Taggie Tales: 2011

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Cloth vs Disposable Diapers

	Year 1	Year 2	Total
Cloth*	786.29	157.30	943.59
Disposable Store Brand	541.62	475.04	1016.66
Disposable Huggies	629.82	496.94	1126.76

*This is how much I personally have spent on cloth diapers. I bought what I wanted within reason so my total is high compared to someone who makes their own diapers or has a stash full of prefolds and covers.

I have been wanting to do a cloth vs disposable comparison for a really long time. I’m just curious to see how much I have personally spent on cloth and how it compares to the cost of disposables.

Backstory: I started cloth diapering Jacob at 3 months old. I wanted to do it before he was born but towards the end of my pregnancy I got scared and overwhelmed and decided to do disposables. As he got a little older, I felt like I could handle it and I just hated throwing away so many diapers everyday. I chatted with a friend that was doing cloth (thank you Chelsey) and I made my first order. Within days I was completely cloth diapering, completely hooked and buying more dipes.

Here is the breakdown. I have enough fluff to ideally make 55 diapers. (55 diapers is assuming I can reuse shells/covers) 55 diapers last me a long long time. 55 diapers is WAY more then you need. I do laundry about twice a week. This total does not include water/washing cost for cloth and does not include disposal/trash cost for disposables. As for the disposable prices, I didn't really know what prices to use. These are my best guesses after looking up a few different stores online.

In the end, I personally didn't save that much, but I really love cloth diapering and I feel like I have done my part to help the environment. But, if I use my dipes for baby #2 there is no cost comparison.

Cloth
	Quantity	Total Year 1	Total Year 2
Shells, Covers	10	122.69
AIO	13	133.45
Pocket Diapers	7	81.35
Prefolds, Soaker Pads	35	153.70
disposable wipes (4 pack)	13	97.50	97.50
Wet bags	5	61.85
Bum Genius Diaper Sprayer	1	44.95
Rockin Green detergent	4	59.80	59.80
Snappi (3 per pack)	1	7.55
Rearz Organic Flushable Bamboo Diaper	1	8.50
Angel Baby Bottom Balm	1	14.95
		786.29	157.30

Disposable Store Brand
	Cost	Total Year 1	Total Year 2
Disposable wipes (4 pack)	7.50	97.5	97.5
Diaper 6/day from 3 mo - 1yr, 2yr	0.17	275.4	372.3
Diaper 10/day til 3 mo	0.17	153
Desitin	5.24	15.72	5.24
		541.62	475.04

Disposable Huggies
	Cost	Total Year 1	Total Year 2
Disposable wipes (4 pack)	7.50	97.5	97.5
Diaper 6/day from 3 mo - 1yr, 2yr	0.18	291.6	394.2
Diaper 10/day til 3 mo	0.25	225
Desitin	5.24	15.72	5.24
		629.82	496.94