This is part 4 in the Cloth Diaper Saga. Read My Collection and Favorites, Diapering a Newborn, and Pros and Cons for the first three parts.
This was the only brand of disposable diaper that worked for Monkey
One of the biggest claims of the cloth diaper community is that you will save thousands over disposable diapers. While I have seen money savings with the method I chose, I am not sure that it is always the case.
According to the baby cost calculator at BabyCenter, disposable diapers cost about $72 per month. I think that number is high. I don’t think we spent more than $40 or $50 with Monkey. So basically, if you spend $50 per month on diapers for an average of three years, your disposable diapers will cost you about $2,000 to $3,000. That is a lot of money just to have a place for baby to poop.
Because disposable diaper costs are so high, many people say using cloth diapers is cheaper. So is that true? Let’s find out. Here is what I spent:
$150 on 15 newborn pocket diapers from Kawaii Baby
$60 on two wool covers from WoollyBottoms
$50 on 6 covers and 2 dozen prefolds
$40 on 4 Flip diaper covers
$50 on 10 Alva Baby one-size diapers
$60 on 4 wet bags (2 were Kanga, the other two were something I can’t remember)
$30 on cloth-friendly diaper rash cream
$15 on Bum Genius cloth diaper detergent (one package will likely last until Bo is about 6 months)
$10 on 3 Snappi diaper fasteners
$32 on BioKleen Bac Out (4 containers so far) stain remover
$8 on Sports Wash (for stripping the diapers after our traditional diaper cream fiasco)
$20 on 2 one-size MG Baby diapers (my favorite pocket diaper by far)
$15 on wash for the wool covers
I think that’s pretty much everything. Total cost so far: $530
We will continue to have to buy laundry detergent, stain remover, and diaper rash cream. I may also have to get some additional prefolds in a larger size at some point. When she starts solids, we will also have to purchase diaper liners.
And because buying diapers is kind of addicting, there will probably be an extra $50 to $100 for funsies, and if any break, then I’ll have to replace them for another $50 to $100. By the end of Bo’s diaper wearing years, I expect to have spent about $800 on the cloth diapering process.
However! I have really tried to purchase the lower-priced diapers (except for the wool covers). Some diaper brands cost as much as $20 per diaper. You can easily spend $500 just on enough diapers. If you buy expensive diaper brands (Charlie Banana, Bum Genius, Flip, G Pants, WAHM diapers), the final cost of diapers will be around $1500.
What about laundry?
I’m getting to that. Using this calculator, the cost of laundering Bo’s diapers each time is about $1.50 to wash and $1.00 to dry. We wash diapers about twice a week, so our total diaper laundry cost is about $3 each week. That comes out to about $12 per month. For three years, the cost of laundering her diapers will reach about $110. Add that to the assumed $800 for diapers and supplies, and we’re at about $910.
Now, $910 is less than $2,000 (duh Brenda, pretty sure everyone can figure that out), but it’s not tons less. If you bought all expensive diapers, you’d be closer to about $1,600, which is even closer to $2,000. If you are able to use cloth diapers on more than one child, then your cost savings start to really add up. If we have any more children after Bo, reusing the diapers is where we will really be able to see a cost savings.
Do you think my numbers are accurate? Were you able to diaper in disposables for less than $2,000?
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