Get to the Bottom of Cloth Diapering: The Bare Facts Explained

If you are like many new parents, you are interested in saving money. Diapers is one of those areas where you can save money. More and more people are returning to using cloth diapers. But the ones available now are not the same as those your mother or grandmother used. Concerns for the environment and for fashion has combined to create numerous options for using cloth diapers on your baby.

The basics

So we are all speaking the same language, let's explain some of the terms used in the new world of cloth diapers. There are basically 2 parts to these systems: the diaper and the outer wrap. The diaper itself can be prefolded or not. It can be laid on or inserted into a pocket in the outer wrap. So, you will find the cloth part of the diaper system referred to as prefold, inserts or pocket diapers.

The wrap goes over the cloth part (or the diaper is inserted into it) and is designed to contain leaks. Think of it as the successor of those pastel rubber or plastic pants babies used to wear over diapers. These now close primarily by Velcro (also called loop and hook) or by snaps. The outer cover is reusable and it is hoped that it doesn't have to be changed every time the diaper is changed. This comes down to whether the diaper was just urine, whether the liner was soiled and personal preference.

Some diaper systems offer optional diaper liners. While these are usually offered by certain manufacturers, they can be used with any system and most parents find them worth the cost. These liners are designed to serve 2 purposes, to catch solid waste and to be disposable, usually by flushing. They greatly reduce the mess associated with reusable diapers.

Features

Reusable diapers come in many materials. Most are made of durable cloth but some are even made of hemp or wool. For purposes of this discussion on cheap cloth diapers, we will focus on cotton diapers.

It's the outer wrap where things get interesting. Outer diaper wraps are available in any number of designer prints and colors. But, try to put function before fashion and pay particular attention to how the diaper closes, be sure it is designed to contain leaks and to be comfortable for your baby. Some covers offer a set of snaps, as well as a loop and hook closure. Combined, these make for a custom adjustable and pretty leakproof fit for babies of many sizes.

Considerations

Your first consideration should be whether you are going to be content with the laundering aspect of cloth diapers. Cloth diapers need to have the solids removed, either by use of a liner or by rinsing in the toilet. They must be stored away from other laundry and can't sit too long before washing. Ammonia and all kinds of other bacteria and bad smells with result from dirty cloth diapers that have sat too long without washing.

Consider the size of your baby when choosing a cheap cloth diaper. This is where you might notice a difference. Some cloth diapers are very bulky and a preemie may not be comfortable with a diaper of that size. Some wraps stay snapped better than others and some contain leaks better than others. If you aren't crazy about having to wash solid wastes from diapers, you should consider a cloth diaper system with a disposable liner. Read on to hear our recommendations on cheap cloth diapers.

Traveling with a baby using cloth diapers takes some added planning, but certainly is doable. Bring a waterproof bag to put dirty diapers in and rinse as soon as you can.

So how many diapers will you need?

Well, most estimates are that newborns are changed 12 times a day. You will find that as the baby grows, you will change him/her less often. Since these also have to be laundered, you should factor in that some will be out of service (i.e., in the laundry). It is usually recommended that you stock 3 dozen cloth diapers and at least 6 outer covers. Since this is a big outlay of money, we have some suggestions so keep reading.

Are cloth diapers really better?

The landfills in the US are rapidly becoming full with used disposable diapers. The plastic on disposable diapers is estimated to take hundreds of years to decompose. The human waste associated with them is yet another irony, whereby we don't allow any other human waste to simply be put onto or into the ground, yet disposable diapers are acceptable.

Since cloth diapers are reusable, waste is reduced. However, more water and energy is used to launder them so that must be considered.

If you run out of disposables and have cloth diapers, a diaper change isn't a crisis. At most, you might have to wash a load of clothes, but if the nearest store is closed, your baby can still be dry and clean. Most parents find that to be comforting thought.

Recommendations

If you are starting out, we recommend the Flip diaper system. This has a one-size cover and three choices in absorbent inserts. The cover is a hybrid with snap as well as hook and loop closures that enable a custom individualized fit. This makes for a very flexible cloth diaper system so you can create a diaper that works for you and your baby. And you can try different inserts in this one kit.

Flip diapers are easy to use. You just remove the used diaper insert and replace it with a clean one. The cover is reusable. Since the one-size cover and insert adjusts to fit most babies weighing 7 to 35 pounds, it works for most new parents.

Eventually, you will need to purchase enough so that you don't have to worry about running out or doing laundry every day. Once you do that, you don't have to worry about buying disposable diapers over and over and over...and throwing your money away with the diapers.

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Cloth Diapering 101 - Learn All You Need to Get Started in Cloth Diapers and Discover the Benefits

I have talked with lots of people about Cloth Diapers and I know one frustration of many people that are just getting into cloth is the "Lingo" that the cloth diapering community uses. There is nothing worse than trying to find information just to have it all in a secret code!

