I admit it: I am a tightwad. Some of the cheapskate things I have always done, I do in secret, like? well, I don’t want to embarrass myself so I won’t say. In my own defense, I know some inexpensive things just aren’t worth it. For example, I’ve learned that most brands of bargain diapers are no bargain, at least not until we’re done with breastmilk poop. But here’s one place I’ve discovered a real bargain that I’m not ashamed of: I don’t buy baby wipes.

For one thing, when the diaper is just wet, which it is 5 out of 7 times, I wipe her with a washcloth. I have two packs of those really cheap washcloths that get misshapen easily and use them for wet butts. (I have washcloths with a border around them for bathtime, so as not to confuse them accidentally.) The added bonus is that I can run the cloth under warm water and that feels good.

But when there’s a mess, I turn to my homemade baby wipes. A friend of mine gave me this recipe years ago when my then-preschool aged son was learning to clean himself up in the bathroom. I haven’t figured out the cost per wipe, but I know they’re cheap! And they seem to last for weeks.

First you need to buy a suitable container. I use a Rubbermaid Servin’ Saver. (I had to buy a square container for a friend’s baby shower recently because I couldn’t find the round one.) Then you need:

1. sightly more than 1 cup of water
2. 2 Tablespoons of baby oil
3. 2 less than full Tablespoons of baby wash

1 giant roll of select-a-size paper towels, cut in half (I always used a bread knife to cut them until my husband said, ‘You know that would be easier with the miter saw?’)

Put the paper towels in the container. Mix the water, oil and wash in a jar then pour evenly over the paper towel. Seal it up. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes and then pull the cardboard out of the middle of the roll. That’s it! Pull them out from the middle.

They sound rough, but they are actually pretty soft on the skin, and depending what scent of oil or wash you use, they smell good, too.

Trust me, it was hard to fork out for the expensive paper towels, but you can believe I tried to use the discount kind at first. Don’t skimp! You need the giant roll, select-a-size. Smaller rolls tend to collapse in the container when you get near the end, cheaper brands separate into layers, and if you don’t use select a size you get strangely oblong wipes. Even with name-brand paper towels, these are still way cheaper than the $3.99 I handed over for a box of gentle baby wipes the day my daughter was born! (She was a little earlier than expected and I wasn’t prepared.)

So far, we haven’t had a real diaper rash, and I am a little happier knowing there’s no alcohol or anything that irritates her skin. You can use whatever brand of wash works for your baby’s skin and even buy unscented mineral oil if necessary (it’s with the laxatives).

Just pull out several and fill a ziplock (generic, of course) for the diaper bag. Off you go!

We’ve all seen organic foods taking over the supermarket aisles, and they are a good way to cut down on the amount of pesticides and other toxic chemicals that our kids take in. But in recent years, there have been more and more organic items released on the market that have nothing to do with food. Baby products are a huge part of this market, as most parents want to cut out as many toxic substances as possible. But, how necessary is it to buy organic items?

The toy market has recently become flooded with organic toys, often consisting of organic wooden items and sometimes painted with organic paints. I wonder how necessary organic wood really is, but with all of the recent recalls, I can understand organic paints. Since babies so often put their toys into their mouths, organic toys do seem like a pretty good idea.

What I don’t understand is organic cotton. When grown, cotton is pelted with a high number of toxic chemicals. We live near cotton fields and you can smell them when you drive by in the fall after the fields have been sprayed. I wouldn’t pick up raw cotton before the harvest, but I still don’t think that means we all have to buy organic clothes. Cotton is dyed and rinsed, usually several times, before it comes to market. Adding to that is the amount of times a piece of clothing is washed in our own homes. With all of that rinsing and washing, how many pesticides could stay in the cotton? Organic cotton is pretty expensive, and I can’t see how that cost would be justified. But, cotton onesies and baby blankets continue to gain marketing ground.

Pretty much everything that could possibly be sold as organic is being made. Organic baby bath products, organic crib mattresses and even organic baby wipes. Using some of the many available organic baby products may reduce the total number of toxins in the house, but I doubt that everything we put next to a baby has to be organic.