Deciding to Cloth Diaper Twins - The Financial Factor

Last August I found out I was 8 weeks pregnant with twins. My husband and I were ecstatic as were our families. Our little ones would be the third set of twins in my family in three generations. I immediately started researching cloth diapering. My sister had dabbled with it for her second child and thought it was great but everyone else including my husband thought I was crazy to do it with twins. Why would I want to add that to my to do list and they told me I could never keep up with the laundry. So I decided to stick with disposables at the beginning and once we settled into our routine I would look further into it.

My babies were born at the end of March and I was overwhelmed not only by the number of diaper changes and how often we needed to feed them, you know, the normal baby care. Then we made the decision for me to leave my job and become a full time stay at home mom. One income down and two babies to feed, diaper and care for…we are on a tight budget!

My first goal to help with the budget was to breastfeed both babies. I love the health benefits that breastfeeding brings and also the connection I have with each of the twins. (People are in awe when I tell them or they see me tandem breastfeeding.) I also love the savings that breastfeeding has given us - we are lucky and have not had to purchase any formula - a HUGE savings.

Next up to tighten the budget was to try cloth diapering. I went to a local new mom's store and talked with the sales girl for over an hour and she quickly gave me a tutorial on everything she thought I needed to know. I decided to buy a 6 pack of OsoCozy prefolds, 2 snappies, a wet bag and two Thirsties covers - one fore each baby. I had everything for over a week before I took the plunge and prepped & washed everything.

When I told my mom I purchased cloth diapers, she made a face and told me I was crazy. She thought I had enough to worry about and do with and for the babies, why would I add this to the list. Then I found Kelly's Closet and began doing more and more research during my night time feedings. As I educated myself more and more I realized all of the benefits that cloth brings to the babies and to a family. The fact that I can diaper two babies for about $500-$800 instead of $3000-$5000 for disposables is amazing! My husband supported this adventure, especially after I told him all the money we'd save. Plus, the benefits for my kids to be in cloth is remarkable.

Over the past two months I have become a big fan of Kelly's Closet and have made several purchases. So far we have 6 Thirsties Duo Covers, 12 prefolds, 2 Best Bottom Covers, 6 Best Bottom Inserts, 4 BumGenius 4.0 Seconds, 2 Babykicks pockets, 1 Tots Bots, 1 Grovia AIO, and a few hemp inserts & doublers. In addition, I've purchased some great accessories: fleece liners, 4 snappies, 1 Planet Wise Wetbag, 1 Planet Wise Pail liner, 24 baby washcloths (for cloth wipes) and some booty spray.

To date I have spent about $450 on all of my supplies and I am able to cloth diaper my twins and wash every other day. And I have only used one 80 count package of disposable diapers in a month (we are using disposables at night and when we have traveled) - amazing and money saving!

I have a few go to diapers depending on the time of day…you know, for when I think they'll be pooping or taking a nap. But I have not found the all around "perfect" diaper for us just yet. I am still searching for my perfect overnight solution and I want to make my own wipe solution and fleece liners but with time I will get those things figured out too. For now, I am proud of how far we have come in 2 short months of cloth diapering and how much money we will be saving. And my twins look so adorable in their cloth!

By Jamie


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