Here is your Lingo 101 crash course:

CD: CD stands for Cloth Diapers. So we have CD'ers and CD'ing, cloth diaper-ers and cloth diaper-ing.

Stash: a stash is the collection of cloth diapers that a person has. Some stashes are small and just fill the needs of the family, and some stashes are literally a collection of cloth diapers.

Closures: the way a diaper is done up to stay on baby, types include: snap, velcro, pin, snappie, or wrap style cover.

OS diaper: One Size diaper, made to fit all sizes of kids from birth to potty training.

AIO: All in one diaper, a diaper that is diaper and cover in one, with snap or velcro closures.

AI2: All in two diaper, a diaper that is a diaper and cover with and insert added in, with snap or velcro closures.

Pocket: a diaper that is a shell with a pocket that you stuff with an absorbent insert, with snap or velcro closures.

Fitted: an absorbent, breathable diaper that needs a cover, with snap, velcro or pin closures.

Flat: a flat square of absorbent fabric that you can fold into a diaper, requires pins or some other method of closure.

Prefold: a flat diaper that has been "pre-folded" and sewn so the middle is more absorbent, requires pins or other method of closure.

Contour diaper: a prefold that has been sewn into a contoured shape to fit more easily without all the folding, requires pins of other method of closure.

Covers: a covering for a fitted, contoured, flat or prefold diaper that is usually fleece, PUL (polyurethane laminate: waterproof fabric) or wool.

Wrap: style of cover that wraps around the baby like the diaper holding the diaper in place, has either snap of velcro closure.

Soaker or Longies: Pull up covers usually fleece or wool, longies are pant style covers.

Insert or Booster: more absorbency layers you can simply add to the diaper.

WAHM: Work At Home Mom

Sposies: disposable diapers

Diaper Sprayer: a sprayer you attach to your toilet to spray off your diapers.

So now that we have the basic lingo let's talk why cloth is better...

I am biased I know, but I have three reasons I cloth diapered. I will share them with you.

Eco-Friendly:

This one is kind of obvious I think. Pro-disposable advocates have for years used the water argument. That the amount of water used to wash cloth diapers is is as hard on the environment as the production and disposal of disposable diapers. So, how about some numbers...

It is estimated that every year 2 billion tons of urine, feces, plastic and paper are added to landfills. Also did you know that it takes around 80,000 pounds of plastic and over 200,000 trees a year to manufacture the disposable diapers that just the babies in the US use. Now I know some disposables are presented as biodegradable, but in order for this process to work them must be exposed to the sun. This does not happen since we cover our landfills. It can take several hundred years for them to decompose, and some of the plastics never do decompose.

As to the claim that we are wasting water with flushing the waste and washing cloth diapers, did you realize that the water that we use to flush and to wash our diaper is sent into the waste-water plants and then treated. It is then much more environmentally friendly than dumping untreated soiled disposable diapers into a landfill.

So we agree they are better for the environment, how about your baby?

Healthy Lifestyle:

In our lifestyles today we are becoming more and more aware of the chemicals and such that are being added to everything around us. Our food, our water, our kids' toys, and even our pesticides and fertilizers. We are demanding that we want more organic lifestyles. We want things to be healthier and better for us. Why then should this not carry over to the diapers we put on our baby's bum? Does your baby get rashes? Most babies get rashes from one thing or another. There are a few things that are added to disposable diapers that are not very healthy or at all natural. Dyes, sodium polyacrylate (the super absorbent gel), and dioxin, which is a by-product of bleaching paper are just some thing found in disposable diapers. Also a big concern is Sodium polyacrylate which has been linked in the past to toxic shock syndrome and allergic reactions, this is no longer allowed in Tampons, but is still used in disposable diapers.

Some of the problems reported to the CPA (Consumer Protection Agency) regarding disposable diapers include, chemical burns, noxious chemical and insecticide odors, babies pulling disposables apart and putting pieces of plastic into their noses and mouth and choking on them, plastic melting onto the skin, and ink staining the skin. That sounds just dandy huh? I put cloth diapers on my babies because I knew exactly what was going on their bum, and I knew exactly what was in the diapers. I also had total control over what was used on them in the cleaning process. Did you know that disposable diapers do NOT have to list their ingredient lists? They don't want you to know what they put in them, what chemicals you are bringing into your home and putting on their precious little bums. Did that all sound like mumbo jumbo? Well if it did, then this last sentence is all you need to remember from this section. In the end cloth diapers worn and changed regularly are simply better for your baby's adorable little behind.

So if this all isn't enough what about the cost? Is it really cheaper to cloth diaper?

Cost of Cloth Diapers VS Disposable Diapers:

Disposable diaper estimates run between $60 to $80 a month depending on the brand of choice. That is between $750-$960 a year for diapering one child... how many of you have or will have more than one in diapers? I did! I have 6 kids that is $7,500! Can you imagine that? Did I just want to throw away that much money? You better believe I did NOT!

