Cloth diapers continue to improve, making them an enticing choice over disposables. The pros and cons to both diaper types vary depending on your family's needs. Some families choose cloth to save money, while others consider it a contribution to keeping the earth clean. A cost comparison of cloth versus disposable diapers reveals a considerable overall savings with cloth.
Cloth Diaper Cost
The price range for cloth diapers is vast. The most basic cloth diaper, called a prefold, can cost as much as $2 or as little as $1, based on 2010 averages found at PriceGrabber.com. Pins and covers are required with prefolds, causing the total price to fall anywhere between $8 and $19 for one complete diaper set. Modernized cloth diapers offer parents the option of buying diapers once and adjusting the snaps to grow with their child or buying fitted diapers that come in many sizes. These diapers each cost from $11 up to $24 depending on some of the features, according to PriceGrabber.com.
Disposable Diaper Cost
Disposable diaper prices fluctuate. Numerous brands are available to choose from, and as your child grows the number of diapers in a package decreases, although the price remains constant. As of 2010, prices range from 13 cents per diaper up to 32 cents, although buying in bulk can reduce the cost. A baby generally requires eight or more diapers per day soon after birth, but this number decreases with age.
Accessories
In addition to purchasing the actual diapers, several accessories are required when parents choose cloth diapers. These include diaper pails, wet bags, inserts, doublers, liners, diaper sprayers, odor preventatives and/or special diaper-rash creams. Not all of these products are required, but they can make cloth diaper care simpler. The ingredients in traditional diaper rash creams can increase the risk of leaking, so they cannot be used with cloth diapers.
Disposable diaper accessories include disposable bags for travel, diaper pails and diaper-rash creams.
Laundry
Cloth diapers require washing after each use. Laundry services are available in some areas that will pick up soiled cloth diapers, launder them and deliver clean ones. The cost of this service ranges between $10 and $15 per week as of 2010, explains Mindfully.org. Laundering at home may cost a few dollars more per month. Special detergents are not always necessary, but many manufacturers recommend fragrance-free or additive-free options, which may or may not add an expense to the typical family budget. VeryBaby.com estimates about a total cost of about $1.60 per load to care for cloth diapers.
Crunching the Numbers
The start-up costs of cloth diapers is clearly higher than the start-up cost of disposables. However, over time the monthly expenses of disposables may add up to surpass the cost of cloth start-up costs. VeryBaby.com estimates that babies average about 70 diapers per week, which can add up to about $16.80 per week for disposables. Three years of diapering at this cost, less the cost of accessories, can be about $2,184. The same length of time of cloth diapering, less the cost of the diapers, will cost a household only $413.40 in laundering, energy, water and detergent costs.
