New Baby Card Sayings | Saving Money on Diapers and Wipes

Saving Money on Diapers and Wipes

Posted on January 4, 2008
Filed Under Discounts on Products and Supplies for New Baby, Uncategorized |

In the first three months after we brought our newborn twins home from the hospital, we were so delirious from sleep deprivation that we blew an enormous amount of money for speed and convenience.  One of us would wander into the store with only one eye open, severe bed-head (not that we had been sleeping), various unidentified stains on our shirts, unmatched socks, pants possibly on backwards, shoes untied, and mumbling unintelligible words and phrases under our breath.  We would find our way to the diaper aisle (all the way at the back of the freakin’ store) and use both arms to shovel cases of diapers and wipes into the cart.  At the time, we had no idea how much we were paying and we were too tired to care.  So we would go through the checkout and allow the cashier to suck unknown amounts of money out of our account.

Obviously that is not the most intelligent or frugal way to get diapers and wipes for your new baby (in our case new babies).  And, if you just don’t care about New Baby Savings and want the fastest, cleanest, and easiest tools for baby poo removal, knock yourself out. (We won’t judge you as we have been there ourselves!)  But there are, of course, much more economical ways to take care of the inevitable flow of number 1’s and number 2’s that your new baby will produce.  Using cloth (reusable) diapers and making your own wipes at home are your best bets for saving tremendous amounts of money.

We found some places on the web to order cloth diapers in bulk (Chinese Prefold Cloth Diaper : Small (up to 15 lbs)).  Ideally you will want to have about 50 diapers per baby bottom.  This way you can do a load of laundry every two days and not run short.  But you can make it with fewer diapers if you need to.  You’ll just have to wash them more often.  And more loads of laundry mean fewer new baby savings.

Swish the soiled diapers in the toilet to get the bulky matter out and then store them in a large, airtight, plastic container (like a Safety 1st Simple Step Diaper Pail) to trap the hideous toxic stench until you are ready to put them in the laundry.  You may also want to get some Diaper Pail Deodorizers (6pk) to supress the steamy blast of gak that will hit you in the face when you open the pail.  Be sure to wash the diapers in HOT water with detergent (we always used Tide Free HE 2x Concentrated Liquid Detergent, 64 Load Bottle (Pack of 4))and a little bit of bleach to sanitize them.  We also recently found a blog post about making your own laundry detergent on the cheap.  Click here to read “Do it yourself laundry detergent?” on Saving Money.

Cloth diapers are very thick and absorbent.  But they do not hold as much as disposable diapers.  {For example right on the box of Pampers Swaddlers, Size 2, Economy Plus Pack, 184 ct for new baby it says one diaper will hold 12 to 18 pounds.  We found that to be a little extreme so we never waited for that much to be in the diaper before changing it. }  So with cloth diapers you’re going to need to change them more often.

You can also get plastic or rubber covers to put over the outside of the diaper.  These keep the contents from leaking out and getting on clothes, furniture, and most importantly you.  The downside is that they create a sort of greenhouse effect inside the diaper and can lead to more diaper rash if you’re not diligent.  So, again, check and change often.

The bottom line is that cloth diapers do have their drawbacks.  But if you can handle the moderate inconveniences your New Baby Savings will add up to several hundred dollars per year.

We will address homemade diaper wipes in a future post.

Click New Baby Savings Guide for more information.  New Baby Cards New Baby Cards

Take a look at our posts on the subject of New Baby Sayings:

New Baby Sayings 1
New Baby Sayings 2
New Baby Sayings 3
New Baby Sayings 4
New Baby Sayings 5

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