So how much will a stash of cloth diapers cost you? And do you really save money?

There are so many brands of diapers out there and the the cost is differing. From cheap Prefolds at $12 for a 6 pack to Fitted's that will cost you upwards of $40 a diaper. I make and sell Cloth Diapers and my diapers are in the middle of the range of the cost of Cloth Diapers. My diapers cost $23.50 a diaper. We will use the cost of my Nifty Nappy Cloth Diapers to figure out the cost of a stash.

20 diapers = $470

3 woolie wrap covers = $75

2 longie wool covers = $40

diaper pail = $3 (Ace 2 gallon bucket)

Diaper sprayer = $29 - $40

TOTAL: $580-$600

This was my stash minus the diaper sprayer, which I did survive all 10 years of cloth diapering without! I know that that seems like a lot! BUT it is less than you would spend for one year of disposable diapers. AND you can diaper that child through all diapering years with that stash. PLUS other children that follow as well! The "care of" does add a bit of a cost. With some extra batches of laundry a week and the extra electricity. I just convinced my sister to use cloth diapers and she is on her last child. She now wishes she had used them the whole time. She says that she honestly is NOT doing more laundry with cloth than she was doing before. She says my cloth diapers contain messes that used to blow right up and out of the disposable diapers. She has to wash the baby's actual clothes less because there are less blowouts which in turn has made her baby clothes last longer also.

I diapered two kiddos in cloth with 20 diapers washing every other day. I also used the same set of diapers for my four youngest children. I did one wash in hot water and then hung them out to dry as much as possible cutting down on the cost of drying... since the sun is free! So to me the cost difference was a big part in my decision to cloth diaper.

So what do you think? Would you consider it now? I know that it seem a little overwhelming, but there is lots of help to be had. There are amazing cloth diapering mamas on Twitter and Facebook that would offer support and advice. I would love to help you join in the wonderful world of cloth. So take a minute and consider how much better cloth diapering would be for your family and your baby.

Vilate is a WAHM with 6 kiddos. She has perfected her cloth diaper design over the 11 years she has been using cloth diapers. Vilate is also very excited to announce that she has branched out to retail. She now sells her cloth diapers in online shops and through retailers. She has some very dedicated cloth diaper retailers which you can find on her Were to Buy page.

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Cloth Diapering with Budget

Diapers are one of the most expensive cost for a baby. If one considers the number of passes through diaper changes a child in a year will soon find out how much money you are spending on disposable products. Raising a child is expensive and if the costs by using reusable nappies and reduce environmentally friendly, then why not? The fact is, cloth diapers, your baby is easy, fun and cost savings. There is also a healthy alternative to disposables, especially if your baby a rash often frequent use of disposable products.

Average number of diaper changes daily 

* Newborns go for 10-12 changes per day
* Children spend 3-6 months 80-10 changes per day
* Children aged 7-11 months to go for 6-8 changes per day
* Children over 12 months to pass through the changes of 6.5 days

One of the quickest and easiest ways to save money when you have a child to use cloth diapers. $ 800 for the first year - with cloth diapers can save between $ 600. If you have more children and cloth diapers, how well you can even save more.

The cost of diapering a baby on a budget 

The cost of cloth diapers for your baby depends on the type of diapers you choose and the amount of purchase. For parents of pre-folds and contours of the budget are the least expensive way to go. Bummis and Kissaluvs are the two most popular brands prefolds and contour.

Prefolds a six-pack costs about $ 23.00, while a package of six outlines an approximate cost of $ 48.00. Toddlers need 24-48 cloth diapers, and if you want to change diapers on a budget outline and then pre-folds are the cheapest way to travel.

When using already bent or contour diaper cover is required. Bummis, Kissaluvs, are thirsty big brands that represent some of the best diaper covers available. Need three diaper covers cost $ 11.00 to $ 14.00, to cover the diaper.

There are also a variety of accessories, diapers that are used to cloth nappies can be a little "easier and more convenient. Diaper bags, wet bags, wipes, inserts are linings and doublers optional elements that if your baby's diaper can be used.

The cheapest way to cloth diaper a baby

If you are looking to invest in at least three dozen pre-folds after three covers the diaper bag and you're wet or folding shirts are an ideal investment. Modular, all in a pocket diapers an expensive, but they are also very comfortable and easy to use.

Another way to save it for gently used diapers or pre-worn look. In general, you can buy half the price of new and even greater savings. Just wash in hot water several times with a natural dye and fragrance-free detergent and free.

Cloth diapers is a costly investment and save hundreds of dollars more than a year. Apart from the fact that an investment in significant cost savings cloth diapers on the environment large, easy to use and ideal for sensitive skin of the child.