Is cloth really less expensive??

[mommy22boys]

I know that a lot of people cloth diaper for reasons other than just the cost. But I'm wondering, is it really actually cheaper than disposables?? The brands that I have looked at and am interested are atleast $30 per diaper, and they are not even one size. And then I'd need about at least 18 diapers for 2 days I think. I guess if you get one size diapers that actually last from about 1month old to potty training then it would be cheaper but I always hear that no one size is actually one size. Prefolds are cheap, but they seem complicated and bulky.
The diapers that I'm interested in are the AIOs or AI2s, new, trim, and they dont' come in one size. So in this case is cloth cheaper that disposables? If only used for on baby?

[Bokonon]

Even if you go for top-of-the-line cloth, you will still come out ahead of disposables, for the simple fact that you can sell them when you're done. You can't do that with sposies.

Prefolds aren't complicated or bulky. My advice is to try out a few different styles before committing to anything. You may find that the time it takes to dry AIOs is a big deterrent for you. Maybe pockets are a better option, and those are cheaper. I thought I would stick with pockets but I am back to prefolds and covers after almost a year.

[Sri Radha]

In my experience no they usually are not cheaper. It can be done cheaper, like if you use prefolds and covers only and buy some used. Yes you can resell them but I don't think the resale is as good as everyone says it is. At DS I see people listing a used $20 diaper for $15-17. I won't pay that much for a used diaper even if it is in very good condition. I'd rather buy a new one and pay a few bucks more.

Prefolds are EASY! It may seem intimidating at first put the newspaper fold works great and is easy to do. They aren't bulky. One size pocket diapers are super bulky. I really don't like one size.

[Katie T]

I have saved thousands of dollars I swear from cloth diapering 2 kids. With DS I got 18 bum genius diapers. Then after DD2 cam along I got 3 dozen prefolds from little lions (cheap) 1 dozen flats also little lions. I have a couple random other pocket diapers from when I had 2 in diapers (less than a dozen). All in all I have spend around $500 to cloth diaper 2 kids. (I have sold some of my bg and some of my other pockets off and got between 7 and 10 dollars a diaper but I think that is great for a diaper that worked for 2 kids)

My best advise is to get what you need and stick with it. It is those that have to have a giant stash and are constantly going from pf to pockets to fiteds to pf to pockets. Selling what they have then buying new then selling then buying new. (Yes i have seen this happen IRL lol)

Cloth diapering can easily save you money you just have to be contious of it.

[limette]

I spent $120 on 6 bummis wraps, 24 prefolds and 2 snappies with my first. They lasted a year. At which point I spent $60 on slightly used (for a week) on the same dipes in the next size up from ebay. So $180 til dd1 was potty trained.

For dd2 she was out of the second size up at a year so I got some of the department store wraps and homemade pocket diapers in toddler size for her. So free there. I did end up buying 4 extra wraps from Sears for $24 total, on sale. I had to buy 2 more snappis because the others broke. So $7, I think?

All these diapers are still good to go for baby #3. If you add the diaper pail $10 for 2 lidded garbage cans, $2 for 2 thrift store pillow cases, a squirt bottle $1, and 48 baby facecloths $10, the total spent was $235 for 3 kids.

Both the girls were fully potty trained by age 2 which I credit with the cloth. We used disposables at the hospital and I found it impossible to tell when they were wet.

As said, you can definitely spend a crazy amount on all the cool diapers out there (especially AIO's) but you don't need to.

[Nicole730]

I think it could be more expensive depending on which cloth diapers you and use and which disposable diapers you use, but it doesn't have to be. Plus, you should be able to resell them, even if only a few dollars a diaper, that's better than nothing.

I have some Bum Genius 3.0 one size pockets that I started using on DD around 2 months, before that and they were too big for her. Well, just looked way too big, they did fit snugly around the legs and everything.

Using prefolds and covers is not difficult, and defnitely the most economical. You can even just trifold the prefold and set it in the cover, very simple.

[carmel23]

Also, consider that a cloth diapered baby is typically out of diapers an entire year before a baby in sposies (at or around 2 years, instead of at or around 3!).

