Cloth Diapering to Save Money Pt. 1

Written by Diaper Diva

So…you’re frugal. Perhaps you’re like my dad & it’s just sort of this genetically inherited hobby, or perhaps you’re really in dire straights in the $ department. Regardless you’re in it to save money. Do all cloth diapers save you money over disposables? Well, that depends. It depends on what type of cloth diapers you’re going to use, what kind of covers, and even how many children you plan to diaper (the more kids you use your cloth on, the more you’re saving).

A little “googling” will bring you to a number of cost comparison charts (that one’s my favorite). It’s a good idea to take a look at these to get a feel for what you’re into.

Ok, so the skinny on the frugality: If you’re buying diapers The cheapest, yet effective way to go:

Flat Diapers: The original One-size fits all Fold & pin (or snappi) Diaper. My generation of diaperers call them the “old school dipes”. To modern folk, this seems a wee bit intimidating, but like anything else, once you figure it out, it’s not that big a deal. So you can buy 36 or so of these babies & be good to go (as far as the actual diapers are concerned) for all of diaperhood. They clean easy & dry quickly. FYI: from what I hear (I’ve never used this type of diaper) you HAVE to double up the diaper and/or add doublers as baby gets bigger for added absorbency.
Plastic Pants : Vinyl Pants. Can’t beat $9 for a 6-pack. I have to put a disclaimer here though…I would never use these unless absolutely desperate. I’ll post on covers sometime with details…but I’m not a fan of the true-blue plastic pants.

Your Approximate total so far: For Age 0-24 mo. $108

wow. Now THAT is cost-effective. Not including any doublers…but that’s not going to add a really significant cost.

Another (more popular) option:

Prefolds: These are basically the flats all sewn up how you (most often) would’ve folded the flat diaper…thus, “PRE-fold”. You will need different sizes as the baby grows with these. The cheapest option can be found in your local superstore, but i’ve heard enough poor reviews on those that we’re just not even going to calculate them in our cost-analysis.

Wrap Cover: Definitely more $ than “plastic pants” but a little more breath-able, little more adjustable, and less incidence of elastic cutting into baby’s skin (not to mention a wee bit more convenient).

Approximate cost: $286.44

Hmm…I think our time is up for today folks. Tomorrow’s we’ll talk about another way to be uber-frugal (& uber-”green”) in your diapering choice.

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