Having 4 kids that are five and under you can imagine the amount of diaper wipes and diapers I have gone through and the money that has been spent on them!! For about the past 9 months I have been making my own diaper wipes. They are so simple to make and are very cost effective! I take a roll of paper towels (I generally buy the Great Value brand from Wal Mart or the Member's Mark Brand from Sam's Club) and cut it in half. Then I remove the cardboard from the center. I pour 1 1/12 to 2 cups of water into a plastic container that has an air tight seal and add 2 tablespoons baby wash and 2 tablespoons baby oil. I put the paper towels into the mixture and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Pull from the center and you have homemade baby wipes!! There are a few things to keep in mind when making the wipes. First you do have to choose a good quality paper towel. I use to buy the cheapest ones that I could find. However, when I put them into the liquid they would fall apart and not hold up very well. So I upgraded to the store brands and have been very pleased!! For the Great Value rolls I only need a cup and a half of water but for the Member's Mark rolls I need the full 2 cups. This is something that you will just have to judge for yourself depending on the absorbency and thickness of your paper towels. The most important thing is your container. I went to Wal Mart and bought a $4 container from the clearance aisle. I think that it is suppose to be a canister. It is a rectangular plastic container with a removable lid. It has a latch on top that suctions to the container itself. Although, I have made and carried the wipes in just a plain ziploc bag. You know those times when your kids have played with the wipes and mysteriously lost them in only a place that you will find 2 weeks from now!! :) For times like that the Ziploc bag always works!
As my youngest is right at a year old now we will begin potty training within the next couple of months so my days of diapers may be dwindling! Thanks goodness!!! Five years of changing diapers is a long time :) However, if we were to have another baby...NOT saying that we will or that we will not have another but if we do, I will so do cloth diapers! I wish that I would have done them with all of them! You can buy them new or used or you can make your own. I think that I will try to make my own. There are so many websites that offer free patterns and many blogs that coach you through the dos and dont's of cloth diapering! The initial cost may be pricey but I think that it would definitly save you money in the long run. The Parents Choice size 4 diapers come in a case of 124 for $19.77 and you can buy a case of 700 wipes for $11.97. Let's just say that you would go through a case of each every month (in reality you would go through more!). That is $237.24 a year for diapers and $143.64 a year for wipes. I would have saved $1904.40 (probably more than that...I had 2 in diapers at once for about 5 months) over the past five years if only I would have been making my own diapers and wipes!
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