DH is making me question myself... $$$

SomersIsles · March 2014

So this whole pregnancy DH and I were planning to cloth diaper. I haven't bought one diaper yet... Partial procrastination and partial cold feet.

Well, DH announces that he thinks maybe we should reconsider because of costs. Apparently he did some research (I'm actually impressed! Haha) and he has the number 36 in his head as how many diapers we need. He's only willing to do the One Size pockets because they seem to be the most user friendly and obviously should last until potty training (for the most part). I also agree with one size pockets.

So now he's thinking "worst case scenario" and saw BumGenius 4.0 (the ones we've been eyeing) are about $17 each. So, $17 x 36 diapers = $612 ... + tax = $650ish. He doesn't think the cost of disposable diapers will rack up that much ... Plus he's thinking about water and electricity and time.

Time is a realistic argument. He said 36 is a good number because we typically slack on laundry and god forbid we "run out"... I kinda see it...

I admit, he's very logical but I'm wondering what the counter argument would be.

First... When would someone typically cross the $600 mark when buying disposables?

Any other insight?

(I posted this on my BMB but figured I'd seek out the professionals

)

blondolphn · March 2014

Bahamas yeah you will spend more than that in 1 year. And your laundry will be going up anyway. My response to him, I'll let you scrub the poo stains out of the clothes then....

TJ1979 · March 2014

So first of all, the bad news is that OS won't fit a newborn. They won't fit till 10 lbs.
But the good news is you really only need 24 for every-other-day washing. I'm super lazy and easily wash EOD with 24 dipes. Secondly, you will spend 650 REALLY QUICKLY in disposables. I can't remember the exact numbers, but there's a calculator out there.
The cost of water, electricity, and detergent hasn't gone up really noticeably. With cloth, you will have less blowouts and leaks, so you won't have to change LOs outfit 3 times a day and wash your sheets and swing and PNP and jumper covers as often.
The only other thing I would mention is that most people will caution you against buying all one type of diaper. They might not for your LOs particular body shape. And for changes over time. Think of it like jeans. I know I can wear express jeans and they fit my body type. But ny&co jeans just never fit me right. Make sense? That being said, I started out with 24 BG Freetimes and used those exclusively with no issues until I discovered best bottoms, which are great for travel.

mrshudson618 · March 2014

First, 36 is a good number for newborns, but 24is plenty for one size.

If you were super frugal and only bought sposies on sake and with coupons you are looking at a minimum of $.12 a sposie (closer to $.25 is more realistic though). For the first couple months you will go through 12-15 diapers a day at least. After that 6-8 is normal. At $.12 you would hit $600 at about 12-16 months, at $.25 it would be at 6-8 months old. Potty training is anywhere from 2 years to even 3 and a half or more, so total you are looking at anywhere from $1,000 to 3,000 depending on what you pay and when you potty train.

Do you want more kids? Cloth can be used again so you should factor that
in too.

ETA: So, the counter argument to his is that he is just wrong. Take him to the store to look at the price of disposables.

TJ1979 · March 2014

The resale value or reusing for the next baby are huge cost savers too.

SomersIsles · March 2014

Good stuff! Thanks! I'm thinking 36 is quite a lot... So 24 really changes the argument.

I always resort back to the fact that we won't likely have blowouts... That's always my leading argument lol

We will use disposables for the first few weeks so I still have time to scour sales... Any good websites for BG 4.0 deals?

TJ1979 · March 2014

Cottonbabies often runs "buy 5 get one free." When are you due? There should be good earth day sales if you can wait that long.

Chichigo · March 2014

You can also consider buying used diapers to save more money. My husband doubts we are saving much using cloth, but he also gets frustrated when we have to change two disposables in a short time.

Loriimagination · March 2014

Cottonbabies has seconds sales every couple of months, too. I think 4.0's are usually around $11 but without inserts. Most of my OS stash has been bought from seconds sales!

