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When I first thought about using cloth diapers, I couldn’t wait to start cleaning them out.
NOT.
“Gross,” was probably closer to my thoughts.
But once I learned about the economic, environmental and health benefits, I took a closer look.
Money
At first glance, using cloth diapers is prohibitively expensive. Some websites, like Forbes, acknowledge that cloth diapers can save money, but the economist interviewed spent $500 on her diapers. That’s great that she could do that! But I didn’t have that much money to invest in diapers all at once.
I found diapers that sell for over $20 per diaper– adorable prints, but expensive! I also looked at reviews for cheaper brands that I was concerned would be a waste of money.
After a lot of time spent reading reviews, I cautiously settled on LBB Diapers.
They’re cheap. They’re so cheap I was concerned they’d leak.
And we have had a few leaks, but very few. We’ve also had leaks with disposables (our kiddo has been in Pampers, Aldi diapers, Walmart diapers, Huggies diapers, one Honest Company diaper and cloth. No diaper is perfect!). Normally if we had a leak it was a fitting problem.
We don’t have all of the exact prints offered above since they’ve changed some of the designs, but we bought one pack and a friend bought a second as part of our daughter’s first Christmas gift.
Not counting the cost of utilities, cloth diapering has cost us $204.61. Our utilities are cheap, and we normally set up a drying rack or line-dry the diapers in our backyard to make them last longer and to save money. If our friends hadn’t bought us a set of cloth diapers, we’d have spent another $39.99.
That’s not bad considering that we spent barely $200 and purchased the diapers, a Dekor Plus hands-free diaper pail
We ordered the ALVABABY inserts only because we didn’t want to use the microfiber ones that came with the diapers. They worked fine. We just didn’t like the idea of using microfiber, and the ALVABABY liners seem a little more absorbent. We double up on them at night.
Cloth diapering doesn't have to cost a fortune! Click To TweetHealth
We noticed that our daughter has significantly fewer rashes if she’s in a cloth diaper. She doesn’t get rashes often, but they’re normally more frequent and red in disposable diapers.
I can’t guarantee that your child would have the same result, but that was our experience.
Disposable diapers also often contain toxic chemicals not found in cloth diapers. One is a carcinogen and banned in many countries (but not the U.S.).
Fun designs
Our daughter gets so excited when she sees what the design is on the cloth diaper I pull out.
That, or she tells me to pick another one. Hah!
She really enjoys pointing out the puppies, owls, fish and other designs on her diapers as I’m putting them away or we’re picking one out for her to wear. It’s an easy way to make diapering more fun. And if your baby is wearing a skirt or running around in just a diaper, I think it looks cuter to have that design rather than just a white disposable!
Final thoughts
We haven’t exclusively cloth-diapered. If we did, our cost would probably be higher, but not much. If I was cloth-diapering my kid full-time, I would probably buy two more packs of diapers and inserts and lots more Bumkins liners at any one time. I’m actually about to place a liner order now since we’re out. Getting organized made cloth diapering a LOT easier.
But we’ve still had some real savings. I track Pampers codes on their rewards site if we have to buy disposables (we normally use them for traveling and under clothes a cloth diaper is too big for, but the cloth diapers fit under skirts, bodysuits and pants a bit larger than they’d otherwise wear, etc.).
And like I mentioned above, putting your diapers on the drying rack or clothes line can save you money by reducing electricity. Some say it extends the life of the diaper. My kid also loves the fun prints and gets excited if she is going to wear one of her favorites, like her owl or dog print diaper.
Are you interested in trying cloth diapers? Why or why not?
