When buying disapers, buyers have to decide between the cloth (a.k.a. "reusable") and disposable ("single use") types on the market. However, both types have various benefits and drawbacks since cloth diapers are generally cheaper to purchase and use. This is mostly because they are reusable diapers; reusable after they are washed. Of course, many individuals dislike the process of washing and cleaning these diapers and if travelling, this makes matters quite difficult to deal with.

Don't load up on newborn sized diapers of any form. You can plan on changing plenty of diapers for your newborn, but unless you're the parent of multiples, it's overkill to buy economy packs of disposable diapers which can contain up to 160 diapers. Instead, you should look at a few reusable diapers since your baby is likely to outgrow the newborn size before you use that many. In fact, some babies are too big at birth to ever wear the smallest size. Buy by your baby's weight. Start with one package of 40-count newborn diapers if your baby weighs less than 8 pounds at birth. If your baby weighs 8 pounds or more, start with a package of size 1s.

Your first major decision in the diaper department will be between the cloth (a.k.a. reusable) or disposable (single-use kind. Both types have their benefits and drawbacks. Disposable diapers are undeniably convenient, but they're costly: You can expect to spend $1,500 to $2,000 or more on disposables by the time your baby is out of them. If you use eco-friendly disposable diapers, which are biodegradable or not bleached with chlorine, you'll pay even more, an average of $1,600 to $2,500, depending on the number of diaper changes per day.

Cloth diapers can be much less expensive, especially if you wash them yourself. After paying the start-up costs - namely the waterproof covers you'll need to lock in moisture, the diapers, diaper inserts (cloth pads added to increase absorbency), and flushable liners that help contain the mess and eliminate the need to rinse cloth diapers before depositing them in a diaper pail you'll spend hundreds of dollars less in diapering supplies over the years because you'll wash and reuse them again and again. You might even be able to use them for more than one baby.