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There are many ways to do what the title says.  This post is about how I do it, and what has worked and not worked for me.  I mean for this post to be encouraging to mamas who want to do cloth diapers but, like me, do not have a lot of money to buy a stash up front.

Cloth diapers save you money down the line, of course, but if you have looked into buying them you will know that they can be very expensive, costing maybe around $300 to start out with new diapers (a rough estimate.)  Here are some ways to save money that work for me:

-The Gerber prefolds at Wal-Mart work fine.  Sure, I’d prefer 100% cotton, and sure, they will probably fall apart the soonest, but they are cheap, and for now they work fine.  They have withstood 6 months of daily use and at least twice-weekly washing and are no worse for wear.  If you have gift cards from generous friends, you could use them to get these diapers for free.  Mine were given to me by my sister-in-law and my mom. 

-Ditto the Gerber plastic pants at Wal-Mart.  I really don’t like these, but they do work.  They tear in the washing machine eventually, but they are cheap.  I use them as “fillers” while I am building up my collection of higher quality, more expensive diaper covers.

-Check thrift stores, Craigslist, and Ebay often for used diapers.  My in-laws found a stash of 6 amazing diapers & 2 covers for me at Goodwill.  I use these for night time, because they are the most absorbent and leak-proof -more so than disposables!  They seemed in brand new condition -retailing for over $100.  I saw a couple of cloth swim diaper covers at my local thrift store a while ago.  I am kicking myself for not buying them.  Probably could have gotten them for fifty cents.

-Don’t be picky.  Truth be told, Abraham regularly wears several pink diaper covers.  They were free from my sister-in-law who has two girls.  I don’t care -no one sees them anyway because they’re under his clothes!

-Make your own diapers and diaper covers.  There are a few nice free diaper patterns available online.  Here are some tips:

-You can buy PUL (polyurethane laminate) fabric (standard fabric for diaper covers -very sturdy, unlike vinyl) at Jo-Ann’s (it is on their website -might not be in some stores.)  It is priced $10/yd, which is a typical price, but if you get on their mailing list you will be bombarded with more coupons than you know what to do with.  Most are 40% off any item, meaning that PUL fabric would cost $6/yd.

-You can buy Aplix velcro and/or snaps online too.  I am very happy with the snaps and snap setter I bought at snapsource.com.

-My diaper covers were leaking a bit because the cotton side was wicking pee to the outside of the diaper and onto the clothes.  To solve the problem, I cut an old shower curtain into strips, and sewed the strips around the outside of the diaper cover like a bias binding.  Probably won’t last forever, but it was free and has lasted a few months so far.

-Make one diaper cover at a time and test it (including washing it) before making the rest.  If you have problems, look for solutions online before giving up.

-You can also make felted wool “soakers” out of old wool sweaters -very cheap.  I made some and liked them but ultimately opted for the PUL covers instead because I was frustrated with how long they took to dry.

-If you don’t want to buy prefolds, you can make your own (or fitted diapers) out of old towels and clothes.

I would love to have big stash of store-bought cloth diapers.  There are some really great ones out there.  I love the ones that my in-laws found at the thrift store (Motherease.)  But in the end, a cloth diaper is very simple.  It consists of an absorbant inner layer and a waterproof outer layer.  I think a lot of mamas who want to do cloth diapers make things a little too complicated, worrying and obsessing over different brands and spending more money than they need to, or get overwhelmed by all of the different options or discouraged by the cost.  In the end, they’re just diapers -not miracle-workers.  They’re all basically the same.  Leaks happen with all of them, even with disposables.

To end this post, here are a few pictures of Abraham wearing a prefold with PUL diaper cover I made.  It has snaps, and has the old shower curtain “binding.”  It’s not perfect, but it works!  And I think it’s cute

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