36w3d: Cloth Diapers!

When I first heard about cloth diapering, part of me was intrigued but most of me thought "gross." But I kept seeing and hearing about it more and more, and the environmental benefits and cost-savings finally won me over. The fact that the diapers are so CUTE doesn't hurt either.

Having twins is a lot more of a financial burden than David and I realized. He initially thought we'd realize a lot of economies of scale, but we haven't found that to be the case. Families that have children one at a time can reuse a lot--the car seat, the stroller, the high chair, the crib. We have to have two of everything from the beginning. We're lucky to be in a position where this isn't much of a problem (and we have certainly been very lucky to receive so many generous gifts from family and friends!!) but it does mean that we're hoping that breastfeeding and cloth diapering will help take some of the wallet shock away.

So here's where the cloth diapering magic will happen:


I'll be the first to admit that a lot of cloth diapering people and websites are a bit....over the top crazy. There are a lot of women who appear to be completely obsessed with diapers and their "stash." The acronyms and lingo are like a foreign language. It made me run away the first couple (or more) times I tried to wade in to learn what was what. I just wanted simple, easy, and clear instructions, and that was tough to find. I liked the advice provided at Amalah's Advice Smackdown, but I also didn't want to buy 40 or so all-in-one style diapers at $20-25 apiece, which is what I figured I would need for twins.

So I decided on flat diapers, the old-fashioned kind that you fold yourself, and waterproof diaper covers. The flats live in the top drawer of the changing table. I bought 48 unbleached flats from Amazon for a cost of $81. The Snappis, the little plastic things that replaced diaper pins to hold the diaper on the baby, live there too.


The second drawer is where the cute stuff lives. The front box contains seven x-small size Thirsties-brand covers and five Size One Thirsties Duos, which will fit up to 18 pounds. The back box contains the larger size covers and the all-in-ones I've gotten for free. These are from Kelly's Closet, which I've found to have the best selection, deals, prices, and customer service. I'm planning to buy a bunch of Thirsties Duos in Size Two, but I'm going to wait a few months just to see how everything is going. The white pads to the right are inserts to go in the diapers, and "soakers," in case I have any heavy wetters. Farther to the right are clean changing pad covers and waterproof pads.

Total cost for the diapers in this drawer: $305.


The third drawer contains receiving blankets, swaddle wraps, and the clean pail bag and wet bag for the diaper bag. Two pail liners andwet bags came to $66.

No diaper stuff in this drawer--it's crib sheets and bath towels--but I figured so long as I was taking pictures of drawers I'd be complete.


So that's that. So far I've spent about $450 on cloth diapers. I've also spent about $50 on a package of cloth wipes, cloth diaper wipe spray, Bummis flushable liners, and the Snappis. Given that diapering two babies to age 2ish could easily run over $3,000, I'm feeling pretty good.

There are so many people coming to visit us to help with the babies, and I'm really excited about showing them how cloth diapers have come a long way. David's parents used cloth, and his dad was fascinated by the snappi and how cute the new covers are. Maybe I'll win over some converts for future cloth diaper usage!