Day 2: How did you prepare?

By: Jessica Dunn

Parenting and Living Our Way blog

Before committing to the challenge, I took inventory of the items I already had and figured out what I would need. I had 12 Osocozy Flat diapers, 1 size 1 Thirsties Duo Wrap cover, 1 one-size Kawaii cover, and one set of Boingos that I bought from Kissed by the Moon. I also had a fleece soaker that I bought from Bunny’s Fluffy Bum. I knew this was the minimum I would need, but I wanted to add a little more to my stash, so I bought 8 flour sack towels from Target and 15 receiving blankets from Goodwill. I asked my husband to pick everything up at Home Depot to make a camp style washer.

Here is the cost breakdown:

Items	Cost per Item	Total Cost
12 Osocozy Flats*	$1.89	$21.55
Size 1 Thirsties Cover*	$12.75	$12.11
One Size Kawaii Cover	Free (item received during a giveaway from Kissed by the Moon)	$0
Boingos*	$4.99	$4.74
Fleece soaker	$8	$8
8 Flour sack towels	$3.99 for 4-pack	$.7.98
15 receiving blankets	50 cents	$7.50
5 gallon bucket	$2.78	$2.78
Lid	$1.28	$1.28
Plunger	$5.99	$5.99
Cloth Wipes	$2.99	$2.99
Total Cost		$74.92

*Total cost for items purchased at Kissed by the Moon calculated using a 5% discount for being a newsletter subscriber.

**I made my cloth wipes by cutting a yard of flannel into squares. I purchased the flannel using a 50% off coupon at JoAnn Fabrics.

That’s right! Enough diapers and supplies to diaper our daughter for less than $75. Did we need to by a plunger for almost $6? No, a dollar store plunger would have worked and would have saved us even more, but Robert plans to keep this one to have in the garage in case the utility sink backs up so he wanted to spend a little more and get one that would work for that purpose.

Tomorrow is my open topic day, so I will be talking all about how to make and use a camp style washer and how to make cloth wipes and wipe solution.

About the author: My name is Jessica and I am the author of Parenting and Living Our Way blog. I am a busy stay at home mom to a 9 month old daughter who has recently learned how to crawl is keeping me on my toes. I was invited by Kissed by the Moon to be their guest blogger for the week documenting my experience diaper my 9 month old.  I am so excited about this opportunity and look forward to sharing my experience with you. If you’d like to read more about me, my family and our life, you can read our blog Parenting and Living Our Way. We can also be found on facebook.

About the challenge: I'm participating in the Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry.  This event aims to bring awareness to the challenges that low income families face when trying to diaper their children. There are not publicly funded programs that supply diapers to families in need. Using cloth diapers and handwashing is an affordable way to families to diaper their children. Flats are the most inexpensive of commercially available cloth diapers; receiving blankets, flour sack towels, cut sheets, and t-shirts can also be used as flats making these diapers available to all families.