With 6000 – 8000 diaper changes from birth to potty training, disposable diapers can cost anywhere between $2000 – $3000.
The cost savings of cloth diapers depend on how long your baby is in diapers, what diapering system you are using, and how many children you will use the diapers for. If you use your diapering products for more than one child, your savings multiply!
To cloth diaper, you will need:
Diapers:
Newborn: 20-24 diapers
6-12 months: 14-18 diapers
12-24 months: 12-16 diapers
Potty Learning: 4-8 diapers
Covers:
Newborn-9 months: 1 wrap for every 3 diapers
9 months-18 months: 1 wrap for every 4 diapers
18 months to potty training: 1 wrap for every 5 diapers
Thirsties Duo Diaper:
Use from birth-to-potty and save $617 + over the cheapest disposables!
Waterproof pocket diaper. (No cover needed.) This diaper offers: ease of use, convenience, adjustability, trimness, absorbency.
You will need between 20-24 size 1 and 14-18 size 2 if washing every other day.
Cost at $18.50 MSRP = $629 – $749 + Thirsties detergent + washing costs ($633.06) = $1262.06 – $1382.06
Thirsties Duo Wrap:
Pair with Thirsties Duo Hemp Prefolds and save $907.19 + over the cheapest disposables!
Waterproof, adjustable cover and absorbent prefold diaper. This combo offers: Affordability, durability, absorbency, softness, trimness, and natural fibers. Prefolds can be trifolded for ease of use. You only need 1 Duo Wrap for every 3-5 prefolds.
Cost at $12.75 & $7.00 MSRP = $365.50- $459.75 + Thirsties detergent + washing costs ($633.06) = $912.80 – $1007.05
Pair with Thirsties Stay-Dry Duo Inserts and save $907.19 + over disposables.
Waterproof, adjustable cover and absorbent insert. This combo offers: affordability, ease of use, trimness, and absorbency. Stay-Dry Duo Inserts lay right into the cover. You only need 1 Duo Wrap for every 3-4 Stay-Dry Inserts.
Cost at $12.75 & $7.00 MSRP = $365.50- $459.75 + Thirsties detergent + washing costs ($633.06) = $998.56 – $1092.81
Pair with Thirsties Duo Fab Fitted Diapers and save $487.18 + over the cheapest disposables.
Waterproof, adjustable cover and absorbent, adjustable fitted diaper. This combo offers: adjustability, pliability, absorbency, softness, and excellent leak protection. Aplix or snap closure. You only need 1 Duo Wrap for every 3-4 fitted diapers.
Cost at $12.75 & $17.00 MSRP = $705.50- $879.75 + Thirsties detergent + washing costs ($633.06) = $1338.56 – $1512.81
Thirsties Diaper Cover:
Pair with Thirsties Duo Fab Fitted Diapers & save $343.44 + over disposables!
Waterproof, sized cover and an absorbent, adjustable fitted diaper. This combo offers: Softness, absorbency, adjustability, and excellent leak protection. Duo Fab Fitted Diapers offer Aplix or snap closures. You only need 1 cover for every 3-5 fitted diapers.
Cost at $11.50 & $17.00 MSRP = $750.50 – $932.50+ Thirsties detergent + washing costs ($633.06) = $1383.53 – $1565.56
Pair with Thirsties Duo Hemp Prefolds and save $854.44 + over disposables!
Waterproof cover with absorbent prefold diaper. This combo offers: Absorbency, softness, pliability, trimness, and leak protection. Prefolds used under sized covers will need to be fastened with pins or a Snappi. You only need 1 cover for every 3-4 prefolds.
Cost at $11.50 & $7.00 MSRP = $410.50 – $512.50 + Thirsties detergent + washing costs ($633.06) = $1043.56 – $1145.56
Thirsties Fab Wipes:
Switching to washable baby wipes is clearly a simple solution to put an additional $175 + back in your pocket!
Washable baby wipes. Soft and easy to use. You can use plain water to wet the wipes or a wipes solution such as our Thirsties Booty Luster.
Cost at $10.75 MSRP = $64.50 Wipes are washed with diapers so no extra detergent/washing costs are added.
Disposable wipes cost about .04 a diaper change. At 6000-8000 changes, that comes out to $240 – $320 for disposable wipes. I am sure you can find a use for that extra money in your pocket, and Thirsties is happy to help you do so!
You can find all of our products on our website: http://www.thirstiesbaby.com/products/
Cost comparison is determined by retail price of Thirsties products and estimated cost per load for washing diapers. Thirsties detergents are estimated at .49 a load. 2.5 years of diapering x 182.5 loads a year = 456.25 wash loads x .49 a load = $223.56 *Energy cost, water cost, and cost of washer/upkeep is estimated at about .90 a load. 182 wash loads a year x 2.5 years = 455 wash loads x .90 a load = $409.50 Total cost for detergent, energy, water, and washer cost/upkeep is estimated at $633.06.
Product price and information sourced from www.thirstiesbaby.com
Energy and water cost information sourced from http://www.csgnetwork.com/laundrycostcalc.html
This is one of the reasons we chose to go cloth! It is amazing and easy!!
We’re expecting our first in October and this is definitely helping me win the battle of cloth over disposables with the husband!
super interested, doing research already!
I kick myself for not going the cloth route from the beginning but I was scared (madame squeamish stomach was scared she couldn’t handle regular poopie diapers in ‘sposies, much less cloth where you have to “deal with” the poopie ones) to try them! Silly me! Love them now!
