It’s been a little while since I talked about cloth diapers. I did a series on it awhile ago. I know that cloth diapering is really popular right now for many reasons. Some switch to cloth because it’s cute, some because it’s economical, and other because it’s cheap. I personally started because it’s cheaper than using disposable diapers. I was looking for a way to save money. However, like many other people who cloth diaper, I got sucked into all the cute prints and different types of cloth diapers that are available. I wanted to try them all. I wanted all the cute prints! I wanted “nice” diapers. I quickly realized that if I diapered like that, the savings would not be nearly as substantial as it would be if I was a little more careful. 

So I started searching for a way to cloth diaper for less than $100. When I did the calculations about if I save money cloth diapering or not, I figured that I would spend between $1000 – $1500 in disposable diapers from birth to potty training. So, if I could keep my cloth diaper spending to under $100, I would be saving quite a bit of money! 

So, I figured out a couple different ways I could do this. 

The main thing is that prefolds and/or flats and covers are the cheapest option. Period. And, since I moved to a house that does not have a utility sink, I have realized that prefolds are SO much easier to care for than pocket diapers. I have actually sold all of my pocket diapers and am just using prefolds and covers. Here’s a few ways I figured that you could use prefolds and/or flats and covers for less than $100:

– Econobum . This is a Cotton Babies brand. They make high quality diapers. These diapers are a little less high quality than some of their other lines (I personally prefer the brand Flip over the Econobum covers, but the Econobum are cheaper and function just as well.)  Two of these Econobum packs would be enough to cloth diaper your baby from the time he or she is about 12 pounds until potty training. The box comes with a wet bag as well, so two of these boxes would give you all you need. If you want to cloth diaper from birth, I suggest getting the Bummis Newborn Pack. It would add another $43 to your total cloth diapering bill, but if you have a small baby, they should be in these newborn diapers for 2 months or so and the prefolds can be used to double up other prefolds later on. 

– Flour Sack Towels . Another way you can cloth diaper for less than $100 is by using flour sack towels. Flour sack towels are about $2 a piece at Walmart or Amazon. You’d need about 24, so you’re looking at about $50. Then, you need covers. I never pay more than $10 for a diaper cover. You would probably want at least 5, so that would be right around $100 for everything you need besides a wet bag.  

– Chinese Cheapies. (Pocket diapers) While I don’t suggest this as the best option, it is an option. There are a couple different companies that make what is commonly called “chinese cheapies” because they are made in China and they are cheap. Alva Baby is one of them. Sunbaby Diapers is another. Either of these companies would let you cloth diaper for less than $100 if you’re willing to wash every day. I would strongly suggest 24 pocket diapers, you could survive on way less if you wash every day. Most days you would probably be fine with 15 or so. 

Here are a few other tips to help keep your cloth diapering bill down:

– don’t get caught up with patterns. These things are poop catchers, remember?

– buy used. I know it sounds gross, but if you’re a little picky about what you buy, you can buy higher quality diapers for a cheaper price. And it is totally possible to get those diapers super clean after you buy them. 

– sell diapers when you’re done with them. Many diapers will sell for 50% of what you paid for them even after two years of use if you take good care of them. Craigslist and cloth diaper groups on facebook are a good resource for buying and selling. 

Do you have any suggestions for keeping the cloth diaper bill down? I’d love to hear them!

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I’ve seen a lot of bloggers claim that they saved over $1000 by switching to cloth. I wasn’t too sold on that fact, so I decided to do some math on my own. 

I always buy the cheapest disposable diapers I can that aren’t super crappy. That usually ends up being parent’s choice brand at Walmart. I am lucky that my kids didn’t have any bad reactions to these diapers or anything like that. For my one year old, we pay about $30/month for diapers. That’s just a rough estimate. That’s about 200 diapers, which is about 6-7 a day. 

When my kids were younger, we spent more on diapers. I never tracked exactly how much we were spending, but my guess is about 8 diapers a day on average for the first year. I can get those diapers for an average of 15 cents a piece, so that ends up being $1.20/day, or about $438 for the first year. The second year, at $30 per month, it’s about $360 for the second year. Most kids are potty trained by 30 months, so that’s 6 months after their 2nd birthday, for another $180. So all in all, that’s $978 in diapers, assuming you use the Parent’s Choice brand. Those are also assuming that your child isn’t in a size 5, because my kids never made it that far. Size 5 Parent’s Choice are 18 cents a piece, meaning a month of size 5 would be $35-40/month. The bigger your child is, the more expensive the diaper. This is also assuming you buy in bulk. 

