If I ever become a parent, I was thinking about how I wouldn't want to use disposable diapers on the baby. It seems very wasteful. What are your thoughts about cloth diapers or alternatives?
I don't have any kids, so I don't have any diapers. But in all honesty when I do have kids, I'll probably use disposable ones instead of cloth. But it's not as bad as it seems...where I live, throw-away diapers are considered "organic" so instead of going into the regular garbage they go into the organic garbarge where they're used for all kinds of stuff - so it's not as wasteful.
my mom always used cloth diapers on us kids.... i think probably because we were poor. i haven't got any kids but i think i'd probably do the same, if i did. i hate throwing out bag after bag of garbage in a matter of 1 day, and women 'back in the day' seemed to manage fine enough without disposable huggies. peace, sophia
I used cloth for the most part. It's really not a big deal if you have a washing machine. I just rinsed the poopies out in the toilet and put them right in the washer. Once I got a full load, I washed them! Sprinkle some baking soda or vinegar on them while they are sitting in the washer to take away the stinky. Aside from environmental reasons, I like cloth diapers because it made the babe more aware that they were peeing. You change them more often, thus cutting down on rashes.
All three of mine used Cloth diapers. They aren't for the feint hearted parent! Ya gotta empty 'em before you can wash them. And you shouldn't use bleach! Then there's the rubber pant, a the Desitin cream. You'll need gallons of that. But! They do decompose pretty fast.
Thanks for the warning My parents used cloth diapers for me, because it was the 80's an disposable were expensive and/or crappy by comparison. They never had any issues with them so it was fine. I plan to use cloth diapers for my future children. For enviromental reasons and they just seem more natural.
Let's put it this way Hun. My oldest was born in 83. I earned minimum wage, and didn't let her work. We HAD to save bucks. But I always found money for Desitin cream!
We use cloth for both environmental and financial reasons. You can spend a lot on cloth diapers if you get really fancy ones, but plain prefold squares with rubber pants are very affordable and work as well as the expensive ones. Emptying dirty diapers is something you just get used to. No big deal. i think disposibles are still expensive but they are doing a better job at composting them in some areas. not in our area yet though. And i don't think any of my neighbors use cloth. lts a lot of land fill here unfortunately. kathy
You know I did see somewhere that the cleaning of cloth nappies was in some ways just as environmentally destructive as the use of disposable ones...I will hunt it out for you guys...just remind me please cause it is late here!!! I have used a mixture of both but I have to be honest and say that both are messy...poop has to emptied from both, the toilet is a far better disposal place than the bin. I have also noticed that in the disposables she is far more likely to not suffer from rashy stuff....however I am thinking that as she hits toilet training age she is so much more noticing when she is in cloth ones and doing something about it than when she is in disposable ones...man, she will happily traipse around with the whole works in a disposable one wheras cloth...you hear about it straight away!! And to be noticing before my nose does is pretty damn good after theis time!!
Was I "Choosing Favorites" because my daughter was the only one with the Pre Folded? Or was I just being a "Father" of a girl?
Nope. Propaganda by the throw away diaper industry, who was in a lot of finacial trouble in the late 80s, when the whole "Earth Day" movement was revived. They were successful in convincing people that throwing paper and plastic away was somehow LESS wasteful than washing a piece of cloth! I use a diaper service, I adored it. My babies had clean white diapers, and I had no diaper laundry to do. With a newborn (especially a breastfed one) you don't need to remove the poop for the service (it is almost impossible anyway, as it is a liquid poop.) When the child gets older, they just want you to dump the poop into the toilet and then put the diaper in the bucket. You don't have to "rinse" the diapers for a service. You are ACTUALLY supposed to do this with disposible also. Human wastes is actuall ILLEGAL to put into a regular waste disposal plant. Whether it is from a baby or an adult. They don't have the ability to deal with it, and it can carry horrible illnesses, if you child is sick, or has had an oral polio vaccine or even a Hepatitis shot. The stool carries these virues and they can actually get into ground water, and you expose the people who have to deal with the waste to them. Typhus can also grow in human waste. Please, if you do use throw away diapers, put the poop into the toilet, that is where poop belongs. It says on the BAG of throw away diapers to TAKE THE POOP OUT, before you dispose of the diaper, but on the occasions when I did use disposable daipers (usually on vacation) people would question as to "Why don't you just throw that all away?" Telling them "This is human waste, it carries germs that don't die when you put the diaper in the garbage can!" would usually shut them up.
