My Frugal Baby Tips

Image: The best second hand shop in Oxford, by Iona McNab, on PhotoBucket

I had a blast today! There's a small second-hand children's store just down the street from me.

I decided to stop in and ask about cloth diapers/covers, and they showed me at least three bins of diapers and a basket full of covers.

At the second-hand store, the prices ranged from $1.29 for three liners, to $3.99 for a Kooshies...

I spent about fifteen dollars and came home with a bag full enough to make a full load for my washer.

I managed to pick up a couple of Dappi Contoured diapers, and a nice (unnamed) prefold.

I mostly got All-in-ones though for nighttime, and when my covers are in the wash.

Thanks to Ramona for this Frugal Baby Tip!

Image: Natural One Size All in One Cloth Diaper, Snap Closure | Mountain Twilight | by Thirsties

Shopping Suggestions:

• All-In-One One-Size Diaper

• Kushies/Kooshies Reusable Ultra Diapers

• Dappi Brand--Pinless Contoured Cloth Diapers

• OsoCozy Prefold Cloth Diapers

Image: Somebody unrolled all the toilet paper!, by Rob, Joyce, Alex and Nova, on Flickr

Image: Make your own toilet roll protector by recycling a plastic 2 litre pop bottle

Would you like to prevent your toddler or pets from unrolling the entire roll of toilet paper, and stuffing it into the toilet, or trailing it through the house?

Make your own toilet roll cover/protector by recycling a plastic 2-liter soda pop bottle.

Image: Cut off the bottle top and bottom of the soda pop bottle, to form your toilet roll cover/protector

HOW TO MAKE:

Cut off the bottle top and bottom of the soda pop bottle, to form your toilet roll cover/protector.

Measure your wall mount toilet paper roll holder to see what size you need - mine was 4 3/4 inches (12 cm) across.

TIP: you can use the leftover bottom to make fancy flower-shaped ice cubes for punch - and the leftover top for a funnel for sand play!

Image: Cut a slot in this toilet roll cover/protector, to allow you to pull the toilet paper through, about 1/4 inch

Cut a slot in this toilet roll cover/protector, to allow you to pull the toilet paper through, about 1/4 inch (0.64 cm) high and 4 inches (10 cm) across.

If you are using double roll toilet paper, simply cut across completely - from one side to the other.

If you wish, cover all raw edges with plastic tape to match your decor - I only had black tape on hand, but you can use any color to match your decor.

If using double roll toilet paper, use a piece of plastic tape to tape across the open sides, attaching both sides, leaving an opening of about 1/4 inch (0.64 cm) or larger, for the toilet paper to hang out.

Image: Remove your toilet roll and spindle from the wall mount, slide both inside your new toilet roll protector, and reattach the roll to the wall mount

Remove your toilet roll and spindle from the wall mount, slide both inside your new toilet roll protector, and reattach the roll to the wall mount.

This should at least slow your toddler or pets down!

Thanks to Catherine for this Frugal Baby Tip!

Tutorial Photos credit: Catherine McDiarmid-Watt - All rights reserved

More Ideas - Video Tutorials:

🧻 Cat Proof Toilet Paper Holder - Our cats like to claw at everything, especially our toilet paper. In this video, I'm going to make a cat proof toilet paper holder, and you can too!

🧻 Plastic Bottle Recycling Ideas - Tissue Holder - Plastic bottle recycling ideas project. You can make this DIY project easily at home or it can be a great idea for your school art projects.

🧻 DIY Toilet Paper Rolls Holder - This a handcraft project about DIY toilet paper rolls holder from plastic bottle for your home decor. You can do it fast and very easy.

🧻 How to DIY: Tissue Holder

🧻 Life Hack - Bottle as toilet paper dispenser - Useful for camping, boating, fishing and hunting

🧻 DIY - toilet paper roll holder from plastic bottle - How to use the waste material into best product or item. Use for decoration and house use, and reuse the waste item, saving the environment from plastic and waste products.

Image: EZ-Load Toilet Paper Holder | Spring hinges on both sides makes loading toilet paper a snap

Shopping Suggestions:
🧻 EZ-Load Toilet Paper Holder - Spring hinges on both sides makes loading toilet paper a snap.

🧻 Paws-Free Toilet Paper Cover - Stops children and pets from unraveling toilet paper.

🧻 Mom Invented TP Saver - Perfect for kids and pets

Image: Painted pails, by Monica Arellano-Ongpin on Flickr

Just thought I would add to this tip...

Behrens Locking Lid Can

I too use this type of bucket, but being an artist, I can't stand to have things around that just aren't aesthetically pleasing.

Using regular acrylic paints that are non-toxic, I paint the entire bucket and lid to match the painting I did on the dresser and crib.

Once it's done and dry, you just put on a few coats of water-based polyurethane which is also non-toxic and it keeps it from chipping or peeling off.

Now you have a nice, one-of-a-kind, decorative diaper pail!!

Thanks to Karylann Love for this Frugal Baby Tip!

Photo credit: Painted pails, by Monica Arellano-Ongpin

When I first started to cloth diaper I tried the frugal tip at Born to Love, washing them in the tub using old bathwater, and it didn't work for me.

They came out yucky.

I have two children in cloth, my daughter is finally starting to potty train but still wears cloth half the time, and I have to use a laundromat for the washing and drying.

Right now it costs me $2.00 to wash and $1.50 to dry (.25 = 8 minutes, and I usually dry for 48 minutes), and I wash two loads a week, so that's $7.00 per week.

Using Walmart's brand disposables would cost me $15 per week, so I'm still saving money.

