Cost of Diapering

So, I have been researching the cost of diapering for the last 1.5 hours. Now, there are SO MANY independent variables when it comes to diapering that will change the range on sizes & quantities of # of diapers needed and cost of diapers. I tried to do an average to find out the cost.

Here are the independent variables:
1) How big your baby was at birth? (You may go right into a sz. 1 diaper and not do a NB diaper.)
2) How fast they are growing? (Larger diapers come less in a pack, and hence will cost more per diaper)
3) Can you do cloth diapers all the time? Half-time? (I didn't calculate the cost of cloth diapers, as their are many more variables there based on preferences.)
4) Will you do cloth wipes all the time? Half-time? How wasteful are you with each disposable wipe?
5) Are you breastfeeding? (Yes, this does matter, as breastfed babies need 10-12 diaper changes a day, bottle fed babies tend to need 8-10 diaper changes. Toddlers aged 18 mo.+ use about 6-8 diapers a day.)
6) When will your child (& you) be ready to begin potty training? (Kids are generally potty-trained between ages 18mo.-3 years, some as early as 12 mo. and some after 3 years. But in general kids elimination muscles are fully mature between 12-24 month, and so the average time to begin potty training is around 18-24 months.)

So, those are my variables and I tried to average things. Now, I have to tell you my prices are based on buying Seventh Generation products in cases from Amazon. I did a little research on the cost of going with natural products as opposed to the name brands (Pampers, Luvs, & Huggies) and really there wasn't any difference in cost. But the key here is that I am buying by the case from Amazon (or I could through the Co-op and would get a case discount) and by buying in bulk (& the free super-saver shipping Amazon has been offering for wuite a while now) the cost tends to be the same. Now, if you are buying generic diapers or wipes than these prices will be sligtly lower. So, for the purpose of my costs, consider that these are name brand prices and not generic.

Now if we were to do all disposable diapers & wipes, it would cost us roughly $1000/year.

If we do half/half (dispoable/cloth) diaper and all disposbale wipes, it would cost us $640/year.

If we do half/half on BOTH diapers & wipes, it would cost us $480/year.

We can't do all cloth, because our child will be in daycare and they don't do cloth. So, at a minimum we will be doing half/half. We are not doing flat-folds, as daddy doesn't want to deal with pins, and so I bought a combination of AIO's and pre-made diapers.

Now, those above average costs are only for diapers & wipes. You will have to add in any creams, lotions, & powders you buy.

When you buy cloth there are many factors to consider the will change the price of using cloth diaper dramatically.
* Will you use flat folds with pins & covers? (This is the most economical route.)
* Will you buy pre-made diapers (w/ snaps or velcro) and use a cover & possibly doublers/liners? (next most economical route)
* Will you buy All-in-Ones (it's the diapers w/ waterproof covers in one) and possibly doublers/liners? (This route can get to be as costly as all disposables for your first child, but if you have additional children, that's when you save money.)

The quality of cloth diapers varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. If you really want to save some money and still have pre-made diapers & AIO's, then you should make your own. There are a lot of WAHM's on eBay selling diapers they made. Plus, you can buy/make diapers that grow with the child through various sizes by having more velcro or additional snaps placements, which will allow you to use your same diapers longer. Flat-folds will accomodate all size babies because you just change how you fold & pin them, but with pre-made diapers you may have to buy different sizes, unless you buy/make ones that allow chnages of sizes. Even if you do buy flat-folds, you will still have to buy different sizes of waterproof covers. But with all cloth diapers and waterproof covers & cloth doublers/liner, you cost is all upfront and then you don't have to continue purchasing every week/month/etc. And when you have your 2nd (& subsequent) child, you have already made your investment and you may only choose to replace some that were well worn and your cost is minimal.

For making cloth wipes, here is a simple guide I found:
Cloth Wipes: 8"x8" squares cut from too-small t-shirts, sleeves, and leftover bits make excellent wipes. For t-shirt fabric, sew 2 layers together (serging holds up best, but straight stitch &/or zig-zag does just fine), and for heavier fabrics, one layer will do. Try sweatshirt fleece, waffle knit, heavy rib knit, or french terry for variety. Cloth wipes also make good handkerchiefs.

So, you can recylce those old t-shirts & the wipes cost you nothing or you can go buy some fabric, the choice is yours. Some babies won't be able to tolerate the soaps & scents put in disposable wipes, so you may have to use cloth ones. With cloth ones you generally just wet them with warm warm and could use some soap if you want, but's really not necessary, all you really need is water. I have also ready posts by people who use paper towels (they cut the roll in half) as an economical way for disposable wipes.

You probably didn't care about all of this, but I did a lot of research on it. I can't tell you how much I spent on cloth diapers, as I didn't think to add that up as I was buying. I don't have time to make my own, as I do work, so I chose to purchase the cloth diapers we will use. I am sure someone out there will find this information useful, as I get a lot of hits on this siet from people doing various searches for information. I just needed to crunch the numbers for my own knowledge as we start to figure out our budget.

I plan to breastfeed and hopefully that will agree with the baby. Some babies cannot tolerate the lactose (15% of Caucasians are lactose-intolerant, this percentage is MUCH higher for other ethnic groups) or the protein in the breastmilk (2-7.5% of infants have this problem). If either of those things happen, then I guess there is another cost to add in, and then you aren't buying regular formula either, babies with those issues need special forumla because of those problems and that formula costs even more. Plus, there are always problems the mom may have with producing milk or inability to tolerate pain associated to various causes or any other number of reasons. Since I am already producing colostrum, I don't have any concerns about "my milk coming in", but some moms can't produce enough milk (even though I have read that you just need to pump more often than your baby feeds and then your body will start responding by producing more milk.) So, we'll see. We'd like to think the feeding cost initially will be minimal, until she is starting solid foods and we transition her to milk (I do plan to pump once I get back to work), but until we have the baby and start trying things out, we just don't know how it will work. Here is a website that breaks down the cost of formula feeding.