The Best Ways To Save Money On Diapers
Like most people who are more interested in spending on things they want rather than things they need, I was eager to learn simple tips to save money on diapers. That’s because there are few things worse than forking over hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars spanning across multiple kids for an item that is literally designed be be shit and pissed in.
Look, I’ll be honest, I had this idea in my head that I would never change a diaper. Trying to replace a wet or dirty diaper while a squirmy newborn does everything it possibly can to throw off your game? Aggressive pass. Signing up to be literally pissed and shit on? Pass. But once my daughter was born, and this will sound crazy to all of you soon-to-be dads, I embraced changing her diaper. I also embraced exploring any and all tips to save moneys on diapers. We’ll get to that soon.
Now I won’t sugarcoat the next part, but I will say that it gets better!
The First Time
At first the task is daunting. Your instinct is to do everything you can to avoid ‘breaking’ your precious bundle of joy. But then you see the nurses handle them like rag dolls after they come out of the birth canal and you feel a little bit better. But you’re still weary. And a few hours after that baby is born you’re tasked with changing that damn diaper. If you’re lucky and the baby stays relatively calm you’ll struggle. If she was anything like mine then you’ll have a baby who becomes unglued and goes absolutely batshit crazy while you’re trying to replace the diaper with tar-colored shit and put on a brand new one.
Now once you’re done with that everything gets a little better. You’ve solidified the fact in your mind that you won’t be able to break this small yet indestructible human and you’re no longer a rookie at changing diapers. In the hospital you’ll likely have assistance from the nurses when it comes to re-diapering the child because both mom and you will be worn out by the whole process of, you know, bracing for your first child to enter the world.
Speaking of nurses helping out, there will be an urge to go home as quickly as possible, pending the health of mom. I explain in a different article why your gut reaction in this instance is horribly, horribly wrong. But suffice to say, I highly recommend staying in the hospital for as long as your insurance allows.
Rules TO Save Money On Diapers
When you leave the hospital you will generally get to take home the pack of diapers that was given to you while in the room. That will probably get you through two more days. Hopefully you’ve planned ahead of time and purchased a bunch of diapers in the Newborn and Stage 1 sizes. But if not, I have created some diaper-related rules that we have lived and will continue to live by:
Rule 1: The most simple tip to save money on diapers is this: unless you’re rich enough to light cigars with the pieces of paper that have Ben Franklin’s face on it, stay away from the grocery store when buying diapers. In fact, if you want to save money on diapers then there actually may not be a worse place to go than a grocery store. It’s a complete screw job. At my local grocery store I would have the privilege of paying $0.36 each of Pampers Swaddler diapers. At an average of nine diapers per day for the first month, that comes out to $97.20, plus tax. And that doesn’t include baby wipes!
Rule 2: Buy at warehouse stores. Those same diapers referenced above cost me $.20 per diaper, for a total cost of $62.10, plus tax. We use Sam’s Club and their basic subscription cost $45 per year. It will pay for itself in diaper savings in 1-2 months.
Rule 3: As I mentioned in a previous article about purchasing newborn clothes, the same principle applies–don’t get too far ahead of yourself when buying diapers. Our daughter came out at about 6.5 pounds and stayed in newborn diapers for a few weeks, but at about the one month mark she grew quickly. We bought a big box of size 1 diapers, but didn’t get to use all of them because of the speed of growth. Many families buy diapers beginning at size 1, and we probably would too, but we were gifted many newborn diapers at the shower. Buy a big box of size 1, 2 and 3 diapers. Just avoid buying multiples of same size.
Rule 4: No matter what you do, unless you’re a masochist and want to mess around with the cloth version, diapers will be a decent portion of your budget. For her first four months of life here are her daily diaper stats:
First Month: Average 9, Least 6, Most 12
Second Month: Average 6, Least 5, Most 10
Third Month: Average 6, Least 4, Most 8
Fourth Month: Average 5, Least 3, Most 8
As you can see, in our daughter’s first four months we used nearly 800 diapers. At $0.23 a pop that comes out to about $180. Toss in ~$50 for baby wipes. After taxes we spent just under $240 or $60 a month for the basics. You’ll definitely want some baby skin care products for the inevitable rashes, and the Aquaphor products have been great for us. That’s another $25-ish with tax.
My simple tips to save money on diapers have already saved you about $300 per year. Not bad!
The Other Rules of Diapers
Rule 5: In the Diaper Genie we trust. When I first saw this thing I had assumed we received a worthless gift. Surely nothing will fully block out the smell of bodily fluids, right? I was wrong. I don’t have anything cute to say here. Buy this. You won’t regret it.
Rule 6: Buy a trunk organizer/diaper changing station immediately. We purchased this exact version for each of our vehicles. You can certainly find them cheaper, but we like it being collapsible. This became a priority after an experience we had with a friend. After Mass one day we went to lunch with our friends and two of his kids. Unfortunately, his one year old blew out a diaper. The problem was that he had no diapers! Nothing was in the diaper bag and he didn’t have this product so there was nothing in the car. We pledged to never make that mistake.
If for some reason we ran out of diapers in the bag (we’ve never had fewer than three at a time) we can rely on the fact that in each of our cars we have five diapers, a pack of baby wipes, a foldable mat to change her and doggie shit-style bags to throw away the evidence. That organizer is one of the better purchases we’ve made.
Changing diapers wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, I sincerely relish the opportunity to do it. There have been numerous times when my daughter was in deep sleep, but pooped and then woke up. Sometimes she’d cry, something she’d just sit there. Picking her up out of the crib, cleaning her up and then putting her back in the crib only for her to fall asleep nearly instantly is as close to a “thank you” as I’m sure I’ll get over the first year.
Do a little research, get a membership to Sam’s Club or Costco, and buy in bulk. That is the best way how to save money on diapers. Your wallet will be a little more full and you won’t be constantly running out to a grocery store to buy a wimpy ass 36 pack of diapers that you’ll need to do six or seven times per month. We’re all just looking for the small wins in parenthood, and saving money on diapers certainly qualifies!