If you were to use a more expensive brand, say Pampers, by these same estimates, you would end up spending $675 for the first year and $575 for the second year and $280 for the last 6 months, totaling $1530

If you use organic diapers, that number will be even higher. Seventh Generation diapers, for example, are $1.50 a piece. Honest Diapers have a package that are $79.95/month. At 30 months, that would cost you around $2400. It’s not hard to see how some other blogs show how those numbers add up. They really can if you’re buying really nice diapers. 

I’m all for buying the diapers that are organic or more earth friendly, if you can afford it. We, however, can’t. No way could we pay $80/month on diapers. So, we don’t. When we used disposables, like I said, we used Parent’s Choice. So, when we used disposables for 2.5 years, we spent around $1000 for diapers. I do think that’s a pretty low estimate, but I don’t want anyone thinking that I lied to them about if I save money on cloth diapers. 

So, cloth diapers can be expensive. If you want to buy the BEST diapers, you are looking at over $20 per diaper. Considering you need a minimum of 20 diapers (25 or so would be better) if you want to wash every other day, you would be looking at spending $400 for your stash. Many diapers are what is called an one size, meaning that the diaper grows with the baby. It can fit almost from birth to potty training. Many of the one size diapers don’t actually fit right away, so disposables or a separate newborn stash need to be on hand. 

If you want to do it the cheap way (which I did) you can go with prefolds and covers or pocket diapers. Prefolds and covers (or flats and covers) are the cheapest way to diaper, but a little more of a hassle. You can buy prefolds for about two dollars a piece (a dollar a piece if you buy used). So, for 24 prefolds, you’re looking at about $50, plus four covers for around $10/piece. You would also need either Snappi Cloth Diaper Fasteners or diaper pins. So you’re looking at about $100 to cloth diaper your baby, or at least to get started. Chances are good that you would want to replace a cover or two during your time cloth diapering and maybe get a few more prefolds, but you can easily have everything you need for less than $100. That means you can save $900 even if you buy cheap disposable diapers. If you use those same prefolds and covers for your next child, you’re looking at another $1000 in savings. 

I forgot to mention laundry cost. Based on my calculations, I spend about $80/year extra on laundry when I cloth diaper (including detergent). That adds about $200 on to the cost of cloth diapering, which means you spend $300 total during your time cloth diapering, for a savings of $700, or $1230 if you buy Pampers, or $2100 if you buy Honest Diapers or another high end diaper brand. 

If you choose something a little more convenient than prefolds, and go with pocket diapers, your price will be a little higher. You can buy cheap pocket diapers for about $63 for a dozen including inserts. You can find cheaper deals on coops or by buying used.

I feel like those numbers are pretty honest and truthful about how much you actually save using cloth diapers. If your child has some kind of an allergy to cheap disposables, or if for whatever reason you decide to use nicer diapers, you are saving a ton of money by using cloth.

So there you have it!  

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Not true.

At least not for us. Since we started cloth diapering, my daughter has only had one rash, and I wouldn’t really call it a rash. Just a little irritation. While there is no compelling evidence that cloth keeps rashes away, here is my theory: many people wait too long between diaper changes with disposable diapers. Disposable diapers are super absorbent, and can hold in a LOT of urine. Because they are expensive and so good at what they do, many people don’t change their child as often as they probably should. A cloth diapered baby should be changed every 2-3 hours at most. Changing this often makes for less time that the baby is in a wet diaper, and less chances of diaper rash.

I am actually very surprised how dry the diapers feel right next to the babies skin. I have found this to be especially true with my pocket diapers. The moisture is wicked away onto the insert and the fleece right next to baby stays dry feeling.

So, what do you do if baby DOES get a rash? Many diaper rash creams are not safe for cloth diapers because they won’t wash out in the wash. There are some natural remedies you can use such as coconut oil or letting the baby “air out.”

There are also store bought remedies that can be used. I was given a  Gro-Via magic stick  for review purposes that I’ve been able to use a few times on my daughter. It smells sort of like chap stick and goes on a lot the same way (except on the booty… not the lips). Because of that, you do need a separate stick for each child. I love that feature though because I don’t have to put anything on my hands, it just goes straight to the babies booty. And each time I’ve used it, it has worked well. I would recommend this as an essential cloth diapering tool. 

