Quick tip: Cloth diaper trial packs

Choices, choices, choices....

Sometimes it feels overwhelming, you need to buy 15-20 (or more in my case!) cloth diapers, and it is a big investment. Yes, you do know that with time it will pay off, since in a few months you will cover the price of what disposables would have been for those months and the rest will be just “free” diaper time. But then you consider that you might spend $300+ in a set of pockets that later you won’t like, that are not the quality that you expected, they are too tight, too loose, you wish you would have bought all in ones, or maybe covers and prefolds… what if you loose all that money because then you are not happy with the product you bought? It really, really seems so daunting!

That is why there are many diaper stores that offer trial packs. You can buy a bunch of different diapers and systems that you would like to try, and after you have decided which ones are right for your family you can return those that you don’t want to the store and use the money you spent in store credit to get the diapers you did like. That way you get to try diapers before fully committing to a certain system or brand and you do not lose money.

Make sure you ask your favourite retailer if they do this. They will be happy to help you!

Quick Tip: wait for sales

Stash o' diapers.

If you are a parent wanting to cloth diaper but feel overwhelmed by the initial investment of building a stash, keep in mind that many of the cloth diaper companies offer great sales through the year. Keep an eye on the companies webpages, blogs and social networking, they will let costumers know when a good sale is brewing. Wait for these sales and save as much as 15-20%

There are offers on second too, if you don’t mind small flaws in still functional diapers.

Quick Tip: Protect your diapers!

Whenever you need to use ointment for the baby’s butt and you are using cloth diapers, remember that if the ointment has lanolin or petroleum jelly it will ruin the absorption of the diapers. You can buy ointment especially made for cloth diapers, you can buy cloth liners especially made for this, or you can go for the really cheap solution: Get an old T-shirt that you don’t care about anymore and cut liners to fit your diapers. That way the ointment will get trapped in the liner protecting your cloth diaper.

Quick tip: how to use non-teflon cookware

Regarding my previous post about the Cuisinart MCP-12 MultiClad Pro Stainless Steel, people are curious about how to use them when cooking and avoid food to stick. The answer is just keep the heat down. Use high heat to warm up the elements but lower down to medium once the pot is hot. As long as you do that your food should be fine. I still don’t know how to do with eggs, though. A friend of mine told me to use cast iron for the eggs, but I have not tried that, have you?

Quick tip.

This tip was provided by soon to be PhD in biology Alejandro Valenzuela.

No liners for your cloth diapers? You can use rice paper, it works in the same way, letting moisture pass but retaining the solids. You can then compost it.

Thank you, Ale!

Have a quick tip to share? Leave a comment or email me! 🙂