Finding and Fulfilling a Need.

The following post is copied from my personal blog from back in January of 2011.  I share it only in hopes of giving someone another idea for any unused diapers.  

A couple of weeks ago mom and I had gone to a impromptu "Meet and Greet" in Omaha (yeah, a 2 hr drive) to meet Kelly Wels. She is the previous owner of DiaperShops.com and owner of KellysCloset (she also has a blog kellywels.com ). And through her facebook I came across the last minute meet up and I just couldn't pass up such an opportunity. Imagine my surprise that I would meet someone there that I would know! A question Kelly asked was how many diapers do we have. I clarified the question wanting to know the number we use or actually own. Off the top of my head from a previous count and conversation with my brother Jay, I thought I had about 96 diapers. Yes that's right, just under 100 diapers are under my possession.

The young woman I met at the Meet and Greet was from the Lincoln area (we met at our Lamaze class just a few months ago). She had written a note on her facebook about her stash and how many she had. She too had around 100 which were not all in use as some were newborn and others like Gerber prefolds are better as burp rags than diapers. So I sat with my calculator and added up how much I really did have. Imagine to my surprise I actually own 188 diapers. Now granted some of these are Gerber (39) and some are newborn, but really, 188!?! Hm, that's beyond addiction I'd say, that's borderline hoarding! So I realized something needs to be done with all these diapers. In reality I only use 48 (8 being night diapers only). Each kid (Veronica and Michael) have 19 diapers which gets me through an every other day wash routine.

Okay, so back to what to do with all these diapers. I had considered selling them, but as someone who really only buys new (actually I've only bought new diapers) I was hesitant to sell them. We could definitely use the money, but it was feeling like selling was not what I wanted to do with them. Part of my procrastination in getting rid of them is that emotionally I couldn't part with them. Yep, that's right. I'm emotionally attached to my diapers. I've spent many many hours on the internet reading and researching diapers trying to find that "perfect" diaper for my babies. I keep thinking, "But what if I want to use it again? Switch things up again from my pocket diapers?" However, deep inside I knew I wasn't going to go back to the two part system of fitteds/covers or the three part system of prefold/fastener/cover. I like my pockets and my new love of AIO (but that is a whole different blog). So, I've been sitting on these 188 diapers wondering what I'm going to be doing with them.

A few weeks ago, I read a blog by Autumn Beck (love her blog All About Cloth Diapers) Selling Cloth Diapers to Help Orphans in Ethiopia. And she had spoken about two women who have/are adopting a child from Ethiopia. With over 30 babies in diapers, the orphanage did not have enough to diaper all the little bottoms. Their greatest need is prefolds, microfiber inserts, and covers. Well hot dog!! My stash (minus the pockets and AIO) are mainly prefolds, covers, and a few fitteds. So after supper the kids and I pulled out all my tubs in storage. When I came across these blogs, my heart sang! THAT'S IT!! This is what needs to be done with my diapers! The thought of plastic bags and disposable diapers being rinsed and reused broke my heart. For a fleeting moment while I packed them, I thought, "But oh, I may want to try these again." But I quickly squashed that thought remembering what I read. So my diapers have found their calling. Hopefully later this week I will have a chance to get them all mailed.

Getting it all in one place really shocked me. I was amazed at how much was just sitting there being unused. So in my collection I had the following:

Gerber Flats/Prefolds: 39

Gerber Pull-on Pants: 13

Snugglebottoms Fitteds: 18

Kissaluv Fitteds: 18

GoodMama fitteds: 2

Thirsties Duo, Bummis Whisper Wrap, Blueberry Wrap Covers: 16

Green Mountain Prefolds: 11

Diaper Rite Prefolds (S/M/L): 12/12/12

Unknown Prefold (I know I blogged about it but can't find the name): 6

Snappi: 5

Diaper Pins: 7 pairs

After counting (and Rachael being a dear and keeping a list) I got it all boxed up and ready to be mailed.