CD Diaper Hopeful - Will I REALLY Save $? - Page 2

[kai28]

I think you'll save money. one solution to the multiple covers issue are the one-size covers. adjustable like bumgenius, but they are only a cover. once nice thing about these is that you can adjust the fit pretty well, accommodating for thick legs, skinny legs, whatever  http://nickisdiapers.com/catalog.php?category=2236

Not shown at the link above, but I really like the "wonder wraps" - they are a nice material that is waterproof but breathes and doesn't feel plastic-y, and adjustable rise snaps so it grows with your kid (cleans very nicely too). you will have to buy multiple prefold sizes, but you can use the previous size as a doubler when you move up a size. I actually skipped a size and just dealt with adding an extra fold to my prefolds. DS is nearly 20 months and I've only bought two sets of 24 prefold diapers (I bought this current size WAY to big by accident and just made do, and it's been fine). pretty cheap.

[ibis]

I always recommend Flip diapers to people who want to save money. A "day pack" of two covers and 6 cloth inserts is only $50. You can buy factory seconds covers for about $10 each and just use prefolds, which are $1/each. This is similar to a gDiaper system but the quality is far, far better, and it's a one size diaper that you can use from birth to potty. We spent around $75 on our collection and do laundry every other day. You could probably do it for even less with 3-4 factory seconds covers and a dozen prefolds - that's less than $60!! And these are really nice diapers, easy to use. I have picked up a couple of used pocket diapers along the way but still prefer the Flip system!

[Ola_]

If you're expecting another 9 lb baby and finances are a big consideration, I'd probably think about going right to one-size diapers.  You can still get a mix of different types - one size fitteds + covers, one size pockets, etc. to figure out what works best for you.  Definitely look into buying used, I got a great deal on used fitteds and covers on our local craigslist.  If you get different types you can then resell what doesn't work for you, again on craigslist/kijiji/etc.

Things are more expensive in Canada but there are a few US retailers that will ship here for little/no extra cost, some great local companies (like Motherease), and you can try those cheap "made in china" diapers like Kawaii/Sunababy/Coolbaby that are definitely less expensive than the mainstream brands.

If you go with one size diapers they may not fit perfectly at the beginning or may be too big for a couple of weeks.  I'd probably buy a package of newborn disposables and not open it until you see how your cloth fits - you can always return it if unopened.  This wouldn't be my ideal but it may well be the cheapest till your kiddo fits into the one size.

[Trooper]

We use Mother-Ease, though we're not quite as happy with them as we'd hoped. We launder them every two days. I could see a difference in our water bill. We pay about $3 (including sewage) per cubic meter of water, and I estimate that we spend about $30/month on water. I saw no difference in our electrical bill, despite using the dryer each time. We used disposables for 5 weeks solid for our second one, because it took that long for his cord to fall off, and it's very annoying realizing that you've run out of diapers and have to run to the store to buy more. It's also A LOT of garbage. For all the diapers (36), liners (18), and covers (I think around 20) that we've had to buy so far, we've spent about $800 CDN. Our second one is now transitioning to cloth. But we do use disposables at night - it seems to mean a better sleep for everyone. But I know others have had just as much luck using cloth at night.

[TheGirls]

I think that even if you don't buy used, re-use on another baby, sell your dipes when you are done, or chose an inexpensive system, you'll probably save money on Medium sized diapers - they last most kids from 6months or so to potty-learning, so you'll use them for over a year.  At $30/month that's $360 - which will buy you pretty expensive diapers, and that assumes the kid PL's at 18months. 

Small sizes are worn for less time (5-6 months) but can still save money if you don't go overboard and make smart choices (buy used, re-sell when you are done, etc)

Newborn size can be iffy, financially, IMO, and if I were  expecting a 9lb baby I don't know that I'd bother, unless I planned more children to pass them down to.  Even then, most babies fit in smalls by 9-10lbs, so smalls would fit practically from birth.  Even for our twins (born 5lb 11oz and 6lb 11oz) I'm not sure I would have, but I was gifted some covers, had some prefolds (and we love prefolds) made a couple of covers - so it didn't cost me much (like $20 total).   And it's for twins, so the disposable cost would be doubled.   They still ended up in disposibles until today (4 wks) because they were in preemie size.  (super tall skinny boys, most newborns would have fit at their weights)

One-size diapers can be really great too.  For a baby that big they might fit from birth.  If not, they'll probably fit within a couple of weeks, so you can just do disposibles for a few weeks.  I have a friend who got 30 BumGenius for her first child and used disposibles until the BumGenius fit.  Her first child wore the diapers until she potty-learned, and the second has now been wearing them for a year, so she easily got 2.5 years of wear out of the diapers.  Even at the $400 (guessing) that she probably paid for them, that's a good deal!  Plus she can potentially sell them if they're still in good shape when this child potty-learns.  

[CrunchyChristianMama]

Here is what I would recommend and is what we do.

