Today, I want to talk about the true cost of cloth diapers.Using disposable diapers will cost the average family about $1500 for two years (and more than that if your child isn't potty trained by their second birthday)! So for me, the primary point of using cloth diapers is too save money, but other families' primary point is to be more eco-friendly. So, there are two paths you can take when choosing to use cloth diapers, the cheap path and the expensive path.
When I was looking to start my stash of cloth diapers, I was ultimately looking for the best deal I could find. I know I wanted to use pocket diapers due to how easy they are to use and I wanted the most number of diapers I could get that worked good and for cheap. After days (and I mean days) of research, I realized that was not going to be a simple task. There are many "name brands" of cloth diapers out there (i.e. bum genius, rumparooz, fuzzibunz, charlie banana, etc.). These are probably the most common brands sold and reviewed, but they go for on average $15-20 a piece. I know bum genius goes for about $17.95 a pop, so I needed a stash of about 20. If I would have went with those I would have paid $359 plus tax and shipping and handling. Somebody help me because I don't think I can breathe right now! I'm not downing name brand diapers such as bum genius because I'm sure they are great diapers, but I can not afford to pay that much for my diapers only because there are many other things you have to buy when using cloth diapers. I'm also the type of person who doesn't buy anything that I know I can get for cheaper either used or off brand. I do have to admit though that I bought a Charlie Banana diaper at Target, so I could get a sneak peek of cloth diapering before I bought a whole bunch.
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| Two Charlie Banana newborn pockets I recently bought for a friend, which I found on clearance at Target for $2.94 EACH! |
I had a budget of about $200 for everything I needed, so I thought there has to be another way or off brands or something. So, I got to searching on eBay and found alot of 20 pocket diapers that look and work just like the name brands, but for $100 for all! They also came in alot cuter prints!! So, thats what we went with. Now that's not to say I won't one day invest in some bum genius diapers, but for right now I'm content with the ones we got. So, what I am saying here is if you are looking to be more environmentally friendly and don't have a set budget for cloth diapers go for the big names because I'm sure they are a little more high tech, but if you are wanting to do cloth diapers to save as much money as you can the off brands may be for you too. But, no matter what brand you go with you will spend less in two years than disposables!
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| My baby sporting his dinosaur print Alva pocket diaper! |
Once you get your stash, then you have to buy your accessories. This can also be a budget-breaker if you don't prioritize and shop around. You have to have a free and clear detergent. I use Ecos it is $8.97 at Wal-Mart for a 100 load bottle, but you can buy a really expensive detergent that may or may not work any better. You also have to get oxygen bleach (if you want clean smelling diapers). I bought mine from Vitacost for around $5 for 32 loads. You also need wet bags to put dirty diapers in. I shopped around on Ebay and got 2 for $12, but retail they are about $15-20 a piece. I also bought some tea tree oil, it is not necessary to have it, but boy does it make a difference in helping your diaper pail not to stink. This was a splurge item for me at $15 for 4oz., but it will last a really long time. Another splurge item for me was California Baby Diaper Rash Cream. You have to use cloth diaper safe rash cream and I only consider mine a splurge because I normally wouldn't pay that much for rash cream for disposables.
I have yet to buy a diaper pail liner. I've just been using a plastic trash can and putting a couple drops of tea tree oil at the bottom and you can't smell the dirty diapers. That just wasn't top on my priority list, but I'll get some eventually. Another item I did not invest in was flushable diaper liners. While they would be a big help, they are about 0.08 cents a piece and an average disposable diaper is about 0.25 cents a piece, so my logic was if I was gonna buy disposable liners I might as well just buy disposable diapers. I think they are more for if your top priority is to be eco-friendly because the liners are flushable and biodegradable. (Remember: My top priority is to save as much money as possible! Being eco-friendly is just an added bonus!) I would pay $100 for the diapers and then if I used a flushable liner it would cost 0.08 cents every diaper change, so I didn't think that made much sense when trying to save money. Another item I did not invest in was a diaper sprayer, though now I am considering buying one because I don't think I am getting enough poop off his diapers by just using to squirt bottle from the hospital. They run about $50 so that was not in my initial budget. Also, I am looking into bamboo inserts and wool covers because we are having to use some left over disposables at night because he leaks through the microfiber inserts. I could go on for days on all the accessories you can buy for cloth diapers, but those are just the ones I considered. You can easily see how using cloth diapers can add up, but still unless you went totally crazy buying stuff it is still going to be cheaper than $1500.
