Cloth diapers

There are a million resources that you can visit to learn about why disposable diapers are bad, bad, bad. Here is just one to get you started, if you'd like. I'll just say that I don't want dioxin, chlorine-bleached paper, and a substance banned from feminine hygiene products (sodium polyacrylate) near my baby, much less wet down and pressed against the skin of his genitals. I've also chosen to cloth diaper due to the savings I expect to have over disposable diapers.

I am keeping a spreadsheet of everything I buy for diapering this munchkin. I'm tracking what, how many, how much I paid, and (eventually) what I resold the item for. I don't know yet what my total costs will be before resale to diaper this baby so I can't give anyone good, hard facts about how much money I will save by doing this. Here are some things I can say, though:

1. I think it'll be very difficult for me to spend more than the projected $1600 per child per year price tag to paper diaper. Even if I tried, I don't think I could spend that much money on cloth diapers for just ONE year for just ONE child... it'd have to a spectacular kind of special.

2. I could try to post my poopy disposable diapers on craigslist to get some money back, but I don't think it'll work very well. I think I might actually go to jail. I am, however, expecting a 50-70% return on the cloth diapering items I choose to resell.

3. I'd like to see someone put a 3 year old poopy paper diaper they saved from their first child and put it on their new baby. And then I'd love to call CPS. I can wash, sanitize, store, and reuse the cloth diapering items I buy now for this baby on my next baby(ies) at, obviously, no additional cost, though.

At this time I've spent just under $250 for all of my diaper supplies. I know that right now that is all loss and no savings since the baby isn't even here yet. I also know that I will spend quite a bit more before all is said and done. I feel like I have a really good basis so far for just $250 and, like I said above, I can't even imagine how I'd spend $1600 on cloth in 1 year (that I would never reuse or resell).

This is what I have so far, for $250 (things I already know I'll resell in italics):

2doz newborn prefolds

6 newborn covers of various brands/models

2doz infant prefolds

3 snappis (diaper fastener alt. to pins)

1 wet bag

1 pail liner

3 all-in-one sized diapers that may or may not fit a newborn

2 one-size covers for infant+

This is what I still need:

1doz more newborn size diapers

1doz more infant/one-size diapers

2-3doz more toddler prefolds if I decide to go that route

(if not, 2doz more one-size diapers)

4-6 more one-size covers to go over larger-than-newborn prefolds

1 more wet bag to rotate

1 more pail liner to rotate

1 diaper sprayer to make infant+ poos easier to clean

Not bad, really, for only $250 spent so far, considering that the above takes me from newborn to potty-training, can be resold, or can be reused for the next baby. We're also hoping to get a lot of the things on my still-needed list from friends and family as baby shower gifts.

This is something that won't be truly implemented still for another several months (knock on wood) but I'd like to keep my entries about cloth diapers rolling on a regular basis to track my expenditures and any setbacks I may have.