I don't understand people who say disposables are cheaper

[AmJoyFul]

Originally Posted by Mom2ManyBlessings I think thats harsh and very untrue. I know a lot of Moms who care a lot, change their baby often but prefer the cheaper monthly cost to the investment up front. And yes, they dont want to use prefolds. However they are not lazy and they do give a crap.

I'm not saying everyone. But there are a lot like that. I've known a lot like that. My own sister has an ENTIRE stash of pocket diapers and is too lazy to use all the cloth she bought.

[AmJoyFul]

Originally Posted by happysmileylady It's all about the couponing. I have been using sposies on my 2 Minh old since he was born and am just coming to the last box now. I paid all of $5 including tax for all of that. Yes, some were gifts and some came home from the hospital with me, but most were purchased by me, on sale or clearance, with coupons. I have in the past gotten 6 months of sposies and a years worth of wipes for free (or around $10 to $15, if you want to include the cost of the newspapers the coupons were in, though dipes and wipes were not the only coupons I used from them). Yeah it can for sure be cheaper when you can get them for free.

Couponing like that doesn't exist everywhere though. I used to coupon and even with couponing it still wasn't cheaper than using a cheaper cloth diapering method. Not all US locations are as good for couponing as others.

[raymark]

Originally Posted by el's mama Cloth will always be cheaper. You have to compare apples to apples. If you're going to compare the flat out least expensive option for sposies purchased with a coupon, then you need to compare that to the absolute cheapest brand of cloth, bought during sales. You can get 24 Osocozy flats for $36 (that's not even a sale price). Add in 6 Flip covers during a seconds sale and you've spent a total of $96 for a full stash. When you're finished with them lets say you sell them for 70% less than what you paid for a 30% return on your investment. That's a grand total of $67.20 spent. I challenge anyone to use disposables for 2 years and only spend that. Now, I haven't factored in detergent, water, etc, but I also didn't factor in disposable wipes and extra garbage bags on the other end... With cloth, you have something to sell at the end. With disposables, you have trash.

My apples to apples is a lot different than yours. I'm comparing what works best(what diapers I'm willing to use) for both cloth & disposables. I love Target sposies. I will not diaper full time with flats/pfs (emergencies only). Apples to apples for me does not involve comparing something that does not work for us to something that does. For my family sposies will always be waayyyy cheaper

[happysmileylady]

Originally Posted by AmJoyFul Couponing like that doesn't exist everywhere though. I used to coupon and even with couponing it still wasn't cheaper than using a cheaper cloth diapering method. Not all US locations are as good for couponing as others.

Of course not. I am not saying it does. But it does in many places (and probably more than you think since most of the good diaper deals I get are at CVS). And my main point is really that there are certainly many people for whom sposies ARE cheaper, and it has nothing to do with changing baby less often, or being lazy. The thread is asking how people can think sposies are cheaper and my answer is that for many people, they really and truly are cheaper.

[lovebear]

Disposables are cheaper when they are bought from bargain and deal stores, mostly online and some are sold in-store. When my daughter was born, I used regular sposies on her and the feeling was like, my money had been flown away that fast every time her diaper gets full with pee and poop and her skin is sensitive so a good friend recommended diaper cloth to replace sposies for me to save money. I just use a hypoallergenic detergent and apple cider vinegar to bleach the cloth for stain removal.

[qsefthuko]

Originally Posted by UVASahm I think the people that are able to do sposies for less do so with coupons. For example, we use sposies at night so I stocked up a month ago. I had a BUNCH of $2 pampers coupons. Ht had them on sale and was doing a double coupon week for up to $2 coupons so I paid a $1 each for 20 packs of pampers 31 pack. That's an extreme example but you can save a lot with coupons. Babies r us tends to give money back if you buy diapers from them too. Let me know if you have other questions! I love coupons

Coupons also depend on stores. Ours only double fifty cents or less. They also only take off one coupon per item. So $2 off would only discount $2 from a package of diapers. Our local Walmart doesn't put diapers on sale and the grocery store sales only put them on sale to the point of being equivalent in price to Walmart prices.

Like op I don't get the cheap sposies. I added up our costs of sposies and came up with around $100 per month assuming regular changes.

[qsefthuko]

Originally Posted by BirthdayMama Whew, lots of suggestions! We are not on septic, it's the washer that's anti-bleach. It's a compact (as in, 2.2 cu. ft.) Bosch Axxis. It has no bleach dispenser, and it says all over it that chlorine bleach will corrode a particular metal in the drum. Part of me doesn't believe that's really true, but the majority of my doesn't want to risk a $1800 washer to find out. We have a VERY comprehensive stash and have just about every type of diaper. Flats, wool, stay-dry, you name it. None of it seems to matter, and I'm dealing with it on both kids. I battled the exact. same. problem with ODD and old Original Tide fixed it. But I ran out of it a year ago, and have tried around 15 detergents. No luck. And yes, I've stripped multiple times as well. And I use oxygen bleach. I'm kinda just over it at this point. I've probably spent close to $200 on rash creams and detergents. Thinking I'm just going to take some time off. I just wish my giant EBF LO didn't blow out of the cheap sposies. Oh, and I really do think it's mostly that people just don't change diapers. I have a friend who only changes her kids' diapers twice: morning and night. She gets annoyed with her two-year-old for asking for a diaper change if she's not poopy. So gross.

I've seen this as well. I have a sposie using friend who told me she only changes for poopy diapers or if the diaper was practically exploding with urine. She personally told me she changes on average 1-2 times per day.

In the summer I frequently see babies or toddlers with diapers so full with urine they are sagging down to babies knees.

[essential1892]

I used to get super cheap and free diapers when my first was born and even with my second. With baby number three I do not have the time or energy to run around buying diapers for the best deal- I barely get to the grocery store between bus stop pick up/drop off, nap times and working for 12 hours every Saturday.

Cloth diapering is saving me money because I have been purposeful in what I have boughten so far and have spent less than $275 for my stash. I will come out ahead in the long run as far as money goes but even if I didn't, the convenience factor is awesome! I no longer have to worry about having diapers on hand or if there is going to be a good deal coming up. Diapers are now honestly one less thing that my scatterbrain has to worry about.

[mama2cntrykids]

Originally Posted by qsefthuko I've seen this as well. I have a sposie using friend who told me she only changes for poopy diapers or if the diaper was practically exploding with urine. She personally told me she changes on average 1-2 times per day. In the summer I frequently see babies or toddlers with diapers so full with urine they are sagging down to babies knees.

I hate seeing that. It's SO gross!

[el's mama]

Originally Posted by MamaJules But there are a lot of people who can't use flats or prefolds. My daycare has no problem using our all in ones, but there is no way they would use a flat or a prefold. But if we were using sposies, they couldn't care less which brand we bring in. My older son potty trained at 2 3/4, younger son is now 2 1/4 and not even close. So for us, even using more expensive cloth diapers are still a cost savings. But if your child were to potty train sooner, or if you only have one child, I definitely think it is possible that it could be cheaper to use sposies than to do cloth.

That's my point though... Just as there are those who can't (or won't) use flats/prefolds, there are a lot of people who can't use bargain sposies be it because of allergies or leaks. If we're going to be fair, we should compare the cheapest with the cheapest. The cheapest sposies vs the cheapest cloth, cloth is still cheaper. If we're going to compare sposies to a stash of AIOs then they should be the pricey brands like 7th Generation or Honest Company.