Jesse and I have decided to use cloth diapers. It's something i was interested in doing throughout my pregnancy but looking at the cost of most cloth diapers i thought i would have to be rich to afford enough diapers to not need to buy disposables. With this in mind i decided maybe we wouldnt or couldnt cloth diaper. We were fortunate to be given a good assortment of diapers from the baby shower, family, and colleges at work. When little Owen was born we started using those diapers. He is just about 4 months now and we still have a partial box left so we have not had to purchase any disposables with the exception of 2 boxes of newborn size diapers.
While on facebook i noticed that a friend had switched her two youngest girls to cloth diapers. The designs in the pictures were ADORABLE!! I talked to her about them and found that she was buying them for cheap!! I bought 2 from her to try out. I paid $16 for 2 pocket diapers and 2 inserts. I took them home and prepped them as she suggested and tried them out!! They were so easy to use, easy to clean, AND Owen had a cute fluffy butt!
Jesse was hesitant at first about the diapers until i showed him how soft they are, and how easy they are to use. It doesnt take forever to get them on as he thought it would, and you really dont "handle" any more poo than you would with disposables. In fact, with Owen being breastfed and only pooping every couple of days we ALWAYS had poo explosions in disposables. It would be all in the bed, all over his clothes, up his back, and everywhere in between!! I slowly began ordering more diapers from a buy sell trade group on facebook. I bought all new never used diapers. The more i bought and started using the more Jesse came to see how nice these really were. He finally came to me one day and said that he really wanted to use the cloth diapers since they were so easy to use and so much more friendly to Owen's little booty.
If you didnt know, here are the common ingredients in disposables that make them absorbent:
The cloth diapers we use are Sunbaby diapers. These are manufactured in China which is why they cost so much less. One Sunbaby diaper with insert bought directly from Sunbaby costs about $5 bought locally from A re-seller costs $8-$10. I decided to do a little research on these diapers before purchasing my stash since they come from china and here is what i found.
*The owner and creater Sun Pei has 2 children and has diapered them both in Sunbaby's
* they are made in Shanghai which actually enforces labor laws
* the "factory" consists of about 40-50 workers
*Sun Pei is completely transparent and upfront about where these diapers come from and how they are made. She has done several interviews, and provides info. on her website.
I know some people will turn their nose up about them being made in China but to those people i say google Fisher Price and see where your child's toy's come from....
THE COST BREAKDOWN
* these are my personal costs starting at 4 months to 2 years of age. i started at 4 months since we are just now completely switching over
Disposables
1 box Pampers Swaddlers $25 lasts 1 week
1 month's worth = $100
Total disposable expense $2,000
My Sunbaby stash
12 diapers and inserts bought from re-sellers= $96
24 diapers with inserts + 12 extra inserts= $132
Total cloth diaper expense $228
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| some of my sunbaby's the others are in the wash |
For the environmentally conscience the benefits of using cloth are obvious:
i know this has been long winded, but we really love our cloth diapers and we are both glad that we switched! Owen seems to like them too!
Since switching we havent had a single rash nor leak! I do an extra 2 loads of laundry per week and make my own detergent that costs $.05 per load. For us the benefits are many and i wanted to share that with you!! Comment with any questions :)
