I have some exciting news! Our family is officially switching to cloth diapers! We made the switch one week ago and so far, so good. What’s the reason we finally switched? So we could save money. Don’t get me wrong, there are many other reasons to use cloth instead of disposable diapers, like less trash in the world’s landfills for one, but the money we will save just made it the clear choice. Let’s go through why I converted to cloth diapers so you can be convinced and save some money raising your kid, too!
1. You Save So Much Money!
I bought boxes of Huggies brand diapers in the economy size (about 80 diapers depending on the size) for $18 a box. I buy them at the cheapest place I can find (believe it or not, my grocery store) and I clip coupons to get them down to $18. We used 4 paper diapers a day on average after baby was three months old (before that they pee more often and have explosive poops so you use even more diapers). This means we used a box of diapers every 20 days and go through a box and a half in one month. (Find out how I used all those boxes in clever ways!) So, each diaper costs us 23 cents and each month we spend $27 to diaper our kid. This is a low estimate because the first three months you use about 6 diapers or more a day and there are also days you just go through more than the typical 4. For this reason, let’s round our $27 to $30 a month.
$30 a month in diapersx 12 months = $360 a year.
If you have two kids in diapers, that’s $720 a year.
A six pack of cloth pocket diapers cost about $42. Buy five six packs (30 diapers) to get you through approximately 1 week (4 or more diapers a day) before having to do your diaper laundry. That is a TOTAL cost of diapers being $210. And that $210 will get you through ALL your children. And that $210 can be even less if you buy your cloth diapers secondhand on Craigslist or get them passed down from a friend.
Let’s take this scenerio: you plan to have two children (like everyone else these days). You anticipate having your two children in disposable diapers for about two years before they are potty trained. That means you will spend $1,440 on diapers. And that’s assuming the cost of diapers does not raise, you clip coupons to get them for $18 a box like I do, and you don’t change your kid more than about 4 times a day.
Now let’s assume you buy pocket diapers in the adjustable size and invest in $210 worth like I exampled above. You would only ever pay that amount and use them for both kids both years they were in diapers.
You would save $1,230!
The new cloth diaper drawer of our changing table!
2. Cloth Diapers Are Not Gross
I remember being sickened by the cloth diapers I changed on my nephew before my first child was born. They smelled like pee and had to be stored to await laundering instead of being thrown away. What you learn when you actually become a parent is that you will deal with poop and pee on a regular basis regardless what kind of diapers you use. Disposable diapers still leak and you still clean liquid poop out of your baby’s adorable clothes. You especially lose the gross concern after potty training. After potty training my two year old who wore disposable diapers for all that time, I had cleaned up poop and pee so many times it didn’t phase me anymore. Disposable diapers did not save me from it, so why did I waste all that money using them? And yes, the diapers do go in your laundry and yes they might never get perfectly clean. But if you’re that concerned, buy better detergent, pre-treat the stains, and sanitize them in boiling water every once and a while.
3. You Can Try Them Before You Buy Them
There are a lot of kinds of cloth diapers now-a-days. They are not your grandma’s cloth diapers. Here’s a guide I found with common types. So far I have preferred the pocket diapers.
Hopefully you’re lucky like me and know someone who has one or two kinds they will lend you. If you don’t know anyone who has a cloth diaper to lend, research and pick two or three different kinds you are interested in trying. Then buy one or just a few and see if you like them. I think every household and baby prefers a different kind. Here is a great guide to the pros and cons of different cloth diapers. When you know what is right for you, make the switch!
4. You Can Still Use Disposables if Need Be
I plan to still have disposable diapers around our house. Although we converted, I don’t want to make sitters uncomfortable when they need to change my baby’s poop. I also like the convenience of disposable diapers if we are on the go for more than a few hours.
I actually started Lily on cloth diapers her first few weeks of life and she was peeing through everything. This is because little tiny bums are hard to get diapers tight around and newborns do the do-do many many times a day (13 for my girl). I unfairly ruled out cloth diapers because of this. My advice would be to use disposable diapers on your newborn to make things easier the first month or so, until they start needing a change only five or six times a day. Then switch to cloth. That’s our plan for our future children!
It’s okay to do a little of both, but know the more you use your reusable cloth diapers, the more money you will save! And if you’re still not convinced cloth diapers are superior to disposable, read this post again because you must be missing something! I’m determined you’ll want to become a cloth diaper convert.
Published by Melissa Woods
My name is Melissa Woods, homemaker and parent. I am an amateur handy-woman and avid DIY-er. I am an adept painter and deft crafter. I am a finance enthusiast and frugal to the core. View all posts by Melissa Woods
