Cloth Diapering on the Cheap

There are many reasons to cloth diaper. Cloth feels better to baby than paper. Cloth is better for the environment. Cloth is better on your budget in the long run. Besides the fact that cloth diapers are just so darn cute!

The start-up costs of cloth diapering can be a deterrent. All in one diapers can cost almost $20 each, and you'll need at least 2 dozen. Not many people have over $400 of disposable income (excuse the pun) to start cloth diapering. I am going to share with you how I started my stash for the cost of 40 days of disposables.

Before we begin, let me take a moment to discuss wipes. In this article I am going to discuss the cost of only the diapers, not the wipes. My solution for cloth wipes was cutting 4 flannel hospital baby blankets into 6 rectangles and hemming up the sides. The blankets were free to me, although flannel can usually be caught on sale for around $2 a yard. I use only water on my wipes. You can mix up a wipe solution with some water, baby wash and baby oil and keep it in a spray bottle if you like. I personally find it easiest to use cloth wipes. The used wipes go in the wash with the diapers. Some people choose to continue to use disposable wipes.

The cost of disposable diapers can vary greatly depending on the brand, size and quantity you purchase. For the purpose of this comparison, I am going to compare size 3 diapers to a similar size of cloth diaper. Here are the two cheapest possibilities I found for disposable diapering. If you purchase Luvs brand diapers from a popular on-line store diapers.com you can get 2 extra large cases of diapers for $71.98 with free shipping. Each case contains 205 diapers. Assuming you use 9 diapers per day the deal will last you 45.5 days and cost just under $0.18 per diaper. Of course most people don't order their disposables on-line. You can get close to that low price in a brick and mortar store. According to the walgreens.com website the cost of a 60 pack of their brand of size 3 disposable diapers in their stores is $10.99. This comes out to about $0.18 per diaper. Assuming the use of 9 diapers per day the cost for 40 days or 6 packs of Walgreens disposable diapers is $65.94. This does not include tax or the gas you used to get to the store.

One of the cheapest cloth diapering systems available today are prefolds and wool covers. Prefolds are layered rectangles of fabric that are folded and held in place with pins, Snappis or just a cover. You will want to purchase Diaper Service Quality (DSQ) prefolds. This means that they are strong, absorbent and durable enough to be used by a diaper service and laundered with industrial strength washers and dryers. Prefold are also identified by the number of layers they have. There are always more layers in the middle. For good absorption you should purchase 4-6-4 or 4-8-4 diapers. These are not the Gerber diapers that you find in department stores.

Prefolds can be purchased used on on-line trading posts such as Diaperswappers or Mothering. If you prefer to buy new, you can shop on-line on eBay or Affordable Diapers. Affordable Diapers sells 6-packs of prefold seconds (Seconds means that they have minor cosmetic flaws.) for $8.00 each. I have 24 prefolds and wash every other day. With shipping the price of 2 dozen prefolds is $37.49. To learn how to wash and fasten prefold diapers, please visit the Diaper Pin.

Now that you have the prefolds, you need a way to fasten them. Some prefold users simply lay the diaper inside a cover. This works well for wet diapers, but for containing dirty diapers you need to fold and fasten the diapers. You can accomplish this with pins or a Snappi. I strongly recommend a Snappi. They are easy to use, quick to put on and will help you get a snug fit. I purchased 2 Snappis when I started cloth diapering. I used one and had the other for backup. You can buy 2-packs of Snappis from many work at home mom websites, on-line cloth diaper stores or eBay. I got a 2-pack on eBay for $6.00 including shipping.
You will also need several covers. I started out with 5 covers. You can get waterproof covers very cheap on the on-line trading posts mentioned above. They will cost you $5-$20 each. If you are trying to cloth diaper on the cheap, I recommend wool covers. You can pick up wool sweaters at the local thrift store. My local thrift store often has sales where you can fill up a shopping bag for $5. There are instructions on-line for Bum Sweaters, Katrina Covers and Sleeve Longies.If you have a sewing machine and even a small amount of skill you will be able to make beautiful wool covers. The pattern for Bum Sweaters is so simple and small that I hand sewed them. So assuming you spend about $5.00 on several sweaters, since you can get 2 - 3 covers from each one, and $2.00 on notions like thread you will have all the covers you need for $7.00.

You can buy special wool wash on-line, but I have had much success with washing in baby shampoo ($1.50) and then lanolizing with Lansinoh. Lansinoh is a lanolin cream you can buy in most drug stores used to heal sore nipples. Walgreens sells it for $9.99 a tube. Instructions for washing and lanolizing wool can be found on the Diaper Pin as well.

This is all you will need to start your stash. The price of diapers ($37.49), Snappis ($6.00), and covers ($7.00 + $1.50 + $9.99) comes to $61.98. That puts the cloth diapers almost $4.00 under the 40 day goal. If you wish to expand your stash later, you can buy diapers one at a time. This ensures that you don't spend a great deal of money on diapers that may not work for you.

Cloth diapering can be a rewarding experience. You can save money, pamper you baby and protect the environment all with one easy decision. It's also important to remember that cloth diapering doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing ordeal. Even cloth diapering part time can greatly impact your diaper budget. I encourage you to give cloth diapers a chance.