Since I’m focusing on a very minimal approach to this week I wanted to set a personal goal to see how cheap I could reasonably diaper a toddler.
I’m using 5 Buttons Diapers solid covers which can easily be found for around $8 used. For flats I’m using Mainstays brand Flour Sack Towels from Walmart. They are $7.88 for a pack of 10. I'm using baby washcloths from Dollar Tree and some that I've re-purposed from an old t-shirt and an old receiving blanket as cloth wipes, so there's pretty close to zero cost for those. Because I prefer a pad fold for my toddler I don't need any Snappis or diaper pins.
I’m not using my sprayer or my drying rack. I’m using an empty cat litter bucket to wash in and a Dollar Tree plunger.
The cost of everything is $48.88.
If I could spare a bit more the first addition I’d make is to buy another pack of the FSTs. That would give me 20 changes instead of just 10. Then I'd focus on getting a couple more covers to give more time to go in between washes.
This isn’t a stash that would be as feasible for younger babies, but for my almost 2 year old it’s what I’d call a comfortable bare minumum. She doesn’t pee overnight or during naps, so I’m lucky to not have to find ways to deal with that. I use one fst in each diaper, and I change her every 2-3 hours. The 5 covers should get me through with washing every day and a half to two days.
I can already tell you she’s testing me, though. In the first day she pooped immediately in her first diaper. Then we used her diaper in the afternoon as a swim diaper. That one I just rinsed out and hung to dry, but when her Daddy got home she decided to get back in the pool in another diaper. So we were down to 2 usable covers for the evening.
I'll see how it goes the rest of the week, but I may have to add in another cover as a dedicated swim diaper, since we're playing in the water every day now.
