Nine years ago, I was a very new parent and decided to try cloth nappies. I ordered a small bundle of them, and then ordered some more. They worked great, I felt happy about not filling bins with disposable nappies and they were much easier to get the hang of than I had expected. This nappy stash worked for one child, and then I bought some more in a sale when Middle Orchid arrived. A friend lent me her nappies that had been worn by her two children. They went back to her when her number three was on the way.
The nappies went into a storage bags the spring we moved into our new home because we had a sneaking suspicion we’d like to have a third child so I kept all the things I knew with certainty we’d use again and gave away almost everything else. When I was lucky enough to get pregnant again, I washed them and stuffed them and secretly enjoyed how lovely they looked. I got a free changing table via a Facebook group and the nappies and home made cloth wipes fit nicely under it in a wire basket.
Baby Orchid is now in his words ‘A Big Boy’ and as soon as he started toilet training he loved the idea and the nappies were quickly redundant. I stripped them, tidied them into a bag and planned on giving them away. I could probably have sold them, but I didn’t want the hassle of a sale and I wanted to send them off in a fit of generosity. As Marjorie says, generosity has a curious way of repaying itself with interest and I have found this to be the case.
I didn’t get around to putting up a post until this weekend, and I was pretty pleased to immediately get several requests for them. One person was able to pick them up today, and at lunchtime I handed them over for use on a fourth baby.
Its weird to say, but I’ll miss these colourful nappies. They were one of the first baby things I bought that weren’t on the ridiculous ‘essentials for first time parents’ lists. They’ve been a small contribution towards reducing waste. They look super cute. And they’re still fine for use on other babies.
I’m not totally nostalgic for the baby and toddler stage, but I do have twinges knowing this little boy is our last child and we won’t be going through the ‘should we keep this’ debate when he ages out of stuff. I don’t miss a lot of the stuff of babies and toddlers, and I was very happy to send the changing table off to a new home and hear that our jumperoo was now being used by a third family.
Once the red stroller I have a total love/hate relationship becomes redundant, I’ll feel like we’re officially, completely done. There’s no baby stuff left lurking in the attic, my maternity clothes (which I still miss in a weird way because it was honestly the best planned capsule wardrobe I ever had) have long gone and I’m down to a solitary nursing bra. When I see someone with a tiny baby or a huge bump, I feel relief that I won’t ever go through that again and very happy and thankful I was able to do it three times. And also pretty delighted so much of the stuff of baby and toddlerhood has found new homes and will then go onto other new home.
Orchids on my budget 