Diapering For Less

Ah, the joys of motherhood! Diapers! Diapers are one of the bigger expenses of having a baby. The Real Diaper Association, www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php, estimates that it costs roughly $1,600 to diaper a child for two years in disposables. That's alot of money! (Note: there are lots of other interesting diapering facts on that website too!).

One of the ways to save money on diapering is to use cloth diapers. There are many advantages to this. Saving money on diapers long-term is a definite bonus. Using cloth cuts down on waste and disposal as well. You can always re-sell your diapers when you are done with them and recoup some of the cost. While you cannot sell used cloth diapers on Ebay anymore, there are other sites around to sell them at, such as http://www.myuseddiapers.com/. Also, www.babybestbuy.com/dappi-diapering-2/ has very reasonable prices for a very simple cloth diaper. We use the diaper covers, and I really do like them alot!

One of the disadvantages of cloth diapers is that the initial upfront cost is quite a bit. It is like spending your entire diaper budget all at once. Buying used diapers can help with that, or you could make your own cloth diapers if you know how to sew. There are many free cloth diaper patterns out there on the web. Some mothers will also make diapers and sell them as a business. There are also ideas about how to make them economically for less on some of these websites. This website, www.zany-zebra.com/free-cloth-diaper-patterns.shtml, has links to several different kinds of free cloth diaper patterns.

Right now, we use both cloth and disposable diapers. I was converted to cloth diapers by a friend, I actually bought my first diapers used from her. To me, doing diaper laundry was just an added chore, but I have found that it really isn't so bad after all. I like to use the cloth diapers when we are home, and the disposables overnight and when we are out and about.

Saving money on disposables is also possible. I have found that the generic diapers, most of the time, serve our needs just fine. I know some people have to use name brand diapers for various reasons. If you use name brand diapers, sign up at http://www.huggies.com/ or http://www.pampers.com/ and get on their mailing list for coupons. They send out some pretty good coupons, and I have noticed that in this economy, the coupons are better than usual. Use those coupons when the diapers are on sale, and sometimes you can get the name brand diapers for the same price as the generics. Some stores, like Walgreen's, sometimes have really good sales on their brand of diapers, like buy one get one free. If there is a sale like that, it is a good time to stock up on diapers for a while if you have the money to do so. Target also has a really good generic diaper for a reasonable price. When we buy their diapers, we usually get a large box of them for around $13-$14 (considering that Pampers and Huggies are usually around $20-$25 for the same size box, the savings are significant).

Whether you use cloth or disposable diapers, there are ways to cut costs and save money!