Are Green Diapers Really Affordable?

By Amy Kux, Itsabelly San Francisco

Are Green Diapers Really Affordable?

As our economy continues to remain slow and people are re-evaluating their expenses and priorities, I felt the need to look into the cost of diapers. What I found is that “Green” can be cheaper, but the initial investment is much higher. Below is a quick cost breakdown of several diaper brands for newborns. Keep in mind that we do change between 12-16 diapers for the first 2 weeks and as the baby becomes older, the frequency of changes drastically decreases.

Here is a quick chart of the costs.

Looking at these prices, the pre-fold cloth diapers are the most affordable, but may be inconvenient for most. The hi-tech cloth diapers seem on the expensive side, but it is important to evaluate your long term goals and sizing.

As babies grow, the disposable diapers pack cost the same, but there are fewer diapers in the packs. With the hi-tech cloth diapers, the larger size fits a wider span of sizes (often lasting from 12-18 months onto potty training age). There are even diaper covers that are so adjustable, that one can lose almost the entire diapering stage (keep in mind that these may not work for all babies)

In the end, I found that cloth diapers do pay off. The cost per change averages $0.22 per change for the hi-tech diapers, while the disposables end up costing $0.39/ change (over the span of diaper changing). Yet again, this demonstrates that it pays to be green in the long run.