Cloth Diapers

Ok I am wanting to be a SAHM and trying to cute costs to see if we can afford it.....my question is cloth diapers worth the investment??? Or are they more pain than worth the savings?  Do you have any pro's and con's

[Mumita]

well, I've actually done my research because of the environmental impact of disposable diapers.  But I decided against it. Here's why

-Cloth diapers if you wash them yourself is a pain.  you got to remove the residue and then wash them immediately or soak them in bleach and water until you have a load full, that's too much of a pain for me.
-Buying as many diapers as you need about 80 per child per week can get costly in the begining but not in the long run.
-it costs a lot to do soo many laundry loads, think about it, soap, water, electricity
-diaper service costs about the same as buying disposable.
-not as absorbent (although I'd preffer that because you shouldn't leave the baby in a wet diaper too long.

-for me it was about the environment, but I wouldn't really be doing much for the environment doing soo many loads of laundry either.

[Brown Eyed Gurl]

humm thanks for your opinion so with twins I'd really be out alot of time and effort...maybe I should just cut costs other places....

[lruder]

I used clothe diapers on my son. I loved them! Altough after my baby gift of a diaper service for 3 months was used up, I got annoyed with the high price of the diaper place I was using. It seemed I saved no money using them. Plus when you are out in public, it is really hard to bring the soiled diapers home...  

With twins, I think there would be too much laundry... its a great thought, but I would have to say, unless its a gift like I got... pass it and buy some Huggies

[Whitneylauren]

We were going to use cloth diapers with our second, but friends who had done it before discouraged us. They said that the diapers are disgusting to clean, and that it is way more hassle than it is worth. Go to this website
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/17/cloth-diapering-a-real-world-analysis/

- they provide a breakdown of the cost effectiveness- including extra laundry and utilities.

[ma2isiah]

I use cloth diapers and feel it has saved me tons of money. I initially spent about 300 on diapers. My daugther is almost 2 and I would have spent well over 1,200 on diapers by now. It is a little more work, but I actually enjoy it. I only do 3 small loads of laundry a week. The amount of detergent is minimal and is enviromentally safe. I have saved almost a thousand dollars and save thousands of diapers from going to the landfill. And my daughter is wearing a comfortable, and actually more absorbant diaper. She hardly ever gets a diaper rash.  Feel free to ask me any questions about switching to cloth. Many of my friends have switched and now love it too!

[mum2beagain]

I sell cloth diapers at the shop I work at. I have used disposables, re usables and g diapers; a reusable outer that you put a flushable/compostable liner in. G diapers cost the same as disposables but the environmental impact is less; the reason I went with them and they were my personal favourite.

As you are looking at saving costs long term re usables will probably save you money (depending on how old your twins are and how long they are in diapers for). Re usables save you probably $500.00 per year per child in the long run (taking in to account the cost of the diapers in the first place and then the cost of laundering them yourself.)
Modern re usable diapers do generally not have to be soaked, infact most manufacturers recomend you don't and keep them in a dry sealed pail. A disposable liner that you just flush away with the poop cuts down on the mess in the diapers.
You would need a couple of dozen diapers per child plus 4 to 6 waterproof wraps per child (as these are easily rinsed in the sink and air dried). Expect to do 1 load of diaper washing per day with twins.
Oh and for trips out consider a couple of the g diapers with the disposable liners for each child, that way you are reusing your outers but get to dump the soiled part in the garbage instead of having to carry it around all day.

A few good brands of re usables are;

bum genius,
fuzzy buns,
bamboozle,
kushies.

I am sure an online search will bring up many more.
Then the combination diaper I mentioned; g diapers which you can also use a flat folded diaper in instead of the disposable insert if you want to to make them a re usable option too.

Good luck!