Cloth diapers v. Disposable

irina vodonos

My hubby and I are almost at 20 wks and I am debating cloth v. Disposable- anyone have success stories to share about ease of use of one v the other? I want to do the environmentally responsible thing but am concerned cloth diapers will be messy and more time consuming- thoughts?

ABColeslaw

I don't find cloth to be harder than disposable, an extra couple loads of laundry a week. 

tjkdlhb

I much prefer my cloth diapers.  I've tried both and disposables were way messier.  It's like a paper plate or a real one in terms of quality.

It is an extra load of laundry every 2-3 days.  But it's less late night runs to the store to pick up more (I can't imagine that's fun with a newborn in a snowstorm), I never run out.  I just go to the basement. less garbage to lug out to the curb and less stink in the house (poop gets sprayed into the toilet, so it's not sitting around in a garbage bag)



It's a lot cheaper.  Disposables are about 0.22 each.  x 8 per day x 365 x 2.5 years that's about 1600$.  My stash cost 700-800 and that's only because I bought lots of brand name All-in-Ones and Pocket diapers.  If I had bought only prefolds/covers (which I actually ended up prefering later on) I would have only spent about 300$.


For this LO I will use DD's stash.  I had to replace a few covers that delaminated and buy a few more newborn prefolds (I had used some for rags around the house).  So I spent about 80$ and should not have to pay any more for this LO birth to potty.
So for two babies, that's 780$ vs. 3200$

busterbeagle

There are a lot of cloth diaper moms here who will tell you that it is only minimally more work than disposables. I did disposables the first 6 weeks and spent about $150 in that time. The two biggest inconveniences were running out and having to go get more, and having dirty diapers stinking up the garbage. Plus that's $150 with nothing to show for it. This time we will do cloth from the start. I spent about $250 on newborn diapers, but I got more than needed and a few splurges. I can resell them (they hold the value well) or use them for another baby. For a newborn, the only extra work is laundry. You can throw the dirty diapers in the wash, poop and all. Then 2-3 extra loads of laundry a week and that's it. With disposables, you will have extra laundry, too, because poop blowouts happen frequently. Once baby is on solid food, you will need to plop/rinse the poop into the toilet first, so that is really the only extra ick factor/work in my opinion, and it's definitely worth it. My kid still poops 4-5 times a day at 22 months (she isn't normal, don't worry) and the poop still doesn't bother me.

dragossoul84

I started CDing at 1 yr with my son not to be green and not even because they were less expensive but because he is so fair he gets horrible rashes with anything but cloth. Honestly its not that big of a hassle get a good wet bag I suggest planet wise you won't smell it all you have to do is throw them in the wash. You can get a diaper sprayer that attaches to your toilet. I would say it was a great switch. We have saved tons and its great for his skin

pistolpackinmomma

I much prefer cloth to sposies. I hate the smell of the disposables sitting around forever waiting for the trash to be taken out. I also have yet to find a brand that just fits as nice as his cloth does. As for time consuming, we do the flips system so I don't have the time in stuffing pockets and the laundry is super simple! Every 2-3 days I wash (I just do a heavy duty load with the amount of tide needed for my load with a prewash with no detergent and an extra rinse then dry on medium. With the flips I just lay the inserts in a drawer and put the covers in a basket.

danabsd

I'll be the odd man out. We do disposables. Pampers Swaddlers during the day and Baby Dry at night. Cloth just isn't for us. We don't do our clothes laundry more than once a week, so there's that. I had diaper raffles at both my showers and stocked up on diapers while PG. I am doing the same now. Beb was almost 8 months old before we had to buy diapers. Now we buy in bulk from mainly Amazon S&S. Unless BRU or Target is less with coupons and sales. We take a box to daycare when they ask and keep the rest here. It works well for us.

mmks

Love cloth! Agree with what everyone else has said. Couldn't imagine using disposables all the time. Only use them when we travel.

jane8188

Ok so I totally don't mean for this to be a jab at op, and I understand people that haven't had any cloth experience are overwhelmed starting and I was there too. But now that we use cloth and I see a lot of posts on the cd board asking if its worth it it makes me chuckle a little. If it were really messy and disgusting, you had to do tons of laundry, and it didn't really save any money why would there be so many people doing it.

Op cloth really is awesome, he's never worn a disposable and we've never had a blow out, so its a million times less messy. You do a load of laundry every other day, so instead of poopy diapers sitting in your trash for a week, they get cleaned in 2 days. I think the hardest part about doing cloth is the crap I get from my family, who I have never asked to change a diaper, because they refuse to learn how they work and see they are nbd. It gets pretty annoying people talking badly about your parenting choices, but if its not one thing its another.

