Cloth or disposable diapers?
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Cat:LifestyleForum:10618Discussion:5412199744561749566
Green Living
Cloth or disposable diapers?
Discuss how to live an environmentally friendly life
Do you use cloth or disposable diapers for your baby? What's your stance on the issue? Read our story on the debate.
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Forums » Green Living » Cloth or disposable diapers?
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Cloth or disposable diapers?
posted at 9/24/2008 10:41 AM EDT
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Posts: 5667
First: 10/7/2004 Last: 12/17/2009 |
Do you use cloth or disposable diapers for your baby? What's your stance on the issue? Read our story on the debate. |
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Cloth or disposable diapers?
posted at 9/24/2008 11:31 AM EDT
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Posts: 1854
First: 5/30/2008 Last: 12/17/2009 |
Are you serious? I don't have kids yet, but am trying to get pg. I don't have to research this issue at all. I will be using disposable diapers. In fact, I would be highly surprised to see anyone who does not have money to burn chose anything other than disposable diapers. If they didn't have the ability to hire a service to clean the used diapers, I can guarantee that the vast majority of these 'green families' would also be using disposable diapers.
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Cloth or disposable diapers?
posted at 9/24/2008 3:59 PM EDT
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Posts: 3
First: 8/24/2008 Last: 3/2/2009 |
I used disposables w/ my older child. But, I use cloth diapers now, mostly because my son is exclusively breastfeeding and his poop has consistently blown right out of disposable diapers. I decided it is easier to bring extra cloth diapers along then to undress him completely (sometimes on the floors of bathrooms that don't have changing tables) to clean the poop off his back before chaning him in to yet another outfit. They talk about the extra water and electricity it takes to wash the diapers, but you use just as much cleaning the 5 soiled outfits per day that disposables can create. And you definitely don't need a professional service to clean them, they are just like any other load of laundry. I don't think parents should be judging each other since both options are reasonable. Parenting is a lot of work, so each family should choose what is best/easiest for them. Just don't knock it til you try it. . . |
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Cloth or disposable diapers?
posted at 9/24/2008 4:16 PM EDT
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Posts: 8
First: 3/14/2008 Last: 9/24/2008 |
I used both for my sons. I think the service was "Dy Dee Diaper" or something close to that, but I believe they are out of service. This was 14 years ago, before everyone went green. To be honest, disposable was better and easier. I only used cloth for about 6 months for each son.
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Cloth or disposable diapers?
posted at 9/24/2008 4:57 PM EDT
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Posts: 35
First: 1/10/2008 Last: 2/2/2009 |
[Quote]Are you serious? I don't have kids yet, but am trying to get pg. I don't have to research this issue at all. I will be using disposable diapers. In fact, I would be highly surprised to see anyone who does not have money to burn chose anything other than disposable diapers. If they didn't have the ability to hire a service to clean the used diapers, I can guarantee that the vast majority of these 'green families' would also be using disposable diapers.[/Quote] Cloth can actually be less expensive overall depending on what you choose, but it is a greater up front cost. I wash my cloth diapers at home its nots that bad or that dirty. It just takes a system like any other aspect of parenting or household care. Washing in my machine was my biggest fear about cloth, but pee is no big deal, you'll be washing that out of clothes anyway when your loved little pees on themselves in between diapers. For poop there are flushable liners, and then there isn't much left on the diaper. So that has been my experience so far. It takes a little work, but its worth it to me not to put big bags of diapers on the curb. People make different decisions, just because one person thinks they have it all figured out doesn't mean that they've figured it out for everyone else. But you'll learn that as soon as you've actually had the baby. |
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Cloth or disposable diapers?
posted at 9/24/2008 5:10 PM EDT
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Posts: 4
First: 7/14/2008 Last: 10/13/2008 |
I wanted to use cloth, I really did. But the lady in the article is kidding herself if she thinks she can get by with six diaper covers. I went through six diaper covers a day! The cloth diaper would leak and the cloth edging of the diaper cover would get pee soaked and have to be washed. And the outfit would be wet too and have to be changed. It took me forever to get the diaper folded right to fit in the cover. I ended up using the old fashioned plastic pants over the diaper cover but baby's clothes are designed to fit over disposable diapers, not a big bulging cloth ones and dressing him was difficult. Plus, diaper covers were expensive! I could buy a whole pack of disposables for the cost of one cover. I tried several kinds of covers and scoured the consignment shops for them too. I was spending literally hours more a day dealing with the cloth diapers than disposables. Eventually I gave up and figured all those years of reusing shopping bags was going to make up for all the diapers going into the landfill. I know our mothers used cloth, they had no choice and they made it work. But life was too crazy as new mother and disposables were a godsend. In hindsight, I could see using disposables on little babies but moving into cloth when they got a little bigger. |
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Cloth or disposable diapers?
