This is a big topic, deserving more discussion than I’m willing to devote to it here. There are many factors one could consider in choosing the right diaper, but only three that I have found to be important: fit, effectiveness, and price. The other factors which I have a difficult time accepting as important: brand, eco-friendliness, comfort, and coupons. I’m sure I missed a point here or there, but bear with me.
What’s important?
For me, it comes down to containing a mess (for lack of a better word), and that is where the fit and function of a diaper are important. I don’t want to go into lots of detail about the fit or function of a diaper. Does the diaper keep the baby dry or not, and does it keep the mess off of you or not? If the answer is yes, to both concerns, then you have a winner.
What is not important?
1. Brand – Do you really think that Target brand diapers are manufactured by Target? For that matter, do you really think that any store-brand diaper comes from anywhere other than a major diaper manufacturer? I don’t have all the facts, about which manufacture makes which store-brand diaper, but what I’m sure of is that all diapers come from one of a few national-brand diaper factories.
2. Eco-Friendly – Honestly, if you are going to go green with your diapers, the only acceptable solution is cloth. Otherwise, who are you kidding? Disposable diapers end up in landfills. Do the research yourself, but eco-friendly diapers do not break down in landfills any faster than non-green versions (which is never), and they use as much energy to produce. The bottom line – you are going to pay more because you THINK the environment is better off.
3. Comfort – It is noble of you to think that somehow your baby is going to be more comfortable sitting in its own excrement in one diaper over another.
4. Coupons – This one is interesting. I have found that no matter how great the coupon makes the deal sound, it is still not cheaper than buying store-brand diapers, even the on-line coupons.
Do the math yourself. If you have a cell phone, you possess a calculator. The next time you are in a store, divide the price of the pack of diapers by the number of diapers to determine the price per diaper. My quick research yielded the following.
Target Brand .14 - .17/diaper
Warehouse Brand .19 - .21/diaper
Pampers/Huggies .23 - .34/diaper
Eco-Friendly .31 - .39/diaper
Estimates for the number of diapers used per baby for the first 3 years vary widely (between 5000 and 9000). Using the above cost per diaper comparing National Brands to the Target brand, parents could save between $1000.00 and $1800.00. Believe it or not if you were to choose cloth diapers for the “green” factor, the cost falls towards the low end of the national brand spectrum. Locally, the Dy-Dee diaper service (www.dy-dee.com) quoted me a price that was competitive to Pampers and Huggies, but since the cost varies by location, I don’t feel it would be fair to share the quote.
I sincerely hope this helps.
Friday, July 16, 2010
The Frugal Father Manifesto
I don’t enjoy wasting a penny on useless things, especially those things that are marketed to my demographic – a new father, with the means to purchase that wares that people are hocking, to make life better, easier, cleaner, safer or softer, for my family.
My wife and I tried for several years to have a baby. We were not fortunate enough to succeed until 9/9/2009, which turned out to be a very lucky day for everyone involved. It helped that my daughter was born on a lucky day, only because it has been really cool to tell people that my kid was born on 9/9/2009, at 3:29 p.m., 9 days early. I’m a bit of a narcissist anyway. In preparation for the “big day” we purchased dozens of books, registered for every baby-related website out there, and visited every baby section of every store in Los Angeles. After reading most of the books and filling up my email inbox with enough junk to crash a server, I came to the inclusion that almost everything is BULLSHIT.
Not only is most baby advice/stuff complete bullshit, but I’m convinced that literally everything could be marketed as “baby friendly” and people will buy it. I’m not kidding. I have not thought of a way yet, but I’m sure with enough effort, dog food, rat poison and toxic waste could be sold to new moms and dads without too much effort at all. Ok, maybe not everything, but come on, a Wipe Warmer? Seriously? One quick search for “Wipe Warmer” on ONE website, yields 7 different models, with prices varying from $19.99-$29.99 – no kidding. That’s a lot of warm baby poop. Mmmm.
