Today's topic is: Day 7 (May 17)- Final Thoughts- How was this experience for you, what have you learned, and what will you do with your new knowledge?
I'm not really sure how to explain. Part of it was just like any other day because we use flats and prefolds pretty much full time anyway. I almost felt like I was cheating because I had everything I needed plus some. I know that's ridiculous of course. I've done it from scratch before and it's not much different except my flats now are a bit more absorbent.
I really enjoyed doing this. It took me back to the very, very basics of cloth diapering, which I love! Even as an experienced cloth diaperer, I have cloth diapered for 4.5 years and 2 kids, one of them since birth, I still need a reminder not to over complicate my routine. This is exactly what I needed. I realized that if I had to I can make it through the night with my heavy wetter using only flats if I need to. I've also learned through other people's posts that I will probably want to use other folds besides pad fold when I have this little baby in a few months.
My biggest struggle this time was doing this while pregnant. I seem to have a huge lack of energy this pregnancy compared to my other pregnancies when I was this far along. Probably because I have 2, very active, kids to chase after and not just one or none. Whatever the cause some days I did not want to wash those diapers! But, I knew if I didn't do it everyday it would just make more work for me in the next day. So I just bucked up and did it. After I started finding a routine it worked quite well. I will say if I did this full time I would probably end up getting different equipment like a wash board and basin/bucket thingy. And some more efficient way of wringing out diapers than just my hands. I would also get a dryer rack for the inside of my house. I used to have one when I first moved in here 5 years ago because we didn't have a dryer and I couldn't hang on the line outside because of weather. I loved that dryer rack and used it all the time when I first started cloth diapering. But it was ruined and I haven't got another one yet. I will though. While I won't be continuing to handwash for now, because I'm lazy and don't want to keep bending over the wash bucket while my belly continues to grow, I would be more than able to if I actually did need to. In my opinion this is a very doable solution.
Doing it with kids around can be a struggle for some, but mostly I just let mine help me. Even my little 2 year old took part in the washing. It doesn't have to be a, "okay, mommy's going to lock herself away and do the diaper wash now" kind of thing. Let them be around while you do it, let them help. It keeps them much better occupied than trying to keep them out while you do it. Yes, it can take longer but it's not bad.
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| My cute little helpers. |
I guess there wasn't much that I learned this time. Except maybe that I can do it even when I have absolutely no desire or drive to do it. More so, it was just reminders that I CAN in fact do it and should I ever need to do this full time, all the time, I am more than capable. Being prepared and thinking about what kind of plan I had before I started helped me a lot. Like when it rained, I hadn't really thought about needing to dry stuff inside so I was a little unprepared for that. Even then, it still worked out just fine. One of my struggles this time was blogging about it actually. I've never done it before (blogged about the challenge) and I have a tendency to ramble, so I was worried I'd suck at it. I'm still not sure how I did but it was fun to write about it. I think it will also help me in the future to remember what works well for me and what doesn't. Overall, I'm secure in the knowledge that I have all I need when it comes to diapering my kids and future kids.
What about you? Did you participate? What did you learn?
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