Diapers Q&A - Cloth vs. Disposable Diapers?

Cloth vs. Disposable Diapers?

I am debating the pros and cons of both. I saw some cloth diapers that were AIO (all in ones) that looked pretty neat an alternative baby store. They are expensive, but I think they are pretty cost effective as they grow with the child. Does anyone have any opinions on either? I'd like to hear from parents who have used cloth, disposable or both? I was also wondering something about cloth diapers. What do you do when the baby soils them and you are out of the house and need to change the baby? Thanks. *AT an alternative baby store. Sorry, typo. Yeah Miss S. I was thinking about doing both. Cloth AIO for around the house and disposable for when the baby goes out. Not sure yet. I do have a while to think about it!

Public Comments

Disposable are better, if your out and your baby soils himself you can easily change the bad one throw it out and put on a new one. On the other hand the cloth ones you wouldnt want to through out hence the cost. I suggest disposable. easier and A LOT cleaner ;)
you can always use both.. especially if you don't want to be out all day dragging around a bag of poopey cloth diapers lol I was going to get cloth but I use shared laundry facilities and doing laundry every day just seems a lot more taxing on the environment (and myself) than tossing out some diapers.. it's hard to say which is really worse..
Go green! thats the best and its eco friendly, althought pricey. But can you imagine cleaning poopy from a cloth. You have to think convinience, when your baby gets diahrea its gonna get dirrrttyy, but you wont have enough and then it will get pricey. Disposable is easy, you can always carry them around and just throw them away, As for cloth you'd have to carry those until you got home to wash them. unless you wash them in a public bathroom. in my experience i chose disposable its just so much easier when you have 10,001 thing you need to do before the day ends, i just couldnt imagine myslef adding one more thing to my list everyday like washing cloth diapers. Go green~~
we use disposable. kudos to all the moms who use cloth...but i am not one of them. the cloth diapers add work....with twins and a 3 year old i have enough work on my hands. disposables go in a trash can and get emptied every day and thats it. in my case simpler is better.
Hey, I think the only personal benefit of reusables are that as you say they are more cost effective over a long period of time. However at the beginning they are very expensive, but nowhere near as expensive as disposables if you look at the long term. Also you can get some pretty cool wraps and stuff for them, I saw a leopard print one once if you like that kind of thing! And then of course you have the environmental benefit. When you look at the bigger picture, you can really see what a damaging effect disposable nappies must be having on the environment when you think about the sheer number just one baby churns out over it's nappy-wearing lifetime. But I guess it depends how much you care about that. Personally, I chose to use disposables. I guess I am not the most moral of people, because despite deep down knowing of the environmental problem, I also have that knowledge that I personally can't save the world, and it just wasn't a compelling enough reason for me to use reusables. I'm a single mum and I have enough jobs to do as it is without having to sit, washing nappies. I imagine the majority of married mums feel the same! And I wasn't rolling in money and couldn't really afford to stump up the lump sum at the beginning... even though I am aware it will cost me more in the long run. If it helps... my cousin is VERY environmentally conscious, and put all sorts of pressure on me to use reusables, made me feel like a positively awful person for not doing. Well she had a baby due not long after mine, and naturally she went out and spent a heap of money on reusables. Well within a week after her baby was born she was using disposables when she went out, said it was horrible to carry around pooey nappies all day which I can agree with! And within the space of a month, she was using disposables all the time. She never mentioned anything, I just noticed every time when I went round her house her baby was in disposables. Eventually I asked what had happened to her reusable campaign. She blushed and admitted they were such a hassle that she never bothered any more, and had wasted all that money. Don't want to attempt to persuade you one way or the other - that's the only evidence I can give you though!
I use both, cloth at home, and disposable at daycare and when I go out. The AIO are pretty easy, but a little harder to wash becasue they take forever to dry. I prefer the birdseye weave cloth diapers, you know the ones you fold yourself. I learned the origami fold for the diapers,which is very easy btw, and put the dirty diapers in a diaper pail filled with water and a little vinegar until i wash them. If you use the cloth while your out, you just need to take a plastic bag with you to put the dirty diapers in. Good for you for considering using cloth diapers!! They are better for baby's skin, and better for the environment.
I find it funny that so many people who never used cloth diapers have such stong opinions on them! I have only used cloth diapers on my baby since she was 2 weeks old and she's almost 13mo old now. In the 2 weeks we used disposables, we had a couple leaky diapers each day! And at least twice, poop leaked out of her diaper and up her back - so we ended up washing poopy clothes instead of poopy diapers. I have a waterproof bag called a wet bag that I carry in my diaper bag. When I'm out, I put the dirty diapers in there. For a newborn who is breastfed, you do not have to empty out the poo before washing, so when I got home I just unzipped the bag and tossed it in my diaper pail until it was time to wash them. With a baby who eats solid food, the poop has to be flushed down the toilet. Since most changing tables are located in restrooms (often inside the handicap stall), this is pretty convenient to do. But if I had to change baby in the car, I just stick it all in the wetbag and deal with it when I get home. It is very rare that I can even smell a whiff of poo from inside a closed wetbag. I also send my baby to Mother's Day Out three days a week and they have no problem using cloth diapers - as long as they are AIOs or pocket diapers that basically fasten like disposable diapers do. Again, they do not do any extra steps, they just put her diapers in a wetbag instead of a trashcan and I deal with them at the end of the day. In over a year, I've spent about $500 on cloth diapers and it's unlikely that I'll need to buy any more before she potty trains. Neither my water bill nor my electric bill have increased since we started using cloth diapers.
I switched to cloth in November and I definitely prefer them to disposables. I use pocket diapers during the day and fitted diapers with wool covers at night for my 3 year old and 8 month old boys. They do cost more up front, but in the end you save a whole lot of money. I personally don't think that disposables are much more convenient than cloth and that any extra effort is well worth the benefits. The obvious benefits are environmental and monetary. But some other benefits are that cloth diapered children potty train earlier and aren't exposed to the chemicals used in the processing of disposable diapers. Plus, they are so much cuter than disposables. When you are out with your baby and he/she soils a diaper you simply flush the waste (you are supposed to do this with disposables, as well.) and put the soiled diaper in a wetbag. When you get home throw everything in the diaper pail and wash as usual.
I agree with the other previous poster who said it's funny that so many people have opinions on cloth diapers who haven't used them!! I've been using cloth for over 2 years now and honestly I'd never go back!!! At first I felt like the inconvienience of them was annoying. But now I'm so used to it we even used them camping!! Why I use them: I started out for "cheaper reasons" now I like them b/c they are way more enviromentally friendly (esp b/c water is a renewable resource) also I'm becoming more and more crunchy. I just don't like all of the stuff that is in disposables especially when thinking about that coming in contact with my child so often.. (at a time when childhood cancer and infertility is on the rise) An added bonus they are way cuter than disposibles. As far as the expense there is a little more upfront depending on what types you use, but in less than a year of not having to constantly buy diapers the cost is so minimal you've made up for it. Just a side note I disagree with a previous poster who said that disposibles are much cleaner. It's just unntrue.
cloth is just as easy as disposables - if you are like me.....you are going to be doing tons of laundry anyway - i have used cloth since we came home from the hospital - the answers you have gotten from the cd'ng moms is great - for the poopies when you are out and about - use a plastic bag - i use the 4 gallon scented garbage bags - toss in the trunk and toss in the laundry room when i get home