Last night while we made a budget, my husband passively asked what I have saved our family by using cloth diapers. So spurs on this blog post after a long hiatus from writing!
Have you thought about cloth diapers? Thought that people
who do them are insane? Thought to yourself you don’t have enough “time” to do
it? Thought that the cost will even out with disposables because of washing? Well, read this little
blog post I have with the cost break down and tell me what you think!
Here's a fun photo I've often seen floating around the internet:
This is an info graphic of how many diapers your child (on
average) will use in the first year of his/her life.
|
Age
|
Diaper Changes Per Day
|
Numbers of Diapers per Month
(eSTIMATED)
|
|
0-1 month
|
10-12
|
320
|
|
1-5 months
|
8-10
|
240
|
|
5-9 months
|
8
|
240
|
|
9-12 months
|
8
|
240
|
You read that right, that is 2,960 diapers for just ONE year
of life! That doesn’t even include how many wipes your child will go through in
that time. Wow!
Let me break down the
cost for year one (using generic Meijer brand diapers):
0-1 month: 320 diapers @ 5.99/36 ct (size NB) = $53.24
1-2 months: 240 diapers @ 5.99/44 ct (size 1) = $36.67
3-5 months: 240 diapers @ 13.99/80 (size 2) = $41.97/mo X 3
mo = $125.91
5-9 months: 240 diapers @ 25.99/160 (size 3) = $38.99/mo X 4
mo = $155.94
9-12 months: 240 diapers @ 25.99/144 (size 4) = $43.32/mo X
3 mo = $129.95
Total:
$501.71
The cloth cost
comparison break down (what we bought):
(you can spend more or potentially less depending on
different variables)
Flip Brand Day Pack from online @ $60 X 2 = $120
-4
covers
-6
inserts
Flip Brand cover @ $14.99 X 2 = $29.98
Flip Brand inserts 3/box @ $14.99 = $14.99
Econobum cover @ 11.95 X 2 = $23.90
Used Econobum sets $6 X 3 = $18.00
Used Flip cover = $7.95
Gerber prefolds (10) = $21.99
Homemade Cover $3.50 X 3 = $10.50
Flour Sack Towels (5) = $5.00
Cloth wipes (gift) $11.99/12 X 2 = $23.98
(a gift so not in total)
Total:
$252.31
A few additional notes…
- We live in a city where we pay/dump for trash, so cloth has even saved us money on our monthly trash bill.
- This does not include wipes for disposable diapers which are about $2/package depending on how you buy them, I don’t even know how much that would add up to!
- This does not include the cost of laundry/washing. This article (http://www.aol.com/article/2011/02/08/disposable-vs-reusable-diapers-how-to-save/19825852/?gen=1) states that it will cost an estimated $300 to clean cloth diapers by potty training. That’s not much at all!
- As for convenience…. don’t you wash your kids clothes all the time anyway?! I average about 2 laundry days per week. For diapers…they get one small hot prewash with half of the detergent required, then other baby clothes are added for the large cold main (second) wash with 1.5 scoops of detergent. Everything is tossed into the dryer together or hung, weather permitting, on the laundry line for even more savings!
- Another note on convenience...wouldn't it be nice to not have to run out to the store just because you ran out of diapers or wipes? Instead throw them in the laundry when you know you will be out and there you go! Fresh. Clean. Diapers. How's that for convenience?
All of this to say… cloth diapering saves you mucho bucks
over time and you can also reuse the diapers from kiddo to kiddo! I plan to use
all of the same diapers on baby #2 that I have used on Willa. Since we will
have two in cloth, I plan to spend under $100 to get what I need in order to be
able to cloth diaper both of them full time. That means, to cloth diaper this
next baby I will spend less than $100! I can’t wait!
Please shoot me a message if you have any questions about
how to save with cloth diapers, where to begin or how to get a good, yet simple
wash routine down. If you are at all on the fence, you can do it Mama!
Amy
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