Places to Get Cheaper Cloth Diapers

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Facebook has become my cloth diaper shopping best friend. The following are places you can use on Facebook to purchase new and used cloth diapers at an affordable cost.

1. Buy-Sell-Trade Groups (B/S/T)

Cloth Diaper Swap and Sell

Diaper Swapper

Cloth Diaper Trader

2. eBay

Ebay offers both used and new diapers. My recommendation for cheaper brands on eBay are:

~Happy Flute



~Sunbaby



~Weegro



~Baby Wizard

 

Just remember when ordering with eBay to check the return policy from the seller. If you have an issue with your diaper you want to make sure it can either be replaced or refunded if the item was not as described.

4. Small Local Businesses (Work at home moms and some are even dads!)

Just Simply Baby

3. Facebook Co-Op Group

This is my absolute favorite source for getting my diapers. Yes it takes about 6 to 10 weeks to get your diapers however the cost is great! They also do toy co-ops, stuff for cleaning, and a ridiculous amount more.

Co-ops work the following way. A host sets up a bulk buy with a manufacturer that will give the group wholesale pricing on diapers. They create a spreadsheet for you to place your order on (usually in Google Drive). The co-op is open for about 3-4 weeks and then it closes and you are invoiced for your order. Most co-ops use WePay for invoices which you are not required to have an account with. After everyone pays the host pays the supplier and the order is packed and sent to the host. Once received the host will repack the order for all they buyers and send it out. Usually you pay shipping to you through PayPal. Most co-ops require that you know someone already in the group in order to join. Here is a list of my favorite co-op groups:

Cloth Diaper Loving Mamas

Mighty Mama Co-op

The Shue In

How many diapers do you need?

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Here is a quick chart to let you know the expected number of diapers you need:

And as usual an adorable photo of Ava.

Cloth Diaper Detergent? Overpriced! Make your own!! (Laundry DetergentRecipe Included)

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So I absolutely hate spending $14 on cloth diaper detergent. The price is insane! Yes it works great and Rocking Green is a wonderful brand however I can make cloth diaper detergent and my home laundry detergent that lasts for months for the same price!

What to get at your local grocery store (if you are only wanting to make your diaper wash you only need the first three thinge:

1 Box Super Washing Soda

2 Boxes (32 oz total) Baking Soda

1 Container of OxyClean (I buy the larger one since I'm making laundry detergent as well)

1 Bar of Zote Soap (We get Pink or White)

1 Container of Purex Crystals, Dawn Pebbles, or Gain Fireworks (Optional if you don't want a fragrance don't get)

OK you have all the ingredients you need so now lets get mixing! I use my blender for the cloth diaper detergent. Blends it up better!

Cloth Diaper Detergent Recipe - 2 tbsp per load

2 Cups Super Washing Soda

2 Cups Baking Soda

2 Cups Oxiclean (If you have hard water add half a cup. Link to the USGS Water Quality is listed below.)

http://water.usgs.gov/owq/hardness-alkalinity.html

Source: USGS.gov

Laundry Detergent - 1 tbsp for a small load and 2 tbsp for a large load

4 Cups Washing Soda

2 Cups OxyClean

1 Cup Baking Soda

1 Bar Zote Soap (you can shred this with a cheese shredder)

1/2 Container of Crystals, Pebbles, or Fireworks (if purchased)

I hate the smell of the Zote soap, however after washing and drying you will not smell it. I store my detergents in a set of stainless steel containers I purchased at Target for around $12.

Wanting to cloth diaper but confused by all the different types?

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When I started getting serious about wanting to cloth diaper and started doing my research my initial reaction after realizing all the types was almost a panic attack!

Which ones do I pick? What the crap does that mean?!? Why are there like 5 different kinds? What is an AIO? And the list goes on... Well get your pencil and paper out! Here is my personal experience with the types of cloth diapers I have used as well as information on other types.

What I've experienced so far:

1. Prefold - yes the classic old school rectangular-shaped cloth diapering system I was so terrified of while pregnant and lead to me thinking my mother-in-law was nuts!
I myself never did the old school fold with my prefolds. I would just fold them 2 times into a rectangular and put them in my FLIP covers (and yes these are also pricey covers however I was lucky and found 5 for $25 from a mama that cloth diapered triplets. I now use Happy Flute covers and they are just as good of a quality as my FLIP and were about $4 new.

