Got babies? Then you know how expensive disposable diapers are! I LOOOOOVE our cloth diapers.When I brought my first baby home, I joined a mommy group and someone mentioned these diapers. Bum Genius One Size diapers. http://www.cottonbabies.com/ They are super absorbent, have a plastic layer to stop leaks and resize from birth to potty training! Plus if you have additional children you can keep using them.
Real costs:
New 4.0 versions will cost $18 per diaper. You can get them on sale buy 5 get one free or you can buy "seconds" which have a cosmetic flaw and have been returned but are less expensive. There are also cheaper repairables for those who are needle-inclined. So for a set of 12 you have an investment of $216 or less. You can buy more and will have less stress over when to wash but they should be washed every other day.
So $216 for diapers plus $122 for cleaning is about $338 for using one size cloth diapers and washing them yourself. http://www.diaperdecisions.com/pages/cost_of_cloth_diapers.php cites the cost of disposables full time as $2577. $2000 in 2 years for doing your own laundry basically and not piling up the landfill. No brainer.
Cloth Rocks - so feed your pig!
I think it's important to add that if you choose NOT to use cloth, of that $2577, you can save $200-300 off that by using coupons. I have never bought a pack of disposables without a coupon AND a sale. So by stockpiling when there's a sale and using coupons for EVERY pack, you you can truely spend closer to $2000.
ReplyDeleteMy problem with the one size cloth diapers, given I've never used them but have 8 or 9 friends that have, is the babies look VERY, uncomfortable. They get around slower, whether is be rolling, crawling, walking, it's difficult in a bulky cloth diaper. Then you have to figure in having to buy larger clothing earlier to COVER the cloth diapers, plus altering them, rolling the pant legs etc.
Given this is just my experience with being around many moms that do this, but seeing the kids in them completely changed my mind about trying it. I would just suggest before making the investment, make sure you talk with other moms, WATCH other babies, and be careful what you purchase. Otherwise you could end up like one friend of ours who invested and they ended up in a drawer. :(
~Kendra M.
And BTW... AWESOME blog Lora!!! I'll totally be stalking it now!
ReplyDelete~Kendra