Despite the diaper pin scar on my hip, I do not profess to be an expert on cloth diapers.  In fact, I know more about the design and manufacture of disposable ones, having worked as an infant care engineer.  BUT, if you are a new parent that is weighing the costs and benefits of cloth diapering, I know what you're going through.  We were there too.  The purpose of this guide is to set the record straight about some misinformation surrounding this decision, to make it easier for you to make the right choice. I hope it helps!

The Bottom Line

You have no doubt heard how expensive it is to get started with cloth diapers, with some costing as much as $20.00 each!  Yikes.  Add in the cost of utilities to launder them, and what you invariably find is that it never makes economic sense to purchase them in the first place.  I fell into this trap three years ago, when we bought them in spite of the grim financial forecast.  What I know now will shock you as much as it shocked me, and it will change your life forever: 

 USED CLOTH DIAPERS HAVE SIGNIFICANT RESALE VALUE! 

You heard me, but you still don't get it?  I don't either. Who would buy a used cloth diaper?  YOU, perhaps?  Well, ME, too!  What we found is that the diapers really only cost the difference between what we bought them for and what we sold them for THREE YEARS LATER.  That amounted to only one or two dollars, and in some rare cases we actually made money on them.  Suddenly, the economics worked out beautifully.  Of course, we sold them on eBay.  And then we went out and put our money down on the best cloth diapers we could find.  What a great thing.

Making Cents

So, when does it makes sense to use cloth diapers?  In my opinion, almost always.  My three-year-old wears one to bed at night for safety.  (By the way, he's been potty-trained since he was 2.)  My infant wears them throughout the day.  I am NOT going to put a plug in here for any specific brand of diaper - I'll leave that for another guide.  I will say that the ones we currently use are AWESOME.  They have hook-and-loop tabs for the perfect fit around the waist, removable inserts, and three rows of snaps that make them adjustable enough to fit both of my kids perfectly.  An infant and a pre-schooler in the same diaper?  You betcha.  Completely interchangeable.  That makes a lot of sense to me.

Will the Daycare Care?

From personal experience, no.  Not the four we have used, anyway.  Our daycare providers did not care if we used cloth diapers or disposable ones.  In fact, we sent along cloth wipes as well (also purchased on eBay) and collected the lot at the end of the day.  We laundered them at home, of course. 

Leaky or Not?

I was always concerned about how well cloth diapers would hold urine, or deal with a blow-out.  We actually see fewer problems with the cloth diapers leaking out around the legs or up the back, and urine leaking through is not an issue at all.  Hemp liners are great for night-time when that kind of thing might tend to happen more often.  And you could always double stuff, if you were concerned.  But we have not had that problem.

Still A Place For Disposables?

Absolutely!  I think there will always be a place for disposable diapers. Any time we are away from the house, our first choice is a diaper that we can throw away.  Think about it!  When we go out to eat, go over to a friend's house, or even head out on vacation, we always look to have the cheapest disposable diapers we can find on hand.  As you well know, these events don't happen all that often when you have an infant, so it really doesn't amount to many diapers.  In addition, we have faced some resistance to the notion of laundering our cloth diapers while visiting family for extended periods, so we try to avoid using them there as well.  Even so, we've saved hundreds of dollars using cloth.    

I hope this guide helps you.  It would have made me feel better about shelling out big bucks for cloth diapers when we were first getting started more than three years ago.  If I knew then what I know now, we would not have hesitated one bit. 

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