How to Save Money on Diapers
Something that I am asked often is “how do you save money on diapers?”. Those pesky things can cost an arm and a leg sometimes.
I personally save on diapers by redeeming points from rewards programs, and then of course, stocking up when I see them on sale at the store.
My target price for diapers is $0.10 per diaper. The only way I would pay more than that is if I was also receiving reward program points and the value of those points was more than the extra money I was spending on the diapers.
Having a child in diapers is certainly not cheap, but there are ways that you can save money on this expensive necessity.
How to Save Money on Diapers
Use Cloth Diapers
Cloth diapering is something that many women swear by. I have not done it, only because I can often get disposables for free or a very good price. However, I know of a few people that have done this with their children and they told me that they saved a ton of money by getting rid of disposable diapers and replacing them with reusable ones.
The cost of a start up pack of reusable diapers (usually including 6 dozen pre-folds and 16 covers) is around $400. The average cost of disposable diapers is around $0.30 each. That’s a savings of $0.12 per diaper right there. If you plan to use the diapers for more than one child, that savings can easily double or triple!
The only negative thing I see when it comes to cloth diapering is that it is a bit more work to have to wash all of those soiled diapers. However, with savings so great, it just may be worth it.
Stack Coupons
In Canada, the only place you are able to stack manufacturer coupons is London Drugs. As long as the barcodes are different, you can use as many manufacturer coupons on one item as you want (keep in mind that London Drugs does not allow overage).
If you’re an avid coupon clipper, shopping at London Drugs would make it easy for you to stock up on diapers for free or next to nothing. Simply hold on to your coupons and watch the sale flyer.
Let’s say you stumble across a 60 pack of Pampers diapers on sale for $9.99. You have the following coupons: $2.00 off any Pampers diapers, $1.50 off any Pampers Diapers, $3 off any Pampers Diapers, $2.00 off any Pampers diapers (different barcode than the first one). Use all of these coupons on one package of Pampers diapers and pay just $0.49 for 60 diapers.
Use Rewards Points
Like I mentioned earlier, the way that I usually get free or inexpensive diapers is by redeeming points from various rewards programs (usually Shoppers Drug Mart).
I am a member of various rewards programs and make a great effort to make the best use of all of them so that I can earn rewards points to use on things I hate paying for (like diapers!).
My favourite rewards program is Shoppers Optimum. I take advantage of as many of their bonus point promotions as possible and then save my points until I need to stock up on things. I almost always pick up a pack or two (sometimes more than that) of diapers any time I am redeeming my points. That way I don’t have to pay anything for them at all.
Shop the Sales
If all else fails, be sure to shop the sales. Diapers are on sale pretty much every single week, so I strongly advise against ever paying full price for them. They even sell diapers online, where you can often use coupon codes to get your total price even lower.
If you have the budget for it, stock up on diapers when you see them go on sale. If you aren’t sure how long your child will be in a certain size diaper, stock up on a few of each size. You can always exchange them at the store if you wind up with too many of a particular size.
Purchase Store Brands
Just like anything, it’s important to be open to the idea of purchasing store brand items if you want to save money. These are almost always cheaper than the name brand (especially if they are on sale and the name brand is not) and can save you serious money over the long term if you try them out and they end up working well for you.
I must admit, I have not used many store brands. This is mostly because I can almost always get name brand diapers for free when redeeming points. I have tried the Metro store brand (they were great) and the Shoppers Drug Mart store brand (they were awful) and am glad I tried them because now I know that if I am ever in need of diapers and the name brand prices are too high, I can purchase a store brand package and get by just fine.
Buy in Bulk
Considering that the average person will go through over 4,000 diapers in the first 2 years of their child’s life (assuming you change 6 diapers per day), stocking up is a smart idea.
If you use coupons and shop the sales, you can often get diapers cheaper than you would at any warehouse, such as Costco – but if you aren’t having much luck with that, it may be worth the membership fee to purchase your diapers in bulk at these stores.