Check out www.greenmountaindiapers.com they have a ton of good info, other sites I like are sweetbottoms baby and nickis diapers. Cloth bonus they are so stinking cute!

pistolpackinmomma

I have about $350 total in my newborn stash (prefolds and covers) and OS stash (flips system and 4 pockets for night time) and wet bags. I technically only need to buy another wet bag for this LO's room but will probably splurge on some new covers just because they're cute and I have a problem.

ETA: to take out unnecessary crap that I don't know where it came from.

runningyogimama

I'm lazy about laundry and gate doing it, but I honestly don't mind washing diapers. I don't think that anyone who actually uses them thinks it's any extra work. I even use pockets, and it's a less than 10 min job stuffing them, either while watching TV or playing on the floor with DD.

Cost savings was the main motivator for me. And I never realized how terrible disposables smelled until we started with cloth!

usernewname

I'm a FTM but I work with young children so I have had experience. We will be going with a diaper service, so pre fold diapers - they pick up the dirty diapers and drop off clean ones each week. DH doesn't want me to wash diapers in our laundry machine (little does he know what spit-up covered clothes and blankets will need to be washed), so this is the compromise. I find cloth a great choice. 

Disposables smell so fragrant and chemically and are designed to draw the moisture away from the body, thus the child doesn't learn as quickly when they are wet/soiled - which helps down the road with toilet training in my experience

pistolpackinmomma

florassecret said:

I'm a FTM but I work with young children so I have had experience. We will be going with a diaper service, so pre fold diapers - they pick up the dirty diapers and drop off clean ones each week. DH doesn't want me to wash diapers in our laundry machine (little does he know what spit-up covered clothes and blankets will need to be washed), so this is the compromise. I find cloth a great choice. 

Disposables smell so fragrant and chemically and are designed to draw the moisture away from the body, thus the child doesn't learn as quickly when they are wet/soiled - which helps down the road with toilet training in my experience

It's not just spit up that gets on clothes, poop does too. And really if you spray them out then there's no poop in your washer and much cheaper than using a service!

talkthewholetime

@danabsd

What's a diaper raffle? (Not to thread hijack)

usernewname

pistolpackinmomma said:

I'm a FTM but I work with young children so I have had experience. We will be going with a diaper service, so pre fold diapers - they pick up the dirty diapers and drop off clean ones each week. DH doesn't want me to wash diapers in our laundry machine (little does he know what spit-up covered clothes and blankets will need to be washed), so this is the compromise. I find cloth a great choice. 

Disposables smell so fragrant and chemically and are designed to draw the moisture away from the body, thus the child doesn't learn as quickly when they are wet/soiled - which helps down the road with toilet training in my experience

It's not just spit up that gets on clothes, poop does too. And really if you spray them out then there's no poop in your washer and much cheaper than using a service!

oh yes, but in order to get the diaper service i promised to rinse out the poop on the diaper covers prior to washing. maybe i am just curious to see how easy cloth diapers rinse out … anyone?

runningyogimama

megangehr said:

@danabsd

What's a diaper raffle? (Not to thread hijack)

Everyone who comes to the baby shower is asked to also bring a pack of diapers in order to be entered for a prize. Many consider it, um...tacky.

danabsd

megangehr said:

@danabsd What's a diaper raffle? (Not to thread hijack)

Basically, you or the host supply a prize and each guest brings a package of diapers to enter the raffle for it. Each package is one "ticket" or entry. We included "raffle tickets" in the invitations with an explanation.

danabsd

JmeJme said:

@danabsd What's a diaper raffle? (Not to thread hijack)

Everyone who comes to the baby shower is asked to also bring a pack of diapers in order to be entered for a prize. Many consider it, um...tacky.

Tacky as my guests may have considered it, I don't regret it. FWIW, I bring diapers and a gift to every shower I attend. I wouldn't mind having the opportunity to win a prize for something I was doing anyway.

britab

Are daycares ok with cloth diapers? I'm a FTM and will be going back to work full-time.

usernewname

depends on the day care @britab - i have always been accepting of it. many are accepting, however some won't empty the diaper and just wrap it to sit in a bag all day for you to deal with later (which takes 5 seconds). others will empty your diaper and wrap properly for you to wash later.

always ask, and be specific of how they handle it

ETA because I can't use the @ apparently.