I'm in love with my one-size diapers.  We use Bum Genius 4.0 with snaps.  They fit my DD who was tiny and scrawny at birth by the time she was a few weeks old.  They still fit her awesome now that she is a very chunky 4-month-old.  They also fit her 27 month old sister who still wears a diaper at night.

They are on sale right now as well (buy 5 get one free).  They are about $17-18 a piece.  But 18 of them and be set until your babe potty trains.  No need to buy extra sizes, inserts, or covers.

[suzieknoll]

This is what I did and would highly recommend. (I had a 8lb 8oz baby boy.)

Buy just 12 fitted diapers (kissaluvs or swaddlebees) and a few Thirsties covers for the first few months. Chinese Prefolds on hand just in case you run out. Don't put a lot of money in these first few months.

Then buy 18 pocket diapers (Fuzzibunz) - size Medium.  Stores will encourage you to buy as many as 36 diapers, but 18 was enough for me and I washed every other day. Size mediums lasted my son from 3 months until 2.5 years!  I bought just 6 large Fuzzibunz diapers for later. You'll also want a few hemp inserts for night diapers. 

Other than diapers, you'll need a diaper pail (just a flip top garbage can) and a liner. Plus Allen's Detergent (about $40). My son is 3 and there's still half of the huge jug left!!

I'm pregnant again and will use the newborn fitted diapers for my second child since they are barely used. And then I will be buying 18 new medium Fuzzibunz!  The ones I have could probably work, but they have gotten a little thin and less absorbant over the 2.5 years.

I definately think I saved money. And used nice convenient diapers at the same time.

All the best!!

Suzie

[karen1968]

We are in need of small diapers right now, and I'm basing my decision in part on the ROI (return on investment). Let's say a disposable costs 20¢ per dipe. I am looking at fitteds that range from $7 (workhorse from GMD) to $12. If I use a dipe ~15 times per month (that's every other day, so laundry ever two days), the $7 fitted pays for itself in 2.5 months, and the $12 in 4 months. (a pre-fold would pay for itself in less than a month, and an expensive AIO would take over 7 months of use to be worth the money). That's a straight diaper-to-diaper comparison. My DD is small - 8.5 pounds at just over a month - so we will likely be in smalls 3-4 more month...not enough to justify a new sized AIO. But she will likely be in Mediums for over a year, in which case "splurging" on a few pricier dipes isn't much of a splurge at all.

I cut up and zig-zagged acouple of old receiving blankets for wipes and have enough to fill the warmer twice over. We use straight water, although I do put a few drops of TTO in the bottom for bacterial control.

I also like not thinking about that twenty cents "wasted" when baby poops in a freshly changed diaper.

[DevaMajka]

Only read the OP. I bought some used fitteds from http://www.bearbottoms.ca/ They don't have them listed on their site, but maybe they still sell them. They were something like $5 each? Anyway, I quite like them. They are sized, so you'd have to buy more than one set, but the larges fit ds since he was perhaps 8 mos old. That's when I bought them, and they may have fit before that.

Or, you could look into Tiny Tush fitteds. I have one and like it. They are OS I can see how it would fit a small baby.

You may find it cheaper to use sposies until your dc fits into smalls.

[Sharlla]

ive spent about $250 on fuzzi bunz.  i aveaged a $6 per diaper (shipped and have enough dipes for all sizes.  And I can turn around and sell `the smaller dipes for what I paid for them.  had I been using sposies I would have spent about $800 or so by now.  so I have totally saved.  haven't seen a dramatic increase in my water bill either.

[StopThat!]

Thank You so much everyone for your replies! I've clearly got a lot of information to digest, and I'm sure I'll have more questions soon! Thank you for taking the time to type such detailed responses and share your diaper details with me!

[MsFortune]

Agreed it saves money.  The big payoff comes if you have more than one kid so you get to reuse them. 

I went the high end route - got the brand name pocket dipes.  Used disposibles for first month then small size for a year, then large size (so two sets).  My kids were too skinny for the small size at birth. 

I think with the first kid I probably broke even compared to disposables - the cost of the diapers, the water, the detergent, etc.  But with the second kid it was like getting free diapers!

Cloth is more work, though.  I don't find it that bad, but it is more work.

[karen1968]

Don't forget the resale value! Esp. with newborn dipes and with high-end name brands (like FuzziBunz, bumGenius, Happy Heiny, etc.), you can get as much as 75% of the original price when you resell through MDC or Craigslist.  Makes them even more cost effective.

[carepear]

I did the trial from Jillian's Drawers and got an idea of what I wanted to use.  I figured out that I preferred the pocket diapers for ease of use/wash.  From there I bought a ton of fuzzi bunz xs because my kid was pretty little.  She wore those up until 3.5 months.  Now we are exclusively using the one size Kawaii pockets from luvyourbaby.  I bought those around 8 weeks and added them to our fuzzi bunz stash.

