How much did your stash cost?

LauraJB313

I've been lurking off and on for a while and am definitely leaning towards cloth but am still trying to sell DH.  One thing he wants to know is how much we will really be spending/saving (we found a baby store with CDs and he had some major sticker shock).  It seems like the pro-CD resources list the price for prefolds the whole way through but the actual, real-life norm seems to be a mixed stash.

I know stashes are usually in a state of flux... new fluff coming in while the others are being sold, but on average, how much does your active duty CD stash cost?  (If you happen to remember your newborn stash cost too, that would be amazing.) 

TIA! 

tokenhoser

My "basic" newborn stash was $85 used (24 gmd infant fitteds, 6 covers, cloth wipes). I spent another $50 on some splurge AIOs and $20 on a couple Thirsties Duos covers.

I've spent around $300 on my "active duty" diapers, and then maybe another $100 on misc. stuff (pail,disposable liners, wet bags, overnight inserts). And then yes, there has been some buying and selling and trading on top of that.

Buy used. Check the local CL - no shipping can save money. Figure out diaperswappers.com forums or look on the Cloth Diaper Trader . Newborn stuff is used for such a short time (1-3 months) that used things are generally in good shape. My stash has been through 5 or 6 babies and is still totally functional.

tjkdlhb

I spent about 300$ (including prefolds, diaper pail liners, wet bags, covers, 4 AIOs, and some pocket diapers for when baby is bigger) so far, and once baby is born will probably spend another 200$.  Another thing to look at are diapers like Kawaii... they are cheaper than most, but still have good reviews. Alvababy are worth looking at too... very cute diapers.  I ordered a couple to try, but LO isn't here yet for me to rate them  Buy a few different types before buying a whole stash.  I have bought all of mine new, but a lot of people buy second hand.  I made my own wipes by cutting up old receiving blankets... but ended up with more than enough facecloths at my shower to use!

You can re-sell your diapers, or use them for future children if you plan on having more babies.

natalie7s19

With my first we used a diaper service for the first 6 mos, which was a gift, so it was free for us. My second, we spent $200 on a NB stash of used Lil Joeys and GroVia NBs, which we then sold for $200, so that also ended up being free, in the long run.

Our one-size stash has probably cost us around $500 over the last 2 years. It's about 75% used, from Spot's Corner on Hyena Cart or the FSOT groups on Facebook. We plan on having one more kid, so even if I spend a couple hundred more replacing worn-out diapers (or buying girly diapers ), we will still have saved thousands.

sosoph

We use sized fitteds, so right now we have 24 diapers plus 4 covers and it cost around $250. We've been in these diapers a year and we may not have to size up before potty training. We also have 20 pockets for daycare that I spent about $100 on (ebay). And I have 4 nighttime diapers, that were $60ish.  (I have always washed every 3 days, so I have that many more diapers)

For the newborn phase, I got 36 KL0's and 6 covers. The diapers were pricey compared to prefolds, but there was no way those would win my husband over, so I decided that part of the cost was a long-term investment in getting dh to agree to cloth, which worked. We're about to use them for round 2, and eventually we'll sell them so we'll come out ahead of disposibles.  Green mountain workhorse and Little lion are two good, reasonably priced newborn fitteds.

momofmanyinthemitten

I am probably between $500 and $600. I bought everything new, as I plan on using them with the rest of our children (we're hoping for 3-4 more). That includes 7 fitteds, wool soakers, 30-ish OS pockets, 1.5 dozen prefolds, 1/2 dozen GMD workhorses, covers, snappis, cloth wipes, fleece liners, pail liners, and diaper cream.

LottaLattes

You basically start to trade off ease of use for money.  You can CD with prefolds and covers for a couple hundred total.  They also are super easy to maintain (you don't end up with a lot of the problems you get with synthetic fibers and such) and crazy cheap and durable.  The closer you get to organic cotton AIOs, the more you can spend.  I have bought one diaper full-price and everything else has been either on a really good sale or used.  I have spent more than necessary and have too many diapers right now, but wanted a large enough variety that when I have my twins all I have to do is sell what I don't want, not search for what I do want at a good price.

So don't let a full price retail shop influence your decision too much!  You can get diapers for much, much cheaper.  I probably spent $500 on my NB stash, but again am buying for two and wanted a LOT of AIOs as I know I will be too tired to see half the time.  And also wanted to have enough time to wash and dry without running out.  And I will sell them after for roughly what I bought them for as I will only have lightly used them (a benefit of a large stash) and they resell well. 

