How much $ (minimum) should one save for having a baby? (parent, wife)
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A cover & inserts cost b/w $10-$15. A NB is going to need more than 4 diapers.
What is a cover and inserts? Never heard of them and always used cloth diapers.
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Keep in mind, one set of cloth diapers is not going to fit a 8 month old when they are sized for a NB.
Wrong. You can use the same ones from birth right up until you potty train. You just fold them differently. I know this because I USED CLOTH DIAPERS.
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Dreft is NOT recommended b/c of the buildup it leaves on the fleece. Plus, Dreft is way too expensive.
I always used dreft. Never had a problem, but then, I didn't put my baby in fleece, either. Always used cotton.
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The upfront cost of cloth diapers is closer to $200 (cover, inserts, detergent, water costs for washing the diapers, etc). Plan on doing this 2 or 3 times.
You can't be serious ! ! ! First, you don't pay 'upfront' for water and detergent, you pay as you go with those. Second, what's up with the cover and inserts?
At Walmart you can get a dozen cotton diapers for $9.94. If you get 4 dozen, that's $40.00 output from birth to potty training. AND THINK WHAT YOU SAVE ON THE ENVIRONMENT ! !
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Yes, money is definitely saved when diapers are $20/package but it will still cost more than $40 for cloth diapering a NB.
Not true, see above.
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I've never heard of a daycare center allowing cloth diapers due to hygiene purposes. We ran into that issue when my #1 was in daycare at 9 months
I have. They use what we call a diaper pail.
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Cloth diapering is the best route to go if it fits a routine. And that routine can take some time to get down b/c it does requiring constant washing when they are NBs due to the amount of inserts they go through in a matter of 8 hours.
Takes no time at all establishing a routine. No trouble at all.
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And the pee & poop does get on the covers & thus you gotta change the cover.
By cover, you must mean rubber pants. Those can be washed and reused, you knew that, didn't you?
Oh, yeah, not everyone wants to use cloth diapers or make their own baby food or even breastfeed.
If a person is looking on ways to be cost effective, there are many different avenues to go.
That's absolutely true. But if someone is considering the pros and cons, cost is certainly one factor that they might want to consider. And if someone is looking for ways to cut cost, these are all good suggestions.
Regarding cloth diapers, perhaps some are not aware that there are many types of cloth diaper "systems" now with very different price tags. You can go very basic, as 925 seems to have done. Most people I know seem to do pre-folds and covers, which is somewhat more expensive than that. The pre-folds can be plain like 925's or they can have all sorts of cute designs on them and cost more. The covers can be anything from cheap nylon for $3 up to fancy fleece and wool and other things for way way more $$$. Still others use pocket diapers, and the most expensive are All-In-Ones (AIO) which work essentially just like disposables except that you wash them. I used some AIOs and they cost me $20-25 new, though I got most of them 2nd hand for about $4-5. For the higher level cloth diapers, there is a lot of trading and re-selling them, both for different sizes as your child gets bigger and just because people like different pretty patterns. Therefore, even if you spend a certain amount on them, you will typically re-coup at least 50% of the cost when you sell them. Regarding Dreft, there is controversy over whether it is good or bad on cloth diapers, so you hear different things from different people.
Here is a site devoted to the art of modern day cloth diapering and the selling/trading of them: http://www.diaperswappers.com/forum/
Seriously, some people care a LOT about these things...
It takes more than 5 mins to take care of cloth diapers unless you are ok with washing them with poop on them. They need to be soaked, somewhat handwashed, & then put in the washer. The better care you take of the inserts the longer they will last.
Take the diaper off the baby, put the poop in the toilet and quick rinse it out, put it in a diaper pail. In the evening, throw them in the washer. In the morning, or after they're finished washing, put them in the dryer.
How is that a problem?
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If a person is looking on ways to be cost effective, there are many different avenues to go
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But we have only one earth, and we don't need to fill it up with disposable diapers.
Most people I know seem to do pre-folds and covers, which is somewhat more expensive than that. The pre-folds can be plain like 925's or they can have all sorts of cute designs on them and cost more.
The prefolds at Walmart are $9.94. The prefolds with 'cute' designs are a dollar more.
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The covers can be anything from cheap nylon for $3 up to fancy fleece and wool and other things for way way more $$$.
Gerber makes wonderful rubber pants for practically nothing for 2 pairs, then you put clothes on, no need for covers of nylon or fancy fleece and wool. Never saw anthing like that before. Just always used Gerber rubber pants.