2. Fitted diaper - this is similar to a disposable diaper in shape and is super absorbent however you do have to have a cover over it. They are great for night-time use for heavy wetters and Ava IS a ridiculously heavy wetter.

Ok so the first two types you have to have a cover over. My recommendations for covers are Happy Flute and Weegro. If you want to spring the extra bucks FLIPs work great as well. The plus about covers and prefolds is that all you have to do is change the fitted diaper or prefold after a potty and the cover can be wiped out and used again. I do not reuse a cover is she poops though. Something mentally in my head says, "Gross baby poop = new cover."

3. Pocket Diaper - so our house is a HUGE fan of pocket cloth diapers. Pretty much it is like a regular disposable diaper in shape and has snaps or velcro to open and close it. It has a waterproof layer that usually is a fabric lined with PUL (polyester/polyurethane laminate) and an inner layer of fabric that is usually fleece or some other type of soft fabric. Between the inner and outer layers is a pocket that an insert goes into which is the absorber for pee. If it is one-size (which is what we use) then it will typically fit a baby from 8-35 pound.

The other types of cloth diapers:

1. All in One (AIO) - The shape is just like a regular disposable diaper. It has a outer layer that is waterproof and the inside is a "soaker" which will be either sewn in or snap in.

2. All in Two (AI2) - Similar to a diaper cover it has a waterproof shell and then an insert that will go inside of it that may or may not snap in.

3. Hybrid diaper - the gDiapers are considered to be hybrid diapers. It has the same characteristics of a AI2 however you can buy disposable inserts to put in them.

A Small Part of My Stash:



Charlie Banana, Baby City (Junk stopped using after a week), FLIP covers



My Sunbaby Diapers that I LOVE!! (Only $5 a diaper)

Views on Cloth Diapering (The Stereotype)

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So when people learn that I cloth diaper I'm pretty sure they get the image of the old school prefold diapers my mother would have used when I was a child.

Yes... I had the same image when my mother-in-law mentioned cloth diapering to me while I was pregnant. Originally I thought she was nuts (probably the pregnancy hormones and moodiness from bed rest). But figured I would do a little research for I was raised to look at both sides. My research was the following:


-Walk into Babies R' Us

-See the cost of gDiapers

-Laugh at the amount of money they cost

-Walk out of Babies R' Us


I know. I really didn't put much effort into it. But my husband wasn't much help either with the situation because he really disliked the thought of playing in baby poop. Watching videos on YouTube about cleaning poop off cloth diapers did not help either :-/

Well lets fast forward to about 2 months after having our beautiful baby girl...

Diaper rash! Yeast rash! We constantly had to fight with her booty having rashes with disposable diapers. We were spending nearly $60 a month on diapers because she could only wear Pampers Swaddlers. LUVS gave her a horrible rash, Huggies led to major blow-outs (the couch, myself, and even our poor dog), and off brands lead to more diaper rash. My baby girl had a miserable looking booty. After her pediatrician prescribed a compound diaper rash cream ($65 for a 120 treatment supply) I refused to keep spending money on disposable diapers. Once again the words of my mother-in-law came into play "cloth diapers," and the research began.

At first my husband was not happy about my idea to do cloth diapering. So given he is a number kind of man I had to lay out the cost effectiveness of the diapers. Of course I had no idea that there were cheaper cloth diapers out on the market because I only knew about what was massively advertised in the baby marketing world.

-bumGenius

-Charlie Banana

-FuzziBunz

-GroVia®


And the list goes on. After purchasing a 6-pack of Charlie Banana diapers for $109 at Target I knew I needed a bigger stash as well as finding a cheaper way to purchase diapers so that I wouldn't give my husband a heart attack with my new cloth diaper adventure.

So with that all said it took about another month but I found a cheaper way to get cloth diapers. Some have been amazing and some have been horrible. Because we all know the saying "you get what you pay for." Well this is not always the case but I am hoping to help parents new to cloth diapering and how to do it on a budget.

So please feel free to check out my blog as I update mine and Ava's adventures with her cloth diapering as well as other cost saving ideas, cloth diaper prep, and many other mommy ideas I have come across with my family living on one income.



Baby Ava in her Sunbaby Diaper