need reassurance... am I crazy with my CD purchases?

[american_mama]

What kind of buying, both in dollars and in variety, is roughly normal in the CD world? I've spent about $400 in the past 15 months on CDs, buying 80% or more used. That translates to, oh, maybe three days of diapers. I've tried over time to get one of any brand that interests me, which includes staples like Fuzzibunz, Bummis, Bumkins as well as particular WAHM diapers like AngelDry, Green Acre Designs, Loveybums, or Harleyz among many. In the CD world outside of this board, is that strange?

I aks because I am hosting a cloth diaper talk next week at a local baby boutique and have heard from other cloth diaper-ers who will attend. One or two people are excitedly telling me about their favorite fluff, and it's all stuff I already know about and have. I feel like I am stealing their thunder. I feel like I'm usurping people who have done it longer than me.

What can I say: I know about these boards and diaperswappers.com, and that's all it's taken. Will my fellow fluffers (he he) think I'm materialistic or rich or know-it-all-ish? Will I scare off any potential converts who will think all this fluff is insane?

ETA: I didn't use cloth on DD1, so this expense is for only one child. I have already sold some, maybe $70 worth, of stuff that I didn't like anymore. And my total net expenditure is a little higher than I thought, $448.

[mommyoftwo]

Well, I can tell you that I've definitely spent more than that on diapering my two girls. I ended up spending way more than I ever intended in part because I got some things that didn't work for us at all. I've been slowly reselling it so I won't be out all of that money, but $400 sounds incredibly reasonable to me. I think those who are interested will find that you have a lot of insight and interesting things to say. I wouldn't worry about it too much. You can always stress that there are cheeper ways of doing it and also more expensive ways. You are in the middle so to speak. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[lizajane]

hon, think of what you would spend on sposies... in two years of diapering, it is something like $2000. and you have TWO kids. so that is FOUR thousand. AND many kids (especially sposie kids) do not potty train at 2, but at 3 or older. so that is MORE money.

so 400 bucks is a drop in the bucket!

on schuyler, i spent about 200. but for dylan, i have add SO much. mostly used or handmade, but that BJM soaker i posted recently was brand spanking new and full price. and he has THREE others! so don't worry at all. i am captain frugal and i had gotten totally out of hand on the dipes for dyn.

you are doing great. AND don't forget you can re-sell.

[brittone2]

I think that's a drop in the bucket!

I don't know what we've spent to be honest. I'm a total diaper minimalist with DS though (i'd like to spend more but I find what we have works and so I stick w/ it). We did mostly prefolds and covers when he was really little with a few fitteds, and then I mostly moved to pockets. He's been almost exclusively in pockets since 5-6 months of age.

I don't remember when we moved to medium FBs, but he still fits in his at almost 2.5 (He was definitely under a year old when he was wearing mediums, and I think it was around 6 or 8 months of age?). He's worn his petite toddlers for about a year and a half. I honestly only have about 10-12 FBs and I wash every day and a half or so? I can go longer now as he goes diaperless a LOT during the summer and is doing well with PTing (only when naked though LOL).

However, the fact that we don't buy a lot also means we won't be reselling, kwim? My dipes have been used heavily but they still work and hopefully #2 will still get *some* use out of them. If you have a bigger rotation, you'll also recoop some of your investment if you choose to sell eventually, kwim? Depending on what is in your stash, you might recoop quite a bit :)

For #2 I've definitely been buying more dipes because I know I won't want to wash every day with two kids. I also didn't *love* the bulk of prefolds on DS when he was tiny (although I'll still use PFs quite a bit).

Anyway, I think unless you go totally *insane* w/ dipes, you are still going to come out way ahead of sposies IMO :) I think what you've spent on 2 kids in cloth is downright CHEAP :)

I'm sure you will be a wealth of info at your talk!!! Don't worry about stealing their thunder at all. You know what you know, and you are just sharing that info and helping others. It doesn't matter how many years of CDing you've done :)

[daniele_ut]

>hon, think of what you would spend on sposies... in two years
>of diapering, it is something like $2000. and you have TWO
>kids. so that is FOUR thousand. AND many kids (especially
>sposie kids) do not potty train at 2, but at 3 or older. so
>that is MORE money.
>
>so 400 bucks is a drop in the bucket!


I agree that $400 seems pretty reasonable for CDs (especially when you consider reuse for another baby or resale), but disposables don't have to be quite as much as $2000. We've spent $30 a month on White Cloud dipes for the past 21 months, so we'll spend roughly $1000 if Logan doesn't PT till age 3. I looked seriously into CD when I was pregnant, but at the time we lived in an apartment with no washer/dryer hookups and there was no way we could do it. I will consider it if/when we have another baby, though. It would have been far more fun to sink that money into cute CDs, though!

[holliam]

I've spent far more, and I've also hosted several cloth diapering gatherings. No one is ever judgemental. Everyone is just so excited to be around other cloth diapering people.

I've donated a ton and sold many, but DD is already potty learning on her own initiative at 22 months so I know I'll be selling my whole stash before too long.

For a while it was a fun hobby, though! :)

Holli

[smilla653]

No, that doesn't sound like too much.

I probably spent $200-$300 on newborn and small-sized prefolds, various brands of covers, a few Kissaluvs, and a bunch of different pockets to try out as well as some WAHMies AIOs (I experimented more in the smaller sizes). Then there were wipes, snappis, wetbags, etc.

For mediums, I bought 2 dozen FBs which works out to what? $300 maybe? I just bought a minishower, and I am always experimenting with different detergents and add-ins for the laundry.

I try not to feel too badly about it because diapers ARE a necessity after all. I think you're still spending way less than sposies would cost, and havign a lot of fun, too.

I wouldn't worry about "offending" anyone else teaching the CDing class. Hopefully you would all have a passion for diapers in common!