Chellbell20

I love cloth. I have about $700-800 into a it between newborn stash and OS diapers (and I bought more expensive os diapers). This LO I bought a few more aios which adds about $50. So less than $1000 for 2 kids from birth to potty training instead of $3k plus. It isn't much more work, 2-3 loads a week, maybe 10 minutes. DD has been in daycare, first an in home and now a center since 3 months, both have taken cloth.

elizabethb3

I'm a FTM, so I don't have any first-hand experience yet, but we'll be cloth diapering all the way. So many benefits in my opinion (which have been covered nicely by PPs). I just wanted to add that there are flushable liners that you can use to simply lift the poopy stuff off and toss in the toilet. So if the thought of a lot of poop remaining on the diaper, or the thought of spraying the poop into the toilet has you concerned, you can consider this option. I plan on using them during the very early newborn phase to prevent staining from the meconium.

mirdamae03

Another thing to consider is recouping your investment. Cloth (taken care of properly) resells great, disposables are gone once used. FWIW, I disposable diapered DS1 and was just so tired of the stench.

dogsombrero

I'm a FTM and I plan to cloth diaper. I have rosacea and extremely sensitive skin so my biggest fear was LO having my skin issues. DH actually suggested the CDing so we are on the same page. I own my business so I can take LO with me once I'm back from maternity leave. I bought my stash and wetbag on cyber monday and spent $250 on one-size pocket diapers which DH said he thinks he'd prefer. Hope that helps.

frasey

dragossoul84 said:

I started CDing at 1 yr with my son not to be green and not even because they were less expensive but because he is so fair he gets horrible rashes with anything but cloth. Honestly its not that big of a hassle get a good wet bag I suggest planet wise you won't smell it all you have to do is throw them in the wash. You can get a diaper sprayer that attaches to your toilet. I would say it was a great switch. We have saved tons and its great for his skin

Pretty much this exactly! We have disposables around the house for emergencies, but I die a little bit whenever I have to use one (which thankfully is rare!). And yeah - I can't stand the smell of sposies now. We use Kawaii which is a 'cheapie' brand, but they work much better for us than several of the other expensive brands we tried. 

Allibob

I started off using disposables, but DD had bad rashes until she fit into my OS stash (I didn't buy a newborn stash). And the blowouts were terrible. In fact I put a cloth cover over her disposable when we fly now due to a heinous incident on vacation.

cnbean

I just want to say that I never found the laundry to be a big deal. I am terrible about doing our regular laundry, but the diapers have never been a problem. Part of that is that probably the fact that if you run out of clean diapers you're going to be stuck. I know a lot of people worry about the laundry being a huge hassle, but I really don't feel like it is. 

Runningtostandstill

Cloth for us too. We spent about $800 for two kids from birth to potty training, using the one size diaper covers and inserts. If baby is exclusively BFing, there is no need to rinse diapers before washing as it's all water soluable (totally not gross to me at all, and saves tons of time). After baby starts solid food (or in the case of FFing or supplementing), I recommend a diaper sprayer attached to the toilet which prevented us from having to slosh the diapers around to rinse. Super convenient. We plan on using the same diapers for #3, but will invest a bit of money to have some of them fixed (elastic on some are stretched out, and the company will fix each diaper for $5 which saves me from spending $20 to replaces the cover completely. In the end the money savings is the biggest factor for us, besides the natural health factor. At the beginning we did wash every 2-3 days than moved to about every 5-7 days when LO were older and needed less changing.

spinsoffresonance

We did disposables with DD and will again. I'm terrible at doing laundry so adding a load every other day sounds like a huge hassle to me and I really don't want all that poop in my washer. With DD it took us about a week after she was born and a few brands of disposables to find one we liked, that fit her well and didn't leak. She is 13m, we have never had a blowout and she has only gotten a little poop on her pants twice. We throw diapers in the kitchen trash (open air trash can) and it has never smelled. What I don't get about CD is do you have to change diapers every single time LO pees? The disposables absorb the liquid and 10sec after LO pees the diaper is dry to the touch. It seems to me cloth would just stay wet and cold against baby's butt and wouldn't that create more diaper rash?

sthomas1222

@lica001 no I don't change every time she pees. I change her every 2-3 hours. Even with a disposable you should change that often. I went through more disposables than cloth b/c I changed every time that blue line popped up! And there are far fewer rashes with cloth b/c there are no chemicals. The week we did disposables DD stayed super red & irritated. At almost 11 months we're having our first bout of rash due to crazy teething induce diarrhea. If a baby is sensitive to wetness there are stay dry inserts or fleece liners you can put down to keep baby dry.

mmks

For those that are concerned with the poo issue - if you exclusively breastfeed, the poop is water soluble and you don't even need to rinse it out.  Did it in our washer and never had any issues.  Only started dumping the poo when we started solids around 6 months. 

laurblum

Glad I came across this post. We are definitely considering cloth diapering. It's comforting to see so many out there are doing it. I only have 2 friends that have done it, so people make me feel like a weirdo. Had anyone tried the all in ones from Bum Genius? I was thinking of getting 18-24 of those and the diaper sprayer system. Also, I think I am going to wait until the baby is like 3 months before starting. Thoughts?

