The pre-fold Cloth diaper results

As those who have kept up with my blog know I decided to go with pre-folds and covers this time around instead of the All-in-one diapers that we used in the past. Since we only needed to buy diapers for the first 6mths then we are going to be able to use the AIO's that we already purchased for our older children we wanted the cheapest solution for the interim. I had never used pre-folds before and it was quite the learning curve :) First off we had to wait until the girls were 2 mths old to even try them since the girls were to small to wear them in the beginning. Once they were big enough to wear them it took me several attempts to get the correct folding technique down so that they fit the covers, didn't leak, and didn't have any wicking. Once we got the folding down everything got much easier :)

Pro's
*Cheap to purchase
*Easy to dry
*Very soft and absorbent

Con's
* You have to handle the wet insert to remove it unlike a AIO where you don't touch the inside
* You have to manhandle the baby to make sure everything is tucked into the cover at the legs and back.

Would I buy them again? Yep they are easy to use and don't take much more time to put on than an AIO would. I have some pics of Lacy wearing her first cloth diaper that I will have to put up soon.

Disposables, AIO's, or Pre-folds? What is cheaper???

I had always used disposables without thought to cloth diapering. I think the yuck factor and just plain uneducation on that matter worked against me on this topic. But when my youngest was about 12mths I discovered the world of AIO's (all in ones) and pocket diapers and I was sold! I love my AIO's and set out this time to cloth diaper the twins. Being the ever frugal person I am though I couldn't in good faith buy a bunch of AIO's without first doing the price comparison for all the different options out there.

So you lovely people are now going to be privy to my research :)

*Price breakdown for first 3 mths (changing the babies every 2 hours when fed)
DISPOSABLES: $254.40 (cheapest diaper brand made)
AIO's: $480 (birth to potty training)
PREFOLDS: $167.40 (diaper covers and Indian prefolds)

*Price breakdown for 3-6mths (changing babies every 4 hours when fed)
DISPOSABLES: $192.
AIO's: $0
PREFOLDS: $47.70

*Price breakdown for 6-9mths (changing babies every 4 hours when fed)
DISPOSABLES: $192.
AIO's: $0
PREFOLDS: $137.4

*Price breakdown for 9-12mths (changing babies every 4 hours when fed)
DISPOSABLES: $217.
AIO's: $0
PREFOLDS: $0

At 12 mths I could use the AIO's I already have so we shall stop the comparison here.

Totals:
DISOSABLES: $855.40
AIO's: $480.
PREFOLDS: $352.50

So you can see that disposables are almost double the amount of the AIO's while prefolds are the cheapest option. We shall be buying the prefolds this time around and learning all over again the quirks of cloth diapering :) For these comparisons I used www.cottonbabies.com for the prefold information and the local commissary for the disposable prices. For more info on the debate between cloth diapers and disposables please check out this site.

***Disclaimer: These numbers are based on diapering twins, and based on disposable pricing in my area. Prices will differ based on where you live so you will need to do your own comparison to see what works best for YOUR family***