A New Mom's View on Diapers

Since we received a few packages of disposables at showers AND since I was getting many a coupon and found them on sale, Jason and I decided to use up these diapers before trying the cloth diapers I had been researching and asking friends about. We realized that neither of us had changed a diaper since around middle school days (me babysitting and he with a new baby brother), and we needed the practice. Boy, did we get practice. Huggies, Pampers, Parents Choice, some kind with bees on it...we had blow outs and poop escaping up the back with all of them. I did find that there is a reason why Huggies and Pampers are more expensive- they really do hold more for longer if put on right, but you are looking at 7-10 changes a day for 2+ years. You are looking at anywhere from $1400 to $2000 until they are potty trained. What if you have 2 or 3 kids? Ouch. My advice if you are choosing disposables:

1. Sign up on every diaper/baby website you can and get free samples and coupons mailed to you. I'm still getting $1, $2, and $3 off coupons in the mail. I know it seems annoying to sign up so much and put your email address out in cyberspace, but use an email you don't mind getting spam in. It's worth it- I probably got 12 free diapers in our mailbox before Miles was born AND have never bought disposables without a coupon yet!

2. Buy bulk, but be careful- if your baby is anything like ours, he was growing right out of the newborn size and size 1 by 6 weeks. So don't over buy in one size.

3. Disposables are right for you if: you hate doing additional laundry (like you would with cloth diapers), if you are sending baby to daycare cause you're working, if you have heard awful things about cloth, or if you had no idea that there was anything BUT disposables out there!

The cheapest of the cloth diaper kingdom, you take a prefold, a snappi and a velcro wrap and you're done. No more pins and rubber pants people! I'm not talking about the Gerber cloth diapers you can get at Wal-Mart. One of the most reasonable sites for cloth diapers is Cottonbabies.com.

Indian or Chinese? I don't know. I got some of both. You can read up on the pros and cons of each, but I don't think there is a huge difference. I'm waiting on a shipment of the next size of prefolds (premium) because my infant size ones are TOO SMALL! I waited too long to get my kid into them. The infant only fit babies up through about 15lbs. I didn't think he was that big yet, but he was! So, I haven't gotten a fair crack at trying these for any length of time to really comment on them, but when I do I will let you know what I think.

But, I put them on a few times unsuccessfully because he was too big for them. I did think the Thirsties wraps were the best out of three that I tried. I only tried the Proraps Classic, a Bummis Super Snap, and the Thirsties though. There are many more to try!

What's a Snappi? Takes the place of pins- it's a three-pronged plastic thingamajig that holds each side and the middle of a prefold together so it stays put inside a wrap. Genius. 

Pros to Prefolds: If you are staying home with baby, you are already doing laundry, why not add some poop filled diapers? I know, there's a little more to it than that, but if you are looking to save money, this is the way to do it. Also, you are helping the environment. The amount of disposables NOT decomposing in our landfills is horrifying. Stats also show that babies are quicker to be potty trained if they are cloth diaper babies. And no chemicals on baby's butt- they will remain relatively diaper rash free if changed regularly- no need for tubes and tubes of diaper rash cream!

Cost: It's about $1.50-$2.00 per prefold and if you buy 2 dozen, it'll allow you 2-3 days worth before you have to do laundry. You really only need about 3 wraps ea. at $8-12. And Snappis- you can buy one for around $3. You'll only need one, but if you lose it you're in trouble. I have 3 just in case. When you need the next size up, buy another 2 dozen or so and that should take you through till they are potty trained. You'll also need 3 more wraps of the medium size and maybe another 3 of the large (unless you get Thirsties Duos- only 2 sizes will take them through till they are potty trained). SO- add all that up (not counting energy costs of washing and drying- try hang drying), and I will have spent under $200 on a cloth diapering system that will also work for my next children (assuming I may have to replace a couple things here and there). But when you're comparing $200 for 1 child or 2 children, maybe even 3 children to close to $6000 after 3 kids in diapers...well, the savings speaks for itself. All it takes is a little patience and a passion for saving!

Now, disclaimer: Once my new prefolds come, I will be using them a lot. However, we will still by the occasional pack of disposables since we travel around quite a bit. There are wet bags and such to keep baby in cloth even when traveling, but let's be honest, it is a bit quicker when out and about. And on trips to Virginia to see the in-laws, I'm not changing cloth diapers every 3 hours in the car and doing cloth diaper laundry at my mother-in-law's house. You could do it, but I am not THAT cloth loyal yet. :-)

Ah, my precious all-in-ones...Now there are many out there to choose from- FuzziBunz, bumGenius, Thirsties, Kissaluvs, Happy Heiny's, the list goes on. To be honest I haven't tried any but BumGenius. But I don't see the need to shop around at this point. I love my bumGenius diapers. I only have 6 right now, and 2 more are on the way. They have the ease of disposable without polluting the earth and spending the money!

The cost: Now, these are more expensive than prefolds, but are less complicated. Insert the absorbent insert and put it under the kid, and velcro it on. EASY. Plus, these one size diapers (look for the 3.0 one size bumGenius) are just that. One size. Till they are potty trained. One size. Are you reading this? If you buy enough to get you through a couple days before washing (say you have 8-10 a day) at $17.95 a piece, it's about $350 plus the cost of doing laundry. Again, MUCH cheaper than the $2000 you would spend on one kid not to mention $4000 for 2 kids or $6000 for 3 kids! To me, it's worth getting these a few at a time and building a collection for now and the future. I've used the 6 I have every few days for about 3 rounds now, and have enjoyed them immensly. Who says they enjoy diapers? Well when you find money friendly, environmentally friendly, baby friendly, colorful, soft diapers you will say it to. I don't even mind washing them.

Speaking of washing: I only use 1/8 oz. of Planet Detergent for my 6 diapers right now and wash them once on cold (stain removing), once on hot (cleansing) and then a rinse on cold to get the detergent residue off. Then I hang dry sometimes or tumble dry on low. It's really not that bad. I'm home anyway. Even if you work full-time or part-time, it would be worth doing cloth part-time. Buy disposables for the babysitters (unless of course they are cloth diaper friendly!) and use cloth at home, you'll still save money.