Cloth diapers...did You save Money?

The longer you use them, the more you save. Besides, if you plan on more kids, you'll use them again. If you don't plan on more, then you sell them and get some of the money back.
I would recommend starting by buying a few of each type used from diaperswappers.com or Craig's list. Find the diapers you like to use then buy more used or new. You can also do a trial here:
http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/products/clothdiapers/tryc...

You pay $151.09. If you like them, you keep them, if you don't, you send them back within 3 weeks and you get all but $10 back!! It's a great deal either way because it's cheaper than buying each diaper by itself.

Diaperswappers.com is also a great community to ask questions and find out about WAHM moms who make diapers and such.

What I love best about using cloth diapers is that my second child is "free"! :) I just had a baby 3 months ago, and we're using the diapers from #1. Sure, I bought a few more diapers- the kind I really liked- but I would have been fine with what we had. What's more, when I'm done, I can sell them and recoup some of the money I spent! You can't go wrong! To save a little more, be sure to dry your dipes on a rack inside, or outside. It makes a huge difference, and the sun bleaches out any stains you might have! :)
We started with prefolds and covers. I think they are best for infants- because you go through so many. Then I tried pocket diapers- Bum Genius- and we really like them. :) I agree, it's best to try a few different kinds until you figure out what works best for you. Also check Craig's List. They have quite a few for sale there. I also have some All-In-One's for sale, if you are interested in trying those. :)

Good luck!
T.
Barefoot Books Ambassador
www.ReadandGrow.com

I never switched, but I can't see how you couldn't save money. Even with the initial cost of buying the diapers, you'd still only have the water and detergent to pay for as opposed to $40ish/month for diapers/pull ups. Good luck!

We use all-in-one, adjustable size cloth diapers for our second baby and it has saved us a lot of money (first daughter could only wear pampers because all others leaked or caused rashes). We do use disposables at night but happily our second daughter can wear the generic brands. I haven't bothered to calculate the cost of laundry but it isn't like we have noticed a big increase in the water bill and since you only use a small amount of detergent when washing them, a bottle lasts for quite a long time. I put one of the cloth diapers I have on my 3 year old and it fits her so I know I will be able to use these diapers until my youngest is potty trained. I must admit, if I were working outside of the home I would probably be using disposables, but since I am home it is extremely easy to do a load every three days or when it isn't going to rain so I can hang them on the line (more savings).

We paid for our stash, after a few months of not buying dispsables. Also, we have not noticed a raise in our water bill. (I mean, not even a few dollars more monthly) We buy a box of detergent, for $15 and it lasts us around 5-6 months.

I looked into cloth, but in the end decided that it wasn't cost effective for me.

However, I looked into it when my son was much littler and he was growing like mad which meant I probably would've had to buy several sizes. If your baby is already 1 then it probably means you won't have that problem as much.

Cloth is a pretty big initial investment, but then you could probably go months without a singe diaper payment.

Good luck!

Absolutely you will save money! My youngest is 16, so when mine were babies, they really didn't have all these fancy, shmancy diapers and covers, so it seems like we spent next to nothing on our childrens' bottoms. I don't think I bought more than 2 dozen diapers in the whole 8 or so years I spent diapering. My sisters gave me theirs and I purchased pre-folds from Target. I used the old fashion Gerber plastic pants, which you could even but in the grocery store. (I don't know if you still can) And again, I don't know if they still make them, but Gerber also made snap-side rubber pants. In my opinion, all these fancy, expensive diapers and covers are highly over-rated. I had a weeks worth of diapers and every Sunday my husband would carry the diaper pail downstairs and dump them in the slop sink and I'd wash them. Our wash machine also had a pre-soak feature, (which I didn't know could be used to throw your pail of diapers into, until a friend showed me) so if you don't have a slop sink, you just dump the whole bucket into the wash machine. I used a little Boraxo in the bucket. Washed them with detergent, bleach and Boraxo, dried them in the dryer. The sun also bleaches, so if I still had stains, I'd hang them on the line. (Although since I live in Washington, that would only be possible for about what, 3 weeks out of the year? LOL!) I did have to use changing pads-not sure if some of you younger moms even know what those are-even I found most of mine @ thrift stores because they were pretty much obsolete. I also kept a sign above the toilet in the main bathroom: 'check for diaper' because sometimes they had to soak for a bit. Kept my diaper pins on the window sill above the changing table in a bar of soap (help keep them sharp) And I just always had changing pads and plastic bags in my diaper bag. It really was never that difficult for us. I did put them in a disposable at night, as they all slept through the night early, (7wks, 5wks, 3wks, respectively) and would soak through the cloth.
I didn't necessarily use cloth to save money. It just never made sense to me to use disposables when I didn't have to.
Good luck!

