Cloth Diapers Are Back??!!
I've been a mom for 8 years now and in all that time I never once considered bothering with cloth diapers. It's not that I don't care about the environment. I do. But the thought of my baby's stool leaking on my couch or while I'm out in public is more than I am willing to sacrifice for Mother Earth. I figure I can just cut back in some other area, like putting up with those horrible energy efficient light bulbs. In my defense, the disposable diaper is deemed one of the 20th century inventions that most changed and improved the lives of women. As a mother of four, I can't argue with that assessment. Today, I read an article in Time magazine discussing the amazing makeover cloth diapers have recently received and for the first time, I found myself intrigued. Apparently, the growing fans of modern cloth diapers swear that the stinky, leaky horror stories of yesteryear are a thing of the past. And for those who don't live near a diaper laundry service, many of today's cloth diapers are now designed to be washed at home. One brand, gDiapers, is actually a hybrid diaper that has cute, washable coverings with disposable inserts that can be flushed down the toilet. As many of you know, I am due in May and when the baby #5 comes, I will have 2 kids in diapers (yikes!). I would love to hear from any of you who have first-hand experience with cloth diapers. Do they leak? Which brands are the best? Is it a messier than dealing with disposables? Can septic systems really handle the flushable inserts? What are the cost benefits? How much does diaper laundry service cost per month? Does it reduce diaper rash? Do you use cloth at home, but disposables when you travel or run errands with the baby? According to the article, there is dispute as to the real "green value" of cloth diapers since energy and water must be expended in laundering. Any thoughts on that?
Recent Posts
- Atlanta Billboards Proclaim 'Black Children Are An Endangered Species' (2/09/2010)
- Canadian Hospital Offers Surgery for Obese Children (2/09/2010)
- Celeb Clan Close-Up: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Maddox Hit the Super Bowl (2/08/2010)
- Bob Dylan's 'All the Animals' Inspires Children's Book (2/08/2010)
- Drew Brees and His Son After the Super Bowl - Best Moment of the Big Game? (2/08/2010)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Lisa 2-02-2008 @ 6:14PM
I have 5 children with another on the way in a few weeks. I LOVE cloth diapers. I know it sounds weird but I regret not using them on all my kids. Contrary to what one might think, they do not stink and leak. They are super easy to wash and are nothing like the old pins and plastic pants kind from when we were kids.
Mine can just be thrown right in the wash and do not need to sit soaking in water or anything.
I actually sew my own diapers, there is a large community of cloth diaper making Work-at-home moms out there on the net. :) As well as the environmental benefit we also have the fun of putting adorable prints and patterns on our kiddos. Yeah, that part is a little vain but there is nothing cuter than a little baby girl in a floral print diaper.
Reply
Katty 1-14-2008 @ 2:34PM
I use G-Diapers with my daughter. I have found that after the initial "getting used to it" period, I love them. The poop goes down the toilet along with the diaper. A couple of friends have septic so many of them just flush the poop and then throw the diaper away but because they are biodegradable, its not such a big deal, another hasn't had a problem with her septic at all. My daughter gets so many compliments with her little cloth and I have never had a leak, never and trust me, my daughter can pee and poop. At babycenter I order the diapers and I get free shipping and I stock them up monthly. Another friend of mine swears it helped potty train her oldest child faster because she was already used to throwing her "stuff" down the toilet. I was like you too, never even thought of cloth, but I have to say, I do enjoy my G-diapers.
Reply
Michelle 1-14-2008 @ 2:40PM
Hi Rachel,
I thought about trying cloth diapers when my youngest daughter was a newborn. I'm trying to become more "green" by recycling, buying less packaged foods, using reusable containers,using those light bulbs you speak of, to name a few. But when I researched cloth diapering online I was overwhelmed by all the different types and styles of diapers there were. So I ended up staying with disposables, but to this day (my daughter is now 1 1/2) I would still like to try cloth. She is going through so many diapers, it's costing me a fortune!
I looked at the gdiapers website. The diapers seem trendy and absorbent, but only because of the paper-like inside liner. And I don't like the fact that you have to "stir" the liner in the toilet water-yuck! Also, the cost is more than double than what I am paying now for diapers (I use Luvs), not to mention the amount of money needed for laundry supplies. I'm an all-or-nothing person, so if I were going to go with cloth, it would have to be cloth all the way. I would either go with the all-in-one cloth diaper, or the all-in-one one size diaper that has a snap-in soaker which allows you to just change the liner and not the entire diaper with each change--the latter is harder to find. Babies R Us has some AIO's you could try, at a decent price.