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| My first stash and accessories- 20 Alva Pocket Diapers, 2 Alva Wet Bags, 2 Ecos, 2 Biokleen Oxygen Bleach, Tea Tree Oil, & California Baby Diaper Cream |
I have yet to buy a diaper pail liner. I've just been using a plastic trash can and putting a couple drops of tea tree oil at the bottom and you can't smell the dirty diapers. That just wasn't top on my priority list, but I'll get some eventually. Another item I did not invest in was flushable diaper liners. While they would be a big help, they are about 0.08 cents a piece and an average disposable diaper is about 0.25 cents a piece, so my logic was if I was gonna buy disposable liners I might as well just buy disposable diapers. I think they are more for if your top priority is to be eco-friendly because the liners are flushable and biodegradable. (Remember: My top priority is to save as much money as possible! Being eco-friendly is just an added bonus!) I would pay $100 for the diapers and then if I used a flushable liner it would cost 0.08 cents every diaper change, so I didn't think that made much sense when trying to save money. Another item I did not invest in was a diaper sprayer, though now I am considering buying one because I don't think I am getting enough poop off his diapers by just using to squirt bottle from the hospital. They run about $50 so that was not in my initial budget. Also, I am looking into bamboo inserts and wool covers because we are having to use some left over disposables at night because he leaks through the microfiber inserts. I could go on for days on all the accessories you can buy for cloth diapers, but those are just the ones I considered. You can easily see how using cloth diapers can add up, but still unless you went totally crazy buying stuff it is still going to be cheaper than $1500.
Please feel free to comment on what your favorite brand of cloth diapers to use are, what your must-haves are, if diaper sprayers are worth the investment, any good night time solutions, and any thoughts or suggestions!!
UPDATE: I originally wrote this post about 6 months ago. Since then I have bought Charlie Banana Bamboo Liners, which were on clearance at Target for $7-8. I also purchased a Bum genius Diaper Sprayer, which caused a major leak underneath our floor so we no longer use it. I also have bought 4 bum genius 4.0 pockets, Flip diaper system, and several other brands!
UPDATE: I originally wrote this post about 6 months ago. Since then I have bought Charlie Banana Bamboo Liners, which were on clearance at Target for $7-8. I also purchased a Bum genius Diaper Sprayer, which caused a major leak underneath our floor so we no longer use it. I also have bought 4 bum genius 4.0 pockets, Flip diaper system, and several other brands!
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| 2 Kissaluvs fitted diapers & 2 gDiapers I bought at a consignment sale. $16 for all! |
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I cloth diapered all my kids (4) in the eighties using flat flannel diapers I sewed myself and folded to use. I think the flannel cost me around $50 for 30 24"x36" white diapers. I used a flat wrap plastic "pant" that were washed with the diapers. Think I went through 24 - 36 in total and they were around $15 per dozen.
ReplyDeleteUsed a plastic 5 gallon pail from some food source for a diaper pail. Washed diapers every 2-3 days and dried in the dryer most of the time. Only lost two diapers to stains through all the kids. Mostly I soaked, washed, bleached and double rinsed and dried in the sun occasionally. Even had two in diapers at once. Never thought anything about folding or changing diapers. As I told my kids when you love something it is not a problem.
That's awesome Suzzy! Cloth diapering can be as simple and inexpensive as you make it. I like using flats and covers because they are inexpensive and easy to keep clean!
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