Cloth Diaper Dilema

simesime13

I didn't see this in the Dad's group, though I didn't look too hard....

What does everyone think?  To cloth diaper or not to cloth diaper?

polooo27

We use disposable.

From a financial viewpoint there probably isn't much difference.

From an environmental viewpoint cloth is probably best.

From a convenience viewpoint disposable is probably best.

I guess convenience trumps the environment for us.

Wulfgar

We use disposables since it is a lot easier.  Cloth diapers would be nice but MW would want to use a service that would cost us the same as disposables.

simesime13

I am guessing we will lean toward convenience well.  With my last we had friends that had cloth and borrowed those sets saving ALOT of money.  Also found a discount site that offered irregular cloth which saved some cash. 

I might do some searching at consignment shops to see if I can pick up a set or two on the cheap.   

spotco2

After experiencing what fills up a diaper, I'm proud to say that we use disposable.

Fold the crap up, stick it in a plastic bag and toss it in the trash.

I have no desire to deal with cloth. I scrub enough crap out of clothes already.

kennethj11

Cloth Diaper is best for baby’s sensitive skin and are eco friendly.

Better choose cloth diapers for your baby. From where you are going to buy Cloth Diapers for your baby?

sportbikeguy13

MW really wants us to go with cloth and I'm in different so were gonna try it.

simesime13

kennethj11 I haven't done any shopping recently, But I'd check ebay and your local consignment shops.  Consider having a bucket with Dreft, All Free & Clear, and/or Oxi-clean in it to soak them while you wait to wash 'em.  And remember that you'll be changing 8-12 diapers a day (mostly pee).

Cloth can cause irritation to baby's business-end as the cloth sometimes does not pull the moisture away from the skin. This is not always the case, BUT if you get a REALLY full, wet diaper, you can end up with bad diaper rash etc. On that note, 

(begin rant) please do not use Baby Oil or vasoline on your baby!  They are made from the same thing from which gas is made.  There are plenty of other products out there that are better for your baby.  Let me know if we want to start another discussion topic on this....(end rant)

amieeyoung

Why not do a bit of both? We will do cloth at home and disposables at daycare. I used disposable with my first and after all was said and done felt wasteful and remorseful of how much I was putting in the landfill (and which doesn't break down well at all). Look at ebay... and don't get sucked into too many fancy expensive brands. Start with some NB covers, flats and prefolds then you can add as time goes on. My MIL Is making us some which is nice.

blueeyedrose86

*lurker*

Using cloth saves us a ton of money, even part time. We use disposables at night and when we will be out of the house for a long time. If she breastfeeds, laundry will be easier because bf poop is water soluble. Just throw it in the wash. It does get trickier when solids are introduced, but my almost year old only poops ever few days, so clean up is not a big deal. I never have to worry about running out of diapers or wipes. That is an amazing feeling.

kennethj11

Thanks for your advice Sime. It was really useful.

For the past three months I have been using cloth diapers for my baby. She is very comfortable in it. I bought the diapers from Smartipants Online Shop.

mali3

polooo27 said:

We use disposable.

From a financial viewpoint there probably isn't much difference.

From an environmental viewpoint cloth is probably best.

From a convenience viewpoint disposable is probably best.

I guess convenience trumps the environment for us.

Im a mama here and my husband struggled to get on board with cloth diapering... just wanted to say, 2 years of disposable diapers can cost upwards of $3000. I have enough cloth diapers to last from birth to potty trained and it only cost me $300 Cloth diapering is WAY cheaper and not much of an effort really

ETA: DO NOT soak your diapers in anything while they are waiting to be washed - it will absorb the stuff and the diapers itself will become less absorbant because all the crud on them from detergents. We wash every 3rd day. When we have a poop we rinse it and throw it in our wet bag. If you do a wet pail just soak in plain water, however we havent done this...just throw the soiled ones in the wetbag and zip it. Smell hasnt been an issue.

If you have a front loader - wash once on cold with no detergent then wash again on warm with tide powder detergent NO SOFTENER. Dry in dryer with NO fabric sheet.

eddiegotsole

I'm also on the fence!  I think wife and I may be gifted a diaper service by a family member, if so, then we will take advantage and go cloth.  I agree that convenience becomes a big factor and I foresee some type of hybrid solution going forward.

Jtiki

Ayone who thinks that cloth diapers are not convenient has not tried the modern ones. No rubber pants or safety pins. If you have a washer and dryer at home, you don't need to pay for a cleaning service either, they are much easier to wash than the old style napkin types. Jillians Drawers, an online store has a 2 week trail of a variety pack. if you decide cloth diapering is not for you, you can return them, stains are okay and get your deposit back and only pay a $10 fee for the rental.

eddiegotsole

Convenience has won in my case.  As much as I believed DW and I would use cloth diapers the reality of having a newborn baby is that while we are doing our best, we also have to afford ourselves some conveniences.  Pampers Swaddlers has worked well for us so far, though DS skipped NB and went straight to 1.

Kelly11235

The Bump has an excellent Cloth Diapering board, if you decide to go that route.

We used disposables for the newborn stage, then switched to cloth.  We still use disposables overnight and sometimes on long trips.

Washing the cloth diapers really isn't difficult, and it saves a ton of money over disposables.

Maladroit

We are doing disposables.  I wanted so badly to do cloth diapers...mainly for the eco-friendliness and the fact that cloth diapers are friggin adorable now!  I'm a full-time nurse and DH works full-time, too.  While LO isn't in daycare, we still don't have the time for cloth.  I can barely find enough time to wash our own clothes, let alone diapers.  Has anyone ever calculated out how much money from water, energy, and detergent cloth diapering actually eats up?  DH and I haven't spent all that much money on DS's diapers in the 6 months we've had him - he's only in 2's and spent a long time in NB's.  I'd say we've spent MAYBE $150 and we were only gifted 3 packs of 1's. 

Kelly11235

Yes, there are a couple of websites that have calculated the cost difference, but all of the ones I've seen have been biased.  They were either done by "pro-cloth" websites/stores/blogs or by blogs that get money from the big diaper companies.

For my two cents, I think cloth can save you a TON of money if you use flats and covers, which are the very cheapest way to diaper a baby.  If you were really poor, and needed to diaper a baby, that would be the way to go.  You could spend $150 and get enough diapers & covers to go from newborn to potty training.  That doesn't include detergent or water, but that's really not a major expense.  However, most people that I know of don't diaper that way.  A fair number of people (online people) spend a lot of money buying a lot of fancy and expensive diapers.  They probably aren't saving very much over disposables.

We chose cloth mostly because I wanted to limit our child's exposure to all the chemicals in the disposables, and to save money.  That it's also better for the environment is an added bonus.

In the end, you just have to do whatever works best for the baby, and for mama & daddy (and other caregivers).  If you choose cloth, great.  If you choose disposable, that's great too.  If you choose to use a mix, that's also great.