DISPOSABLE DIAPERS: Let's start with disposables. They cost roughly $1000 a year to use in many differnet brands and styles. So if your child is in diapers for an average of 3 years, that's a $3000 investment in diapers. Yikes! That's a lot of poop! Disposables are easy to use and convenient too. You can buy them pretty much everywhere but stores other than big box stores will cost you more. As long as you plan ahead: 6-8 changes a day and don't run out in the middle of the night having to wrap your baby's bum in a tee shirt or blanket just hoping they don't leak out until you can run to the store when they open is a risk but most families don't run into this as long as they check their supply.What happens to all that plastic? I'm no tree hugger by any means and enjoy convenience like the average family, but let me just give you a quick statistic. It's takes about 500 years for one diaper to decompose. This is 5 generations until that diaper is made back into dirt! Wow that's a lot of landfills! With that in mind, I did some research on cloth diapers just to compare.
CLOTH DIAPERS: In the 80's I have family who used cloth diapers with the safety pin closure and plastic cover. I was always scared of poking the baby or the pins coming undone. Also the way to wash diapers was just gross. You had to soak them, then rise them, then disinfect them in the wash. It was a lot of work for 6-8 changes a day.
Things have changed in the 20th century to make cloth diapering so much easier and more convenient. They now have cloth snap and velcro closure diapers which grow with your baby. There are several different styles, all in one, inserts, etc. Yes, so you only need to purchase one stash
of diapers for the 3 years your child will be wearing them. Let's talk about cost quickly. So based on 6-8 changes a day x3 days (doing laundry every other day) you would need a stash to start with of about 24 diapers to rotate. These last from 1-3 years depending on how you care for them (there are instructions all over the internet for this). Each pack of 6 costs about $20-60. That's around a $200 investment for 3 years.
Now that we see that you can save $2800 over 3 years let's figure out how to deal with the gross! They have water sprayers you can hook up to your toilet to spray off the solids. Most companies recommend a diaper bucket soak/rinse before washing. Once you are ready to wash your diapers you throw them in the washing machine on hot and hang directly in the sun to dry for longer durability. Every few months you will need to strip your diapers which takes a few washes in stronger disinfectants (again there are instructions on the internet for this step). But that's about it. Pretty simple if you have a washing machine.
WIPES: Families who do cloth still opt for disposable wipes. But again there are cloth options if you are already doing cloth diapers. This can be additional work or more savings. Also to consider is the waste factor and how you feel about filling land fills. People have been doing disposables for centuries I know, but it makes you wonder if a little change can make a big difference, even if it's just one child. For the working mom it's going to probably be a bigger stash investment to keep up with the diapers if she has to time and energy to do this. But with the added day care costs is it worth the savings possibly? Each family has to decide. I'm not for one or the other as far as choices go, but I do love the though of saving money and also helping the environment if I can. Let me know your thoughts now that you know the options in the comments.
Happy Changing,
Mrs. Green Jeans
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