Rachel, I have four kids myself, and you know how laundry is a thankless, never-ending task. If you miss one day of laundry, you have literally a mountain of clothes to catch up on. I really think you should do yourself a favor and try a diaper service if you want to go cloth. Wouldn't it be nice to have freshly laundered diapers brought to your door? If you decide the diapers aren't working out, you can cancel the service, instead of spending lots of money on cloth diaper supplies that you may end up not using. You'd be doing something good for the environment and have less garbage, too! That way you'll have more time to spend with your family and especially your NEW BABY! You deserve it!
Michelle
Reply
KimW 1-14-2008 @ 9:23PM
I cloth diapered my first child and it wasn't too big a deal. I would use disposables when we went out or traveled. But now that I am pregnant with my 4th the idea of adding to the laundry scares me. The cost upfront for cloth diapers is a lot and using a laundering service is even more. If money and laundry weren't an issue I would do it in a heartbeat. But for now I have to make up for it by environmentally friendly in other ways. If you don't mind extra laundry or paying someone else to do it, I say go for it.
Reply
Jennifer 1-14-2008 @ 11:26PM
When I was pregnant with my first child, I spent a lot of time deciding whether to use cloth or not. I wanted to use cloth, but I live in an apartment complex with about 300 people and only 5 washers and 2 dryers for all of us. Its a "wait in line, don't leave your clothes unattended while they are getting cleaned or they could be stolen" type of system. So I would have had to go to this small laundramat with my child regularly to clean the cloth diapers. Then I was talking to someone who said the environmental impact is the same because the laundry detergent and energy used to clean the cloth diapers is bad for the environment too. Now my dilema is I have 3 kids in diapers and I'm going to start potty training the oldest two (they are ages 2 and 3), but my fear is how does a mom handle the unsanitary public bathrooms that you have to take your child into once they are potty trained? I get grossed out using public bathrooms myself so I can't imagine taking a 2 year old (who has lots of throw herself on the floor tantrums) into a yucky bathroom with no clean stalls to be found. It has to be done though I know, I'm just procrastinating.
If you have access to a washer and dryer I would use cloth diapers, or at least try it a few times and see what you prefer. You could also use environmentally friendly laundry deteregent, I think the brand names are 7th Generation, and Ecover, they are safe for the environment.
Reply
hope 1-15-2008 @ 3:12AM
Jennifer, I'm really glad you brought up the subject of potty training. This is something I've been hoping to see in Rachel's blog. My daughter just turned 3 a couple of weeks ago, and potty training is just not happening. She's a smart kid who totally gets the concept of the potty but absolutely refuses to poop in the potty. She even has a spot she goes to lately to hide when she poops (diaper or underpants, it doesn't matter). I've tried all the tricks...prizes, sticker charts, M&Ms, letting her pick pretty underpants...but she just doesn't want to. I used to thing she was just being stubborn, but now I think she's scared. She pooped once on the potty a couple of months ago and we made such a huge deal out of it, she was really proud and got a prize. But the next day she refused to go again, and hasn't since. I've heard some kids are potty-training resistant, but my thought is if you're old enough to change your pullup yourself (which she always asks to do! LOL) then you're old enough to go on the potty. Rachel, Jennifer...anybody!...if you have any advice to offer or words of wisdom to share on the potty training experience, I'd be grateful! Thanks!
P.S. Jennifer, you can get disposable potty toppers at stores like Babies R Us. I've also seen a portable folding potty seat; more comforting for the little ones but maybe a little gross to throw back in your purse after the fact. As for the germs...all I can suggest is carry hand sanitizer, and stand firm when it comes to touching things in the potty.
M in NV 1-15-2008 @ 12:57AM
There are many cloth-diapering moms on a message board that I belong to - kellymom.com . Reading their posts may help you make your decision. I admit, I am a mom who loves the invention of the disposable diaper, but I admire those who are doing their part to help protect the environment by CD'ing. Good luck making a decision!
Reply
K 1-15-2008 @ 6:29AM
I didn't hear about cloth diapering until my son was 18 months old, but I jumped on board! I wouldn't go back & can't wait to have a newborn to use cloth on. There are so many different ways to cloth diaper. There is a wonderful site with many work-at-home-moms who make their own cloth diapers and sell them. Check it out-- www.hyenacart.com and there is also a forum you can go to to ask questions until your heart is content. :)
Reply
Jessica 1-15-2008 @ 9:15AM
I'm a mom to 4 girls and we've tried gDiapers and cloth diapers. gDiapers are more work then theyre worth. Cloth diapers are very easy and cute. I recommend www.bumgemius.com. Those are awesome. They look just like a regular disposable diaper and go on the same way. We used those when we had 2 in diapers. Then suddenly we had 3 and I couldnt keep up with the washing of them any longer. Now we're back down to 2 in diapers and still havent brought the cloth diapers back out yet. Once the cloth diapers are soiled you keep them in a trash can with a lid until youre ready to wash. I couldnt stand the smell of opening that can on wash day, yuuuuck! If the baby is breafed you can put their poopy diapers right in the wash and it'll wash out. But once theyre toddlers you need to dump it into the toilet, yuuuck! It got old for me and now we're back in disposables!