So until you sell your diapers, you won't really save as much unless you buy more frugal diapers.  But my long-term savings will be super!  Or so I keep telling my husband

unstuck6jb

I think even if you spend the big bucks on some of the more expensive, brand name diapers, after a few years you should still save money over what sposies would cost you, but I finally gave in and decided to use more pre-folds and covers and less AIO's in order to keep the cost down.  I have found pre-folds for really cheap, around $1-2 a peice and I'm hopeful that I can re-use covers more than once if there are no leaks so hopefully I won't need quite as many of those.  Even if I do have to buy a bunch more covers in the long run, I've only spent about $150 so far for my newborn stash and about 8 AIO's for later so I feel like I'm off to an economical start.  Just shop around a lot before you dig in and start buying!  You will be amazed at what you'll find!  GL!

Josie22

I'm at about $150-$175 with all my newborn stash & supplies. That's because I got a lot used. I have a mix of covers & prefold, AIO & pockets. I figure my active duty stash after this stage will probably be $300. Maybe less since I hope to fall in love with the cheapy pockets I have on order. But I'll still be ordering lots of used the get some US AIO. It'll just depend on what I can find

kacelle

Way, way more than was necessary.  I loved prefolds and Thirsties covers in the NB stage and now use mostly OS pockets and AIOs.  Although I do prefer other brands, I could've purchased all inexpensive brands like Kawaiis and paid a few hundred total.  We aren't CDing for the money though, so we didn't mind spending more to get the types of diapers we preferred.

lynnyrd80

I think there is a lot of good information on here to keep costs down.  I also wanted to add that if you will be having a shower, you can register for cloth diapers.  I have an amazon registry and hope to get a lot of my stash at my shower.  Whether my shower guests are going to buy the cloth diapers is a whole different question though...

HSartteach

For my son, we spent just over $500 for our flips stash, but that included buying both the stay-dry inserts (we bought before we finally decided LO was allergic to the microsuede) and the organic inserts.  It also included all wetbags, garbage cans to hold the wetbags, detergent, diaper sprayer, and containers to hold the clean diapers.

For #2, we are currently building a stash of 1size pockets.  We have bought several different types.  We are at about $370.  I still have about 6 more to buy.  I will probably spend about <$100 more.

I know it took about 6 months to "recoup" our money with the flips.  I figure it will be about the same for this one.  However, it may be less time since we are starting much earlier this time.  With DS we started when he was 7 mos.

ETA: I bought all new.  I just can't bring myself to put used diapers on my LO's bums...no matter how many times they care stripped.  At first we thought we would use the flips for #2, but I wanted something different and easier for daycare.  My DC did use the flips, but I feel these will be easier for them.  I was able to sell off the stay-dry inserts, so I got some of that money back.  We will probably not re-sell the flips covers, and the organic inserts will hang around to use as dust cloths as they are wearing and wouldn't re-sell very well.

I know it sounds like a lot, but it is worth it to me to not have my kids in disposables very often.

sabrina69barnes

Everything probably cost about $500 but I have a  much larger stash than I actually need. This also includes wetbags, pails, snappis, and all of my diapers. I have about 100 prefolds, 15 flats, 35 covers, 20 pockets, 10 AIOs, 10 various extra inserts,  and 8 cloth pull ups. I've been building this stash for about two years. It's enough for two kids to be in diapers at the same time and I have everything from newborn to potty training. For me to pay for this much use in disposables would have cost me a fortune. 

My newborn stash cost me less than $100 but it will fit longer than disposable newborn diapers would. I have 25 prefolds, 15 flats, 10 thirsties covers in both sz1 and xs, and two snappis. I'm sure I don't need this many but the prefolds and flats were dirt cheap and I'll use them as doublers or cleaning rags later.

LauraJB313

Thanks everyone!  This really helps!

SaraTF

Our nb and small stash alone was under $200 (from birth to about 15 lb, which we haven't hit yet!) OS and larger prefolds/covers about $450. And we've spent about $100 on accessories (wetbags, wipes, liners, etc.) 