Danie007 · March 2014

Btw, some babies can't use the cheap brands of disposables due to rashes and other sensitivities. That could up the disposable price too.

freezorburn · March 2014

If you really want to save money I recommend getting some prefolds + covers or flats + covers for NB stage, even if you only CD part time during that time you will be saving money. You go through so many more diapers during the early days. Then later you can stuff your 4.0s with your NB/small prefolds or flats when you need to add absorbency or your MF inserts get tired.

Also if you spend some time lurking on this board you will see that while some people do just fine with a stash of just one type/brand of diaper, we usually recommend having a diverse stash. Occasionally a baby turns out to have a sensitivity to the microsuede lining in 4.0s, and if that's all you have then you will probably be very frustrated with your diapers.

karenhorning · March 2014

Newborns go through 10-15 diapers a day, so ~36 changes is what is usually recommended for a newborn stash if you want to wash every 2 days. As baby gets older and sleeps through the night the number of changes will decrease. Usually ~24 changes is sufficient for a One-Size (or medium-large) stash.
One-Size diapers typically do not fit at birth, so you will either need to purchase newborn cloth diapers or use disposables for the first little while. The Bumgenius 4.0 OS pockets fit fairly early, earlier than most of the other OS diapers we have, at ~1month for us.

I've been told that people usually spend ~$2000 on disposables per child (PT at ~2.5years). Have you husband go to the store and price out what it would cost to buy ~3000 disposables diapers during the first year.

Robi1 · March 2014

Think about wipes, too... you can save so much money not buying disposable wipes! Cloth wipes can be as cheap as FREE (make your own with all the receiving blankets you will never use, or just use all the extra baby washcloths that you really don't need) and will save you a ton over time!

I use all Bumgenius 4.0s and love them. I've easily saved money already and LO is only 7 months. The cost benefit is impossible to refute unless you really go crazy and buy way too many or expensive diapers. Especially for more than one kid! But there are so many other benefits. Have you talked to your husband about the environmental benefits, the better-for-baby's-skin, never having to worry about changing sizes or running out and picking up diapers at the last minute? Plus they work so much better - no blowouts/leaks etc. Definitely worth it for so many reasons!

Aurora_Borealis · March 2014

Depending on where you live, you'll cross the $600 mark with disposables before your LO is 6 months old. No joke. I live in a HCOL area & we would have spent that in 4 months. (Seriously, I can't find brand name diapers *on sale* for less than 30-40 cents each).

PPs are right - you can't use BG 4.0s on a newborn. DD was an average birth weight baby and fit into them at 6-8 weeks. And in 8 weeks we would have spent about $300 on disposables, so a newborn stash is more than worth it. Get yourself 36 newborn/size 1 prefolds, 2 snappis and 8 covers. They will contain runny newborn poo far better than disposables and cost far less. Plus you can use the prefolds to stuff pockets later. And use everything on a future baby.

Also, it's not a great idea to buy all of one style of diaper before your LO arrives and you find out what you like and what fits best. But by all means get a few BG 4.0s as they are popular and tend to fit most babies pretty well. I had some for DD and liked them, but am glad they weren't my entire stash, since she outgrew the rise on them at about 28 lbs. But I got my money's worth and then some - I bought mine either used or on sale and ended up selling them for just $1-2 less than what I paid for them.

freezorburn · March 2014

lbs2012 said:

mrshudson618 said:

First, 36 is a good number for newborns, but 24is plenty for one size. If you were super frugal and only bought sposies on sake and with coupons you are looking at a minimum of $.12 a sposie (closer to $.25 is more realistic though). For the first couple months you will go through 12-15 diapers a day at least. After that 6-8 is normal. At $.12 you would hit $600 at about 12-16 months, at $.25 it would be at 6-8 months old. Potty training is anywhere from 2 years to even 3 and a half or more, so total you are looking at anywhere from $1,000 to 3,000 depending on what you pay and when you potty train. Do you want more kids? Cloth can be used again so you should factor that in too. ETA: So, the counter argument to his is that he is just wrong. Take him to the store to look at the price of disposables.

