Cost of Cloth VS disposable

     There are different opinions on which is the best to choose for your baby, but one thing that has not changed is the price of cloth diapers compared to the cost of disposable.  Whether you choose to use the more expensive All in ones or the ecomomical prefolds , you still get to reuse them over and over again ( including with the next baby you have) . This diaper cost comparaison is going to be prefolds ( which is the cheapest way to go) VS the disposable. 

     First of all when you are buying diapers , it is a lot like picking out a good quality couch , you pick one to last and use it for a few years and even give it away when your done. Cloth diapers are a little like that, your first intial investment is high , but you will get reusable value out of these for years and years.

     Lets say you buy 2 dozen infant size prefolds and 4 dozen regulars. $400.00, well you will need wraps (four small , Med. and Large. about $108.00 or so you purchase some diaper doublers $10.00, cloth wipes (60) $35.00 a diaper pail $15.00 and 2 diaper pail liners $30.00 through in a few extras of a changing pad $30.00 and you have a grand total of about $520.00 invested in a childs life time of diapering (maybe 2 or 3 children)

     Now lets add up the costs of diapering with disposable.  The average cost of a disposable diaper is about .20 a piece.  The price will even be higher if you choose to use the more natural products.  Calculate the average of about 7 diapers a day by .20 and you get $1.40 a day, $9.80 a week , $39.20 per month and $470.40 a year. The low end age for potty training is about 2 1/2 years old. This now is estimated at a grand total of $1176 spent on just one child.  If you choose to use the more natural diapers that would be about .50 a piece which would take you to about $3000.00 a year! 

     I suppose with the cloth diapering you have to add the washer , dryer , soap, and time ( although with todays washers time really isn't that long to dump in a load and walk away , throw them in the dryer ,then to a clothes basket dedicated to the diapers so you can just grab them out of there).  I can think of a lot of better ways to spend my money, and it is less toxic to use cloth. The cloth do not have the chemicals the regular disposables have.   So there you have it!

This information was taken from Wise tradtions summer 2006   - part of Weston A. Price Foundation