I really dislike having to purchase items that I am just going to throw away, so I always have to be cautious when picking those things up from the store. Doing a combination of the tips above have helped our family tremendously when it comes to diaper costs.
The biggest thing I want to stress when it comes to saving money on diapers, is to be open to trying new things. Cloth diapering may sound like too much work for you, but have you seriously weighed all of the pros and cons? It just may be something that could be very beneficial to your family.
Also, remember that different children respond differently to various diaper brands. If you are stocking up for a baby that has not yet arrived, be sure to purchase multiple brands, just in case your baby has a bad reaction to one kind.
How do/did you save money on diapers? Let us know in the comments.
Comments
I try to buy when on sale as well as adding coupons. Since I have not had luck with many other types of diapers I stick to pampers. Since most of the pampers coupons that are available now are not stackable the deals are not as good as I would like but I do what I can and stock up when on sale.
Yeah, the only problem is that London Drugs doesn’t stack P& G coupons anymore. It’s a good thing my little one was in diapers when they still allowed it!
the other benefit of cloth diapering is that it is a natural material that is on your child’s bum which means less/no diaper rashes and less imapct to their skin
Cloth diapers save so much money and save so much trash from landfills. I use Kawaii Diapers (very comparable to big brand names like BumGenius – but beware of really cheap knockoff brands) and only spent $100 for 24. They fit 8-35 lbs so you are set for the full diapering life of your baby. Plus, there’s resale value! Resale value of non-brand name are about $2/diaper and name brand is about $10/diaper (although you’ll pay about $20/diaper for the bigger name brands). So 2 years of diapering for $50? Yes, please! Pocket cloth diapers are exactly the same as disposibles except that they fasten with velcro or snaps. So easy!
just so you know we can not stack ANY P&G coupons that say Strictly Prohibited. Huggies is the way to go.
You can’t stack pampers anymore!! Also, Save-On Foods in British Columbia lets you stack as well , and their rules are a bit more slack 🙂
AS a newborn, my baby went through 6+ diapers a day. Now at 8-12 months, it’s 3-4 diapers a day, so I’m thankful for that! I was very fortunate to live near the US border and took advantage of Amazon.com’s Baby programme. I could subscribe and save on cases of diapers and wipes and would automatically get 30% off the list price. I could stack $10 off diaper coupons and 20% coupons. I was getting cases of 276 diapers for under $5!!! I was literally getting diapers at 2 cents each! I stocked up from newborn to cruisers size 3. Sadly the program is over, but I’m able to stack some old P&G coupons I’ve held on to over the year that aren’t restrictive.
You can stack the P&G coupons with a store coupon. I did that this week at Save On and got Papers case, on sale for $29.99 ($10 off) plus there is a store coupon for $10 off (valid until March 15 I think) & then used my $3 pampers coupon I had (bought another with $2 coupon as well). So I got 100 diapers for $16.99 (baby dry) & 88 cruisers for $17.99. Not in Cassie’s target price, but for what I can find them for lately, I am happy. I prefer Huggies by far (liked Pampers for my other kids) but haven’t seen great deals on them lately and don’t have enough coupons to stack either. SOF won’t stack P&G coupons either because of the phrasing, so it’s not just LD.
I am using cloth diapers and it really is not a hassle. I don’t have to worry about running out and having to go out. I’m using Best Bottom Diapers and they are great. I plan on having another kid so I’ll be able to use them for them. Plus disposable diapers smell so chemically it can’t be good. Oh and cloth diaper babies potty trainer quicker because they feel wet quicker.
Sooooo many bonuses 🙂
I’ve done both. Only thing I would recommend is that you buy diapers with velcro & not the ones you have to use baby pins on. My youngest (who is now 23 yrs.) was a little too smart for her own good one night & figured out how to unpin them @ 2 yrs. old. Not wanting her to pick herself or stepping on the open needle, I went back to disposables until she toilet trained 1 yr. later. Also, any stockpiled disposables you can’t use can always be donated to the food bank. Our food bank is always looking for diapers. Course nowadays they have the potty training disposable which is handy for new moms.