When my daughter potty trains I'll be even, but there are so many more benefits to using cloth over saving money: not putting chemicals on your baby, better for the landfills, no human waste in landfills leaching into the water supply, etc.

Plus it's a heck of a lot cuter than using disposables.

Image: Household Essentials 6524 Tall Indoor Folding Wooden Clothes Drying Rack | Dry Laundry and Hang Clothes | Bamboo

Wooden Clothes
Drying Rack
Folds flat for storage

I don't dry my Bumkins diapers or my covers. I use a wooden drying rack for these.

You don't HAVE to use a dryer, it will just take longer for stuff to dry if you hang dry.

If I am short on funds, I dry however long I can and then hang them up to finish drying.

If I delay washing for a day or so, I use the huge washing machine for $3.00, which is cheaper than using two $2.00 machines, and I still dry for $1.50.

So, using cloth diapers with a commercial laundromat is not necessarily more expensive than using disposables.

You can get some Chinese Prefolds, some Thirsties diaper covers, some hemp doublers, make your own fleece liners, make your own wipes, and come out ahead (like me!).

Thanks to Melanie for this Frugal Baby Tip!

Image: uncut fruit, by Ugly Duckling's (im_an_ugly_duckling) on Photobucket

You can make pureed fruit on the go, with just a spoon or fork for babies eight months old and up.

Cut an apple, or pear in half.

Simply scrape across the surface of the fruit several times with a spoon, and feed the resulting puree to your baby.

You could also mash an avocado, melon, papaya, kiwi or banana with a fork - instant baby food!

Thanks to Susan for this Frugal Baby Tip!

Image: Look ma - diaper pin! by Devon, on Flickr

My mom always said to help diaper pins go through the cloth easier I should keep them pushed in a bar of soap - it sort of greases the metal.

But I have a better tip!

Image: Terrycloth Sponges by Evelots | Terrycloth bath sponges turn any bar of soap or soap slivers into an easy-grip soap on a rope

Terrycloth Soap Cover

I used a terrycloth soap cover, but, after the bar of soap kept crumbling, I got smart.

I had been putting small pieces of sponges in the bottom of my soap dishes for years to make them a breeze to clean.

They sop up the soap which normally falls to the bottom of the soap dish. I decided to combine the two ideas.

For a month I put a Scrunge Scrub Sponge in the soap dish, rough side down. Then, once it had lots of soap I moved it to my diaper station and put the pins in!

Image: RTZAT Multi-Use Natural Fabric Non Scratch Kitchen Bathroom Heavy Duty Cleaning Scrunge Scrub Dish Sponge

Scrunge Scrub Sponge

The rough bottom kept the soap from getting the underside all yucky and also stops the pin from going through to the table.

The soap in the sponge keeps the pins nicely greased and easy to use, and it hasn't yet shown any signs of wear and tear the way the bar of soap did!

Thanks to Camille Mittermeier for this Frugal Baby Tip!

Image: Child in the Washer, by Sharron on Flickr

Image: Rockin Green Cloth Diaper and Laundry Detergent (Funk Rock Ammonia Bouncer), 16oz | gets rid of stinky smells while keeping you green | Suitable for both cloth diaper and general household laundry

Rockin Green Cloth Diaper Detergent

I do not use a diaper pail, I just put my used cloth diapers straight into the washing machine with no water (I have a front loading).

Then every two days I do a rinse and short spin the diapers with cold water (and a bit of vinegar).

Then do a hot wash with an organic detergent (only a TBSP).

Hang the diapers to dry, and start all over again.

Any smell is trapped in the washing machine, and I never usually need to do laundry more often than every two days, so it works out perfectly.

Thanks to Mandy for this Frugal Baby Tip!

Image: Our bedroom - wall to wall bed, by William Heaton (billheat) on Photobucket

We, like many have posted, bought an expensive crib, decked it out in beautiful bedding, painted her room, etc.

Then she slept in our bed from birth.

We did decide there wasn't enough room in our bed, and moved her crib into our room, rather than buy one of those bedside cribs.

Our bed is high off the ground, and the top crib mattress setting is exactly the same height.

So we just stuck it right next to the bed and left the side down on that side.

But now she is getting more mobile, we were a little worried, so our newest solution was to dismantle our beautiful one-year-old cherry Queen Anne bed (yes, we are still paying it off...), and put it in the basement.

The mattress and box are on the floor, and next to it we have an older style full-size box and mattress (we don't own a twin or we would have used that) that has the wall on two sides, us on the other and a changing table at the foot.

So pretty much she is secure from falling off the bed.

It is also about four inches shorter than our set.

All of our more mainstream friends think we're nuts.

We figure she needs the security, and we like having her nearby.

But this way, we have a bit of room and at least a bit of privacy.

We figure if she is asleep, she has no idea what we're doing in the other bed, so our love life isn't on hold.

In fact, we keep trying for number two, we just haven't managed yet.

Thanks to Carla for this Frugal Baby Tip!

Image: Smiling at a fresh delivery of diaper wipes, by Jessica Merz on Flickr

I prefer to use Puffs facial tissues for my baby's bottom rather than the homemade baby wipes to save money.

I have a squirt bottle filled with 2-3 tablespoons baby wash, 2-3 tablespoons baby oil and water.

I squirt his bottom, then wipe with the dry tissues.

Facial tissues are softer and much less expensive than paper towels - and I don't have to bother with cutting the paper towels in half (which can get quite bothersome).

Thanks to J. Buffett for this Frugal Baby Tip!