We spent $150 for our initial stash of fuzzi Bunz pocket diapers 8yrs ago, used them for our second child as well. So yes, in approx 4yrs of diapers (2yrs per kid) we only spent $150 on diapers. I'd say thats a major savings!

You bet your bottom dollar I have been!! I switched at 6 months and I am a part time CDer since daycares around her aren't allowed to use cloth (dumb I know) I buy one of those giant boxes of diapers once every other month so there is the savings right there.
For the lady who didn't think it wasn't cost effective, the only way I could see it not working is if her son was close to potty training. If you go the prefod and cover route that will save you the most money since a dozen of those is $30ish and the covers are $12ish each. So I have bought 5 covers and two dozen prefolds. The covers I like are Envibums cause you don't have to wait for them to dry and I only have two of those and I LOVE them!!
I had to do a report for a class and I did it on cloth dipaers the cost for two years of extra washing was $14. So not a huge cost there, despite what people think.
I totally second the diaper trial. Totally worth it!

Definitely worth it. I use the same laundry detergent (Charlie's Soap) on my clothes as the diapers and I can go twice as long without having to buy more. During the spring/summer/fall months I line dry the diapers too which saves on electricity.

If the diapers are in good condition you can use for the next child or resale. You can't say that about disposables!

http://www.diaperdecisions.com/cost_of_cloth_diapers.htm

No, because all the time I spent washing and drying diapers, washing the clothes that got soiled, it all adds up and to me my time is worth something and it took way too much to do the cloth diapers. I was so relieved to go back to disposable.

Even with my sewing mistakes/learning curve at figuring things out (I still have yards of flannel, waiting to be turned into diapers).... the answer is yes, for us. I figure that I spent about $400 on diapers, plus about 2 cents per change on diaper by using flushable diaper liners. However, we started when our baby was 6 weeks old, and have kept going with it.

I think that the savings really multiply when you use them for more than 1 child, though. If you're just starting now, and are planning to have more than 1 kid and use cloth diapers on the next one, you'll definitely see savings.

To maximize your savings, buy used (myuseddiapers.com; diaperswappers.com; visit garage sale; check with 2nd hand children's/baby's clothing stores). Post on Freecycle, ask your family/friends to be on the look out for diapers. Sign up for some of the brand manufacturer's email newsletters--they sometimes offer 2nds for reduced prices; Kissaluvs is one that offers 2nds pretty regularly. ProRaps offer diaper cover seconds, and we use those. Also, if your family is supportive, ask for cloth diapers for his Christmas or birthday presents (or for you Christmas or b-day presents... :)

If you like fitted diapers, For really good savings, consider sewing fitteds yourself (there are several free patterns out there in cyber space; we used Mama Bird); you can buy flannel on sale at Joann's or wherever, along with velcro, elastic & thread. I am not a sewer but once I got on basic speaking terms with my sewing machine (a long neglected present), I, a non-sewer, was able to follow a basic pattern and sew up 12 fitteds for our little guy (for DH to use). You can also buy kits, which have all the stuff cut out and laid out for you just need to sew it together (for fitteds or AIO or pockets) from www.diaperkits.com.

If you really want to go economical, buy prefolds. They will last forever, and are generally easier to size than the fitteds, and are pretty much the least expensive options for cloth diapers. Folding always you to change the fit for prefolds, and it's really not hard; for directions on that try http://diaperpages.com/pf_folds.php.

I think the Diaper Pin website might have a cost calculator to help you figure out the costs of cloth vs. disposables. For us, I figured that with 1 child, we are saving $750 to $1000 over the course of his diapering...

Yes. Try diaper swappers. There is a great website that has all different kinds and the pros and cons of each http ://www.nappyshoppe.com/store/nappy-shoppe-m-10.html

I am in the process of switching now, I bought used All in ones with a pocket you can stuff, I found two auctions on Ebay I won and am going today to pick up 12 unused AIOs form a lady I found on craigslist. SO total, I will have 20 all in one diapers, with inserts, for a total of $120. So far, they are very easy to deal with, the poopys fall right out into the toilet, rinse any particles off, and throw them in the bucket till I have 8 or so to wash. They've come out clean and not smelly every time from my front loading HE washer, washed with All free and clear ( I have done 3 washes so far, cause I only have 8 on hand right now).

I calculated, and we use 4 diapers a day - usually huggies or pampers, so about 37 cents a piece, comes to about $45 a month in disposables, so in a little less than 3 months, the cloth will have paid for itself - now if you buy them brand new, it will be closer to 2X the price, so longer for payback, BUT you can also always re-use them for another child, or re-sell them after you are done.

Yes, you should be able to save money.

Good luck!

Jessie