Hey All,
Call us hippies or long hairs or even Boulderites. But we use cloth diapers. Works for us. We have one big advantage that I stay home with the kiddo so doing laundry and things like that aren't all having to be done between 5-10pm or taking up our weekends. It also reduces the number, 2 a week, of days that Hunter is in Day Care. Lots of Day Cares don't take cloth diapers. We use disposable diapers for him those two days. I don't know what the numbers are on the "green" side of using cloth diapers over disposables. Based on the volume of trash we throw out and the number of diapers we change, I'm pretty sure we're in the black on that one. If some one knows those numbers I'd love to see them! We could be totally wrong, numbers and feelings don't always agree. But, I do have some numbers. The good ones, the ones that start with these $.
We've just made our last round of cloth diaper purchases, big ones at least. These diapers should be the last ones we have to buy. There will be some additional purchases, like more larger covers and
snappies and maybe another tube of butt cream and wipes. But overall our diaper spending is mostly done. So lets look at some numbers, these are the total value new, some of these were gifts:
Cloth Diapers: $300 or so including 2 sizes of prefolds and covers and other types of diapers.
Disposables: $60 or so. We bought some little guy diapers in the first month or so and we have some for Day Care.
Sundries: $50 or so in diaper cream and wipes.
Tools: $20, I built a rig to wash poop out of diapers into the toilet.
Upcoming: $50, guessing on more wipes and such.
I think that's it. So looking at $480 total investment to get the kid in and out of diapers. Which is about 2 years or so (I hope). Looking at $20 a month. Not terrible. You can compare that to what it would be to do the disposable diaper route.
Granted there is additional water and electric used as well as wear and tear on our machines. But I think it's minimal in comparison to having to run the heat between 68 and 70 to keep the kid warm over the 66 we used to set the thermostat.
I've just been thinking about it and if you are looking at changing your income, because of an up coming kid. This might be a money saver. Not sure as I don't really buy diapers so I could be way off base and they could be really cheap. Also as a side note, he doesn't need very much diaper cream because the cloth is softer on him. He does need cream after a day in disposables at daycare. Since we are moving up to bigger stuff for him all the old smaller stuff is unneeded. We can send those back for credit, they go to needy familes, which is good for the $'s and for my heart (Le Sigh). But, if someone wanted to try them out on their babies ass, just let us know. Lastly, I'm a lazy SOB, and I can pull this off, so it can't be that hard.
Questions: There are a few questions we always get. Here they are with our answers.
Q. Isn't it gross that you wash your clothes in the same washing machine as his poopy diapers?
A. 3 things on that. One, We wash and rinse the diapers each time we wash them to make sure it all comes out of the diaper, and the machine. Two, as I mentioned above We thoroughly rinse the solid material out of the diaper before washing. Lastly, kids shit their pants, that is a reality. You don't just throw those pants/onsies/bed sheets away. They get washed as well, we just tack those in with the diapers, not his other clothes.
Q. Don't you spend more on water washing all those diapers?
A. Nope. We spend the minimum that Louisville is willing to charge us on water. There hasn't been a noticeable increase in electric or water bills since moving in. We do two loads a week of diapers only, and one extra a week for baby clothes.
Q. How can you afford to buy all the stuff?
A. Looking at the numbers how can you not afford it? Also, the upfront cost is intimidating and it was a big step for us. The gifts helped a lot (Baby Shower) and I JUST told you we would let you use our old stuff. Now that's cheap!
