Why Aren’t Cloth Diapers Taught To Low Income Families?
I am not low income but I live with my parents and they do not pay for everything Diego needs so my boyfriend and I have been paying alot of disposable diapers. Within the 8 months my son has been here, I am guessing we spent over $500 on diapers, not counting the pack I get for free each month and some my gma buys.
I finally discovered cloth diapers.
I was never told about them. NEVER!
no one told me how easy they were, no one told me how they have AIO. all I was ever told is that they are disgusting
then yesterday my gma tells me how wonderful they are.
so im switching.
many of my friends are low income and complain about how they cant afford good diapers.
so why doesnt WIC or welfare promote cloth to low income mothers?
Tagged with: Aren't • Cloth • Diapers • Families • Income • Taught
Filed under: Free Baby Stuff
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Congratulations on making the decision to switch to cloth diapers. Making that decision shows that you understand money saving in a way that many people never will.
When I was little, my mom used cloth diapers. Of course, she had a washer and dryer. The big problem is that people don’t understand the value of making an investment that saves money over time but requires more work. I bet the biggest hurdle is that people can’t stand cleaning poo off of diapers.
The simple answer is that people do dumb things. Why do some low income people have big families in the first place?
Because they don’t have washers and dryers, as it has been said before. In my neighborhood, to use a washer costs $1.50, and a dryer costs .25 for 10 minutes. WHen I used the laundry mat, I spent an easy 15-20 buck a week on laundry. Now I can’t afford it and go to my moms. That wouldn’t be possible with cloth diapers.
Of course, you can use a diaper service, but those are pricey too
Most low income mothers dont have a Washer and dryer at home to clean them every day. So thats one reason and second the cost for startup is ALOT and i highly Doubt welfare will foot the bill to start people out with cloth diapers.
A Low income mother cant dish out 500$ in a shot but 14$ a week is alot more manageble.
Girl I’m sorry…. I thought you had seen some of my Q’s about them!!!
Its harder to scrape together the start up for some people, some don’t have washers/can’t get to one easily, don’t have the time for the extra laundry….
Because most people dont want to clean human poo off a cloth in the sink or washing machiene.
How could you not of heard about cloth dipers?
Ive never come across a person whos never heard of them before..
well low income families also don’t have washers in there home we u cant leave dirty cloth diapers out for a couple days.
cloth diapers are a great idea, but they are very expensive. a newborn baby needs at least 8-10 diapers a day, so if u wash diapers every day u will need at least 20 diapers (use ten while the others wash). u never want to run out of diapers. if u choose to use diaper covers (which are very handy) then u will need at least ten diaper covers right. im sure a lot of moms would prefer more. anyway, if u add up all of the diapers u will need to stock up on, it becomes quite costly. they r low income. low income people usually dont even have twenty dollars to buy the big box of diapers,much less fifty to drop all at once on diapers that the baby will only fit into for the first couple of months. then they need to invest in the next few months worth.
while, in the long run, it does save money and a lot of other things, it is just too expensive to invest in at first.
I really wanted to do the cloth diaper thing but i soon relaized that i was either going to have to come up with a grand to buy all the diapers the baby will need in his life or 80 dollars a month on a diaper service (disposables were cheaper).
Get a job to pay for your kids.
I agree about the washer being a key problem for alot of low income families. But the rest is just bull & it’s testament to how lazy people have become.
You don’t have a dryer? Put up a clothes line. Diapers dry much better & have less stains if dried on a line in the sun, sunshine is free! In winter months sting a line up in an unused space indoors, with the heat on they actually dry as fast as (though not as stain free as) outside.
Diaper stash cost? Sew your own. I purchased all the material to make 15 prefolds & 15 flatfolds from the local second hand store for $8 yes just $8. (Yes *gasp!* you have to fold the diapers for use, but they are sooooo much cheaper & dry much faster) I bought a (old old old) sewing machine at the same store for $10, all the thread & looptape cost maybe $5.
The covers? I bought 3 PUL raincoats from the same store for $1.50 & cut them up, made 6 covers & rotated them, when they got dirty (which covers actually rarely do) I wiped them out (by hand) & put them out to dry. I really only ended up needing 2 or 3.
So that’s 30 diapers & 6 covers for the price of….$24.50 when we upped a size I bought more materials & sold the newborn/smalls I had made for $30, I ended up making $5.50 profit.
If you take the time & effort to actually DO THE WORK it really is rather simple. But that’s the problem isn’t it? People have gotten stuck in a comfortable rut where everything is done for you.
Wow Thrifty you are awesome!
We have spent about $500 on our diapers for our son over a few months. But we have several AIO’s and pockets from Bum Genius. So obviously they are more expensive.
Cloth diapers should be taught to low income families. I do have a washer and drier and I am low income.
But even if I did not have a washer and drier I would still use cloth. I would wash in a bucket or my tub or sink or wherever I could. That is actually what I did in the begining when we only had about 10 diapers. I would wash each one as my son used it and hang it to dry in our bathroom on the shower rod with the heater on. They would dry in a couple of hours (prefolds). They were actually given to me from someone on Freecyclye. And I had a couple of covers I got off eBay for just a couple of dollars.
Now I sew my own. They are so much better for baby, my pocket book and the enviroment.
I have some questions for you. If you are not low income then why are you living with your parents? Why not have your own place and you and the baby father can live together. Second why would your parents be supporting a child that YOU created with your boyfriend that isn’t there responsibility. Yes baby’s are expensive so the $500 you spent is worth it because you brought a life into this world so now you have to care for it. You’ve never heard of cloth diapers??? Either you are a teen parent or just don’t have much sense sorry but i call it like i see it.
wow! first of all, to the person above me..you are harsh, to put it nicely.
to OP, good for you for starting cloth diapers! hope that it is going well.
to one of the pp..my husband and i werent low income, until we lost a large amount of income about a week ago. we have 4 children and are pregnant with number 5..but in this economy, what can we expect.
That’s a really strong point. I think low income families should do just that and save a lot of money. It really makes a big difference.
Thanks for sharing.