Awesome Cloth Diapers - Great Price!!!

I recently had a baby and have been using Kawaii cloth diapers for several months now.  I have to say that I am so pleased with how well they have worked for us.  I bought the one size snap closure diapers, which will fit from newborn to toddler stages.  It is a pocket style diaper with two microfiber inserts.  I like that each diaper comes with two inserts, as it allows me to adjust using one or two at a time depending on the absorbancy my baby needs.  I never thought I would ever in a million years say this, but I think I like these cloth diapers way better than any disposable I have ever used on my kids.  I have had less problems with leaks, and I am sure they are more comfortable for my baby than disposables are (they definitely look more comfortable, anyways!).  Plus, they are really cute!

As far as the cost of these diapers go, at $6.99 a piece these diapers are a bargain in the cloth diapering world.  If you plan on cloth diapering and bought 20 of them at that price, it would come to just under $140 for a stash that most likely could be used for as long as your baby needs to be diapered.  If you exclusively use cloth for your baby's entire diapering experience, that is an incredible savings over a 2-3 year time period.  According to the Real Diaper Association, the average cost of diapering a child over the span of two years in disposables is roughly $1,600. 

When I first considered cloth diapers, I was concerned about the extra work it would take to launder them.  I have a stash of around two dozen Kawaii diapers, which leaves me to wash diapers roughly every two days.  Really, it averages out to an extra 3 loads of laundry a week.  In the larger scope of things, it was not as bad as I imagined it to be.  Washing the diapers has become integrated into my routine around here.

As a side note, I should add that Kawaii diapers has not asked me to endorse their product.  I just like these diapers so much, that I thought I would share :) 

Diapers.com Coupon Code

I recently had a baby, and after sorting through all of the promotional materials they sent home with me from the hospital, I came across a pretty good coupon code for diapers.com. This code is good for $10 off, plus free two day shipping, any order order over $49. The catch is that the order must include diapers or formula. This offer expires 9/30/2011. The code is SIMJUN10.

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!