• Aug. 4, 2009
Tightwad Tuesday - Cloth Diapering
When I first told DH that I was going to use cloth diapers on baby Matthew, he thought I had lost my mind. I laid out how much disposables cost. The average cost I heard was $2,000 - $3,000. I explained that you're paying so much for something that is only going to get pooped on, sorry for being so blunt, he quickly changed his mind.
To buy a package of 40 disposables I pay about $7. That's enough to get me through 4 days, if I use 10 a day. My monthly cost would be about $52. If we potty train at 3 years old, that is a grand total of $1,890.00, close to the bottom average. (That's not including diaper wipes, which I will get to in a minute.)
My mom used cloth on all 3 of us kids. I think they were even the same diapers. My little sister is nine years my junior, so I was all too familiar with diaper pails full of nasty water and rubber pants and getting stabbed by giant pins. Was this going to be my reality just to save a little cash?
I was pleasantly surprised to find that it didn't have to be. I did some searching on the net and found that things had changed. A lot. There were so many choices that it made my head spin. All in ones, prefolds, diaper covers, pocket diapers, convertibles, and on and on.
For me there were a few deciding factors. They had to be easy to use, or DH wouldn't use them. They had to be relatively cheap. They also had to hold up to use by another child, just in case we have one more baby in the future. And no rubber pants!
I chose to use Chinese prefolds and Thirsties diaper covers. The covers velcro shut. I didn't even need pins! And they also had leg gussets to prevent leaks. They had a wide variety of colors. And I could wipe them out between diaper changes if I needed to. I also decided to do a dry diaper pail and use a trash can with a lid that I could operate with a foot pedal and shut tightly.
I went to greenmountaindiapers.com and found they had a wide selection to choose from, and a pretty good cloth diaper tutorial to get me up to speed. I did some price checking. I made a list of some selections from their website. But did I order right away? No, I did not. My total from Green Mountain was about $450. I thought I had to do better. So I went to ebay.
I bought 3 different sizes of diapers, 2 dozen of each size. Except for the smalls, I bought 2 1/2 dozen of those because I figured we'd be changing more often. I bought 4 diaper covers in each size also.
My approximate price breakdown:
12 diaper covers: $120
6 1/2 dozen Chinese prefold diapers: $180
Grand total: $300
I did buy a couple laundry bags and a trash can but I got some cash and gift cards at my baby shower and it covered that.
I realized I did not want to buy throwaway wipes either. I was blessed with 2 dozen baby wash cloths at my shower. Two dozen? Did no one look at my gift registry? Anyway, I decided they would be great to use as wipes. I also made a few more out of a couple flannel receiving blankets. I got a ton of those too. Using the washcloths as a template I could get nine wipes out of one blanket. You could get fancy and serge the edges but I don't do fancy sewing. They don't seem to fray much during washing and it doesn't bother me any. So I had 40 wipes for free.
I did buy a bottle of "Diaper Lotion Potion" which you add to water or witch hazel to make a diaper wipe solution. I paid $18 dollars for an 8 ounce bottle but it will last me a very long time. I've been using it for the last two months and have only used maybe half an ounce. It contains tea tree oil and lavender and it smells really nice and helps keep your wipes from getting moldy. I refill my container every few days, so I don't think that would matter.
In the hospital where Matthew was born, they didn't even use wipes. We just used wash cloths and warm water. It worked great.
I put my cloth wipes in an old plastic diaper wipe container. 40 fit in there nicely when they are wet. They are a bit puffy before you add the water. I put 2 to 3 cups of water in the container and add 1/4 teaspoon of the diaper potion, then slowly add the wipes.
DH thought I really went overboard with the wipes, but I'm like, why not? I'm already washing the diapers and the wipes were free. If I use a pack of 80 a week, at a dollar a pack, that is $150 just for the wipes. My diaper potion cost is just a fraction of that.
I use disposables when we leave the house, but that is only maybe 4-8 diapers a week, versus 56 to 70 a week. (Church twice a week and one day to run errands.) I got a ton of diapers at my baby shower. Most of them were newborn size so the first month I didn't even use my cloth diapers. I just bought my first pack of disposables a couple weeks ago. I haven't even gone through all the wipes I received. I have one full box and one I'm still working on.
I know a lot of people who have babies around me and none are using cloth. I am getting used to the strange looks I get. I don't care, as long as it's saving me money. :)
I also notice he does not get a diaper rash unless we are using disposables too. So that's also saving my son's bottom also, I guess. :)
Stay frugal!
