Caring for our children’s health by using cloth diapers is part of being a natural family - and one of the ways I chose to Nourish my Treasures. I won’t get into the reasons why avoiding disposable diapers is best for baby health…that is for another day. This post will cover the economical benefits of choosing cloth, and show you how I saved $3,350 by using cloth.

Did you know the average cost of using disposable diapers on a baby comes out to roughly $900 per year? Since most kids now-a-days are still in diapers at the ages of 4, you could be spending $3600 on diapers - literally throwing your money away.

What can one do?

Well, you can choose cloth diapers. (Yeah, you knew that was coming).

But wait, you say, cloth diapers are cute and everything, but I’ve seen some that go for $25 a pop! That’s way too expensive!

Oh really? $3600 can buy a lot of cloth diapers!

How I saved $3,350

I only spent about $250 in cloth diapers for my daughter. How? I chose prefolds and wool covers. $24 per dozen prefolds (I bought three dozen, although I never really got to that last dozen!) came out to $72. I started off in disposable diapers (yup, the truth comes out) because I could see myself doing laundry that soon after she was born (I did, however, have Ryan in cloth from the beginning, and the laundry really isn’t that bad! But that is a post for another day). I bought the prefolds in size Regular and they lasted until she potty trained at 22 months.

The other part of the cost was in diaper covers. I purchased wool covers in two sizes, and since we went with wool the cost was about $75. All in all we spent under $250 including cloth wipes (two yards of flannel) and snappi’s (to hold the prefolds closed).

Going with prefolds and wool: $3,350 savings
Use this system for subsequent children and your cost is $0

How I Saved $2,520+

If you “upgrade” from prefolds and covers to all-in-two’s (a diaper you assemble by snapping in an insert) you’ll spend roughly $15 a piece. Let’s see what that would cost…

At two dozen diapers per three sizes, your cost comes out to $1080. These three sizes would theoretically fit your child from birth until he or she was potty trained.

Going with all-in-two’s: $2,520 savings
Use this system for subsequent children and your cost is $0

I actually sewed my own all-in-two’s, so I saved even more by purchasing my own PUL, velour fabric, elastic, thread, and even a snap press and snaps so I could make my own. Going this route saved me even more than the $15/pop it costs to purchase.

Go Supreme and still save $1800

Okay, now say you go with those fancy $25 all-in-one diapers, which are several layers all sewn together requiring no assembly. $25 x two dozen = $600. Three sizes would cost $1800. That is still only half the cost of using disposable diapers.

Going with all-in-one’s: $1,800 savings
Use this system for subsequent children and your cost is $0

Cloth Diaper-Related Costs

But what about the detergent needed to wash the diapers? Doesn’t that need to be factored in? Of course it does.

According to The Diaper Dollar, detergent costs come to $43 for 30 months, or $17.20/year for a total of $68.80 for four year’s worth. You could shave this down, however, by making your own laundry powder for cloth diapers, as I did: Make Your Own Laundry Powder.

What about energy costs? You can add another $270 for energy costs for four years, according to The Diaper Dollar.

Cloth-clusion

All in all, cloth diapers are still more economical, no matter how fancy you go.

And much, much cuter

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Lea Harris founded Nourishing Treasures in 2006. A mom passionate about her family's health and well-being, Lea believes education is power. Encouraging others to take baby steps in the right direction of health for their families, Lea's goal is to raise awareness of what goes into our mouths and on our bodies, providing natural alternative information that promotes health and prevents disease by using traditional foods and nature's medicine. Lea is a Certified Health Coach graduate from Beyond Organic University, and a Certified Aromatherapist graduate from Aromahead Institute. "Like" Nourishing Treasures on Facebook, join the Nourishing Treasures Group on Facebook, follow @NourishTreasure on Twitter, and subscribe to our newsletter. You can also find me on Learning About Essential Oils forum, and Fido Fermentation Facebook group. Disclaimer: I use affiliate links wherever possible. So if you click on a link, and make a purchase, I might make a small commission, but it doesn't cost you any more.