1. I really need to save money.
2. I decided I want to be kinder to the planet, while praying the state government maintains it’s policy on water bills or makes it better by giving free water!
3. Disposable diapers are expensive in Malaysia.
4. Encouragement and support from my mother.
5. I thought it will be easier to dry them here rather than in Dublin.
I started off the 2nd week after Sofia was born. Or was it earlier? Hmm…can’t seem to recall. My cloth diapering might not be the same as the other ‘modern’ CD that has been the craze of young mothers nowadays. My kind of CD is way more traditional back to the days I have been brought up to by my mother. I just cannot afford the modern CDs now. Maybe I will try and buy one soon.
So this is really a super budget way to CD Sofia at least. But there are more super budget ways to do this. I saw on the net these people actually cut out old t-shirts to be used as pre-folds which is brilliant! I would go to that extend if I were in Taiping where all my family’s old clothes are still kept by my mom (who usually used them as kain buruk). Since I am short of them here in KD, I just bought a dozen of those muslin squares from Anakku. I already have half a dozen from Emmet’s unused stash before.
One-way liners
Throw in a pack of 5-piece of these tie pants or ‘seluar getah’ as my mom called them. Also by Anakku.
And a couple of snappi…
And this is how I do it
Yea, I know... I could do it more neatly but this isn't the time. I usually use up about 6 or 7 of these pre-folds per day. I change her right after she woke up from her nap, change her again before her next nap. Here’s my weakness – I still use disposable diapers at night for Sofia. But hey, we can’t be perfect at this.
When my mom was around, she hand-washed everything right after Sofia was changed. I couldn’t possibly do that. So what I’m doing now is dump all wet and dirty nappies and liners into a pail, tie pants into another pail. I throw away the dirty liners anyway.
The next morning after I woke up, I straight away put all the nappies and liners into the washing machine and rinse and drain once with plain water. Then I set the machine to regular wash and put about ¼ of a cap of detergent.
If I have the time, I hand-wash the tie pants. If I don’t, all tie pants go into the machine for a while with a little detergent. Line dry at the balcony for about an hour in the sun and reuse them!
I feel great. I have been meaning to do this for a long time. And thanks to Sofia and my mom, I hope I can keep doing this and improve myself. I still have a long way to go but it feels as good to take that first step. And with Emmet finally diaperless now, I don’t have to continue feeling guilty most of the time I throw away a dirty nappy into the bin. A good pat on my own shoulder.