I panicked a little when I first saw that number, but I'm actually okay with it. You could definitely save money very easily (buying used, looking out for sales, lots of prefolds, etc.) I bought a lot new. Also, I like having more than we really need, so that I can line dry a lot of it. And because DS is going to daycare, he needs more 'easy' diapers than we use at home (and wetbags and diaper cream).

We've never used disposables, but a quick search estimated about $70  a month for diapers (not sure if that's realistic). Given that we may need to buy a couple more things before DS is potty trained, I would guess that we break even with disposables in a year. But, then you have to add in that we won't be spending hardly anything on the next kid. Also, if we needed to liquidate, we could sell everything and make a decent chunk (also a reason to buy well-known brands and have enough in rotation that they are lightly worn).

Hope that helps! 

Also want to add, that DH was on the fence but now loves cloth. When I told him how much we had spent he said that it didn't really matter... Maybe he should have bit his tongue! (The few times we used disposable when going out, DH got leaked on.) 

ohtara

I have more than I need and I have spent a total of $375. The only things that I didn't buy new were my hemp inserts (which were given to me by a girlfriend for babysitting for her) and 1 dozen GMD newborn prefolds (you couldn't even tell they were used, except for the fluffiness).

I have cut costs a number of ways. I never pay full price for anything. If you are patient you can get some really awesome bargains by site-stalking. I constantly checked Ebay for dipes, also babycenter's CD swap, and the CD website that I am loyal to is MomsMilkBoutique. They seem to always have the deepest discounts and a great rewards program, and it's free shipping over $25.

For the amount I paid, I currently have:

8 Thirsties Duo AIO (size 1)-- my fave AIO by far
6 Thirsties Duo Wraps (size 1)
1 Rumparooz OS cover
12 Sunbaby OS pockets + 12 bamboo blend inserts
2 Alva OS pockets + 4 microfiber inserts
2 Disana newborn-3mos wool soakers
36 prefolds various sizes
8 hemp inserts
3 snappis
wool care products
coconut oil
disposable liners for outings or babysitters
2 Alva wetbags
30ish cloth wipes

I'll be able to CD my newborn and toddler with this, easily. Or it can be used for one child newborn through potty training. You do have to factor in paying for CD safe detergent. We use Country Save and it's not expensive.

I did not purchase a diaper pail (I just use a regular old bucket in the laundry room), or a diaper sprayer. Instead of the sprayer I just use our detachable shower head since it's right next to the toilet. It might seem like a lot of money up front, but trust me it is so worth it when you're not buying disposables or wipes every 2 weeks.

goldbu

I have spent about $500 for our stash so far. This doesn't include newborn diapers - we're doing a rental for that. We have about 25 pockets of various brands, 3 AIOs, 7 fitteds, and a few covers. About 65% of what we bought was used the rest was new and on sale. The $500 also includes all the accessories such as pail liners, wet bags, cloth wipes, etc. We have more than we need, but that is mainly because we bought the used diapers as a lot from a seller on craigslist. 

flyer23

I'm at around $1000. But I've been at this since late 2008, over two kids... DD was in cloth FT for a year, then part time (naps/nights) for another 1.5 years. DS was in cloth FT for 2 years and is now down to nights. I'm not anticipating spending any more money to diaper this baby. In fact, I have too many diapers and need to sell some off, so ask me again how much I've spent in a few months and hopefully that number will be lower

DS's NB stash was about $100. "NB" is a bit of a misnomer because that included all the XS and small stuff, which lasted the first three months. Some of it lasted longer, e.g. he was in the same prefolds from birth to 13 months.

Quizzle

You probably do not want to know, but that's because I have gotten into WAHM fitteds and they are pricey. 

 

I'd say for my pockets, which are my daycare diapers and what we used exclusively for a few months, around $600. Most were purchased new, but some I bought used and some I got free with Kelly's Closet free diaper promos. Some are also seconds from Blueberry sales.  Add another 50 or so for wetbags. Most of our stash are name brands: we have BumGenius, Happy Heiny and Blueberries, plus a few Fuzzibunz and Knickernappies thrown in. And 2 or 3 Kawaiis which are cheap and reliable. 

 

Our newborn stash was around $100, mostly prefolds and some fitteds but also some sized Ai2s I bought from a friend who hardly used them.  I still used the prefolds to stuff diapers. 

 

Remember there's some resale value on these too. Moreso for the fitteds but even pockets you can sell for about 40% of what you paid if they're in good snape.