To many parents, cloth diapers seem like a money saving option. After all, once you use disposable diapers, you throw them out, and they’re gone while a cloth diaper can be reused, saving you on the expense of having to buy new ones. But if you do the math, you may find that the amount you will end up saving with cloth diapers surprising. Read on to look at some real numbers to find out exactly how much you’ll be saving. 

Do Cloth Diapers Save You Money? 

To start, let’s look at the actual cost of the two diapers. Disposables cost about $0.25-0.30 per use while cloth diaper inserts only cost around $0.07 per use. If you are using around seven diapers today, that amounts to $1.50 to $2.00 savings per day from using cloth. Sounds pretty good right? Read on...

First, there are the initial, up-front costs of starting with cloth. 24 diapers can cost anywhere from $100 to $600 depending on the type of diaper you use. FuzziBunz is the best quality for your money. You can typically get 24 Fuzzibuns diapers for around $360 depending on fit, size, and style. You also need to buy a cloth friendly diaper detergent, a diaper pail, diaper pail liners, and wet bags. All this can run parents a total of up to $500 to $700.

On top of that, there is the water and electricity used to wash the diapers which can amount to $10 a month.

So, in the first year, total savings will be around zero. However, the second year is when families will begin to see those savings add up, totaling $600 to $800. Of course, this number can vary depending on how long your baby stays in diapers. If your toddler stays in them for the second year, you can see around a $1,000 in savings per year!

Families will continue to benefit from these savings with a second child.

Other Possible Benefits of Cloth Diapers

Those who go for the cloth diaper option may do so because it can save time and help the environment. Let’s break these down and see how beneficial cloth diapers can be in these capacities.

Time: Cloth diapers can be a time saver for individual families. Washing the diapers is time-consuming for some, but this can be countered by time spent running out to buy disposables. Some families opt to have diapers delivered which can take care of this in any case.

Whether cloth diapering can save you time or not, really depends on your family’s lifestyle and how you organize your day. 

The Environment: Whether cloth diapers help the environment is another question with no clear answer. While disposables take more raw materials to create, fill landfills and degrade slowly, washing diapers use valuable resources like water and electricity.

So what will it be? Cloth or disposable? While both diapers have their advantages and disadvantages, for most it will come down to a matter of personal preference. Consider your lifestyle and which diaper will work best for you and your child when making this critical decision.

Inspired by www.forbes.com