They are super super cheap - like $6 a diaper.  If you have an 8 lb kid you can start with the kawaii's and bypass the smaller ones.

I spent about $300 on fuzzibunz and so far $120 on Kawaiis.  I will probably get more Kawaiis soon because I got used to having so many with the fuzzibunz in the mix and with working full time I only like to wash diapers about 2 or 3 times a week.

So, basically - if you have an 8 lb kid, $120 will get you set up with 20 Kawaiis and there is free shipping on orders over $75 I think.  Much cheaper than disposables.

[carepear]

Oh, and yea - now I am set for diapers forever.  We plan on having 2 so for a total investment of $420 we are good to go.  And it would be much much cheaper if you bypass the fuzzi bunz.

[lifescholar]

I know parents who have spent hundreds of dollars on cloth diapers, when finances aren't so much of a concern.  It's VERY easy to spend money on diapers.  But, you can also cloth diaper very cheaply!

When I had my YDS, I was getting $108/week.  My partner at the time was making $10.50/hour and was a horrible spender, so I REALLY needed to save money.  I registered for Kushies diapers at BRU, and was fortunate enough to get 2 packages and a couple of covers.  My mom had some old diapers from when ODS was a baby, which she gave to me.  My other diapers have all been bought secondhand, either from people I know or from consignment stores/sales.  I have spent just over $120 on diapers themselves (including liners and covers), and YDS is 7.5 months old.

My other expenses have been flushable liners ($7 for 100, and I let the wet ones dry and reuse them as long as they aren't soiled), laundry detergent (just using a fairly gentle regular detergent, rather than a fancy CD-friendly one), some diaper pins (couple of bucks), and laundering ($3/load).

In the beginning, I was so poor, I handwashed my diapers at least once a day.  It wasn't that bad.  I washed them in the baby bath in my tub, with a plunger, and then hung them on the balcony to dry.  It's definitely nicer being able to throw them in the machine now that I can afford to, but you do what you've gotta do!

I see lots of diapers that I would love to have.  My diapers are all white, and definitely not fancy, but they work, and they definitely save me money!

Oh, and I was given quite a lot of disposable diapers at my baby shower, so I only needed to buy one small pack of diapers until my LO would fit into the smallest cloth diapers I had, at about 1 month old (maybe 3 weeks).  It helps having a 10 lb. baby who grows quickly! lol

[RthyCrunchyMama]

I will be honest it depends how you would normally buy diapers.  I own a cloth diaper store and often get asked this.  If you buy luvs at BJs for  instance with coupons it would be cutting it close especially with the wet bags and sprayers etc.  Also if you go cheap like the FLIP or econobum from bum genius you can get away with pretty cheap but other diapers run $25 a pop and if you go with sized diapers you will spend quite a bit.  If you plan on using for more than one kid then absolutely! I so think that you will most likely save some money.  Also go with a 1 size fits all or a 2 size fits all diaper.  here are some reviews http://www.earthycrunchymama.com/category/reviews/cloth-diapering/.  I also like thirsties duos.  Rumparooz work best on tiny babies.  Thirsties duos are good too.  The Flip just came out with infant inserts which shoudl help them fit better on little babies.  I think the flip insert with a thirsties cover would be great. 

Go for the cloth! we are so glad we switched.

Jenn

earthycrunchymama.com

[labortrials]

I'm not a huge fan of one-size dipes, especially if you have small (and/or slow-growing) babies.  They are just SO BULKY on the wee ones.

I personally don't find pocket dipes any easier than prefolds with covers, and with my more sensitive-skinned babies, these work better than FuzziBunz or other . . . what are they called?  2-in-1 . . . systems.

Dipe covers can be hard to buy until you know the build of your baby, IMO.  My babies don't tend to have thick legs, so that factors into the type of AIO, pocket, or cover I decide to buy.  My "Especially for Baby" covers have worked just as well as spendier covers out there.  They may not last as long as other brands, but I've never been able to full-time CD, so it's less of an issue.

I recall looking at some cost analyses on-line last time around.  Here are a couple of links for you, if you're interested.  Basically, the more babies . . . the greater the savings to CD.  BUT yes, your energy and water bills will be affected, and unless you have a huge stash (and don't mind letting dirty dipes "ferment" in a pail for a while) you'll be doing extra loads of laundry.  Not an insurmountable task even for working parents.  (Who am I kidding; I don't trust DH to wash the cloth dipes!!!)

http://www.diaperdecisions.com/pages/cost_of_cloth_diapers.php (claims about 22 cents per change if you use a combo of dipes)

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/17/cloth-diapering-a-real-world-analysis/ (claims about 42 cents per washed dipe in year 1; 28 cents overall)

And according to another blog, "Parent magazine worked out that the cost of disposable diapers for one child is 1,500 – 3,000 dollars depending on the brand and how long the kid needs them.  Compare that to the cost of cloth, 700 – 1,900 dollars (including laundry costs), and again the clear winner in cloth."