Check out the other posts in the cloth diaper series 

How I Convinced My Husband

Why I Decided To Switch To Cloth

My Washing Routine

Bumkin Diaper Review

Gro-Via Diaper Review

The post Cloth Diaper Series: What About Diaper Rash? appeared first on A Mouse In My Kitchen.

Because I switched to cloth after my daughter was 14 months old, I got lucky. I only clean poppy diapers about once a day, sometimes every other day. I know that by the time my next kid comes around, things will be a bit different with a newborn. But for now, it’s really not that bad. 

Most of my daughter’s diapers are pocket diapers. When I change her, I take out the insert and stick the insert and the diaper into a wet bag. If it’s dirty, I plop whatever I can into the toilet then rinse the diaper out in my laundry room sink. (yes, this laundry room sink is amazing. I don’t know what I’d do without it!) It takes a total of like 30 seconds. 

When it comes time to wash the diapers (every other day usually), I dump all the diapers and inserts into the washing machine along with the wetbags. I turn the washing machine to prewash and cold water and let it run without detergent. 

After the prewash is done, I add a little bit of tide ultra (like to line 1) and turn the washing machine to a hot then cold cycle, I turn the second rinse on, and let it go. 

By the way, I have an old top loader washing machine and it works awesome. I’ve heard bad things about having a front loader or HE machine for cloth diapers. I don’t know personally if that’s true, but I am glad (for once) that my washing machine is so ancient. 

When the diapers are done washing, I hang them on a line to dry. I can (and probably will in the winter time) dry them in the dryer, but I figure it saves money and they actually dry pretty quick on the line, plus the sun is good for getting stains out and sanitizing. 

And that’s it! It really isn’t too difficult. Yes, it takes longer than disposable diapers, but like I said before, I’m saving money & it’s cute. Plus, some people say it’s better for the environment. (I don’t really want to talk about that tho ) 

Check out the other posts in the cloth diaper series:

How I Convinced My Husband

Why I Decided To Switch To Cloth

What To Do About Diaper Rash

Bumkin Diaper Review

Gro-Via Diaper Review

The post Cloth Diaper Series: My Washing Routine appeared first on A Mouse In My Kitchen.

Now that that’s over, I’ll step off my soap box and continue with the point of this post. 

When I decided that I wanted to try cloth, I mentioned it to my husband a few times. Each time he’d say something like “gross” or “it’s too expensive,” and we’d leave it at that. I wasn’t convinced enough myself to be able to convince him. 

I was finally able to convince him when I had convinced myself. I did research about cloth diapers. A LOT of research. I learned about every kind of diaper, how they worked, how much they cost, how many I would need, how to clean them, how to fold them, how much money they would save me, and more. I learned everything I could. Then, when I mentioned it to him, it wasn’t just a passing thought. It was a plan. I told him how much I thought I needed to spend, how much money that would save us, and why I thought it would be good for us. 

All this planning got him a little more convinced, but it wasn’t enough. But here’s the thing. I do 90% of the diaper changing in our home (and I’m fine with that.) I wanted to use cloth, and since I was the one doing the changing, I felt that it should be mostly my decision. However, since it’s our money I would be spending, I wanted him on board. 

So how did I finally convince him? I made a deal. I told him I would do the washing & most of the changing (which I already did anyway). I told him that I would expect him to help sometimes, but that for the most part, it would be my thing. That seemed to be enough for him, and he gave me the go ahead. 

Now, here we are, a month after we started, and he has actually changed quite a few diapers. He won’t take the inserts out of the pockets, but that’s not a big deal. My daughter is on a super normal schedule as far as #2 goes, and I usually only leave the kids with my husband at night time, so when he has to change her, it’s always only wet. Things will change when the next baby gets here, but we have time to adjust to that. 

So, if you’re trying to convince your significant other to let you switch to cloth, talk to him about the money you’ll save. Do your research and tell him all you’ve learned. If he sees how serious you are about it, he’s bound to let you go ahead and try. If all else fails, try cutting the same deal I did (if you’re okay with that.) 

Good luck! 

Check out the other posts in the cloth diaper series: 

My Washing Routine

Why I Decided To Switch To Cloth

What To Do About Diaper Rash

Bumkin Diaper Review

Gro-Via Diaper Review

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