There were several times in the first 3 weeks when we'd have a fresh CD under LO and he would begin to pee or poop AGAIN. Our thought was man, that would have been a sposie right in the trash. I remember several days where he would go 17-20 times. It was insane. CD is certainly cheaper than sposies.

This too

SomersIsles · March 2014

Robi1 said:

Think about wipes, too... you can save so much money not buying disposable wipes! Cloth wipes can be as cheap as FREE (make your own with all the receiving blankets you will never use, or just use all the extra baby washcloths that you really don't need) and will save you a ton over time!

This is another part of my plan. I received about 30 individual washcloths from my baby shower... 30! They're a variety of carters, circo, and I think generic target. I figured if I'm going to be washing cloth diapers... I might as well wash cloth wipes too, ya know?

I should just have DH read this thread... you're all quite convincing

I'm due March 16th... so i'm cutting it close! But we also received a boatload of newborn diapers and size 1 diapers at my shower that couldn't be returned (picture many many diaper cakes... haha) so I know we have time before we'll run out.

I definitely heard not to commit to one brand... think this is a good plan? Buy 4 or 5 of the brand we've been researching all along (BG 4.0) and use those while we still have disposables left? Then we can decide if we really want to commit? What do people do when they instantly realize it's a flop? You've prepped all these diapers... I can only assume they can't be returned. I thought about the trial pack that one of the websites offer... but there's so many styles we don't intend on going with it doesn't seem like a timely plan... maybe I'm wrong.

cedenton · March 2014

I vote diaper trial. It may change your minds about what you "don't intent on going with" and if it doesn't, well...then great!

poohbear033 · March 2014

We started CD about 2 weeks in. We have only spent about $90 on disposables, we use them at night. We started with prefolds and covers, DD hated being wet and would cry as soon as she peed. Not to mention that she often would go again either while you were changing her or before you put on the cover. We are in the process of switching to BG 4.0s and Freetimes. We have about 20 diapers. I am hoping that the 4.0s will work for overnight as I can stuff them more.

Aurora_Borealis · March 2014

Chickypoo2468 said:

Anyway, the peeing during changes is normal for babies. It's so much better going through 3 CDs than 3 sposies per change tho.

Yup. Triple-threat diaper changes are a way of life with a newborn. DH & I had an agreement that after the 2nd diaper, someone else had to take over because it was so frustrating.

And OP when you say a 'boatload' of sposies are you talking 100 or 1000? Full-time sposie use for a newborn is like 80-100 per week so they may not last as long as you think.

nanabanana06 · March 2014

We used sposies for my daughter for 6 months. We're talking later on though, not newborn. So for 8 months we used sposies starting at 18 months. It was well over 600$ in sposies. This was even going to Costco for giant cases of Huggies. Cloth is so much cheaper, plus you can sell them when your done or save them for the next baby.

iranwithscissors · March 2014

You will definitely spend almost $100/month on sposies. Just knowing you'll be able to reuse or sell some of your CDs is worth the money IMO!!

One of the best parts of CDing is not having to run to the store at night because you totally forgot you were on your last sposie and praying that LO doesn't have a blow out before you get more. That's the worst!!

Robi1 · March 2014

SomersIsles said:

Robi1 said:

Think about wipes, too... you can save so much money not buying disposable wipes! Cloth wipes can be as cheap as FREE (make your own with all the receiving blankets you will never use, or just use all the extra baby washcloths that you really don't need) and will save you a ton over time!

This is another part of my plan. I received about 30 individual washcloths from my baby shower... 30! They're a variety of carters, circo, and I think generic target. I figured if I'm going to be washing cloth diapers... I might as well wash cloth wipes too, ya know?

