Diaper Costs?

LONGONMOH · October 2009

Working on our monthly budget - long overdue, but how much should we estimate going toward diapers per month?

I'd rather throw a conservative (high) # in there to overplan. I love to coupon though, so I know I'll do what I can to get that # down each month.

But on the whole, how much do diapers cost per month for the first year?

TIA!

Stacyc625 · October 2009

i know we personally spend less than 20.00 a month for diapers and wipes. but i am a coupon'er and sale finder.

jettagurl · October 2009

Mine is double right now ( I have twins)...but about $60/month per child. This is based on regular prices....not after coupons. And this may get less over the course of the year - you'll change less often, but then there are less per package as the size goes up.

8 diapers/day (every 3 hrs) - so 240/30-day month.

40 in a package (Huggies Jumbo pack)

6 packs/month @ $10/pack. (its really about $9.69)

But Huggies does lots of coupons...I had $3 off/package that I used last week when Target had Huggies Jumbo pack on sale for $8.99....so I paid $5.99.

Stacyc625 · October 2009

for what it is worth- the smaller the pack of diapers- the more expensive it is.

jettagurl · October 2009

Stacyc625:
i know we personally spend less than 20.00 a month for diapers and wipes. but i am a coupon'er and sale finder.

I also have a 22 mo old, and I'd say this $20 is accurate for her....she only goes thru 4/day and we buy Target's Up&Up brand..which is $13 for 82(or so). I don't know that you could get by that cheaply with an infant though.

Stacyc625 · October 2009

I change my 16 month old- more than 7x a day.

the way to be smart about diapers is to divide the total count per package by the cost. Then you can figure out the cost per diaper. Varies of course by brand. you don't want to stock up on diapers until you know what brand works best for your LO. however after baby arrives and you find the diaper that you will use-- do the math and find the best price per diaper. bigger cases are usually the best way to go.

HarrietNJMommy · October 2009

Have you considered cloth diapers? They are less expensive than disposables in the long run. I'm CDing my DS, and I wish I had done it for the girls as well (I never did the research).

GL!

wmthorpe0815 · October 2009

my baby is 18 mos and i say we spent the first couple months 40 a month on diapers pampers. then it went down rapidly to 20 when he got older and has stayed at that. i can use a package of size 3 diapers for a month and it cost 20

DNK777 · October 2009

I spend around $20. I spent a little bit more the first few months because I bought Pampers and she needed changed more often, but I got a lot as gifts so I couldn't tell you how much I would've spent. I use Kroger brand now.

Jerseygirl16 · October 2009

It depends on the brand. Personally we start baby out in Swaddlers since they are awesome and then once they outgrow them we switch to Target brand which are much cheaper and very good. I'd budget about $40 a month I think.

Jerseygirl16 · October 2009

I wanted to add that $40 a month is only my estimate for year one. After that it gets a bit cheaper. We do both girls for about $40 a month now... diapers and wipes.

jenifairies · October 2009

When I bought Pampers (by the case) at Walmart it would have been $40 per month. I used pampers sensitive wipes, too, so that was maybe $10?Right now I use Luvs at $15/case and go through about 1.5 in a month. I buy the cases of wm brand wipes - I can't remember the exact price, but I know it averages less than $5/mo.

I would say unless you buy small packs at regular prices of expensive brands, you should stay under $40 for your budget.

MainelyFoolish · October 2009

When DD was a newborn we would use about 1 jumbo pack of Pampers Swaddlers per week. At $10 a pack, that's about $40/month. Add another $10 for wipes and that'll bring you to $50/month for diapers and wipes. You can definitely spend less than that, but I think that's a reasonable amount to budget.

jen5-03 · October 2009

HarrietNJMommy:

Have you considered cloth diapers? They are less expensive than disposables in the long run. I'm CDing my DS, and I wish I had done it for the girls as well (I never did the research).

GL!

And it can be done for under $500 for birth through PTing. Not to mention that diapering baby #2 is going to cost me under $100 and that's only because of stuff I wanted to buy, not because I really had to. Embarrassed

ReeseM · October 2009

jen5/03:
HarrietNJMommy:

Have you considered cloth diapers? They are less expensive than disposables in the long run. I'm CDing my DS, and I wish I had done it for the girls as well (I never did the research).

GL!

And it can be done for under $500 for birth through PTing. Not to mention that diapering baby #2 is going to cost me under $100 and that's only because of stuff I wanted to buy, not because I really had to.

Agree with all of this! It is an up front cost, but it is so nice not having to worry about running out of diapers, and running to the store all the time, etc.

If you want to look into it, check out the Eco Friendly Family board. Lots of nice ladies!