Cloth Diaper Trial: Phase 1

I know I know, this topic is worse than baby food for non-mom readers. And I know, if you are a mom not using them you might think I am crazy. Read on if your curiosity permits...

I am taking the plunge. Before the baby was born, I had no intention of trying cloth diapers... the thought didn't cross my mind. In the midst of recovery + having a newborn with 12 diapers/day every other one poop, I seem to remember stating that I will NEVER EVER try cloth diapers... those moms are CRAZY! What are they smoking??

By about month 4 I realized that:

A) cloth diapers look cute on another baby in my moms group (is that shallow?)
B) I am so used to dealing with poo that I can't imagine cloth being any grosser
C) there are dirty diapers sitting in my diaper pale, what difference does it make if they are disposable or cloth
D) I am constantly doing laundry... will I even notice one more load every other day?

Around 5 months I had a conversation with another mom at a Christmas party. What a great topic for the holidays... poop and diapers... fun fun fun. She was very convincing about how easy they are and it piqued my interest.

Fast forward from that convo. to last week when I purchased CVS brand disposables on sale to get the $.18/diaper rate that I am always seeking out. Several times when I went to change those diapers the moisture was seeping through to his pants. I have gotten a little frustrated with this constant expense that isn't always getting the job done. And I'm not willing to pay the extra for Pampers (unless there is a great deal)

After lots of on-line reading and calculations... yesterday I finally did it. There is an on-line company called Abby's Lane that has a store in Manassas, VA and I decided to check it out.

I purchased 3 different brands of diapers to compare as a jumping off point. (I am not going to pay the $200-$300 to get a full set until I know what I am doing)

BottomBumpers (BB) One Size All In Ones, Happy Heiny (HH) One Size Pockets, & BumGenius (BG) 4.0 One Size Pockets. The brands, sizes, types, styles, & colors can be overwhelming.



I had my baby try them on for size to make sure they fit & determine if I needed to return any before use (the hats were for my own entertainment):







AAAAAAAAAAAND the winner for my favorite one because it was so super easy was BB:



BB were also the only "All In One" that I purchased, and they were the most expensive. On my first attempt, I messed up the other two by putting in both the newborn insert and the regular insert. I'll probably do a step-by-step instruction blog later.

Just for your reference if you are going to try it, my baby just turned 6 months old, he weighs 18 lbs. 13 ounces, 27.5 inches long and all three diapers fit well once I properly adjusted them.

In order, from first try-on:

#1 "BB" Bottom Bumpers All In One (snaps were so easy to figure out plus no stuffing)
#2 "BG" BumGenius Pocket (on my boy it seems like this on fits more snug than HH)
#3 "HH" Happy Heinys Pocket

I have decided not to return any because they all fit and I don't know what other factors there will be as I use them that might persuade me to change the rankings.

Things I didn't know until I purchased:

-cannot use diaper cream without a protective layer between the baby's bum and the cloth diaper
-to wash you do a short cold cycle, followed by a hot cycle with extra rinse & not all diaper brands have the same directions about what goes in the dyer...
-cloth becomes more absorbent after about 8-10 washes
-lots of regular detergents can be used, even the Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin that we already have!


Cost Analysis:

The upfront cost is always what gets me about DIY stuff. You have to be really committed. I really hate the idea of upfront costs and then it not working out and ultimately paying more money than you ever thought you would.

For that reason, I am doing trial phases to ease into it. I purchased 3, and I am probably going to get 1 more this week. I want 12 total so if I get 4 per month then in 3 months I should be fully converted to cloth. (except maybe when traveling)

My initial cost:

BB $22.95
HH $18.95
BG $17.95 x 2 (if I buy 1 more) = $35.90

$77.80 for my first month with 4 cloth diapers (Note: I am still only phasing them in and this month will need disposables overnight and every other day)

Every day that I use all 4 diapers, it is equivalent to 4 disposable diapers at my estimated average of $.20/diaper (the average you find on-line is usually $.25 but that is based on San Fransisco prices and not necessarily hunting for the cheapest, which is what I do). I am erring on the side of more expensive than what I usually pay b/c I think the cloth is higher quality.

$.20 x 4 = $.80 per day

$77.80/$.80 = 97.25 days for me personally to gain back the initial cost

If I use them every other day b/c I have to wash them it will take 194 days or about 6 months. It doesn't matter if I buy 2 or 12 today... it will take 6 months for them to pay off for me. Trust the math on that one, I don't feel like writing it out :-) I just don't believe it will do so well for my monthly budget to get all 12 up front (it would be $200 minimum).

It will take 6 months after my very last diaper purchase for all my diapers to be worthwhile. So if it takes me 3 months to purchase them all, and it takes 6 months after that, then it will take 9 months from today. At that point, I will no longer have to purchase any diapers... yippee!!! And since I bought "One Size" diapers that come with newborn inserts, I will not have to buy new ones for a second baby (although it takes 24 diapers to exclusively use cloth diapers on a newborn... I will cross that bridge when I come to it)


IF I was typically spending the "average" of $.25 a diaper it would only take 5 months to pay off & if I was typically paying the high price of $.32/diaper it would take only 4 months. But since I already go cheapo, it takes longer to be worth my while... makes sense??




I will post more details of the process as I go through the learning curve.

Have you tried cloth?? Considering it??