Reading Time: 3 minutes Lower Cloth Diaper Costs: Strategies To Save
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Cloth diapers cost less than disposable over several years. Yet, the upfront cost of cloth diapers scares some parents off. It’s true that cloth diapers cost more up front than disposable diapers, but there are ways to lower cloth diaper up front expenses.
Strategies to decrease your cloth diaper expenses up front are:
- Buying used cloth diapers
- Register for cloth diapers
- Return the disposable diapers you are gifted
- Reach out to a local cloth diaper bank or Facebook groups
- Buy less expensive types of cloth diapers
- You can make your own
Table of Contents
Buying Used Cloth Diapers Will Save Money
There is a used cloth diaper market. You could cut the cost in half by shopping around on Facebook Marketplace, eBay, or in cloth diaper groups. There are also websites that sell them used. An example is Jillian’s Drawers.
If you like local second hand stores, there are many dedicated to children that sell gently used cloth diapers for less than half what you would pay for new. This thought doesn’t need to creep you out.
You can sanitize and strip the diapers to ensure you’ve removed anything left behind from the previous owner and they’re as good as new, to you. In fact, you may even find that some of the cloth diapers at these types of stores have never been used, as some parents give up the lifestyle before they use their entire stash.
As with buying anything used, some will be in better shape than others.
For some ideas on bringing used cloth diapers back to life, see Cloth Diaper Absorbency: Hacks, Tips, and Tricks. Also read How to Strip Cloth Diapers: The Best Guide.
Register For Cloth Diapers
Another way to reduce your out of pocket cost for cloth diapers is to add them to your baby registry. Most big box stores that sell baby products offer at least one type of cloth diaper. People love buying things for babies, especially cute adorable things.
Cloth diapers can be absolutely adorable, and who can resist? You can find many cute designs to add to baby registries, making shopping easy for the gift giver.
Shop Amazon – Create an Amazon Baby Registry
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Return all of the disposable diapers people gift you
Some people are lucky enough to be gifted disposable diapers from friends and family. These are generally easy to return. Use that money to buy cloth diapers.
Local Cloth Diaper Banks
Many large cities have places that you can receive donated cloth diapers. Some of these charities also have new cloth diapers, and not just donated used one. There are a few national cloth diaper banks.
See Donate Cloth Diapers: Pay It Forward for a few ideas.
Buy Less Expensive Cloth Diaper Types
There are many types of Cloth Diapers on the market. You can cut costs using flats, pre-folds and fitted cloth diapers. All in One (AIO) are the most expensive, avoid these, if you’re buying new.
You Can Make Your Own Cloth Diapers
Another way to lower your costs is to make your own. We don’t have much experience in this space, but there are many guides that can be found online.
A Side Note
There are other ways to decrease your up front costs. For example. You can fold a t-shirt in a way that becomes a diaper. But we see this as something to do in a pinch, not something we recommend as a daily lifestyle.
Bottom Line There are Ways to Lower Your Upfront Cloth Diaper Costs
Many parents are afraid that cloth diapers are too too expensive up front. They don’t need to be. There are several ways to create a stash that will be easier on your budget.
Happy fluffing!
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