Why Cloth Diapering Makes Sense

Goodmama diaper, Buntcakes Photography

I have been told I am crazy for cloth diapering twins but I feel that it would be insane to spend hard earned money on something that your babies poop on then you throw it away! Although my husband and I do tease that our home is where cloth diapers go to die, because with twins they are over worked! When our girls came home we did not have enough cloth diapers yet and we were moving to a larger house so I used disposable diapers for a few weeks. Each box of diapers had around 30 inside and cost about $13, I quickly did the math calculating how much I would spend per week then per month then for the first year if this continued. The cost came out to just shy of $3,000! This is an average of $1,500 per baby. 

I opted to buy more cloth diapers, it is a larger start up cost but in the end I knew it would save us money. We tried several different diaper systems and I quickly noticed that diapers with layers of PUL (a plastic liner to prevent leaks) did not wash as clean, dry as fast or let baby's skin breath. We chose to go with fitted diapers and wool covers. In about two or three days all diaper rashes cleared up and only returned with teething. Each fitted diaper cost about $12 to $20 depending on the brand. I kept tabs on how much I was spending. In the end here is how it broke down,

Wool longies, picture from Bundtcakes Photography

$500 on diapers
$200 on wool covers
= $700 for a diaper and bottom clothing stash that lasted for two years...and counting!

This saved us over $2,000 for just the first year and a little less then $2,000 the second year because diaper changes became fewer as the girls grew up. With the new baby we decided to begin with prefold diapers for the newborn stage since we skipped that size for the twins and they are much more cost effective at $2 each. Cost was not the only concern for cloth diapering, here are some other good reasons to consider cloth over throw away.

- fewer diaper rashes
- healthier for baby's skin
- easier on the planet, less in the landfill. In an ideal world you would be using a water efficient washer and line drying but with twins we almost always use the dryer.
- they are super cute! My twins get compliments all the time on their adorable wool pants.
- easier potty learning, since the baby feels wet they quickly learn not to like the feeling of a dirty diaper. 
- they last for years, often beyond just one child. Our girls are passing down many of their diapers to our new baby (who is due any day!) Sadly some have died but they served their time :)
- it is not as much work as you think it will be! We do one load of diaper laundry once a day or every other day. I throw them in the washer on a heavy bedding setting with a scoop of Tide and an extra rinse then dry...easy as pie!

Boogie Bums Diaper

If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments and I will get back to you. We have tried almost every brand at some point and know how to deal with issues like stink build up, where to find deals and how to wash. 

Here are my favorite places to buy diapers,
Prefolds: Green Mountain Diapers
Fitteds: Diaperswappers.com or Facebook groups like Cloth Diaper Swap. For locals try out Expressed Luv in Marina.
Wool: Diapperswappers.com or Facebook groups like Wool Swap