A lot of people I talk to are either intimidated or grossed out by cloth diapering. Honestly, it's no more gross than changing any diaper and it's a lot easier than it seems. Believe it or not, we love using cloth diapers!
We love them not only because we are reducing so much waste but because we are saving money, we never encounter diaper rash, and the styles look SO cute on our sweet babe's little bum. I originally wanted to cloth diaper our little nugget because it's the proper thing for a crunchy mom to do (insert laughing emoji). I never thought I'd love using cloth so much more than disposables.
If you've looked into cloth diapering, you know that it can get pretty expensive. If you want to cloth diaper strictly to be frugal, some of the upfront costs can look a little daunting. Lucky for you, I have some tips and recommendations to start out your cloth diapering journey frugally and (hopefully!) mess free.
They're are different styles of cloth diapers. Prefolds, pockets, and all-in-ones. The diapers we chose and like so much are pocket diapers. I tried an expensive brand of all-in-ones and hated them. They leaked and then shrunk in the dryer on low heat. I paid almost $18 a piece for these, but thankfully only purchased two of them.
Once you choose a style you like, it's time to choose the brand. This was the hardest part. There are so many to choose from and a lot of the popular brands run anywhere from $12-$18 per diaper. Yikes!
I was prepared to pay $200-$300 for a set of 12 diapers and inserts. How was this saving us money, exactly? I couldn't get myself to spend that, especially when I was already purchasing organic mattress pads, sheets, and other non-toxic baby essentials. These items are far from cheap.
My mom knew that we were planning to cloth diaper, so she started doing some research on a set she could buy us. She also had the same reaction to the price tags and set on a journey to find affordable, but also quality, diapers.
She read tons of Amazon reviews and finally decided on GoalBaby diapers. These are the diapers we use and absolutely love. They are just a rebranded Alva baby diaper. They are the same exact diaper, manufactured in the same place, just have different tags placed on them.
Once we started using our GoalBaby diapers and discovered how great they were, we purchased another set of them, with the even better liners (bamboo viscose instead of bamboo charcoal).
There are tons of cute styles to choose from whether you're purchasing for a baby boy, girl, or you don't know yet! Buy them here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0188XEJUC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
My Cloth Diaper Stash:
28 Covers
36 Inserts (24 bamboo viscose, 12 bamboo charcoal)
My Must-Have Accessories:
1 Ubbi Steel Diaper Pail
2 Planet Wise Washable Pail Liners
I wash my cloth diapers every day or every other day, depending on how busy my day is.
My Washing Day Routine:
I take the steel pail from Elishah's room to the laundry area of our home. I dump the diapers and the diaper pail liner bag straight into the washing machine. I do a quick scan to make sure there aren't any liners still stuck inside the pocket of any diaper covers. Then, I run a quick rinse cycle on the diapers in hot water. Once that is finished I run a wash cycle on warm with my laundry detergent (currently using UPP from Norwex) and a scoop of baking soda (I get the giant bag at Costco). Once that's done the diapers are either ready to go to the dryer on low-heat or be hung on the line to air dry. A bonus of hanging the diapers out to dry is that the sun naturally bleaches the stains out of my off-white liners. I also wipe out the inside of my diaper pail about once a week and add some of my favorite essential oils to it- OnGuard, Lemon, or Orange.
The cost break-down:
For 12 pocket diaper covers and 12 liners, it's $75.99. That ends up being roughly $6.33 per diaper. That is a STEAL of a deal. If you don't believe me, check out the price of one popular brand pocket diaper, here: https://www.amazon.com/BumGenius-4-0-Pocket-Cloth-Diaper/dp/B003VRGYT0/ref=sr_1_1_s_it?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1465584014&sr=1-1&keywords=bumgenius
We purchase 12 additional inserts for our diaper stash for $30, here: https://www.amazon.com/LOVE-MY-4layers-Absorbent-Antibacterial/dp/B00SKKPMIC/ref=pd_nav_hcs_bia_t_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=XZ7AGGZP6B426VYTF65N
The Ubbi diaper pail is a bit of an investment at $69.99, but it's well worth it: https://www.amazon.com/Ubbi-Steel-Diaper-Pail-White/dp/B00821FLT4/ref=sr_1_1_s_it?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1465589153&sr=1-1&keywords=ubbi+steel+diaper+pail
You could use a steel garbage can like this, https://www.amazon.com/Behrens-6110-10-Gallon-Locking-Lid/dp/B000AS3OW8/ref=pd_sbs_328_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=517UY2dFvAL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR119%2C160_&refRID=EY7SXQ1HAM0DD6KF8AYB, and save $50!
The washable pail liners are $12.95 each: https://www.amazon.com/Planet-Wise-Reusable-Diaper-Seaspray/dp/B00CF322PG/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1465587715&sr=8-2&keywords=planet+wise+pail+liner
Our entire cloth diaper stash and accessories cost us $277.96. This could have been less if we chose the right liners the first time (takes away our $30 in extras) and if we wanted a more inexpensive dirty diaper storage (minus $50). Your stash could cost you around $198. When you consider that the average cost of disposable diapers per year per child is $900, you're saving a significant amount. Not to mention cutting back on waste. We can use these diapers all the way until Elishah is potty trained and even on our next baby. We'll have years of money saving.
We exclusively cloth diaper now. It's easy and we enjoy it. It wasn't always this way, however. We may love it now, but when little man was a newborn, it was a different story. We learned a thing or two.
For the next kiddo, we'll purchase a dozen cloth diapers in newborn size. Our GoalBaby diapers didn't fit our baby well until his little chicken legs chubbed up a bit (around 6 weeks.) I also will never purchase microfiber inserts (they get stinky) or the charcoal ones (they don't absorb as well so it takes two).
We are still learning new things and will continue to do so as our little boy grows. It's a journey.
Just remember it takes a little practice, a little trial and error, a few leaks, and a few mishaps before you get the hang of it. This is true with disposable diapering and any area of parenting, really. You won't regret sticking with it if you decide you want to cloth diaper.
Do you cloth diaper? What are your favorite tips for newbies?