That is an *entire* year of diapers you aren't buying and tossing in the landfill.

I also like to think of "cost" in a bigger sense. Sure, sposies might be cheap, but what is the real cost of having more trash, harming ground water, etc. If you look at the total life cycle of the diaper, sposies may be cheap but they're very costly.

[fruitfulmomma]

Disposable diapers cost anywhere from 15 to 45 cents a piece, some of the more natural brands are higher. Going off the lowest price and comparing it to a pricier $20.00 os cloth diaper, you would have to use the cd around 135 times to break even. Very easily done within one year of cd'ing.

A baby will go through about 6000 diapers in 2 years. Using the cheapest diapers, not including wipes, that would be $900. We've been cd'ing for 5 years, through 3 girls, and I have probably spent as much on cd's for all of them as I would have spent on disposables for *1* of them.

Since you seem to be talking high end cd's, compare the prices of them to the designer disposables in Target I saw the other day. They were about 66 cents a piece. If you paid $30.00 for a cloth diaper and used it 45 times you would be paying the same amount.

[philomom]

I paid 350$ for a set up of cloth dipes and nice wrappers.
I diapered two kids and only bought sposies for things like plane rides or long car trips. I think I came out ahead. My friends were plunking down 20 and 40 dollars a week on sposies.

[Jazzmin]

You can totally make it insanely expensive if you want to. You can also make it super cheap, or somewhere in between. And even factoring in utilities I think CD are cheaper than sposies when you are using a reasonably priced CD system.

I bought a baker's dozen Med. FB for DS when we first started CDing, we also had some PF and covers, but I sold those. Those FB were used from 6 months to 3 years and DD has been using them for the past year and a half. I absolutely got my moneys worth! Granted, I won't be able to re-sell them because they have had the life sucked out of them, but that is ok because I have saved so much using them.

I went a little more crazy with DD, trying out the "in" diapers at the time and buying cute prints, but in the end I sold most of them and stuck with FB, and some PF for back up. I knit so she also has some back up wool covers.

For the new baby, I am all about saving money. I have a dozen OS Goodmama's that don't really fit DD well anymore, so I plan on using those. I have enough yarn to knit some covers. Plus, woolies from DD as the baby grows. I do plan on buying some new or gently used M. FB because of how long my children have been able to wear them and because they have held up pretty well. I may buy some NB PF, but I haven't decided.

Don't be sucked into $30 diapers, that is what makes CDing expensive. Also, don't be afraid to buy gently used CD. I have saved so much money trying out different systems by buying and selling used dipes.

ETA: You can also save a lot of $$ using cloth wipes. I scored a EUC set of 24 for $12 and have been using them for the past year and a half. And I make my own wipe solution out of products we already use. I have saved a bunch on wipes too.

[scottishmommy]

For daytime I use diaper rite prefolds with bummis covers. They are great and cheap! DD has never had a leak. I strongly suggest you try good quality prefolds first before you spend $30 on a diaper. Nighttime is a little trickier. We finally found a good system: 4 dryees gone natural with stacinator covers.

[cchrissyy]

$30 dipes is a bit nuts : ) I know they're out there but that's certianly not a normal spend.

use the calculator at diaperpin.com to put them in, and the cost of the dispoasbales you'd be using, and it will tell you specifically where the breakeven point is.

when I switched to cloth, baby #1 was 4 months old. I did prefolds and bummi covers and broke even after only 4 months of use. I bought the size 15-30lb ones so I didn't ever need any other size between 4 months and potty. I paid 4 months of what disposables would be and got 2 years of value. fabulous. I did re-use these on baby #2 and #3 and I did sell them at the end.


If I were doing it now, I wouldn't go with the cheapest possible like we did. We're not that poor anymore I'd buy say, 2 dozen bumgenius one-size diapers. Bought new at say, $18 each, that's about $420 . Now, for disposables I'd be using costco brand, which is abut $50 a month. That's still only 8-9 months until breakeven, and since baby needs 2-3 years of diapering it is a big savings.

[4Blessings]

Prefolds are super easy!

