How Much Does Cloth Really Cost?

     I was extremely lucky because when I started, I already had a full stash of fitted diapers and covers that my uncle had received from my grandmother. They never used them, I suppose they just didn't work very well for their skinny daughter. I tried them out and they didn't work very well for us either, but I made them work until I could get a better stash started. I looked on KSL first and foremost. Within two weeks, I had enough pocket diapers to last me 3 days before I had to wash! All for $75 dollars. Granted they were second hand, but they were in very good condition and I loved that I was finally able to cloth diaper my son full time!

     After I got my regular stash, I started branching out and spending a little bit more, just for fun. Cloth can be cheap, but it can also be VERY expensive! Especially if you become an addict, like me.... However, the diapers I have spent the most on $25 ea were for a charity, so it was a good cause! The cheapest diapers I have purchased are my favorite, flour sack towels. I got a 5 pack at Wal-Mart for $5! The covers I use are WAHM covers, which the proceeds also went toward a charity (to bring cloth to low income families in Utah), and a Kawaii one size cover, which was about $6.

     I find it interesting that what I spent the least amount of money on has been my favorite to use, and what I am using for this flats challenge. I doubt I'll ever give up my pocket diapers (which I actually find myself stuffing with FST), but it is so great to know that I can put something clean and safe and CUTE on my babies for under $50 (20 FST at $1 ea and 3 or 4 covers)!

The Flats Challenge!

     Recently we made the switch to cloth diapers. The biggest factor was money, though it has quickly become an addiction and I don't know how much money it will really save us because they're so dang cute and I just want more!! 
     In my recent journey, I have grown to appreciate other benefits to cloth diapering. One is that I am no longer exposing my son's poor little bottom to all the nasty chemicals that are in disposables (we have all seen that gel crap that comes out of a wet disposable diaper).
     Another benefit,  is that I can feel great knowing I'm not adding to the billions of diapers ending up in landfills all over the world. Can you imagine what the pile of just one babies diapers from birth to potty training would look like? What about two? Or THREE?? How about every disposable diaper ever used and that ever will be used?... yuck....
     In switching to cloth, I have learned a lot about the different types and what does and doesn't work for us, though of course there is a  LOT I still don't know. I found out that one of the cheapest ways to diaper your baby is actually found at Walmart.  No, I don't mean the typical Gerber brand you find in the baby section. What I found is actually in the kitchen section, of all places. Flour sack towels! Who would have thought! In learning about how absorbent these towels are, and of course learning the different diaper folds, I stumbled upon the Flats Challenge.
     The more I heard about it from other mommies, the more excited I got! I already had everything I needed, so why not?  Then I learned why this challenge came about (and it may or may not be the main reason, but is good enough for me)...And the meaning of the challenge changed for me. It wasn't just for the fun anymore. It was for a cause. You see, I read about the cost of disposable diapers, and about the low income families who, because they are tight on cash, will leave their child in the same diaper all day, or as long as possible, instead of changing them into something clean and dry. I almost cried!

     I am doing the Flats Challenge to bring awareness to this unfortunate, skewed view of diapers and money,  and to help show those mommies out there that their babies can be clean, dry, and stylish, on very low income, with or without a washer and dryer,  and that cloth doesn't have to be scary!