Shoppers Drugs in St. John’s has clearanced Pampers size 3 from $15.99 to $7.99. I used 2 coupons of $3.00 and $4.00. 32 Pampers for $11.09 including tax! I enjoyed myself yesterday knowing this will be an extra item for my friend who is expecting next month!
We use cloth diaper service and have been VERY happy with it. The great thing is that you do NOTHING in terms of cleaning or washing and all the fun stuff. You just through everything including poo( but not wipes) into a bag and at the end of each week they will come and pick them up and leave you clean diapers at the door !
I have to say this is not the cheapest option but not having to do anything was a big thing and we really wanted to avoid all the waste that go to landfill so at the end of that day, it’s money well spend. It’s about $100 a month and the company is called Bear Bottoms. If you live in Oakville/Mississauga area, I highly recommnd them !
I LOVE bear bottoms , thats what i use & i wouldnt change a thing but i do use pampers when i go out and im going to be out for awhile or my parents take my daughter – and i always get them on sale and use a coupon 🙂
I’m cloth diapering my twins. I was able to get completely set up with 40 all-in-one reusable diapers for $230. That’s it!!! Walmart was selling off the Kushies AIO’s 5/$30 which was 50% off regular price. I plan on selling them when I’m done for what I paid for them. No one needs to know I got them cheap. 🙂
opps.. $240. Math’s not my strong point these days.
I used cloth with my first and was most dismayed when my second couldn’t use them-he had sensitive skin and urine irritated it (and it isn’t like you leave a wet cloth diaper on a kid). He couldn’t use name brand disposables either, only store brand. It is FAR less work to dump a diaper pail of diapers in the washer/dryer than to bundle up a kid or two and head to the store! Money was tight and it definitely pinched to buy them for the second full time. I never bought wipes either (well, one tub lasted me a year, I only used them if going out with dh-I just took wet facecloths if going out myself!). I got enough baby washcloths at my shower to do just fine-toss them in the pail and wash with the diapers.
I never spent $400. The fancy all in one’s were not my favourite, I much preferred simple prefolds and plastic pants. If people know you want cloth they will get them for shower gifts-I got 2 dozen at mine and several pairs of plastic pants and pins. I made another dozen from flannelette. More than enough.
There has been no mention in the comments of “infant potty training” or “elimination communication”. I highly recommend it. We started when our daughter was 6 months old. We saved a fortune and by the time she was 9 months we would “catch” 90% of the BMs in the toilet…and quite alot of the pee too. So, we were able to re-use the same diaper all day. Just a clean diaper after bath time. It made toilet training a breeze at the age of 2.
Betty, if you’re using cloth diapers that need to be fastened there is this cool little thing called a snappi, you have to see it in action to believe how amazing it is. Basically, instead of pins you fasten the diaper with a T-shaped stretchable piece of plastic that has little hooks on their ends which grasp the diaper and holds it in place. i think snappis have been one of the best inventions ever in the cloth diapering arena. There are several online stores that sell them including well.ca bynature.ca sogreenbaby.com etc. Also, you won’t need many of them as they’re high quality and will rarely brake, and all you need to do is give it a rinse between uses.
if you are using prefolds with covers you don’t need to pin them at all. Just fold and place in the cover and that is it. It is so simple even my husband who was skeptical was amazed at how easy it is and has no problem during diaper changes 🙂
I use the bummies organic cotton prefolds and a mix of bummis covers and blueberry covers. The bummies sell for a very reasonable price and if you watch for discounts on the various online diaper stores you could get them at 11$ per diaper. I recommend the snaps vs the velcro but that is just my preference. The blueberry diapers are pricier at about 18$ per diaper but they fit on a large range of sizes and are great for night time (it is virtually leak proof – i love them! and the prints are too cute!)
@ Nasly: Thanks for the tips!! I’ll pass them on to my girls when they have babies. I haven’t changed diapers for over 21 yrs. & when I have grandchildren I’ll let their Moms supply the diapers when I babysit them (hopefully I still be around by then). Things have changed a lot in the baby dept. since I had kids by the looks of it.
