Back when I was still pregnant, people would ask me, “Are you planning on using cloth diapers?” When I answered affirmatively, they responded, “You won’t do it.” I talked to several friends who had briefly attempted cloth diapering and then gave up. “It was too hard,” they said. Momentarily, my resolve wavered, but I found my inspiration within myself.
I gave myself permission to get my feet back under me after Wiggles was born, but at about 2 months, I was ready to stop spending money on disposable diapers. We’ve been doing cloth diapers for about a month now, and I honestly haven’t found them to be much more work that disposables. I do have to change diapers more often during the day, but Wiggles is very aware of a wet cloth diaper and doesn’t like it at all! He always rewards me with smiles when he has a fresh diaper in.
Honestly, I have loved using cloth diapers, and I really haven’t found them to be any more trouble than disposables. Actually I think they may be less trouble because I can wash the diapers any day of the week rather than keeping them around, smelling up the house, until the trash service comes.
When I was doing my research, I really wanted to use Bum Genius diapers. They are just so cute! One evening I even had them in the shopping cart ready to press the order button. My financial sense beat out my fashion sense, and I just couldn’t go through with the order.
Rethinking, I decided to go the cheap route–prefolds with covers. Then one of my friends who had tried cloth diapering and gave up made me an offer I couldn’t resist–free! My biggest challenge at that point was figuring out what accessories were necessary and which ones were just an added convenience. Simplifying the list, these are the supplies that I started out with:
- ~36 Gerber Prefold Birdseye Cloth Diapers
- 3 Thirsties Diaper Cover
- 1 diaper pail liner
- 1 wet bag (for the diaper bag)
- 13 gallon trash can with lid
My wish List:
- 1 more diaper pail liner (so I have one in while the other is in the wash)
- 2 or 3 more diaper covers
I would highly recommend the Thirsties Diaper covers. They are super easy to use, no pins involved, come in a variety of colors, and they are cute. The covers were the most expensive part of the set up, and I love that I only need a few. They can be reused between washings until they smell or become soiled.
For my diaper pail liner and wet bag, I raided my camping and kayaking gear. For the pail liner, I used a water-resistant Coleman duffel bag. It’s washable and has a drawstring top. The main advantage of using it is that I didn’t have to buy something else. For the wet bag to carry in my diaper bag, I a nylon dry bag–which is designed to keep gear dry while you are in a kayak. Both of these items were purchased (a year or so ago) in the camping section of Walmart.
Any old trashcan will work for a diaper pail, but I recommend one with a lid that is easy to open (like with a foot lever) so you don’t have to fight with your trashcan when you are trying to hold a baby on the changing station and toss in a dirty diaper.
The cost of these supplies purchased new would be between$80-$100 (for the basics), and about another $40 for my wish list. With the Thirsties Diaper covers, the X-Small size fits 6-12 lbs, Small 12-18, Medium 18-28 lbs, Large 28-40 lbs. Estimating $10 per week spend on disposables, each diaper cover would be paid for in about 1 week of cloth diapering. The total cost of getting started would be recouped in 8-10 weeks, and you could diaper your child from birth to potty training for about $300 (estimating 5 covers per size).
I can say with absolute certainty that we will continue with cloth diapering with Wiggles and will do it again for any more children we have in the future.
