Getting to the nitty gritty

Buying baby diapers is expensive. Period. Whether you spend money for the really nice pricey diapers (we liked Pampers Swaddlers) or if you buy less expensive "lets-just-do-the-job" diapers over time you spend a small fortune covering your little one's bottom. Not only are you spending out money for this but you are costing the environment as well. It takes roughly 500 years for Mother Nature to break down 1 disposable diaper in a land fill.



Cloth diapering is an expense of a different color. It is a big initial investment. To purchase an adequate amount of diapers to cover your tush (yes, there was pun intended :-) ) you can spend upwards of $250 or $300 dollars at the get-go. Keep in mind however, that cloth diapering is pretty much a one time fee.



Lets look at a break down. My numbers are based on a stash of 24 cloth diapers allowing me to wash every other day. I prefer fitteds and covers to pre-folds and covers because fitteds are a lot more trim and fit much better under clothes. You could save even more by using pre-folds as those run around 2.00 per diaper versus an aggressively priced fitted diaper at 10.00 per diaper. Covers run around 12.50 (for a Thirsties brand), and an aggressively priced AIO runs around 16.00 and is used as is. I also based disposable prices on the higher diaper end. If you have ever used Walmart brand diapers you know they leak and feel like cardboard.

Disposables:
$20.99/wk for diapers
$2.50/wk for trash disposal
$23.50/wk to use disposables
$1222.00/year.

Cloth:
$355.00/Stash of 24 fitteds and AIO diapers
$6.82/wk for cloth
$1.50/wk Utility and detergent costs for a week
$8.32/wk to cloth diaper
$515.00/year.

Can you think of anything you could do with an extra $15.18 a week by switching to cloth diapers?