- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Cloth Diapering
Considering Cloth Diapering
My FI is really pushing us doing cloth diapers due to the obvious cost difference from disposables not for any environmental reasons. I am much more comfortable with disposables. Every baby I have been around has been in disposable diapers and I don't know the first thing about cloth diapering. I also don't see FI being too happy about the extra poop handling included with cloth diapering being that he is already scared about being peed on. This is our first child BTW. I guess my question is : Are cloth diapers REALLY that much cheaper and where do I start on information about them. It seems like there are so many pieces that you need just to get started.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Considering Cloth Diapering
I didn't know much about CDing either before we started!
Tooting my own horn here, but I have quite a few CD posts on my blog if you'd like to check them out.
https://www.theaccidentalwallflower.com/p/cloth-diapers.html
Also search for the Cloth Diapers 101 video series on YouTube, such a great resource!
And to answer your question about cost, yes, they can be much cheaper. But you could end up about even with disposables if you go crazy and buy a ton, they are soooo cute and addictive to buy. But, you can use them for multiple children, so the cost savings are there, but you do have to spend more up front since each diaper costs about $10-25 (you can find cheaper if you want).
BFP #2: 8.31.16 Dx w/ GD @ 28w DD Born @ 36w: 4.21.17
Jenn & Jason
September 27, 2008
I suggest getting a diaper trial (like Jillian's drawers) and try out different kinds and see what you like.
You definitely save doing CDing, but how much you save depends on the type you use (prefolds, pockets, fitteds...) Prefolds are the cheapest. You can save a TON if you do prefolds and covers. You could get enough for about $200-$300. And if you get used you can save even more.
I would be using prefolds, but my DD is SO squirmy and difficult to change so I like to use pockets.... and honestly, the pockets are just so cute! I still use her prefolds, but not that often. I did use them a lot though when DD was a young baby and diaper changes were easy.
Money savings can be extreme. It costs anywhere from 2000-3000 dollars to use sposies on a child until 2.5 (potty training age, but boys tend to pt later, closer to 3.5 or even 4). You can cloth diaper for as little as 200 or 300, if you use prefolds and covers or a cheap brand like Kawaii or Alva baby. We have Kawaiis and love them, they are awesome!
Pocket diapers are easy, once you stuff the insert into the shell it goes on like a disposable in one easy piece. You can add extra inserts to increase the absorbancy for a heavy wetter or night time diaper. You should look into pockets if you are worried about it being "hard".
You can get pocket diapers that are one-size, adjustable from 10-35 pounds. This set of diapers will last until your LO is potty trained. For newborns, you can get smaller diapers like Kawaii Pure and Natural (6-22 pounds), Kissaluvs size 0, newborn prefolds and covers, Lil'Joey all in ones, etc.
I second checking out the cloth 101 series on youtube, the cloth diaper channel on youtube, the website allaboutclothdiapers.com, the faq at the top of the page, and pp's blog.
Also, if your DF is concerned about poop, it helps to know that you will be dealing with LESS poop in a cloth diapered baby. Blowouts, or poopsplosions, are common and frequent in disposable diapered babies (think: poop all over LO's clothes, blankets, crib, carseat, swing, etc.) Ewww! Cloth diapers, on the other hand, can pretty much contain it all. So less outfit changes, no washing poopy clothes with your own laundry.
As for what you need to get started, basically newborns go through 12 diapers a day so you need to think about how often you want to wash (at least every third day). DS uses 6-8 a day at 6.5 months old and I wash every other day. So maybe 16-20 one size diapers for when LO is older, and 18-24 for the newborn stage. CD safe detergent (country save, original powdered tide, or other safe brand), CD safe rash cream, 2 hanging wet bags or pail liners and a pail, 2 small or medium wet bags for the diaper bag, wipes (cloth ones are great, but there is nothing wrong with using disposable ones, it just means you need a garbage where you change LO too), and a sprayer for once Lo is on solid food. I think I spent $400 or so on my stash and not only will I diaper this baby, but our next one too!
Cloth is awesome! Do some more research and give it a go!
See if a baby store in your area does a cloth diapering class - that way you can see all the options at once. There are pros and cons to all the different types. My class was free and helped me learn all the different "lingo" (pre-folds? pocket diapers?) here is a good FAQ that addresses many beginner questions.
https://www.nickisdiapers.com/Imagine-Baby-Products_bymfg_89-1-1.html
Yes, cloth is REALLY that much cheaper. And when your LO is out of diapers you can sell them. I've spent ~$300 net on my diapers and will not need to buy any more diapers for DD (though I probably will because there are a couple I'd like to try). But even if I spend another $100 I will still be ahead by ~$1600 over disposables before even trying to sell the diapers when DD is done with them.
