For this post I’m going to suggest options other than prefolds and homemade cloth diapers.
Congratulations! You’ve made the decision to use cloth diapers and now you get to shop. BUT, you only have $200 and that’s all you can squeeze out of your money tree.
No problem.
$200 is plenty to purchase the necessary items you will need to cloth diaper your baby day and night.
Before you start have you read these posts?
- Giving Diapers, Giving Hope Providing Cloth Diapers For Families In Need
- The Life Expectancy of a One Sized Cloth Diaper
- 5 Simple Steps to Begin Cloth Diapering
- New To Cloth Diapers?
Here are several options for you to fully provide for your cloth diaper needs on $200.
To accompany each of the options you will also need a system for storing the dirty cloth diapers, detergent and cloth diaper safe diaper rash cream.
You do not have to have a cute print, zippered wet bag however I do highly recommend one simply due to the durability and effectiveness.
It may seem strange to spend almost $30 on a bag when your budget is $200. When it comes to containing smells and portability you will want a product that surpasses others.
Consider asking for it as a gift for a baby shower, birthday or Mother’s Day.
The only brand of wetbag I have found to be worth every penny is Monkey Foot Designs. I have had several in use for more than 2 years and they are still functioning.
You will also need detergent. Have you considered making your own detergent? If you are using a store bought detergent remember that enzymes, optical brighteners, fragrances and soaps will cause buildup on your cloth diapers. Buildup leads to leaking, repelling, rashes, dirty smells and ammonia.
Detergents are an ongoing expense not just with cloth diapers. It is always easiest to find a detergent that you can use for all your laundering. Country Save, Planet, Rockin Green, In The Fluff, Clean B, Crunchy Clean and EcoNuts are just a few excellent choices.
And finally, before we get to the cloth diaper options you will need a cloth diaper safe rash cream in your arsenal. There are a variety of choices but the most cost effective is a sample jar of CJ’s BUTTer. It will last you many months if you are only using it when a rash comes up.
Cloth Diaper Options for UNDER $200:
Flip Cloth Diapers. For $50 you can purchase 2 covers and 6 staydry inserts. I recommend two of these packs plus 12 additional inserts at $1.99 each. This brings your total to $123.78. This system gives you 24 diaper changes and can be used for day and night. With this option you would be washing every other day.
Pooters Cloth Diapers. Pooters offers you a discount if you buy in bulk. Buy 12 diapers, save 15%. I suggest a combination of bamboo and hemp fitteds. I prefer the hemp option for nighttime. I suggest buying 12 fitted diapers plus 3 Sweetpea Diaper covers ($10.95 ea). Your total for 12 bamboo fitteds + 1 hemp fitted is $136.40 plus the 3 covers for a total of $169.25. You will have to wash cloth diapers every day.
Go Green Champ 2.0 (Buy 5 Get 1 Free Sale). This sale gets you 6 one-sized pocket cloth diapers plus 6 microfiber inserts. I suggest 2 packages. In addition you would need to purchase extra inserts. For nighttime 2 microfiber inserts on top of 2 Hemp Babies doublers works great. Hemp Babies doublers are $3.00 ea. Total for this option: $189.90 (12 pocket diapers + 12 add’l microfiber inserts + 4 Hemp Babies).
Kawaii Baby Minky Sale, Buy 5 Get 1 Free. Each bundle of 6 diapers is $51.25. Three bundles gives you 18 cloth diapers allowing you more breathing room in your stash. You would still need to add a few hemp doublers for nighttime needs. Your total with this option would be $165.75. Depending on your baby, you would wash anywhere from every day to every other day.
Alva Baby or other MIC clone. I’m not a fan of exact duplicate diapers with a different label slapped on them. However, if it means you can cloth diaper your baby then I support your choice. Many, many of my readers use Alva Baby successfully. Each diaper runs anywhere from $4.50-$10. You will also need to purchase inserts. With these prices it would be easy to buy a full stash of cloth diapers.
This is just 4 options for NEW cloth diapers. Most online boutiques now have a gently used section and Cloth Diaper Trader always has a nice selection of used cloth diapers. Craigslist is an excellent place to find a huge deal but you have zero protection or trust in the seller.
I also suggest signing up for your favorite cloth diaper boutique’s newsletter. You will be the first to hear of sales, coupon codes and giveaway.
If finances are tight but you want to cloth diaper please be encouraged that you can do it! You don’t have to use prefolds and pins…but many do and LOVE it!
As you begin looking at all the options sticker shock will no doubt hit you. Just put on blinders and look for sales and package deals.
If you’d like more suggestions from other moms, join the discussions on the cloth diaper forum. I’m always happy to help in any way I can!
I’m joining the Real Diaper Week Blog Hop hosted by The Eco Chic!
Thank you so much for the link to Alva baby! I’m a student and although at least want to try clothdiapering I had to spend at least $200 on other diapers to get the same as I got now for $90 at Alva Baby.
I love my Alva’s, they make up the most of my stash. I’m not a fan of pre-folds, but was insistent on cloth diapering after I did some research. I have friends who’ve used them for some time, and one of my good friends runs a company that not only co-ops with Alva, but she also just started selling her own brand! I have a couple of those as well, and love them too. I would love some Fuzzibunz and Rumperooz, but I’m on a tight budget, and the Alva’s are a great bang for their buck. I hate supporting China, but you gotta do what you gotta do right? ;)
Cottonbabies.com has flip covers buy two get one free (select colors while supplies last) also with code BESTDEAL you save a bit too! I just bought some today with the code on 4/30/12. I really like the fit of the flip covers and this is a great way to try them out! :)
I wish I had learned of all these options a year and a half ago! …I’ve read about the Monkey Foot Designs bags, do they make a pail liner??? My Planet Wise pail liner leaks moisture into the bottom of the pail and the wet bags don’t contain the odor! Would love to get a better alternative when I can afford it.