We use cloth. We have been 'collecting' Fuzzi Bunz. Every since Abby was a baby, I would buy one everytime we had a little extra $. We now have a nice collection for Dakota. They are super soft and my kids have NEVER had a rash. We use them for not only environmental issues but also for my kids bum issues. I highly recommend fuzzi bunz. THey are sort of expensive...about $14 a diaper. But if you think about it..how much is a new pack of Huggies or Pampers? About $14? I don't even have to think twice about it.
First of all, cleaning cloth diapers is NOT more destructive than using disposibles. More water and chemicals are used in the making of 'sposies and than in cleaning cloth ones. I used cloth diapers with my youngest (didn't really know about them with my oldest, unfortunately). Disposible diapers are not only awful for the environment, but unhealthy for babies. The chemicals that are in them are unbelievable. And did you know that the chemical that was banned from feminine products are allowed in diapers??? My children got far more rashes w/'sposies than with cloth. Plus, cloth can save so much $ in the long one, depedning on what you buy, not to mention they can be handed down or resold. I will never, ever use anything but cloth on my future kids. Oh, and washing them is not difficult at all. I flushed the poop, threw them in a pail until wash day, put them through one cold rinse, then washed them on hot. Simple as that. Plus, you use a much smaller amount of detergent then a reg. load, so it's not like you would be going through gallongs more than normal. I could go on and on. LOL If anyone is interested, I could post a few links for more info.
Oh, and did you know that you are supposed to flush poop even when using disposibles? How many people do that, though? So all that poop is sitting in landfills. Yuck. Not to mention, certain vaccines, etc and remain active in fecal matter for YEARS in diapers in landfills. GROSS. Great things we're leaving behind for future generations.
Hi there Forest Pixie84. I don't have kids as of yet, but i have babysat a lot over the years, and i will definitely be using cloth diapers on my family. Out of all the households i babysat at over the years, only a couple of the families ever used disposable diapers. All of the rest of the mothers used the fold up kind of cloth diapers with safety pins and rubber pants. I also have a step baby sister and baby brother who are between 12 and 15 years younger than me, and i changed their diapers when they were babies and they too wore diapers (cloth) and rubber pants. I just think cloth diapers are best.
AACCKKK! Thank God that there are some level headed mamas here!! I was beginning to think I was going to have to bang some heads together!! We use cloth...IT IS NOT A HASSEL!!! I just posted on a previous thread about this but I will do here also. The average baby nowadays potty trains at 3. JUST disposable diapers (not wipes or butt cream) costs $3000 for 3 years!!!! Plus there is the nasty gel crap in them that has been linked to infertility and such. NOW...you can get Wonderoos, which will fit your child from 8-35 lbs, and inserts..absorbant inside material..for about $400 new or $250 used!!! why wouldn't you want to save all that money??? And the care is simple, you scrape the poo in to the toilet, throw it in a dry diaper pail, and wash it every other day on hot...that's it! It is definately worth looking into.....if you want more info on the whole shebang visit www.diaperpin.com and check out the NEW generation of cloth diapers. Thanks for letting me give my $.02! Cloth diapering is the best thing you can do for your baby and the environment!
I just wanted to add that if you get good quality cloth diapers(not the store bought Gerbers), and change them every 2-3 hours, you will not have rashes. My DD has been in them from birth and she has NEVER had a rash! My older DD wore sposies and ALWAYS had rashes!
I feel awful to say this...I agree with the concept of using cloth diapers..they are better for the environment etc. etc. But I don't use them. I feel like I have so much to fit into one day...that adding the chore of cleaning cloth diapers seems like just one more thing that would be taking me away from spending time with my lil girl. I am always tring to better myself and trying to do things that are healthy for everyone including the planet...but this is one time that I am gonna stick to what I am doing...I feel that disposable is easier. Anyone have any feedback...I would love to hear it...i am always open to new ideas. My advice for the person that started this thread is to do what you think is right...its being done both ways...so whatever works for you.
