Cloth Diapering

I've been considering cloth diapers ever since I was pregnant with Claire, but as of yet I've been too chicken to try them. I'm mostly held back by the large up-front investment, and of course the worry that cloth will be too much work. However, now that I'm working from home, and we've already spent an estimated $490 on disposables, I want to make cloth work. Claire still has 1-2 years left in diapers, so they will more than pay for themselves, plus I can reuse them with our future kids...lots and lots of savings, plus a few thousand fewer disposables in the landfills.


For a while now I've wanted to use FuzziBunz Perfect Size pocket diapers. However, at about $18 each that's a big investment and starting this late we wouldn't see much savings until using them with future babies. Recently I've decided that the more traditional prefold diaper with a waterproof cover wouldn't really be much more difficult than the fancier pocket or all-in-one diapers, and they're a fraction of the cost. I also found these Econobum and Bummis Super Lite diaper covers, which are the best deals I've seen (under $10!) and yet have great reviews.


One thing that helped me decide on more economical prefolds (besides our budget constraints) was this information on Green Mountain Diapers, "The life of a diaper cover or all-in-one is typically 6 to 9 months of hard use, or perhaps up to 1 year. Old covers need to be replaced since elastics get old and waterproofing wears out. If you use only old covers, you might be led to think that cloth diapers are leaky, when actually it's the old covers that are leaky and need to be thrown away. Good covers do make a difference. Even the best diaper won't be good enough if you have lousy covers." So, why would I pay top dollar for pocket or all-in-one diapers that are only going to last 1 year? And why would I pay $13-15 for covers? Prefolds last pretty much forever with proper care, so my choice is 
prefolds and the best price covers I can find.

I'm planning on a trial run, with:

6 Cloth-eez Prefold Diapers, size Medium...$16.02

2 Cloth-eez Doublers, size Large...$3.50

1 Bummis Super Lite diaper cover, size Medium...$9.95

1 Econobum diaper cover, one-size...$8.95

1 Mommy's Touch Diaper Pail Liner...$18.95

1 Bummis Flushable Diaper Liner Roll...$8.00

1 Snappi Diaper Fastener...$3.95

Total trial investment: $69.32

I think it's worth a try!

And here's my plan for my cloth diaper stash:
24 Cloth-eez Prefold Diapers, size Medium...$64.00
6 Cloth-eez Doublers, size Large...$10.50
4 Bummis Super Lite diaper covers, size Medium...$39.80
4 Econobum diaper covers, one-size...$35.80
2 Mommy's Touch Diaper Pail Liners...$37.90
4 Bummis Flushable Diaper Liner Rolls...$32.00
Pack of 3 Snappi Diaper Fasteners...$7.55
Total investment: $227.55
Estimated cost of another year in disposables: $330 (and we use Target brand diapers, about $0.15/ea. Name brands are $0.20+/ea.)