Meet this week’s Fluffy Mama, Calley!
I’m Calley (also known as The Eco Chic) and I am a wife and mother of 2. Big B is our oldest, he’s 6 yrs old and in first grade. Lil’ B is our youngest, she’s 8 months old and our little spit-fire! I have many titles and roles in life including; Wife, mom, Environmental Scientist (yes, I am a real scientist), blogger, friend, daughter, sister, and the list goes on and on. As a blogger in my spare time (as if I have any spare time) I write The Eco Chic blog. www.theecochic.com
How long have you been cloth diapering? I knew I wanted to use cloth diapers before I got pregnant with our daughter. I had big plans of being able to use cloth from birth but we really started using cloth at about 2-3 months of age. I guess that means I’ve been cloth diapering for just over 5 months now.
What made you decide to start? As an Environmental Scientist I knew I wanted to look for an alternate to disposable diapers. I first found G-Diapers and Bumkins because Babies R Us has them on their website. Once I began searching I found more and more options. I knew that I could make it work.
What was your first purchase and why? My first purchase was one Bum Genius AIO Organic One Size diaper and one Happy Heiny One Size diaper. I really wanted to buy a BG 3.0 but the store (an actual brick and mortar) was closing their storefront and didn’t have any left in stock. I had to settle on the others. I chose the BG AIO Organic because I knew I wanted to use BGs. I chose the Happy Heiny because it was so soft. I don’t use either one of those diapers today.
How much do you think you have spent on your diapers total? I’m a minimialist, I only have 20 BG 3.0s in my stash. (In addition to my first purchase that I mentioned above) I’ve never had any problems with them so I’ve never had a need to purchase anything else. I do have one GADBaby and one Knickernappie that I received in exchange for some marketing. If I had to total up what I actually spent on diapers I would say about $250 came from my own wallet. I got a few BGs at my baby shower.
Have your family/ friends been supportive? While they all think I’m a little crazy all of my friends and family are very supportive. The hardest person to convince was my hubby because I had to convince him that it was worth the initial investment. Once we started using our cloth I’ve had to give mini-lessons to my husband, my mom, our church nursery worker, and our nanny. My hubby will leave the dirty ones for me to clean up because I think he’s afraid of messing it up.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of cding? Knowing that I’m making a difference in the world. I know I’m only one person but I’m keeping thousands of disposable diapers out of the landfill.
What is your favorite diaper to use? I still like my BG 3.0s. Like I said earlier, they’ve never done me wrong. We’re still early in the cloth diapering journey so there is no telling what tomorrow will bring. Since I’m rather minimalist and frugal I don’t purchase a lot of extra diapers to try them out. I would feel horrible if I spent $20 on another diaper that I didn’t like.
What has been the biggest challenge to your success at cding? As a newborn I was frustrated with the fit of the diapers on Lil’ B. It wasn’t until she was almost 12lbs that her BGs actually fit her well enough to wear them full time. The next challenge was our first few rashes. Since you can’t use diaper creams I was at a loss for how to heal the rash. Then I found our Nappy Balm which I am in love with and our flushable liners. Between the two of those items we’ve been rash free for 4 months.
Thanks Calley for sharing your fluff story! If you haven’t already, you should definitely check out The Eco Chic. It is a great blog! She also has quite a few giveaways.
