Easiest And Cheapest Way To Buy Diapers

Besides our premiums for healthcare, our biggest baby expense was the cost of diapers. Having twins also means twice the diapers, so I took my time researching the easiest and cheapest way for us to get diapers. I won't repeat the description of our situation from the last post (read it here), but we did not have the time (and sometimes did not have the ability) to make a special or late-night trip for diapers.

I had heard of Diapers.com from a friend and tried them first. Prices were good - the same or a little cheaper than buying from our local Wal-Mart, Kroger or Walgreens. They have free 2-day shipping on orders of $49 or more. Buying for two babies meant going through two of the largest-sized boxes of diapers each month, so our order always shipped free. Diapers.com regularly had online manufacturers coupons of $1 or $2 off (like the coupons you would get in the newspaper or mail) and you could also mail in your own coupons to use for purchases on the site. This worked very well and saved a lot of time and hassle - when I noticed the diapers were starting to run low, I jumped online, took less than 2 minutes to order, and two days later they would show up at the front door. No complaints at all expect that after 10-12 months, Pampers raised their prices on everything, so I started looking around and quickly found a better and even easier deal.

We are huge fans of Amazon.com and have been using them for diapers ever since. Amazon Mom is a free program for parents and caretakers of small children. Amazon Mom members receive benefits such as three months of FREE Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime, 20% off diapers and wipes which are auto-delivered to your doorstep with Subscribe & Save and other promotions geared toward parents. The Subscribe & Save program offers automatic monthly delivery of many household items. You choose how often to deliver (from one to six months) and receive a nice discount in addition to the convenience. You can space shipments out to avoid overbuying or cancel immediately after the first shipment, so it's really a no-strings-attached membership.

J and L are potty training, so instead of getting two boxes of diapers each month, I've changed it to one box of diapers and one box of pull-ups. If we're running low, an extra shipment can be sent with the same discount. A week before scheduled shipments, Amazon emails a reminder and gives the option of skipping the shipment or cancelling the subscription. This has really saved us time and frustration while providing the lowest cost for diapers.

How We Chose Diapers For The Boys

I know there are very many options when it comes to diapers. Since J and L were premature twins with reflux and other needs (home oxygen, pulse-ox monitor, L had to spend most of his time being held or laying on a wedge to stay elevated) we did not even consider cloth diapers. I've heard they save money and some have used delivery services that make it convenient. If cloth diapers have worked for you, please leave a comment and let me know. For us, our first year was consumed with round-the-clock feeding, changing, and medicating (J had a couple and L had 7 daily medications) while trying to get a little sleep, monthly appointments with multiple doctors and hospital clinics, therapies, surgeries, and much much more.

Before the boys were born, I heard one of our friends talk about ordering diapers online, and that is where we began. I'll write a detailed post about the sites we used, how we liked it, costs and convenience, and what we've found to be the best. For now, I'll just say that the boys began their lives using Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive in the hospital. J was there for 6 weeks and it was 4 months before L was able to come home - those diapers worked well for them, so we saw no reason to change.

Yes, brand-name diapers are more expensive and after a few months at home we tried other brands to try saving money. Every baby is different and you may have had great experiences with store-brand diapers, but they just did not work for us. The Target brand did not fit as well, were much thinner, and we had to change the boys at least twice as often (plus deal with many more blowouts than normal). The Wal-Mart brand fit better, but again were thinner, less absorbent, and L's skin had a bad reaction to them. We buy store-brand food and most other things almost exclusively, but when it came to diapers, Pampers were the softest, held the most, and required less changing. For us, the premium price was definitely worth it.