Save Money On > ParentingFebruary 23, 2007

Tips and strategies for saving money on diapers.

Buy In Bulk

I have 2 tips, first I always buy my diapers at Sam's Warehouse. You have to buy a very large amount but you do save a lot of money. The second tip is about not wasting money on faulty diapers. When you get a pack of diapers and it seems like the tabs break or they just don't work, make sure you call the diaper company. They will send you a coupon for free diapers.

By Bambi2003

Use Coupons

My daughter in law asked all the relatives to save coupons. She then watched for double value on coupons and also the ones on sale. I used cloth 28 years ago so I didn't really have the problem young parents of today had.

By itsmejan

Watch For Sales

I buy diapers when they go on sale. This week I bought a pack of Pampers. They were on sale at Food Lion for $8.99. I had a $1 Pampers manufacturer's coupon and I also had a Food Lion coupon for a free box of wipes with a Pampers diaper purchase. So, I got them on sale, saved another dollar, and got free wipes!

Usually though, I get my diapers at CVS when they have a "Buy 1, Get 1 Free" sale or "Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off" on their CVS brand diapers. The Snoopy ones work pretty well. I've not had any problem with them and I've used them on both of my children. When they go that cheap, I stock up and buy 1-2 months worth.

By Karen from Thrifty Mommy

Smiles Brand

I use the Smiles brand diapers from Sam's club. I just bought some yesterday and they were 176 diapers for $26.00 dollars. They work great! I have never had leaks and my daughter just turned 2 so let's just say she can really wet! Good luck!

By Andjerm

Store Brand

I use the store brand diapers (Pull-Ups). If there's a Fred's store near you they have them for $5.00 per pack. They are thicker and absorb more than the expensive brands.

By Dixie35481

Store Brand During The Day

I use cheap store brand diapers during the day and the expensive pampers at night when leaks are more likely to occur.

By Erin

The Right Size

We try to get away with the smaller sizes for as long as we can. The smaller the size, the more in the case.

Cloth Diapers

Call me old-fashioned, but cloth, cloth, cloth! If you really want to save money, not to mention be kind to the environment, buy five dozen or so cloth diapers and use them until your little tyke doesn't need them anymore. If you have another child, you can use the same ones until they're full of holes. Then use them to wash windows and cars and... You get the idea. I don't know how much it costs per year for Pampers and Huggies, but you can get the cloth for around $60 and that's it! They take 10-20 seconds to rinse out in the toilet, and when you get a couple dozen soaking in your diaper bucket, you run them through the wash. Most cloth aficionados use Ivory soap instead of detergents. A little vinegar in the rinse gets rid of any lingering soap residue and I'm willing to be there will be no diaper rash. Ever!

By Coreenhart

Ask For Diaper Service

Before our son was born, we asked for Diaper Service as a baby shower gift. It was a little expensive but we used way more diapers than some of the other expensive baby items we received. They would take away the dirty ones and deliver clean ones every week. This got us through the first several months when the most diapers are being used. We switched to disposable after that, which was easier to deal with but harder to tell when the baby needed to be changed.

Jess

Cleaning Diapers

Cloth diapers are not at all as hard as many make them out to be. It was old-fashioned cloth diapers, with diaper pins, and rubber pants in our home always, and here's what I did. After changing a wet diaper, the diaper went into the diaper pail. If the diaper was poopy, I took it to the bathroom, rinsed it in the toilet, then tossed it into the diaper pail. Every 2-3 days I would empty the diaper pail into the washing machine, run a load of diapers through a wash cycle, then pin everything up on the outdoor clothesline. Simple.

A few hours later, I would go out and take all the diapers and rubber pants down off the line, fold them, and stack them on top of the baby's dresser top. Easy! Cloth diapers are the best! If you do go cloth, I suggest the two piece diaper method meaning flannelette diapers, either prefold or flat fold, and rubber pants. You will also need some baby diaper pins too. It's the best cloth diapering way going, even if it is old-fashioned by today's standards. (01/02/2006)

By Lorraine

Switched From Cloth To Disposable

Both of us worked and we did cloth diapers for the first 3-4 months for our son. We got tired of rinsing them out in the toilet and we got tired of the smell of the soaking bucket, even though it was covered. So we went to disposable store brand diapers. Even the store brands had a little picture that disappeared when the diaper got wet. One of the happiest times was when our son was really toilet trained. Yay! Our son is really good. He makes mistakes sometimes but he's not mischievous like I was.

By Chuck R.

Strategies For Savings

Save those coupons. Go online to Pampers.com, Huggies.com, etc. and sign up. Ask friends and relatives to save for you too. Buy in bulk at Sam's or Costco. Never buy diapers at the supermarket. Diapers can be anywhere from fifty cents to a dollar or more cheaper at Kmart or Walmart than at the grocery store. They even offer coupons in the aisles like grocery stores.

My sister in law asked that her children receive diapers as gifts for Easter, Christmas and birthdays until they were about 2. Don't be shy about asking for diapers when people ask if you need anything for baby.

A lot of people may disagree, but those cheap, off brand diapers are not a better buy. Often the tapes don't hold or the diapers leak. I tried them and not only did we use more, but my sons wound up being allergic to them.

Diaper services were just not affordable for me. I tried cloth diapers, but frankly could not tolerate the smell and wound up doing extra loads of laundry on a daily basis. Between the extra detergent, diaper covers and all, I'm not sure I saved anything.

You might also consider cutting back on other things that you think you need for baby, but don't really, such as lots of wet wipes, lotions, oils, and powders. Use wash clothes that can be washed and reused. Baby powder and oils have actually been shown to cause respiratory problems in babies. They don't need them. Use baby wash for shampoo or vice versa. I used Ivory soap in bar form, because my sons were allergic to everything.

By Vchristinel

Tips For Disposable Diapers

I have two tips to help save money if you use disposable diapers. If your child attends preschool, buy a cheap store brand to use while he or she is at day care. Save the name brand (and more expensive!) ones for home. I'm a preschool teacher myself, and according to licensing law, we are supposed to change the children's diapers every 2 hours. If your child is at school for most of the day, that adds up to a lot of diapers per week! Instead of using the expensive brand name ones, use a cheap store brand. It'll save money, and you won't need all the "leakguard protection" of the name brands, since your little one will be getting changed pretty frequently! (Many times the children's diapers aren't even that wet when it's time for a scheduled changing).

Also, Luvs diapers has one of those leakguard guarantees, go ahead and use it! We had gotten a pack of Luvs once where a couple of the diapers split on the side and the absorbent "beads" from inside fell out, even though my son wasn't extremely wet. I followed the instructions Luvs gives online for the guarantee, and got a refund check for the price of a pack of diapers. In essence, a free pack of diapers--can't beat that! Hope these tips help!

By Lisa from WI from Kenosha, WI

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• Cloth Diapers or Disposable Diapers?
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