How to use cloth diapers when your budget is tight.

I love to sing the praises of cloth diapers, because they are truly not difficult to use and significantly less disgusting than people think they'll be.  I mean, you have to look at poop, yes, but you have to do that with disposables, too.  And honestly, I'm much more grossed out by the thought of a poopy disposable diaper sitting in my HOUSE for a WEEK until garbage day than I ever am about dealing with a cloth diaper 5 seconds after the poop has arrived.

But there is one area of cloth diapering that I can completely sympathize with naysayers about, and that's the cost.  Cloth diapers can be expensive if you let them take over your life and become a hobby of sorts.  But that being said I've come up with a few tricks on how to get them to work for you no matter what your budget is.

1)  Buy used.

Many of my diapers are second hand, and provided they were taken care of well by the previous owner, you can save a substantial amount buying used.  Before my second baby was born I bought 19 fitted diapers and a cover off a local buy 'n sell site for only $50.  This could, with a few small additions, diaper a child until about 6 months if you were willing to do some laundry every day.  You can regularly find diaper covers for as little as $8 second hand.

2)  Buy on sale.

Keep your eyes open for discontinued colours, 'seconds' (slightly imperfect diapers), last season's prints, businesses going out of sale, etc.  I got an AMP and an Applecheeks cover brand new for $10 each at a store closing sale and they retail for twice that.

3)  Check thrift stores.

We recently found a pack of 5 Kushies fitted diapers and a cover for $4 at a local thrift store.  Kushies isn't a great brand, but the diapers fit Clara and we use them around the house quite a bit.

4)  Borrow from friends.

I must have close to ten borrowed wool covers in my house right now.  Cloth diapering friends who aren't using a certain size you need, or who are out of the cloth diaper phase but don't want to get rid of their diapers yet are great resources.

5)  Think outside the box.

I have over a dozen microfibre inserts that are homemade out of microfibre towels.  And over a dozen flat diapers that are repurposed from receiving blankets and large kitchen cloths.  They all work fine.

6)  Ask for diapers as gifts.

Diapers are the perfect gift, and everyone loves to give something practical.  If you have your heart set on a few expensive diapers, this is the option.  A large percentage of my diapers are gift diapers.  I also have used birthday money given to my children to purchase them diaper supplies.

7)  Use 'online money' and look online.

Swagbucks works for Amazon, I believe, and Amazon will carry cloth diapers.  Take a look at other online currencies and see if you can use them to purchase some of what you need.

8)  Enter contests

You would not believe how many cloth diaper companies give diapers to bloggers who then hold a contest to see who gets them.  Enter these contests!  I have friends who have gotten diapers this way, although I haven't.

9)  Make your own.

There are some serious patterns out there, for free, just for the looking.  Some of them look complicated but some are actually pretty simple and don't seem to require much in the way of crazy materials.

10)  Contact a cloth diaper charity.

If you cannot afford to cloth diaper in any way, but really want to, there are organizations out there that provide cloth diapers to low income families.

11)  Barter.

There are hundreds of WAHM (work at home moms) making cloth diapers and accessories and selling them.  Try bartering with something you have that they would like in exchange for diapers.

Finally, once you've started your collection, keep these things in mind:

1)  Your baby will grow out of sized diapers, which means you'll need to buy more covers.  However, some people say they get a better fit with a sized diaper cover than one that's meant to adjust to multiple sizes.  Personally, I'd buy one-size diapers.

2)  The more high-tech the diaper, the more it will cost and the harder it will be to wash and dry.  An expensive all-in-one diaper may run you, say, $30, and will be good for ONE diaper change before needing to be laundered.  Diapers with multiple layers can take a long time to dry, as well.  We have a decent dryer these days, but in the past I would have to dry some diapers up to 90 minutes.  This completely gets rid of your savings.  On the other hand, a simple insert or flat diaper system will wash thoroughly, dry quickly and cost less to buy in the first place.

3)  Like anything in this world, the more work you're willing to do yourself, the cheaper the project becomes.    You can diaper a child with two covers and twelve diapers if you have to, but you'd have to wash everyday. You can use a wool cover for ages, but when laundry time comes, you need to wash it by hand.  How far are you willing and able to go?