Here is an AMAZING post about cloth diapers… answers alot of those silly questions people have like “its too hard because you have to do more lunadry” or “what do you do with the poop?”
http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/08/the-much-requested-cloth-diaper-post/
Also.. anyone looking into cloth diapering, the brand of diapers they mention in the post is surely the most popular/best reviewed, and are organic.
I used to watch for when the diapers I needed were on sale at Shoppers and sold out. I would then get a raincheck for them and buy them on a 20X the points day when they were inevitably back in stock but NOT on sale!
Baby number 2 due soon and I have a respectable stockpile of various brands and sizes of disposable diapers – thanks to Kijiji! People often buy or receive too many of one size or open a pack and can’t return it to the store. My gain. I even have had a huge box of brand name diapers for free of off Kijiji from a kind soul in Newfoundland.
A few months ago I made the switch to cloth diapers. I never thought that I would be a cloth diaper person but I love it! I bought my little girl Kawaii diapers (a canadian company) which only cost me about $75 for 12 diapers. Waaay cheaper than most other brands. They don’t leak and look so cute. Definetely worth the extra laundry.
Just wanted to clarify something re: stacking at London Drugs.
You cannot stack P&G (Proctor & Gamble) coupons at London Drugs anymore- they do not accept them. This ended sometime at the end of 2011. That means, you cannot stack Pampers there. Only with a P&G coupon and an in-store coupon.
Thanks everyone for all the tips on the cloth diapering! Definitely going to look into this!
Hello EVERYONE,
If you love in Quebec, you can NOT stock coupons anywhere.
Wow i have learn at lot ..buying reading Cassie post..im Grandmother of 5 kids 8 -5- 3 in march twins 9 months old…this was the reason i got into couponing ..so i can help my daughter out as much as i can..using coupons for a lot of baby items
I have used coupons a lot when i had my first kid now 2.5 years old and STILL in diapers/pull ups now…
During that time I knew i wanted a second kid and decided to start stock piling any good deals i saw. Worst case if i didnt get pregnant i would save them for a family member, friend or even donate them as they were all sealed. Well i have a 5 month old now and i have not had to buy one diaper and still have MANY MANY MANY cases stockpiled. Only downside was my second baby grew so fast i ended up having too many size 1 and 2 diapers where my first baby lived in them. I ended up selling one case of each on craigslist (made money from what i originally paid) and gave one case to my cousin who is expecting.
With coupons and saving them for clearance deals at no frills and loblaws and shoppers, i ended up with 10 BIG BOXES of diapers and 2 of the largest size from walmart for under 100.00. I have been lucky to have scanning code of practice on many diaper deals. For me, i would not of saved more going the cloth route.
Just today i got a big box of size 6 diapers at loblaws (last box) for 9.98 after the 50% off the clearance price!
My friends think im crazy but… i love when im on mat leave i don thave to worry about those extra costs!
Im switching to formula soon and we wont even go there 🙂
What is your target price for wipes Cassie?
$1 per tub of 64.
One of the best things I have found recently about using cloth diapers has been the resale value. As my second and last child grows out of our cloth, I have been reselling – and always kind of shocked that its normal to be able to sell them for 50-75% of what I paid for them (depending on condition). The name brand cloth diapers that I bought 4 years ago were totally worth it when I can get that sort of return of money 🙂 as they stayed in good shape (we always chose to buy snaps rather than Velcro – which stay in better shape).
There are a few different ways I save money on diapers.
Number 1: Always wait for a sale and STOCK UP.
I always check out my local SDM for their clearance rack. A few times I’ve scored big and found the Jumbo Packs of Huggies diapers and Pull Ups for $6 each!! Add coupons and Optimum points and you’ve got an even better deal!!
Number 2: Price matching!
Most stores nowadays price match so this seems like a no-brainer. I also find that if one store has the item on sale, they’re often sold out. So price matching at a store where the item is not on sale increases the likelihood of the item being fully stocked.
Number 3: Always always use coupons.
