I had read about half a dozen sources estimating the cost of disposables anywhere from $1500-$2500. 

So, I will do my own estimate based on my boys.

First, my variables. 

  • I will use the estimate of $.15/disposable. After having read Emilie’s disposable diaper blog, I will assume if money is an issue, there are fiscal ways to buy disposables. Do it.
  • I will assume that average toilet training age will be two and a half.
  • I will take the average diaper use of my boys. Boaz wets little. Gideon wets lots.
0-3 months
12 diapers/day
90 x 12 = 1080
Size 1
$.15/diaper
$162.00
3-12 months
9 diapers/day
270 x 9 = 2430
Size 3
$.15/diaper
$364.50
12-30 months
7 diapers/day
540 x 7 = 3780
Size 5
$.15/diaper
$567.00
Total number of diapers
7290
Total Cost for Disposables
$1093.50

 

The great thing about cloth is that it can be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. If you would like to pay as little as possible - then prefolds and covers are the way to go.

When trying to find the best price for prefolds and covers, I came across this phenomenal deal. $195 for everything you will need to diaper your child until they are toilet trained. That same site estimated the cost of washing cloth as $59. I will just go with that since I have not cared to measure out how much detergent I use and did not see a noticeable difference in my water bill.

Now, if prefolds and covers aren’t your bread and butter (they sure aren’t mine), you can still buy frugally. BumGenius diapers are one-sizers so you can buy 30 which is enough for a very big rotatable stash. If you buy new, they are $17.95 each but many sites has discounts per half dozen so you could buy new for as little as $16.50 each.

If you buy used or wait for end of the year sales, as I did, you can, on average, buy them for $12.00 each. Your pocket, one-size diaper stash, could cost as little as $360.

I previously estimated our stash at $800 and that was wrong. Our personal stash cost about $1200 but we only paid for $800 of it (thank you dear friends and family who gifted us well). We have 72 Fuzzibuns, 6 BumGeniuss, 5 S esbaby AIO’s, 50 prefolds, 6 covers (NB, S, M), and 5 Sumbuns. All of our diapers (minus 6) are in very good condition, and could be resold for $900.

Of course we won’t resell (or pass them on) until we feel that the Nelson family is complete, and that is most certainly not now. If we, at minimum, have one more Nelson we would have diapered 3 kiddos for $400 each for two and a half years. Adding the resell value into the equation we would have diapered our babes for $100 a piece.

You really can’t beat that.