Why We Use Cloth Diapers

I just want to say upfront that this post is not meant to admonish people who use disposables. I don't think I'm better than other people for using cloth. I don't think parents who use disposables are horrible people who are destroying the planet. I think whatever helps you be the best parent you can be and what you think is best for your children is the diaper to go with. I just thought most people don't know a lot about cloth diapering and might be interested in why people use them versus disposables.

Before I was pregnant, I had not ever used a cloth diaper, much less seen one. Cloth diapering just sounded old-fashioned and gross and like too much work.

No thank you

My husband came home one day and said that one of his work friends and his wife were going to use cloth diapers (eww!) and that his friend calculated this would save them about $2000 (oh really?). Since I want to have four children, I thought this was definitely something to research. So we talked more to our friends, researched online, and took the plunge. There are a lot of different options, which I'll tackle in another post.

The main reason we went with cloth, being Burkes, was the cost savings. (If you hate math, skip down the the paragraph beginning with "So the grand total!") We looked at the diapers at Costco, which were 15 cents each. Since J was going through 20-25 diapers a day his first three or so months, we were saving about $3-$3.75 per day, or $90-$112 per month. J started going through 15-20 diapers a day from about three months to six months. We would've been spending about $2.25-$3 per day, or $67.50-$90 per month using disposables. Since about six months, he's been going through 10-15 per day, so we are saving $1.50-$2.25, or $45-$67.50 per month. This means we've saved between $742.50-$1011. With tax, $807-$1099.

A few weeks ago, I totaled the cost of every diaper and diaper accessory we have purchased. It totaled $350 including tax. You can estimate another $10 a month for laundering. Now for kicks and giggles, I calculated how much we would save with four kids using diapers for 36 months, the average age at which children are potty trained. Since diapers get more expensive as the sizes go up, our kids would be in the 20-cent diapers between ages one and two, the 25-cent diapers between ages two and three, and they would be using 5-10 per day.

Stick with me, I hate math. Also, I'm not checking these numbers because I don't want to do all this math over again, but you'll get the point even if I make a mistake.

Between ages one and two, we would spend $1-$2 a day, or $397-$794 for the year with tax. Between ages two and three, we would spend $1.25-$2.50 per day, or $496-$992 for the year with tax.

So the grand total! We would save $1700-$2885. Per child. (Assuming it takes the average 36 months to potty train and each kid averages the number of diapers that J does). Now multiply this by the four kids I want and you get $6800-$11540. If you need me to put this in perspective, we just spent $7300 on this SUV.

There was no way in hell I was going to buy a "swagger wagon"

But yes, subtract the cloth diapers (you only have to buy them once!) so $6400-$11140, then subtract $1440 for laundering equals $4960-$9700. My brain hurts.

Me while doing math

But we also like to cloth diaper for the environmental savings. No trees cut down, no manufacturing waste, and J's poop won't rot in landfills for 500 years. Not to mention the feces bacteria that is leaching into our groundwater.

Yum! I'll have what he's having

I also like the fact that I know exactly what is against his sensitive skin- organic cotton. I have no idea what they put in disposables. I know there are known carcinogens in them.

Pampers Dry Max? I'll take the one that comes with free chemical burns!

So there you have it! A large cost savings, a smaller impact on the environment, and I know what my diapers are made of.