posted at 9/24/2008 5:21 PM EDT
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Posts: 2
First: 9/24/2008 Last: 9/26/2008 |
Our first baby is due one week from today and we're planning on using cloth diapers. It astounds me how many people who have never attempted cloth diapering (or even researched it for that matter) are so quick to dismiss it. For us, the cost of disposables far outweighed the cost of cloth diapers, especially if you factor in that cloth diapers can be reused for subsequent children. We also just didn't feel comfortable with all the chemicals in disposables and the waste they create. With that said, I would never judge another family for their choice to use disposables. You do what works for your family... |
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Cloth or disposable diapers?
posted at 9/24/2008 5:37 PM EDT
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Posts: 2
First: 9/24/2008 Last: 9/26/2008 |
I decided to switch to cloth when my son was 3 months old and now at 7 months, I have no regrets. Cloth diapering can actually be fun and addictive! There are so many cute patterns and designs out there many made by work at home moms right here in the US. I love that I never have leaky diapers and I can change him as many times as I want and not have to worry about how much it's going to cost me. I don't have a diaper service and I really don't mind washing diapers. My machine is a front loader and only uses 5 gallons per wash. My electric bill has only gone up $5.00/month since I started cloth diapering. |
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Cloth or disposable diapers?
posted at 9/24/2008 5:41 PM EDT
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Posts: 38
First: 8/12/2007 Last: 1/10/2009 |
Nobody has mentioned hemp diapers rather than cotton. a young friend of my who has a baby is using hemp. Hemp is very environmentally friendly - grows without fertilizer, little water, has a one-season growing cycle,etc. The fabric is strong and gets softer with wear; its not bleached, naturally a tan color. There is nothing here to irritate your baby's butt. My friend's baby is 11 mos old and very active, the diapers seemed to do the job and hemp is really environmentally sound. The only real issue with hemp is that growing it is (foolishly) currently banned in the U.S. |
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Cloth or disposable diapers?
posted at 9/24/2008 5:45 PM EDT
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Posts: 6
First: 9/24/2008 Last: 9/24/2008 |
I truly have to say that using disposable diapers was a God sent to me. My son is now 24 years old, and when my parents baby sat for my husband and I, I could not imagine leaving my 65 year mother with cloth diapers. She would tell me how wonderful it was to have the disposable diapers. She truly appreciated the extra time she could spend with my son versus clenning the diapers as she had to do with me 55 years later. She was also a working mom back in the 50's with cloth diapers. I am very proud of her efforts and strength. She is now leaving with me at 90 years old with disposable diapers, which she is not at this age resistant too. As her old adage would say, "to each their own." I am grateful so have such a wise woman in my life. |
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Cloth or disposable diapers?
posted at 9/24/2008 5:46 PM EDT
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Posts: 6
First: 9/24/2008 Last: 9/24/2008 |
[Quote]I truly have to say that using disposable diapers was a God sent to me. My son is now 24 years old, and when my parents baby sat for my husband and I, I could not imagine leaving my 65 year mother with cloth diapers. She would tell me how wonderful it was to have the disposable diapers. She truly appreciated the extra time she could spend with my son versus clenning the diapers as she had to do with me 55 years later. She was also a working mom back in the 50's with cloth diapers. I am very proud of her efforts and strength. She is now leaving with me at 90 years old with disposable diapers, which she is not at this age resistant too. As her old adage would say, "to each their own." I am grateful so have such a wise woman in my life.[/Quote] |
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Cloth or disposable diapers?
posted at 9/24/2008 5:48 PM EDT
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Posts: 1
First: 9/24/2008 Last: 9/24/2008 |
We use cloth diapers and we wash them at home in a front-loader, hang them to dry on sunny days or dry them in a neighbor's dryer on rainy ones. We do use disposables once in a while for trips, overnights, and so forth, but the cost savings have been immense. Also, we haven't put fecal matter into the trash, we haven't put excess plastic into the trash, and I feel that it's a lot gentler on my baby's behind to have the cotton instead of plastic. In addition, I've used the same cloth diapers again for my second child. I gave away all our small diapers for reuse a third time, and that would certainly mitigate the environmental impact of growing cotton instead of processing petroleum! |
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Cloth or disposable diapers?