If you have lots of coupons ready, you can make stocking up do-able when you do find that amazing sale or unadvertised clearance rack deal. How can you get multiple coupons? I use my address and my parent’s address so I can get two sets of websaver coupons. I also trade coupons online and I’ve been lucky enough to receive some awesome high value coupons directly from Kimberley Clark (Huggies) and P&G (Pamper’s) in the past when I have had issues or inquiries regarding their products!
Stores often have coupons exclusively redeemable at their store, so always keep your eyes open for these as well. On more than one occasion I have found Loblaw’s chain’s coupons (called Coupon Zone) for diapers and wipes. They often have$3 or $4 off Huggies Pull Ups or diapers, and $6 off two Huggies wipes refills.
Number 4: Rain cheques.
Walmart is really great for raincheques because theirs never expire and you can get a maximum of 6 per raincheque but you DON’T have to buy all six items at once. For example, when the Pamper’s Largest Box diapers went on sale last year for $33 I got a rain cheque for 6 more boxes, and each time I use my rain cheque on one box, they scribble out the amount and put how many more items I can buy (hope that makes sense?).
Number 5: Use a flyer app. Not sure if I’m allowed to recommend any here but there’s lots of good ones for both iPhone and Android.
Number 6: Use store points cards and wait for the points days! Shopper’s has a great system and you can use coupons to bring your total down. For example, on a “Spend $50 get 20x the Points” day, as long as your total BEFORE coupons (and tax) is $50 you will get the points. There’s plenty of time’s I only spend $10 after coupons and I still get 20x the points. It’s glorious. Use these points to buy diapers if you need They also have a great VIB program where they send you points offers on diapers and wipes from time to time and emails that you personally can save up to $8 on diapers (I have received these from them so I know it’s true!)
Number 7: Use Checkout51 or Snap Saves, etc.
There’s sometimes deals on these types of sites and keep your eye out for deals on things you’ve recently purchased (I’ve seen a few for specific types of Huggies diapers).
Number 8: Use all these strategies in one shop.
For example, price match at a store whose in-store coupon is valid at or who offers points on your purchase. I stocked up in the summer last year on wipes when they went on sale for $6 each at Target. No Frills had coupons for $6 when you buy two, so I price matched using my flyer app used the coupons making each bag of wipes $3!! The Pull Ups and diapers were on at Target as well and I price matched for $9 and used the $4 coupons making each jumbo bag $5!! You can bet I had a closet full of diapers, wipes and Pull Ups.
Quick question… A few years ago I used to stack coupons at London drugs and get virtually all my diapers for free/cheap But then LD stopped allowing coupons to be stacked. Since then I’ve couponed substantially less. I’m now pregnant with baby #3 and am looking for good deals on diapers… Are they allowing stacking again?
They’re not. 🙁
One amazing cost-saving thing about cloth diapers that isn’t mentioned here is how well they hold their value after being used. Even if you splurge on the more expensive brands and spend $20 per diaper, you can still EASILY sell it for $15. You can also take advantage of sales and promotions as they come up pretty frequently (one example is well.ca). I’ve also seen some diapers sell for retail or much much more if the colour or pattern is discontinued or hard to find. I made the switch to cloth with my second baby and wish I would’ve started out with it.
Absolutely! I know a few people who have purchased their cloth diapers used and they were in great condition and almost half the price!
So how much do you sell disposable diapers for online on a yardsale site? Never used or opened
I used strictly cloth diapers (6 kids), and I’m talkin’ the old-fashioned cloth diapers that needed folding, safety pins, and those big balloon-like, white rubber pants with elastics! I saved a bundle!
Diapers were laundered in the washing machine, and hung on the line to dry. Not one of my kids ever figured out how to unlatch the pins on their diapers, but my second oldest daughter went through a stage at nighttime pulling off her rubber pants, which resulted in wet and soiled crib sheets in the morning!
Always preferred diapering the old-fashioned way. Grew up changing baby siblings cloth diapers (1970’s), and spent many years babysitting in and around the neighbourhood (teen years), 1970’s/early 80’s, and it was cloth diapers for all.
Simple, versatile, economical, traditional!