Reply
Jaci 1-15-2008 @ 7:58PM
I felt really guilty about the amount of disposable diapers we were going through when the twins were born (my middle son was 2 and still in diapers as well). But, with the sheer amount of laundry was daunting already & I couldn't fathom adding cloth diapers too.
To make myself feel a little less guilt, I moved the kids into cloth training pants at around 2 1/2 (rather than disposable pull up styles). At first I tried the vinyl type but they seemed really uncomfortable for the kids. Eventually I found a version that were amazing - they're made by One Step Ahead and called "Dri Pants."
I know I 'should' have used cloth from the start, but as a mom of four I just couldn't commit to something that caused even more laundry for us!
Reply
Jennifer 1-16-2008 @ 1:29AM
Hope, thank you for your advice. I have to buy those small potties for them, and then underwear or pullups? Not sure. These things they sell at babiesrus are they like those thin paper liners they have in the women's bathroom or are they different? I think I will be more relaxed about it once my 2 year old stops throwing herself on the floor (don't want her to do that in the public bathroom).
If I were in your situation, I would either keep trying or call the pediatrician and ask if you should be doing anything differently. It sounds like you are doing everything right to me. Good luck! Let me know what happens! Take care, Jennifer
Reply
hope 1-17-2008 @ 4:01AM
HI Jennifer,
Yes, the paper liners I mentioned are similar to the ones in bathroom stalls, except you can get them with characters on them so I guess it's supposed to make it less scary for little ones to use public restrooms. There are also folding potty seats that are small like the child-size one you put on your toilet at home for potty training. These fold up small so you can take them with you and not have to worry about your little one falling in :) It seems to me that even though they're out of diapers you still have to carry a diaper bag filled with potty training essentials, as well as a change of clothes :)
Thanks for the well wishes, we had some progress the past couple of days. I reintroduced mini m&ms as an incentive, and that seems to be doing the trick. Just hope we don't run out of yellow ones (her fave)!
Reply
Elissa B 1-20-2008 @ 12:01PM
I started using cloth diapers on my infant daughter last summer and I love it. I was first intrigued by the gDiapers but was sorry to learn that the flushable inserts are actually more expensive than disposable diapers. So, I went to cloth. I have found it to be one of the best things I've done as a mother, for myself and for my kids. Now I have my 2 year old in cloth as well and we'll never go back to disposables. Never again will stinky encapsulated human waste sit in my home waiting for garbage day. I have a diaper sprayer plumbed directly to my toilet, so all poop gets sprayed off and flushed away. The poopless and nearly odorless diaper is then put into a diaper pail and washed every 2nd or 3rd day. The savings has been great, and I feel like I'm doing my part to live greener and make a smaller impact on the Earth. Not to mention, I like to sew, and cloth diapers are some of the easiest projects. I've made many diapers for my kids and my friends' kids. And, cloth diapers have great resale value. By the time my kids are out of diapers, I will likely recoup a third of the expense. Can't say that about disposables. All you get back from them are human waste in our landfills. Yuck!
Reply
Elissa B 1-20-2008 @ 12:00PM
I started using cloth diapers on my infant daughter last summer and I love it. I was first intrigued by the gDiapers but was sorry to learn that the flushable inserts are actually more expensive than disposable diapers. So, I went to cloth. I have found it to be one of the best things I've done as a mother, for myself and for my kids. Now I have my 2 year old in cloth as well and we'll never go back to disposables. Never again will stinky encapsulated human waste sit in my home waiting for garbage day. We use a variety of cloth diaper styles including pocket diapers, fitted dipes with waterproof covers, and All-in-One diapers. I have a diaper sprayer plumbed directly to my toilet, so all poop gets sprayed off and flushed away. The poopless and nearly odorless diaper is then put into a diaper pail and washed every 2nd or 3rd day. The savings has been great, and I feel like I'm doing my part to live greener and make a smaller impact on the Earth. Not to mention, I like to sew, and cloth diapers are some of the easiest projects. I've made many diapers for my kids and my friends' kids. And, cloth diapers have great resale value. By the time my kids are out of diapers, I will likely recoup a third of the expense. Can't say that about disposables. All you get back from them are human waste in our landfills. Yuck!
Reply