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Cloth Diapers Save $$, Environment In Hard Times

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Jan 21, 2009 4:05 pm US/Mountain

Cloth Diapers Save $$, Environment In Hard Times

Reporting
Paul Day
LITTLETON, Colo. (CBS4) ― New moms are discovering serious money can be saved by changing the way they diaper their babies. Basic cloth diapers are six times cheaper than disposables, according to a detailed survey by DiaperDecisions.com.

At Sweet Beginnings, a baby care store in Littleton, Melissa Radcliffe teaches a class called "Cloth Diaper 101." She bought a set of cloth diapers when her first child was born. Now on her third baby, she's continued to use the same set of diapers. Then, she leant out what she no longer needed to seven other moms.

The price tag of the original set of diapers was $800. Contrast that with the cost of disposable diapers for just one child -- between $2,000 and $3,000.

Modern cloth diapers are more user-friendly than they used to be, explained Melissa.
Velcro straps replace the old pins. Odors and leaks are controlled with diaper covers.

Pre-fold cloth diapers are the cheapest way to go. They cost just .06 cents per diaper change (including the expense of washings), according the survey on DiaperDecisions.com. The same study found fitted cloth diapers are .18 cents per change. Disposables are .36 cents apiece.

None of the half-dozen mothers taking Melissa's class were currently using cloth diapers. But after hearing her pitch, all said they'd consider switching away from disposables.

There are other important factors to consider like convenience, baby comfort and the environment. Disposables fill up landfills, while cloth diapers consume water. But Melissa claims more water is wasted by the process of making disposable diapers than it takes to clean the cloth diapers.

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