I should just have DH read this thread... you're all quite convincing

I'm due March 16th... so i'm cutting it close! But we also received a boatload of newborn diapers and size 1 diapers at my shower that couldn't be returned (picture many many diaper cakes... haha) so I know we have time before we'll run out.

I definitely heard not to commit to one brand... think this is a good plan? Buy 4 or 5 of the brand we've been researching all along (BG 4.0) and use those while we still have disposables left? Then we can decide if we really want to commit? What do people do when they instantly realize it's a flop? You've prepped all these diapers... I can only assume they can't be returned. I thought about the trial pack that one of the websites offer... but there's so many styles we don't intend on going with it doesn't seem like a timely plan... maybe I'm wrong.

I think your plan is fine, though once you start, you may want to jump right in instead of waiting to order! I know everyone here recommends trying lots of different types, and you definitely have to realize that whatever you buy may not work right then, or may stop working at any point, but that doesn't mean you can't predict what you will like. I did a ton of research, and looked at different types in stores, etc, and I knew that I would like Bumgenius pockets, and I do. I bought a whole OS stash of them before my baby was born, and I still use them exclusively. I think they're a pretty safe one to go with for your whole stash. They hold their value well, so while you can't return them, you can sell them (try the Bumgenius B/S/T on Facebook) on the off chance your child is sensitive to microsuede or has serious fit issues.

I'm glad I didn't buy ten different types of diapers because I would have had to sell a lot of ones I didn't like which while doable, is annoying. Some people like a diverse stash, but I don't. Think about what you will like and remember you can always do something different down the line. There's no reason you can't change your mind later!

LatteLady5 · March 2014

If you are going to go with one brand, BG is a good one. They are pretty much my favorite. We didn't start cloth until DD was 14ish months. We easily spent over a grand on disposables/wipes. She couldn't use generic brand.

lilies&orchids · March 2014

I am one of those mamas who only bought BGs. I had a stash for my older son 6 years ago and bought a new stash on a seconds sale (covers only, reused my inserts) for DS2. I recommend the snaps over hook and loop, we've used both. We have 20 diapers which is plenty - we started using them when he was about 12 lbs. You can't really get too lazy with washing because diapers can get moldy or your washer may not be able to handle the load. We wash ours EOD or maybe one extra day but if we have more than 15 diapers in the load, it's hard to extract all of the water and we have to run extra spins. Not a huge deal, but wanted to mention. I absolutely love BG, and I'm not kidding that nearly every time I do a wash, I think of the money I just saved on sposies. $600 is nothing compared to what most people spend on sposies. Well worth it! Especially when you change a cloth diaper and your LO immediately soils the next one - no big deal because it just goes into the wash and not the trash.

girlmama83 · March 2014

Does he know there's plenty other brands out there? I know BG is popular and a good brand... But we have around 40 pockets and there's no way I spent even close to 600 on them. The one BG pocket I have was free in a but 4 get 1 free from Kelly's closer then the rest are a mix of sunbaby, kawaii, and alva.

freezorburn · March 2014

cedenton said:

I vote diaper trial. It may change your minds about what you "don't intent on going with" and if it doesn't, well...then great!

+1 for a diaper trial. You can use your sposies to fill in the gaps when your trial diapers are in the wash, and then later on while you shop for deals once you know what CD you want for your stash.

Jillian's Drawers has good NB and OS diaper trials and I think they send you around 13 changes, several different styles of diaper. I'm sure I've seen someone mention that there are diaper trials that you can customize -- choose whatever styles and brands you want to try -- but I don't remember off the top of my head who it was.