So what prompted the Frugal Father? One day I was shopping for non-baby stuff at our local Target (which happens to be my all time favorite place for baby stuff) and noticed a mom-to-be, scanning items for her gift registry with a friend. Being the nosey person that I am, I overheard them trying to decide which high chair to register for. I interrupted, told them which one my wife and I went with, and why, and then offered advice on any other items the might be curious about. Since my personal research was so extensive, it seemed a shame to let the knowledge go to waste. We spent the next half hour or so, while my wife shook her head from the adjacent department, going from aisle to aisle talking about many of the things that worked and even more of the things that are a waste. Several items were added to the young mom’s registry that day, but many more were taken off by the time we were done. The young friend said to me, “do you have a blog, because I would read it.” And well, here we are.
My advice to you, whoever you are reading this blog, is to take ALL advice with a grain of salt, including mine. I am going to make statements, some readers will agree with, others they will certainly not. That’s ok with me and I invite any and all readers to call me out whenever you feel like it. For this first blog however, the point I really want to get across is this: If there is some advice out there, in the baby universe, that is true and correct, why do there need to be hundreds of baby advice books out there? How many experts on one subject could there be? And, if they are all right, then which do you listen to? I have a difficult time believing that the writers of all this baby propaganda actually believe that their experience is gospel enough that new parents will follow it. I say to you, as I will write about in future blogs, if you read no books at all, you’d be in as good a place as I was after reading over a dozen, and that is no bullshit at all. I promise that I will, to the best of my ability, expose bullshit for what it is, and promote things that will help you and save you money.
My wife and I tried for several years to have a baby. We were not fortunate enough to succeed until 9/9/2009, which turned out to be a very lucky day for everyone involved. It helped that my daughter was born on a lucky day, only because it has been really cool to tell people that my kid was born on 9/9/2009, at 3:29 p.m., 9 days early. I’m a bit of a narcissist anyway. In preparation for the “big day” we purchased dozens of books, registered for every baby-related website out there, and visited every baby section of every store in Los Angeles. After reading most of the books and filling up my email inbox with enough junk to crash a server, I came to the inclusion that almost everything is BULLSHIT.
Not only is most baby advice/stuff complete bullshit, but I’m convinced that literally everything could be marketed as “baby friendly” and people will buy it. I’m not kidding. I have not thought of a way yet, but I’m sure with enough effort, dog food, rat poison and toxic waste could be sold to new moms and dads without too much effort at all. Ok, maybe not everything, but come on, a Wipe Warmer? Seriously? One quick search for “Wipe Warmer” on ONE website, yields 7 different models, with prices varying from $19.99-$29.99 – no kidding. That’s a lot of warm baby poop. Mmmm.
So what prompted the Frugal Father? One day I was shopping for non-baby stuff at our local Target (which happens to be my all time favorite place for baby stuff) and noticed a mom-to-be, scanning items for her gift registry with a friend. Being the nosey person that I am, I overheard them trying to decide which high chair to register for. I interrupted, told them which one my wife and I went with, and why, and then offered advice on any other items the might be curious about. Since my personal research was so extensive, it seemed a shame to let the knowledge go to waste. We spent the next half hour or so, while my wife shook her head from the adjacent department, going from aisle to aisle talking about many of the things that worked and even more of the things that are a waste. Several items were added to the young mom’s registry that day, but many more were taken off by the time we were done. The young friend said to me, “do you have a blog, because I would read it.” And well, here we are.
My advice to you, whoever you are reading this blog, is to take ALL advice with a grain of salt, including mine. I am going to make statements, some readers will agree with, others they will certainly not. That’s ok with me and I invite any and all readers to call me out whenever you feel like it. For this first blog however, the point I really want to get across is this: If there is some advice out there, in the baby universe, that is true and correct, why do there need to be hundreds of baby advice books out there? How many experts on one subject could there be? And, if they are all right, then which do you listen to? I have a difficult time believing that the writers of all this baby propaganda actually believe that their experience is gospel enough that new parents will follow it. I say to you, as I will write about in future blogs, if you read no books at all, you’d be in as good a place as I was after reading over a dozen, and that is no bullshit at all. I promise that I will, to the best of my ability, expose bullshit for what it is, and promote things that will help you and save you money.
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