No but the xl wetbag is fantastic.
As a veteran CDer I would recommend two sizes of Indian prefolds ( infant and premium) 18 of each size, Snappi fasteners, 2 Whammies pail liners, and Thirsties Duo Wraps covers and 5 Motherease one size fitted dipes. This combo lasted me through three children. I had to replace the prefolds and a few covers for the 4th. I found that the pocket diapers did not last for more than one child before they fell apart, quit absorbing or developed a stink that would not go away.
I wish I would have stuck with ONLY prefolds when I started. I went a little crazy to try everything, but ONE YEAR later, my prefolds PROVE to be the best! In my opinion, they are easiest to clean (especially when baby starts solids) I found that they rinse better than my other diapers. IF (IF) they do get buildup, they are EASY to treat, because there is no worry about destroying them like some of my others. I never feel bad if baby USES a prefold 5minutes after putting one on him. (if I just put on one of the CUTE expensive AIO’s, he’s SURE to #2 in the first 5, and that’s all he gets to wear it!!!) So I have cute covers!!! I used wool at home and at night until he grew out of the covers, and now I use Kawaii bamboo minky with a hemp and bamboo insert, and my HEAVY wetter wakes up DRY! The ONLY other diaper I use, is BG Elementals (my friend was selling hers) and those are my ‘going out’ diapers. Easy for the nursery workers at church.
I used MIC clones that I got on ebay for my son. They cost me about $5 a piece including the insert and shipping. They were of impeccable quality and outlasted ALL of the other diapers I had, even bumgenius. In fact, the elastic in them was so good that now, 3 years later, I am using the same diapers on my second child. Even the PUL looks brand new, where my bumgenius PUL started peeling and bubbling after about a year. I ended up having about 30 diapers in total because it was great value for money.
I have been using Flip covers with cotton trifolds for the past 6 months. I also have a few of the Flip stay dry inserts but I find the Econobum trifolds to be more absorbent although slightly more bulky (I have nevet had to use a doubler at night they are that absorbant) spent about $130 or so for 6 covers and 24 trifolds, and then a friend gave me some Flip covers and stay dry inserts she was no longer using so I saved even more. I also make my own detergent and as long as I rinse really well and do a soak occasionally with 1/8-1/4 cup bleach I have had no problems with stink or build-up. I have been very happy with my choices and love the money that is being saved. I do occasionally buy a pack of disposables to use at church or with baby-sitters but very rarely. I have contemplated getting a couple AIOs as an alternative to this but just haven’t done it yet.
I have two alva baby diapers I plan to get rid of. I don’t like the snaps at all. Mine are very hard to snap compared to my other diapers.
I just joined an alva baby co-op as well as a Kawaii one on Facebook. I am buying 12 pocket dipes and 4 inserts for $40 plus shipping. I already have other inserts. But this is a great way to save money. The dipes were less than $3 each! New. Just thought I would let others know about these things.
I use Kawaii Minky Bamboo for overnight and they are AMAZING, and cheap! They come with 2 inserts (which are much thinner than microfiber). Both inserts plus a Hemp Babies doubler now that he’s sleeping through the night and we’ve never had a leak. Not one. Even after 12+ hours. I have a very diverse stash, but now that I’ve been doing this for 6+ months, if I had to do it over again I would only purchase the Kawaii Bamboo pockets and Flip covers to be used with prefolds.
Heidi, this is EXACTLY what I would do!!! *although I LOVE wool, and would prefer to use it when baby is too small for the kawaii’s!
I bought almost all my diapers gently used on ebay, and I saved a lot! I decided on a variety of different brands and styles, and basically I just tried everything. The stuff I didn’t like, I just resold on ebay, regaining almost all of what I’d spent.
For night I have been using Bummis Tots Bots with a blissful booty doubler and just got a sustainablebabyish snapless I use with a flip or wool cover. Both work great, have not had any leaks. I don’t think my baby is a heavy wetter though. I have used the Thirsties duo fitted too and it works okay. Doesn’t leak but seems to get more wet than the sustainabebabyish. I really like cloth for night as of now.
I havent found a nighttime diaper yet… well really I havent been brave enough to try but we love our rumparooz we just recently started using these all day and love them…. I thought homemade detergent would build up…
Great options! I bought a lot of different diapers before my baby was even born and have now picked some favorites. It hasn’t been hard to cloth diaper at all. We were using disposibles at night just because i have a snuza and couldn’t figure out which diaper it would stay on. Got it all figured out now and as soon as we put her in cloth at night she started sleeping all night. I think the diaper staying warm keeps her from waking up. Her disposible always felt cold once it got wet. I just got soem hemp inserts for my Best Bottoms and they work great! I think Best Bottoms would be a reasonably priced system too. I love buying diapers though so I couldn’t stick near $200.
“Alva Baby or other MIC clone.”
I hate to ask – what does this mean?
Sunbaby diapers are a wonderful option! I have been using them for quite some time now. I got 24 for around $148. They came with 1 insert each. I then bought a big bundle of microfiber cloths for $10 or $15 at Walmart (automotive section). The microfiber cloths are for extra inserts. Just fold in thirds or quarters and insert into the pocket of the diaper like normal. I actually like them better than the inserts that came with my diapers because they “open out” and (in my mind) they get washed more thoroughly. To top that off they dry super fast!
Anyway, just my 2 cents ;)
I apologize, I meant to translate that. MIC= Made In China
You can also pad fold a flat and stuff one in your pocket diapers. No MF stink issues that way.