This is very much a YMMV scenario…many people, including myself, have started out with one system and had to switch to something different that suited their family’s needs. For example, if you are set on the Fab fitted, buy a bunch, then determine your baby would do better with the All in ones. Still, this is a great breakdown of cloth diapering costs vs. disposables. Despite the fact that I keep buying stuff, I believe I am in the black as far as diaper costs!
Who wouldn’t cloth diaper!
Thanks for this info. We love your diapers.
I love the idea of cloth diapers but am still having a very hard time convincing my stay at home husband it’s a good idea. He doesn’t like the idea of the laundry!
So exciting to see the savings calculated out! Would love to know the savings with a full stash of the new AIOs.
as a previous poster said, i wish i had started cloth diapering with my first. im fixing to have my 6th baby and will be cloth diapering. i started with my last one at about 8 months. i just didnt think twice about it because of all the negative things i heard people say in the past. it definitly isnt like it used to be. i love it! i want some thirsties covers so bad too!
It’s incredible how much you save! Thanks for the different comparisons!
My two main reasons for cloth diapering were environmental and to save some money.
I love how cloth has saved us so much. We are still using the diapers that I bought and made for my now ten-year-old, and we are now on baby #4. All we needed was a bunch of new covers – Thirsties Duo Wraps.
Used cloth diapers on my first and saved tons of money. Can’t wait to use them again on my second
This is a great analysis! I think this information would definitely encourage someone considering cloth.
It was great to see someone calculate the energy/water costs for once. When I was researching cloth 2.5 years ago nobody seemed to have bothered and simply said that you were definitely still saving money. Right now utilities are included at a flat rate with our rent, so I didn’t have to worry about it when we started using cloth. But in a few years we will be moving and I was worried we might have to give up cloth because it wouldn’t be cost effective if we had to pay for utilities. Looks like it would probably still save us money!
I just went all-cloth now, with my second child, and I only wish I’d done it sooner, with my first!
it just makes sense! save money, help the environment, and honestly I’d rather wear soft cushy cloth over plastic disposables- I’m pretty sure my baby prefers it too!!
This was very similar to our situation, and we can’t wait to save money and keep our baby (and the environment) healthier, too!
For those that are wondering, I have to use a coin-op washer and dryer at my rented apartment, and from my calculations, I’m still saving money. I line-dry most of the time (inside or out). each run of the washer or dryer costs $1, and since they are very basic and do the bare minimum (yes, bit of a rip-off…), with a quick hand pre-rinse (toddler pee!) I find I have to run the washer 2-3 times. Twice a week means about $6. $8 if I had to use the dryer one of those times.
The cheapest I found sposies for were about $.17 per. Figure 6 changes a day, times seven days, that’s $7.14. So if I’m diapering one, I break about even, or just barely save. But I’m diapering two, which would double my costs in sposies, but rarely adds to my laundering costs.
this is the main reason I started cloth diapering! …. then I got addicted
I did not start with cloth diapers because of the cost saving, but it is nice to know how much at the end we can safe. Thanks for the post!
I’m with Christine. This is why you start..to save money. Then you end up spending more than you want anyway because the prints are too cute and new colors come out! So addicting! Love cloth! At least it’s always good for baby’s booty.
Its crazy to think how much money one can save just cloth diapering! Super excited to start in October with our first little one!
just be careful, it can be easy to go overboard on buying diapers!
I have used this scenario multiple times to give my reasons for using cloth. My BIL is now on board for his furture kids thanks to the savings!
Ooh! Thanks for this info! Thank you thank you!
Right now we are still neck and neck with disposable costs & cloth costs, but in all fairness I’m still building my stash. I know it’ll pay off in the long run, esp with a 2nd child. Plus, less waste with cloth.
Amazing how much you can save and how much better they are for babies bottoms!!
This has helped me soooo much! I don’t have a baby to put in cloth yet, but I have one coming in October, and we plan to use cloth from the beginning!! When people look at me like I’m crazy, or just plain ole’ tell me I’m crazy, for doing cloth, I like to use it as a time to educate. But nobody ever believes me when I tell them about all the savings! This has helped me educate people, and prove to them that I’m not nutso.
I can’t wait to start cloth diapering!!!
Cloth diapers are such a money saver!
Thanks for all the info!! Great post!
We chose to cloth diaper from birth. We didn’t do it for the money. It was more because it’s better for baby’s health and for the environment. I have to say though that seeing numbers like that makes me even happier that we chose to CD. Disposables are such a waste of money!
I’m so excited to start getting all my cloth diapers! I love knowing i’m going to be saving so much money with cloth diapers and they are so much better for he environment!!
Don’t forget the addictive factor though. I have way more covers than I really need because they’re just so pretty… . I will control myself. I will control myself. I will control myself. …
Just starting out CDing, and Thirsties were reccommended, can’t wait to check them out!
I used Pampers & Huggies with my first two children. If we have a 3rd, I’d like to try cloth diapers. So nervous though…I hope I can hang! And these are so cute!!!
Thank you for making cloth diapering easier! I love Thirsties diaper covers (my favorite is the duo wrap) because they hold up really well after many, many washes, they have two adjustable sizes (so you only have to upgrade to the next size one time), they are made in the U.S.A and they are well priced (even compared to the ones made in China)!
Very informative!
This is a great comparison tool. Thanks for sharing!
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