, you’ll have an extra diaper to add to your rotation and hopefully you won’t run out as often! Here’s my question to you: how close are your other 2 to potty training, how often do they stay dry at night so you could ‘re-use’? Because if the answer is ‘almost never’ or ‘not ready to go to bed with undies’, then you’re going to be running out or having to buy extra disposables for quite some time. How many are you typically ‘short’? I’m guessing no more than 3 since you have 3 kids and 2 are trained during the day–being out of covers, not inserts seems to be your issue. Since you seem to prefer an all in 2 system, I would suggest stealing the econobum deal that’s going on right now. They are an inexpensive one size cover and prefold system. Right now (I think through the end of November) at most retailers, they are 2/$9.95, and the creator of the system offers free shipping, which I’m sure would help you out (cottonbabies.com). Last time I checked a package of disposables, it was around $25 for 50 or so in the larger sizes. For $29.85 you can get 6 covers and 6 inserts, which you can use on any of the boys at night and for day care or at home with the youngest with any of your other inserts.  For example, I’m going to assume you need 8 diapers for the youngest at day care (the policy in our state is that kids are changed every hour, and need 8 diapers for an 8 hour stay in childcare). The first day you could send your (now 7!) fuzzibunz plus the duo diaper and use the grovia aio to send him in. That would allow you to use the 3 softbums on your kids for bed (and rotate the inserts out for the 1 year old as needed, using the bestbottoms as a backup cover.) The next day you could send him in the bestbottoms if it’s not dirty, and the 5 grovia shells plus 3 of the econobums, and have the other 3 econobum shells as a backup to use with your other inserts, of course, you’d HAVE to run laundry the 2nd day, but it would put you a LOT closer. Another thing you might consider is just making a habit of putting the diapers in the washer as soon as you get home. Since you didn’t mention a laundry mat, you could probably use your own washer, drop the nighttime diapers for all the boys into the washer on your way out, and then when you get home, dump the baby’s diapers in and hit ‘go’. Another option would be digging out the used shells after day care, wiping them out and re-using them yourself, if they weren’t heavily soiled, not an attractive one, but it would work in a pinch. A further option would be to ‘show’ the daycare that the shells are re-usable. You can check state law as to what HAS to be ‘disposed’ of and from what I can remember, it probably does NOT mention a re-usable portion, so you could probably convince them to at least try it for a week or so given that it’s probably not explicit that the WHOLE diaper must be put away–then revisit at the end of the week and see if they have an issue with it. I personally don’t even wipe my shells out anymore, I just stick another pre-fold in, and use it until it gets ‘too damp’, soiled, or it is time to wash. If you bought 6 you’d be close, if you bought 8, I think you could guarantee a 2 day wash cycle if need be, and diligence in between time would make it even easier. Buying 10 more diapers probably seems outrageous, but let’s face it, your little one will be in these diapers until HE potty trains. That would be closer to $40-$50 of course, but consider this: That’s the price of 2 packages of disposables. Versus never buying them again. My answer, YES you can give up disposables. The question is, can you afford $30 40 or 50 out of your paycheck this month for diapers, or can you put it on a credit card and pay it off over the next few months without a hefty penalty? If the answer to this question is yes, then I say with confidence, Yes you CAN get out of disposables permanently. Another suggestion: the holidays are coming up. Why not mention this deal to the aunts/uncles/grandparents and suggest diapers for the little one for Christmas? With 2 older brothers, he probably doesn’t need any toys specific for him, and probably has hand me down clothes, so even if their budgets are fairly low, you could *heavily* suggest this as an inexpensive and VERY welcome option for you at this point in time. Or, buy them yourself and consider that his Christmas present. He’ll just want to play with the paper and boxes the ‘big kids’ stuff comes in anyway! (oh and if you don’t celebrate Christmas, insert your winter holiday here or suggest this for your little one’s birthday since he hasn’t had it yet). Hopefully I’ve answered your question and given you some helpful suggestions! As always, enter more giveaways (I have links on my sidebar to several places that hold weekly giveaways), you never know what you’ll win!