I don't understand people who say disposables are cheaper

[lynn97]

I have several hardcore coupon ing friends who use sposies. All of them think cloth is cheaper and I agree. this also varies based on how much cloth you buy. if you constantly try new things, you probably aren't saving money. Another factor I haven't seen on this thread (maybe I'm just missing it) is the individual kid's habits. I regularly see on here that mamas of toddlers the same age as DS use 4-6 diapers a day. We usually use 8-10 b/c he poops at least twice a day and can go about 2 hours max in a diaper since he's such a HW. I watch him closely b/c he drinks a lot at times and I wnd up changing him every hour when he's drinking a lot. I am convinced that cheap sposies wouldn't work for us on day to day since he usually outpeed the overnight ones in 8-20 hours. Also, some kids outgrow sposies very young . Anyway, I would be hard-pressed to believe that in general, sposies are cheaper as most families have some issue that skews it IMO.

Sent from my iPhone using DS Forum

[happysmileylady]

I must be in a bad area for coupons, though, because you can almost never double up coupons here.

I am not aware of any stores that allow anyone to use more than one manufacturer coupon per item, anywhere in the country. But CVS coupon polices always allow you to use ECBs along with manufacturer coupons.

[happysmileylady]

I have several hardcore coupon ing friends who use sposies. All of them think cloth is cheaper

For the record, I also coupon pretty heavy, and for me, yes, cloth is still cheaper. Because, as a mom of 4, with 2 in diapers, I simply don't have time to ALWAYS hunt down the VERY BEST diaper deal 100% of the time. So for me, over the long term, cloth is cheaper. Some of the flip covers I have have been through the 4 yr old, the 2 yr old and are still good enough to be used on the baby (thought admittedly, not many)

The term cheaper is always relative. There are so many different variables and factors that there is no real "apples to apples" comparison. Generally speaking, either can be done really expensively or really cheaply. It's all about the choices each individual makes.

[BirthdayMama]

Originally Posted by lynn97 I have several hardcore coupon ing friends who use sposies. All of them think cloth is cheaper and I agree. this also varies based on how much cloth you buy. if you constantly try new things, you probably aren't saving money. Another factor I haven't seen on this thread (maybe I'm just missing it) is the individual kid's habits. I regularly see on here that mamas of toddlers the same age as DS use 4-6 diapers a day. We usually use 8-10 b/c he poops at least twice a day and can go about 2 hours max in a diaper since he's such a HW. I watch him closely b/c he drinks a lot at times and I wnd up changing him every hour when he's drinking a lot. I am convinced that cheap sposies wouldn't work for us on day to day since he usually outpeed the overnight ones in 8-20 hours. Also, some kids outgrow sposies very young . Anyway, I would be hard-pressed to believe that in general, sposies are cheaper as most families have some issue that skews it IMO. Sent from my iPhone using DS Forum

Yes, this is also true. My 5-month-old is right at the cusp of needing size 4, but still generally goes through 8-12 diapers per day. She is still EBF, and she nurses often. Definitely a HWer. If she was still in size 2 and only went through 5-6 like Pampers says is average for her age, it would be much cheaper.

Also, I can't multi-quote from my phone, but we live in a condo, so an extra washer is not an option. Our little w/d closet gives us pretty limited options. Has to be a compact stackable, which is why we have what we have. It's actually my third set in this house, and generally outstrips the first two by miles in its cleaning performance. But man, it's just not friends with the diapers.

We don't have CVS here, and most places won't allow manufacturer coupons on top of sales or store coupons.

[MunkyCrazy]

Our local overstock store just had 7th Generation diapers 75% off. We stocked up since it ended up being about 7 cents per diaper. I'd love to go back and get more tonight.

I attempted CD with my oldest. Love the cute diapers, it's just not for me. Also, cheaper doesn't have to be in JUST actual money spent. It can also include the time. Yeah, I've heard it doesn't take much more time than they're already spending but that wasn't the case for me. Especially when we had to haul laundry to my moms or pay the ridiculous price to use the couple of machines at our apartment complex (which were often being used). It's hard enough for me to keep up on laundry as is. Time isn't "free" for a lot of people.

ETA: I obviously didn't read through the thread before responding :P

[megenic]

For us, disposables are definitely cheaper because my water is so expensive where I live. When younger DD was potty trained and I wasn't washing diapers anymore, my quarterly water bill dropped by $100! I used cloth for reasons other than cost savings, but disposables would have saved us a lot of money.

[rocknrollem]

We live in a condo, sunning or air drying is impossible because the sun rises and sets on the sides of our place, our balcony is always shaded and it's humid enough that even our towels smell sour if we don't throw them in the dryer. Cloth diapering here in California has been tough because utility costs are so high! We also have really hard water which I personally think is causing tons of stink issues. After bleaching, stripping, hot water, double rinses/washes, changing detergent, borax, multiple drying cycles, we gave in to using disposables full time this month. My oldest son is a heavy wetter and now not even the expensive 12 hr disposables are working at night. We spent $70 on diapers (large bulk boxes because it was cheaper per diaper) for both boys and I am thinking it wont even last us a month. It is bitter sweet, I love cloth diapering, I am even thinking of venturing off and trying wool, but all of the benefits of using cd's in Texas are fading here in California. It costs more to cloth diaper and it isn't as eco friendly because we are using more water, electricity and gas to battle stink issues and can't sun/air dry and its destroying our wallets at the same time...and now it seems like disposables are as well. Hopefully we can figure something out. A year ago I would have said there's no way disposables are cheaper or equal to cloth in price, cloth is 100% the way to go, but currently, I can't say that.

As for those moms who some of you know that leave their babies in sposies for long stretches or only change them a couple of times a day...that's just straight up sad. It is frustrating when my son points to his disposable diapers now and wants a new one because there's the tiniest amount of pee, but I still change it. I would starve myself to take care of my kids and their little bottoms before I left them sitting in moisture like that.

[JeDeeLenae]

Cloth CAN be cheaper, but if you factor in the elastic replacement, delamination, love for wool, sizing up, finding the right fit, etc. cloth is more than just the up front costs. I've been using cloth since 2005. I have 3 diapers that are still in use from then.

Sent from my iPhone using DS Forum

[el's mama]

Originally Posted by MamaJules But your not seeing my point -- you can't compare my "apples" with your "apples". Obviously what works for one baby won't work for another. I just don't think it can be said the cloth is ALWAYS cheaper. In my situation, if I had just one kid, sposies would have been cheaper because in OUR situation, we could have used the cheapo sposies but could not have used the cheap cloth options. Since two kids used our diapers, we definitely ended up saving. But I kept track of all of my cloth buying and selling, and I basically broke even over what I guess we would have spent on sposies with my first son.

I wasn't referring to your apples. I was generalizing because the argument is that cheap sposies are less expensive than cloth. If we're going to assume that cheap sposies will work and save people money, then the assumption should work on the other side of it too. Cheap sposies equal cheap cloth options in my mind. Do flats work for everyone? Nope. And neither do cheap sposies. General apples to general apples.