Regarding poop, I look at it this way: with a baby there will be poop-handling regardless of your diapering choice. Unless you end up with a baby that miraculously does not have explosive poops, with disposables the poop will be on the carseat, stroller, outfit, bedding, etc, when you least expect it. With cloth, the poop will be in the diaper where it's supposed to be. I much prefer dealing with poop where I expect it. The few times DD has been in sposies (during a bout of yeast rash, a 2 week vacation overseas and in the beginning when I was hesitant to use cloth while out and about) I could pretty much count on at least one poop leak per day. With cloth, the one poop leak in 7 months was because I put DD in a diaper that was too big for her.
Agree with PPs to check out the FAQ and also lurk on this board to familiarize yourself with what you'll need to get started. I didn't know a thing about cloth diapers until about a year ago, but DH & I decided we wanted to use them for the cost savings. So we just dove in.
Look at who you're asking, a bunch of cloth diaper lovers! Seriously, it is great. There isn't much extra poop handling. You have so many more blowouts (aka poopsplosions) when using disposables that you will end up touching poop anyway, except that you will have no control over where it happens. I haven't had any untimely blowouts. I've had very few leaks, and only when my DS decided not to poop for two days and I picked him up, causing it to squish out the leg holes.
You could check out my blog as well, if you would like. I just started it, so it's all Cloth Diapering 101 type of stuff in layman's terms. It's https://theprincesnewcloth.blogspot.com/.
I will warn you that CDing is really, really addictive once you get into it! You will find yourself loving the cuteness factor of all of the prints and different styles. CDs are clothes that your baby can poop in, so you could get hooked. I know I did! That's why I started the blog.
I considered cloth diapering for a long time before I actually went out and got the diapers. Now that I have them, it's AMAZING to NEVER have to go to the store and buy diapers!
I got all of my diapers (25 pockets with 2 inserts each) for around $250. That's as much as it would cost for 25 small packages of diapers, which DON'T last, especially in the newborn stage! Lol.
And those 25 diapers last the whole time, because they're one size fits all!
Plus, if you have more children, you already have diapers, and never have to worry about buying diapers
I wish I would've started WAY earlier with my son!
Also, since you have 11 more weeks to go (give or take), if you go buy 1 or 2 diapers a week starting now, it cuts down the shock of spending so much money on diapers all at once
I think it is great that you are willing to keep an open mind and put a little research into it. I'm a Nov 2012 mommy and saw your post in there. I can understand how upset you were that someone was so forceful about the idea. I think that would get my feathers ruffled. You have gotten some good advice on here! I haven't started using CDs yet, but plan on it and have already started on my stash. I hope it goes well for you what ever you decide. The only other thing I have to add is you can buy used diapers on diaperswappers.com. I have purchased a few of the more expensive diapers on there that I wanted in my stash and it was a good experience. And you can also sell your stash when you are done, so you even get some money back! I don't know how many children you are planning on, but we are only planning on one, so I hope to get good use out of my CDs and then perhaps if they hold up well get a little money back in the end.
Your post got me thinking about how much we've spent on cloth diapers so far. We have a dry bag, two pail liners, a diaper pail, 36 flat diapers, and have purchased 10 covers (some newborn size, some good through about 12-20 pounds, and some one size). Many of the items on the list were gifts, but you have to assume that no one will buy any of these things for you. The total cost of our cloth diaper supplies is $375. Now, the flat diapers are made from diaper flannel, which was pretty expensive, and each one worked out to $4/diaper. My mom made those as a gift, but if I'd been doing it myself I would have bought some birdseye cotton flats from Green Mountain Diapers for much less. We will also need to buy a few more covers as DS gets bigger. I didn't want to invest too heavily in one type of diaper until I knew what worked best.
I find I handle much less poop using cloth diapers than I did when DS wore disposables. Granted, this might change when he starts solids and I have to scrape or plop poop into the toilet. Then I'll probably spend another $45 and buy a diaper sprayer.
We were buying Pampers at Wal-Mart until DS was about six weeks old, and we figure the diapers cost $0.25 each. DS is going through about nine diapers a day. I figure disposables would have cost us over $1600 in the first two years of life, and I estimate cloth diapering will cost us about $500. I am trying to take good care of our covers so they can be used with a second baby, meaning we'd spend well over $3000 on disposable diapers vs. maybe $600 or so with cloth. I use Tide Ultra HE powder and wash diapers about every second or third day. The advantage of flats is that they are MUCH easier to wash and dry. I don't mind the diaper laundry at all, and I work full time outside the home.
All that being said, I was the one who wanted to do cloth diapers, and I was fully prepared to do all the changing and washing on my own, since my husband was not really on board. His oldest son used disposables, and his mother put DH and my SIL in disposables, too. He had no exposure to cloth. My mom, on the other hand, still brags about her cloth diaper wash routine from when I was baby, and I had some friends and family who'd used cloth in the last 10-15 years. I think it would have been EXTREMELY unfair to tell my husband we were going to use cloth and then leave him alone to figure out how to use and wash them. I get that your fiance wants to save money and has latched onto cloth as a possible means for doing so, and if that's the case, he needs to step up to the plate and do the lion's share of the work.
Married Bio * BFP Charts