posted at 9/24/2008 5:53 PM EDT
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Posts: 6
First: 9/24/2008 Last: 9/24/2008 |
I truly have to say that using disposable diapers was God sent to me. My son is now 24 years old, and when my parents bay sat for my husband and I, I could not imagine leaving my 65 year mother with cloth diapers. She would tell me how wonderful it was to have the dispoable diapers. She truly appreciated the extra time she could spend with my son versus cleaning the diapers as she to do with me 55 years later. She wa also a working mom back in the 50's with cloth diapers. I am very proud of her efforts and strenth. She is now leaving with me at 90 years old with dispoable diapers, which she is not at this age resistant too. As her old adadge would, "to each their own." I am grateful to have such wise woman in my life. |
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Cloth or disposable diapers?
posted at 9/24/2008 5:58 PM EDT
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Posts: 6
First: 9/24/2008 Last: 9/24/2008 |
[Quote]I truly have to say that using disposable diapers was God sent to me. My son is now 24 years old, and when my parents bay sat for my husband and I, I could not imagine leaving my 65 year mother with cloth diapers. She would tell me how wonderful it was to have the dispoable diapers. She truly appreciated the extra time she could spend with my son versus cleaning the diapers as she to do with me 55 years later. She wa also a working mom back in the 50's with cloth diapers. I am very proud of her efforts and strenth. She is now leaving with me at 90 years old with dispoable diapers, which she is not at this age resistant too. As her old adadge would, "to each their own." I am grateful to have such wise woman in my life.[/Quote] |
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Cloth or disposable diapers?
posted at 9/24/2008 6:04 PM EDT
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Posts: 1
First: 9/24/2008 Last: 9/24/2008 |
i have two sons that were both in cloth diapers exclusively. It was not that difficult at all. I used a diaper service for the first few months, but then got prefolds with wraps that made it so easy. I rinsed them and threw them into my wash and often hung them to dry- an easy and fun task to do with a toddler. |
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Cloth or disposable diapers?
posted at 9/24/2008 6:08 PM EDT
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Posts: 26
First: 5/16/2005 Last: 5/10/2009 |
For my first child, I used a cloth diaper service and saved a bunch of trees. But think about all the water that was wasted, the pollution of the water and land and air and the fuel to get the diapers to and from my house. For my second child I used disposable diapers and so the trees I saved the first time, well, they were gone in no time, and the landfill was saturated with dirty diapers. You really can't win, so just do what's best for you. |
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Cloth or disposable diapers?
posted at 9/24/2008 6:19 PM EDT
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Posts: 1
First: 9/24/2008 Last: 9/24/2008 |
We didn't even remotely consider using disposables. They are full of chemicals that I don't want near my babies skin, one even known to be carcinogenic and truthfully the perfume smell is disgusting. It sickens me every time I come near a kid wearing disposables. They seem to be extremely uncomfortable and know from my nieces that they have blow outs galore. We are using a combination of Elimination Communication and cloth diapers with hand knit wool covers for our third child (yes, that's right, I've diapered 3 children with the same diapers.) It really galls me that some people could be so foolishly ignorant as to think folks only choose cloth to save money. |
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Cloth or disposable diapers?
posted at 9/24/2008 8:52 PM EDT
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Posts: 20
First: 10/25/2005 Last: 10/23/2009 |
<<If they didn't have the ability to hire a service to clean the used diapers, I can guarantee that the vast majority of these 'green families' would also be using disposable diapers>> I cloth-diapered all three of my children and laundered the diapers at home. With my first child, I was a single mother so CDing was a sound economic choice as well as an environmentally responsible one for me. Really once you get used to it laundering cloth diapers isn't a big deal and just becomes part of your routine. CDs are so good for your baby's skin, the only time one of them got diaper rash was when I switched to disposables 24/7 when I had a broken arm and couldn't handle the pins. My kids did wear disposables the two days a week that they were in day care as the center would not accommodate CDs per their infectious disease program. My husband WOULD NOT do CDs at all so they also wore disposables when he was in charge, but overall about 75% of the time they were in CDs. I just can't wrap my head around throwing all that money away on disposables when you can just buy 2-3 dozen CDs, some diaper pants and pins or wraps and be done with it. Jen |
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