12:16 PM
Amy and Meagan
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| Cloth diapers hanging on a clothesline to dry. |
Let's talk about cloth! Cloth diapers that is. When a lot of people think about cloth diapers, they picture a boring white prefold with a diaper pin holding it on. Cloth diapering has come a long way since when I was a baby. Now there are SO many cloth diaper options, it's a little confusing. But, I figured that since The Great Cloth Diaper Change is right around the corner, this Saturday, April 23rd, I'd share just how awesome cloth diapers are!
Did you know that disposable diapers sit in a landfill for hundreds of years? In fact, disposables take from 250-500 years to decompose! That basically means that if you use disposable diapers on your child, his/her diapers are going to sit in a landfill long after their great, great, great grandchildren have passed away! That's insane! Besides the fact that disposable diapers are harmful to the environment, they also aren't the greatest option for our children. Disposable diapers contain traces of Dioxin. This is an extremely toxic by-product of the paper-bleaching process. Dioxin is a carcinogenic chemical, that the EPA has listed as the most toxic of all cancer-linked chemicals. Dioxin is actually banned in most countries, due to the chemical side effects. But, unfortunately it is not banned in the U.S. Disposable diapers also contain TBT (Tributyl-tin), which is a toxic pollutant known to cause hormonal problems in both humans and animals.
Anyway, a lot of people that do look into cloth diapering decide not to go through with it because of the up front cost. The average cost of a cloth diaper is around $12. They range dramatically though. You can get a prefold for $1-$2, and a basic cover for $4-$7, or you can go all out and buy organic for as much as $30 for one diaper. Either way, the odds are that if you spend $300-$400 up front for cloth diapers, you will still be saving money each year. That's just the price of buying disposable diapers for the first 5-6 months of life. Not only can cloth be washed and reused, but if you decide to have anymore children, you can use them with your next baby. So, that up front cost of about $350 dollars, pretty much turned into $175, since you won't have to spend it again for your next baby.
Disposable diapers:
1 child
Say you use 50 diapers a week.
50 x $0.25 = $20.00 a week
$20 x 4 = $80 a month
$80 x 12 = $960 a year
Potty Training Ages:
18 months old- You will have spent $1,440.00 on diapers.
24 months old- You will have spent $1,920.00 on diapers.
30 months old- You will have spent $2,400.00 on diapers.
36 months old- You will have spent $2,880.00 on diapers.
42 months old- You will have spent $3,360.00 on diapers.
** Now keep in mind, these numbers are only for one child. If you have more children, these numbers will double with each child you have.
Cloth Diapers:
1 child
50 diapers a week
50 x $10 = $500.00 (inexpensive diapers)
50 x $25 = $1,250.00 (more pricey diapers)
This is a one time cost to you. Since you wash and reuse the diapers, you will never have to buy diapers again. Whether you have one child or 3 children, you'll never have to invest anymore money in diapers. Unless you want to of course. Even with the more pricey cloth diapers, this is still less than you will spend on diapering one child in disposables who is potty trained by 18 months old.
Posted in: Cloth Diapering,Diapering,Living Green,Parenting,Saving Money,Thrifty
3 comments:
Love the breakdown you give on the diapers! This will be a useful thing for me to show my fiance when we decide to have kids of our own. I have already told him I want to use cloth diapers and learn how to make them myself as well!
Great post! I always have to remind people about this when they find out the diapers I use retail at about $15 each.
Seeing a breakdown of the cost is really helpful! Especially when you're trying to talk someone into it. :) I also mentioned additional ways to save in my post, so cloth diapering can be even cheaper if you know where to look!
-Amy
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