KatieP71312

This will be my 3rd baby, I work fulltime and don't feel the diaper laundry to be a hassle or nuisance. My husband is super supportive and does the CD laundry if it needs to be done without asking so that helps out but not necessary! 

We love Bum Genius Elementals for 3months+ and use prefolds + covers for the newborn days.

Good luck with your choice! 

Edit to add: I'll have TWO in diapers, I'm terrified about it but bring on the laundry!

pistolpackinmomma

@laurblum, as silly as it sounds I honestly recommend finding somewhere that you can touch the diapers. I swore I wanted all fuzzibunz pockets until I went to check them out. I couldn't even get my hand in there hardly, much less DH! We didn't even end up with pockets!

sthomas1222

@laurblum I personally tell people to just do it from the start. If you don't want to invest in a newborn stash start as soon as the one size diapers fit (typically 10lbs depending on baby's build & diaper). We talked about bumgenius earlier in this thread. I'm not a fan but I don't like pockets all together. Definitely get a couple of each of the different types. That's the one piece of advice I wish I had followed.

KatieP71312

@laurblum We use BG all in ones - the organic ones and love them. I hate pockets and only use them for nighttime to customize absorbency. Our daycare provider has no issue with them and hubby loves them too. We will use disposables for the first few days - until the meconium passes and then fulltime cloth. The early days are when you get the biggest bang for the buck especially if you are breastfeeding. They can get wet/poo many, many times per day and I prefer "free" changes vs feeling like I'm spending $$ every time I change a disposable. 

jntaylor11

I started cloth diapering day from the get go to save money. I did prefolds until he was old enough to fit into one size diapers. Eventually we had overnight issues & issues when we were out during the day so I started using disposables at night & when we go out which is not a lot. If I had to guess, I'd say I've spent less than $1k to diaper my son total & he is almost 2.5. To me saving several thousand dollars is totally worth having to do some extra laundry:) 

CopperPoppy

I really wish I could entertain the idea of CD but we live somewhere with coin OP laundry for all our neighbors and one machine that doesn't work well. My mom lives 10 mins away but I know I'm not going to be there enough to do laundry as often as needed for CDing. I refuse to pay a service so I guess I'm kinda stuck with disposables.

I will also say that it seems overwhelming to not know which bran to buy as each one is so different and will fit each baby differently. It's the same issue I have with bottles right now.

All that and DH is really not on board with CD, I think we are pollutin', stinkin', blow-out-ing, rashy ass parents. All that aside I would totally consider doing it but it's not in the cards for this baby.

JoelleOK

laurblum said:

Glad I came across this post. We are definitely considering cloth diapering. It's comforting to see so many out there are doing it. I only have 2 friends that have done it, so people make me feel like a weirdo. Had anyone tried the all in ones from Bum Genius? I was thinking of getting 18-24 of those and the diaper sprayer system. Also, I think I am going to wait until the baby is like 3 months before starting. Thoughts?

The "problem" with all in ones is that they usually have to air dry and getting all those layers dry can take forever. Which means you need to buy more so you have enough changes while your diapers dry. However check that brands recommended care instructions. Maybe they can go in the dryer.

Edit: I use pocket CD diapers. I've never used all in ones so maybe I don't understand.

runningyogimama

JoelleOK said:

laurblum said:

Glad I came across this post. We are definitely considering cloth diapering. It's comforting to see so many out there are doing it. I only have 2 friends that have done it, so people make me feel like a weirdo. Had anyone tried the all in ones from Bum Genius? I was thinking of getting 18-24 of those and the diaper sprayer system. Also, I think I am going to wait until the baby is like 3 months before starting. Thoughts?

The "problem" with all in ones is that they usually have to air dry and getting all those layers dry can take forever. Which means you need to buy more so you have enough changes while your diapers dry. However check that brands recommended care instructions. Maybe they can go in the dryer.

Edit: I use pocket CD diapers. I've never used all in ones so maybe I don't understand.

BG free times actually dry pretty quickly, nothing like any other AIO I've tried. I wouldn't buy an entire stash of a single diaper until I knew it was going to work for us--but some people do and have no issues. If you're waiting until 3 months so baby can fit into one size diapers, I would actually suggest a new born diaper trial from somewhere like Jillian's drawers. Then you can get an idea of what different types of diapers ate like and if they're what you'll want to use. Just a thought!

mrstengallonhat1

So glad I saw this.  DH and I would like to try CD this LO, and I honestly had no idea where to start!  The CD board here has a really helpful FAQ page that kind of explains everything you need to know in order to start.