SomersIsles · March 2014

Y'all rock btw. Each reply I read gets me excited about cloth diapering. DH is warming up faster than I thought. I think he's practically convinced

This is what happens when you marry an accountant lol

PipSqueak0313 · March 2014

I also vote for doing diaper trials. I swore I would not do pockets or flats or AIOs.....now I'm waiting until after I go to a re-sale event tomorrow to order additional pockets and flats. I was shocked at how easy flats really are so don't discount flats and prefolds for nb or beyond just because they seem too complicated. I used mainly Best Bottoms for ds's first year after the nb stage and most of my snap in inserts are microfiber and all of the pocket inserts I have are microfiber. I have reached a point where I want nothing to do with microfiber. I have made covers to go over some of my microfiber inserts so that I don't have to touch that stuff when stuffing the pockets but that doesn't solve the issue of washing it. To me natural fibers are easier to clean than microfiber.

I also swore I wouldn't do snaps......now 9 of my diapers/covers are snaps and 6 are hook and loop.

Lastly, call me weird, but cd laundry is actually fun compared to other laundry.......it's the only load I look forward to taking out of the dryer/off the line. I even tell ds that I need to put him down so I can go play with his diapers.....(referring to assembling the diapers for use and putting away the rest of the diaper stuff)

Oh, and one of the best bits of advice I received from this board.....keep the peri bottle they give you for cleaning yourself after baby is born......it works great for wetting cloth wipes.

YellowLily2013 · March 2014

We have all BGs aio. I like them a lot and having one type keeps me from buying too many other diapers. Which is a slippery slope especially on this board!

I do have prefolds and covers, so technically two types and I love the cost effectiveness of these.

You can't go wrong with BGs IMO. They fit great and are all around a great diaper for most babies. And they are a popular brand so resale is a breeze.

sweetrhythms · March 2014

I didn't read all of the responses, but I just wanted to say that If you get BG 4.0s at Buy Buy Baby or BRU, you can use 20% of coupons or $5 off coupons and make those diapers a LOT cheaper. Current Bed, Bath and Beyond coupons are valid at either store.

mrsnorthernbell · March 2014

I know you already have lots of responses but I'll tell you my experience. Both dd and ds fit into one size at 8 weeks. They were both close to 8 lbs at birth. Before cloth diapers I was spending a bit over $100 a month on diapers. I bought cloth for about $600 and they are now being used on our second child. Dd used them for 27 months and they are still in great shape. I'm going on another 8 months with the same diapers. Check out some you tube videos too.

tjkdlhb · March 2014

Earth day sales are coming up too!

jlripl · March 2014

How good are the earth day sales you all speak of? Does green mountain do one? I'm not sure until June so I'm really trying to hold out but want to make sure the deals are good.

SomersIsles · March 2014

sweetrhythms said:
I didn't read all of the responses, but I just wanted to say that If you get BG 4.0s at Buy Buy Baby or BRU, you can use 20% of coupons or $5 off coupons and make those diapers a LOT cheaper. Current Bed, Bath and Beyond coupons are valid at either store.

I wish I lived near a buy buy baby! The closest one is an hour away! I tried looking into using coupons online and it doesn't seem possible. Arg...

And I did a quick google... Seems like BumGenius doesn't like to participate in earth day sales in the past. I could be wrong. If I'm not wrong, double arg.

tjkdlhb · March 2014

Hmm... not sure about BG for Earth Day... I was still unsure then about what I'd use, so only had my NB stash...

I bought my BGs in August when they had a buy 5 get the 6th one free sale... but I don't know if that's a regular thing... and would be late for you.

freezorburn · March 2014

Here's a sale on 4.0s that looks like it comes out to about $15/diaper. I've no experience with this retailer tho.

ThanksMama

Rrrrrachel · March 2014

I've ordered from thanks mama before and had a good experience. They had the cheapest bg nb aio when I was looking a few years ago.

animalkeeper289 · March 2014

Cottonbabies.com is having a sale right now on bg 4.0 3/$45 on discontinued colors

t loves r · March 2014

Cottonbabies also has "seconds" sales. All of my freetimes are from those sales. Instead of paying regular price ($17) for one diaper, I paid $13.

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