I haven't read all the posts on all 10 pages so I'm likely repeating something others have said.
My kids didn't start costing me anything until school age. Really.
Breastfed, cloth diapered (which I realize is an issue if you are using daycare), and co-slept. Thrift store shopped for clothes.
So, the carseat cost me of course, and I spent 30 bucks on a sling baby carrier that I used until they were at least a year.. then all I needed was a cheapie stroller for longer outings. Again, thrift store.
With my firstborn my mom bought a gorgeous canopy crib that was never used. With my second he just co-slept from the start but I did have a playpen (second hand) and used it for naps, and for keeping toys in when he was older.
If I had another baby now I'd probably buy one of those Arm's Reach co-sleeper things and new they're about $100 (I think?) but I see them all the time on Craigslist under $50.
All of their toys and clothes (with the exception of b-day and Christmas gifts) came from thrift stores and for the most part that is still the case now.... it wasn't until they were older and wanting more sophisticated gadgets, toys, etc., and desiring to play soccer, or an instrument, or take special classes that they started costing us, really.
I did read the bit of the debate on cloth diapers on this page and just wanted to say that I purchased brand new, high quality, virtually leak-proof cloth diapers when I was pregnant with my second child that ran me about $400. Yes, that sounds like a lot... but the diapers are designed so that you can alter the fit using the sewn on snaps. I used the same dipes for him when he was newborn all the way until he potty trained at 2.5 years old. Then we used them for DD. Then we sold them on eBay for about $150. If I'd known about them with the firstborn I probably could have gotten that much more use out of them (I didn't know with him though). So, two children wore them for their entire diaper stage AND I got some money back in the end, and some other mom/child got a lot of use out of them, and had I chosen to do so in the beginning I could have purchased the initial "set" second hand, or from a small business (mom owned) diaper seller (lots of moms who sew and make similar diapers as a small business), or in other ways have made the initial investment cheaper, but I went for the ease of just ordering the entire "package" that covered all the diapering needs for years.
There are certainly much cheaper options if you want to do cloth.. I'm just pointing out that event the more expensive option, the ready made 'fancy' diapers, were really not that expensive if you look at the big picture.
Last edited by fierce_flawless; 10-03-2008 at 12:06 PM..
Yes, that's true - and if you are on WIC you might be able to rent one from them for free/cheap too.
You probably won't need to buy/rent a hospital grade pump unless you have a preemie or some other type of issue, but that is also an option.
Most folks who go back to work and pump tend to either buy the Medela Pump In Style or the Ameda Purely Yours, both of which are around $200-300 (depending on which accessories you get), with the Ameda somewhat cheaper than the Medela. I would not recommend a manual pump for going back to work, but they work well enough if you end up staying home and are way cheaper.
These can also be purchased via eBay or Craigslist.
Obviously you buy any parts that touch a human or human milk seperate and new (directly from the manufacturer, fairly cheap)... but you can save a ton on the pump itself by searching eBay, Craigslist, or perhaps a second hand store in your area. We have one here that is rather upscale, deals only in children's stuff (toys, cribs, strollers, breast pumps, etc) and maternity clothing.
Regarding cloth diapers, perhaps some are not aware that there are many types of cloth diaper "systems" now with very different price tags. You can go very basic, as 925 seems to have done. Most people I know seem to do pre-folds and covers, which is somewhat more expensive than that. The pre-folds can be plain like 925's or they can have all sorts of cute designs on them and cost more. The covers can be anything from cheap nylon for $3 up to fancy fleece and wool and other things for way way more $$$. Still others use pocket diapers, and the most expensive are All-In-Ones (AIO) which work essentially just like disposables except that you wash them. I used some AIOs and they cost me $20-25 new, though I got most of them 2nd hand for about $4-5. For the higher level cloth diapers, there is a lot of trading and re-selling them, both for different sizes as your child gets bigger and just because people like different pretty patterns. Therefore, even if you spend a certain amount on them, you will typically re-coup at least 50% of the cost when you sell them. Regarding Dreft, there is controversy over whether it is good or bad on cloth diapers, so you hear different things from different people.
By cover, you must mean rubber pants. Those can be washed and reused, you knew that, didn't you?
They make velcro covers now instead of pins and rubber pants. They fit the same way as disposables with liners or prefolds inside. Most people don't use the rubber pants method anymore.
Gerber makes the velcro covers and they are substantially cheaper than other brands. They go for about $5.99 a cover instead of $20. A package of the thick Gerber prefolds is about $12.
You can cloth diaper rather cheaply if you explore your options.
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