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Why are diapers so expensive?

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Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#21

Post by war1025 »

shiftpgdn wrote: post #2

My wife and I cloth diapered both of our children. In addition to being radically cheaper it also resolved rashes/eczema in both kids as well as accelerated potty training. There is an 'ick' factor but liners and a toilet sprayer take care of 99% of that.

We cloth diaper too (3 kids, a two and a half year old potty trained for about a year now, and 5 month old twins). Personally, I find disposable diapers to be way more disgusting than cloth. With cloth, you rinse it out and the majority of the gross stuff is down the drain. With disposables, you end up with a garbage can literally full of poop. Its like having a mini pit toilet in your house.

We have also noticed, like you mentioned, that cloth diapers are easier on the babies' skin and makes potty training significantly easier.

For anyone who is reading this and may be interested in cloth diapering: Get some quality covers and then buy a ton of flour sack towels. They make the best inserts. Super absorbent, cheap, and unfolds to a single layer, which means they get cleaner and dry faster.

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#22

Post by war1025 »

projektir wrote: post #9

Whenever something like this comes up, my first question is always: "OK, how did we do this before diapers were invented, and what happened to that?"

In addition to cloth diapers, babies got potty trained significantly younger than they do now. We had our daughter ~90% potty trained by her first birthday. From what we've found looking into it, that was extremely common until the past 50 years or so.

Its not uncommon now for 3 year-olds to still be in diapers. That's two full years longer in diapers, simply because parents either can't be bothered to potty train their children, or have been told its not possible to do it earlier.

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#23

Post by craftyguy »

shiftpgdn wrote: post #2

My wife and I cloth diapered both of our children. In addition to being radically cheaper it also resolved rashes/eczema in both kids as well as accelerated potty training. There is an 'ick' factor but liners and a toilet sprayer take care of 99% of that.

how does this not contaminate your washer with feces?

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#24

Post by craftyguy »

ythn wrote: post #16

> Diapering a child now takes about $1,000 a year for an average product. That doesn't seem right. Are these people buying the smallest quantities possible? You can buy ~300 diapers for $30 on amazon. That's only $360 /year.

folks living paycheck to paycheck cannot afford big upfront costs like this. even if it saves them money in the long term. too bad personal finance isn't a thing taught in public schools.

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#26

Post by [deleted] »

ythn wrote: post #16

> Diapering a child now takes about $1,000 a year for an average product. That doesn't seem right. Are these people buying the smallest quantities possible? You can buy ~300 diapers for $30 on amazon. That's only $360 /year.

[deleted]

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#27

Post by Swizec »

craftyguy wrote: post #24
ythn wrote: post #16

> Diapering a child now takes about $1,000 a year for an average product. That doesn't seem right. Are these people buying the smallest quantities possible? You can buy ~300 diapers for $30 on amazon. That's only $360 /year.

folks living paycheck to paycheck cannot afford big upfront costs like this. even if it saves them money in the long term. too bad personal finance isn't a thing taught in public schools.

Even if you know you’re losing money, if you can’t afford to invest you can’t invest.

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#28

Post by djrogers »

There are a couple of ‘facts’ listed here that don’t line up with my current reality and very recent knowledge (3 kids, most recent is 18mo).

First off, 12 changes a day is a huge outlier - even for a newborn. 8 would be a more reasonable number, and it drops down to the 4-6 range in the first year, and by now we’re at 3 if we don’t go swimming.

Second item that sounds waaay off is $1000/yr for diapers. Again, that has to be an outlier based on the worst possible set of assumptions. A box of 168 diapers lasts about a month and costs ~$40. That doesn’t add up...

And finally, many of the charities I work with will hand out diapers or cards for free diapers to anyone who asks. If you’re really in a bind, call a local church, women’s shelter, or commissary! We really do want to help, but we have to know you need it.

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#29

Post by Aloha »

craftyguy wrote: post #23
shiftpgdn wrote: post #2

My wife and I cloth diapered both of our children. In addition to being radically cheaper it also resolved rashes/eczema in both kids as well as accelerated potty training. There is an 'ick' factor but liners and a toilet sprayer take care of 99% of that.

how does this not contaminate your washer with feces?

Detergent and water gets just about anything clean..

However, you presoak them, and scrape a majority of the feces off into the toilet at change time.

Re: Why are diapers so expensive?

#30

Post by white-flame »

craftyguy wrote: post #23
shiftpgdn wrote: post #2

My wife and I cloth diapered both of our children. In addition to being radically cheaper it also resolved rashes/eczema in both kids as well as accelerated potty training. There is an 'ick' factor but liners and a toilet sprayer take care of 99% of that.

how does this not contaminate your washer with feces?

Do you think your washer is somehow not already contaminated with feces, from washing underwear?

I read an article a while ago that tested and found substantial fecal residue in typical washing machines, without cloth diapers going through them. Can't find it now among all the cloth diaper related search hits.

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