As others have said, don't get sucked into paying $30 a diaper (unless you've got that kind of money to spend).

We use pockets at night and prefolds & covers during the day. I spent less than $100 to get started and with two in cloth now I bet I've spent less than $300. A huge savings over sposies, less trash, and I feel better using cloth on those tiny bums

[DanelleB]

I'm using cloth on twins and have a fairly large stash. I've spent around $450 on my current stash--35 OS pockets & inserts (half bought retail brand new, half second hand), 7 covers, 2 dozen prefolds, 2 dozen flats and misc contours. At this point in time (18 months) had I used disposables, we would have spent upwards of $1300 (and that's a low estimate). I can use the cloth we have for the next 18-24 months (whenever the twins PL) and not spend another penny, but would spend another $1300-$1800 if we use disposables. HUGE savings!

[octobermom]

No always you can easily CD birth to potty for under $200 most wont go that low some will go lower others a LOT higher.. You'll have to decide which is more important to you.

Deanna

[Galatea]

OMG yes cloth is cheaper. Sposies will cost about $2500 per child. That's a lot of cloth.

Sized AIOs or pockets are between $16-18 each. Get 24 smalls, 18 mediums, and if you ever need larges (my kids didn't), only get 12. This would be a very generous and awesome stash that would last for multiple kids. My only advice would be to get pockets rather than AIOs, b/c pockets can be refreshed for the next kid by buying new inserts. AIOs, you're stuck with the inserts you have.

I had this exact stash and it lasted for 3 kids (and then they were fine to resell in EUC so someone else out there is using them.)

[mommy22boys]

Thanks everyone!
Yeah I guess there are alot of diapers for around $18, just with shipping and inserts and things it comes to almost $30. But from what a lot of you have said seems to be much less than disposables. I haven't really kept track at all at what I've spent on disposables. Cloth just seems more expensive at first since you have to spend so much all at once.

[Multimomma]

Just saw this. Ironic, since Friday was the day I sat down and figured out my costs for the first year (we spent $225 on used, we could have bought 24 new ME diapers with inserts and covers for $335)

15 One sized Mother-Ease-used $100
------no inserts
------no covers
15 newborn Fuzzibuns-used $75
------plus two small ME covers
------plus 8 prefolds
6 One sized AIO-used $40
-----plus inserts
Detergent-$14
-----one cup per load, one load every two days-8¢
Water-$182
-----12 gallons per load, one load every two days-$1
Electricity-$103 IF YOU DON'T HANG TO DRY, $12 if you line dry
-----~1Kw per load to wash, one load every two days-7¢
-----~ Kw per load to dry, one load every two days-50¢

Cloth diaper cost- $514 at the most

Disposable diapers-$730 to $1095
------(generic) 8-12 per day for four months-25¢ each
Disposable diapers-$547-$730
------(generic) 6-8 per day for eight months-25¢ each

Disposable cost-$1270 to $1825

[DanelleB]

I just figured mine up, too. That's how I knew just how much I've spent/saved.

My favorite brand from my favorite store are KnickerNappies OS from RGNaturalBabies.com. The KNs are $19, come with two inserts and the store has free shipping on dipes.

[Maiasaura]

Holy cow YES yes yes cheaper. My ds is 9.5yo now but I figured the cost when I was pg with him.

I used Green Mountain Diapers and I believe they are still in business. They were so helpful and nice. I bought 2 dozen smaller Chinese prefolds and 2 dozen toddler size, about 8 covers in different styles to see what I would like, and 2 waterproof diaper pail liners, which fit in a tall kitchen garbage can, which I bought at Wally world for way cheap.
I did laundry about every 2 days.

I spent $225, and I figured that 3 years of 'sposies would come to about $3K. I'm sure things haven't gone up that much in price in 9 years. Maybe, though.

I used the smaller size dipes most of the time, and didn't use the toddler size till ds was nearly 3yo. Those were huge. But the lady who owns GMD was in touch with me through email, and she was uber helpful. Also they say on their site what runs big, or if you have this-shaped-baby, how the dipes tend to fit.

WAY easy.

HTH!