How long do cloth diapers last? When to change & when to throw away

Like all other things, cloth diapers don’t last forever, a cloth diaper with only 1 insert can’t be expected to last for 12 hours without leaking.

You also can’t expect a cloth diaper that you use every day to last 5, 10, 15 years without wearing out or needing replaced.

A cloth diaper usually needs changed every 2 hours through the day so baby doesn’t leak, and a decent quality cloth diaper can typically be used for about 2.5 years before it needs to be replaced.

If you are interested in learning more about cloth diapering check out my article ” What not to do with cloth diapers: Common mistakes & how to avoid them”

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How many hours does a cloth diaper last?

In reality a cloth diaper can last pretty much as long as you want it to as far as absorbency goes.

If you want a cloth diaper to last longer you just need to add more stuff.

This Lalabye baby pocket diaper comes with 2 bamboo inserts but has room to add more absorbency

If you just need a cloth diaper to last an extra hour or so, then just add an extra insert, or if your baby doesn’t pee a ton, you might be able to get by with just a booster.

If you want a cloth diaper to last all night start out by just doubling whatever you put in their daytime cloth diapers.

If that doesn’t work then add more, it seems scary but it’s really not.

If you don’t like how bulky baby’s cloth diaper is getting than maybe try a more absorbent material, or maybe a different cloth diapering system.

My 3 kids all pee a lot, and are also really good sleepers, so I need a super absorbent cloth diaper solution for overnight.

So, after some trial and error my current solution is hemp (which is the most absorbent material) that has been made into a really heavy fleece fabric (fleece tends to be the most absorbent fabric).

I bought this hemp fleece from a fabric store online and once I got the fabric I prepped it and cut it into 30″x 30″ flats.

Since I knew I was gonna use these as overnight cloth diapers, flats have always seemed like the best option.

Since flats are so easy to clean and overnight cloth diapers tend to be the hardest to clean since they sit with pee in them for so long.

If you want to know more about cloth diapering overnight check out my article ” Best overnight cloth diapers: How to stop leaks for dry jammies”

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When should you throw away a cloth diaper?

Personally, when a cloth diaper is no longer water resistant they go in the trash.

Broken or missing snaps can be fixed, worn out elastics can be fixed, but worn out PUL/TPU can’t be fixed, not even by the manufacturer (to my knowledge).

This is an example of the water proof layer separating from the fabric, it is then much easier to tear and then it won’t be water proof anymore

However, if you don’t know how to replace worn out elastics or missing snaps then, in all reality it might be a better use of your time and money to just buy a new cloth diaper.

Missing snaps though aren’t that big of a deal as long as it’s just 1 or 2, it may take a little more messing around but, if the snap you use on a daily basis falls out then just use the next closest.

There are some people that have the ability to replace elastics and snaps that purposely buy used cloth diapers with these issues.

It allows them to build a cloth diaper stash extremely cheap, and them use their abilities to fix them up, and now they have a stash of cloth diapers that are practically good as new.

Are cloth diapers still cheaper if you have to replace some?

Unless you are buying some really freaking expensive cloth diapers, the answer is ” Yes, you will still save money”.

On average a baby will use 7,300 disposable diapers in the 2 1/2 till potty-training.

At an average cost of $0.23 per disposable diaper, that comes to $1,679 before tax.

The average cloth diaper costs $17.00, which means you would have to buy 99 cloth diapers to not save money cloth diapering (17 x 99 = 1,683).

And that’s just for 1 baby, if you have 2 kids now you would have to buy 198 cloth diapers to not save money.

You would have to buy a whole new stash of 24 cloth diapers every 7 1/2 months to not save money.

I personally have owned a ton of different styles and brands of cloth diapers and I can’t think of any that last less than 7 1/2 months.

So even if you have to replace your whole stash once before your baby potty-trains you will still save $863.00, because

24 cloth diapers at an average cost of $17.00 each = $408.00 then replace them once so $408.00 x 2 = $816.00.

Average cost of disposable diapers for 2 1/2 years is $1,679.00, so $1,679.00 – $816.00 = $863.00.

Pretty awesome right?

If you are interested in learning more about how much it costs to cloth diaper check out my article ” How much are cloth diapers? some numbers you should know”

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