Diapers Q&A

Cloth vs. disposable diapers?

I have used disposable diapers for all three of my children. My youngest is 18 months and has been having a really bad diaper rash or reaction to the diaper. It goes down her theighs. I am considering switching to cloth diapers. I am looking for advise from parents who use them. About general use and your overall opinion. Thanks.

Public Comments

1. Have you tried Huggies supreme? All my kids had to use these (of course their the most expensive) with their sensitive skin. I tried cloth and they did not help with the diaper rash much unless you are changing immediately after every time they wet. Plus as soon as I put the rubber pants over it made it worse.
2. If you use a diaper service they use strong bleach and chemicals to clean the cloth that might be irritating. Try finding out why your daughter's urine is so acidic- check into her diet. Maybe too much juice? Too much sugar can cause trouble too.
3. We used them for the first year. No rashes! Try it. Some babies respond very well to them, and they do not pollute the environment permanently! So you can feel great about that, too! Or, you can try switching brands of disposable ones. Some babes react to one and not another. Try premium brands if possible. And no powder.
4. let her run bare bottom for a while each day ( in sunlight (like in front of a window) is better too) it helps the healing of diaper rashes. Preferable one where the neighbors can't see in.
5. The problem with diaper rash is non exposure to air and constant exposure to urine and heat It won't matter which type you use. The best thing you can do, is change the child as soon as you know it needs changing, clean (wash) every time, use talc to dry the skin,and bathe once a day. If you could be sure that the child is on something easy to clean, like a vinyl floor, let it go naked an hour a few times a day. Air works wonders to stop rashes from forming.
6. My baby got a bad rash from disposable too .Then I found out a lot have baby powder in them.I got a brand with no baby powder and she was fine.I like to use disposable because I think there more sanitary for the hole family And less smell and work
7. Cloth diapers are truly the best. Disposable diapers have certain chemicals that can irritate a baby's tender skin. I used cloth diapers on my son for the first 15 months of his life, and I only switched to disposable due to my ex husband, to try to make it easier for him to change the diapers. When I used cloth diapers, I would use Dreft laundry detergent and Biz for bleach, and hot water. You will need a diaper pail with a lid to put the dirty diapers in until you get a load washed. To make the diaper pins go thru the cloth easier, run the pins thru your hair right before you put them thru the cloth to fasten the diapers. I would use the washer in the laundry room at my apt. complex, and run them thru two cycles. The first, to wash them, with Biz to help get them "bleached," and then a second cycle thru-no Dreft, no Biz, so it was like rinsing them three times. They do need to be well rinsed to get the soap and bleach stuff out of them, so to not irritate baby's skin. It may seem like a lot of work, but it isn't. We have washing machines, and dryers. All it really takes for us is time. Oh yes, please rinse the Poopers out of the diapers in the toilet water (clean water) before placing them in the diaper pail. It helps keep the odor, and the bacteria down. Plastic or "rubber" pants to cover the diaper while on the child is the way to help protect from "leaks". Those can be washed on warm, and dryed in the dryer, not too hot though. The cloth diapers should be dried on high heat, or perm press at least. It helps them to dry quicker, and it's just better. Then, fold them, put them away in a drawer, or a diaper bin-that you can stack the clean ones in. Also, I'm sure you are probably already aware of this, for diaper rash, when changing the baby, allow a little bit of time for air to get to the skin, to help it heal. I have used Desitin for diaper rash too, and find it works the best. I personally believe cloth diapers are truly the best for the babies. Good for their skin, and comfort. Disposable are okay for some babies, but it's more for the ease for the parents than true comfort for the babies. The chemicals, gels, to help keep baby dry with disposable, can easily irritate a baby's skin. Oh yes, for the diaper bag, you will need to place a few diapers for changing, and one extra pair pf plastic pants. And, a plastic bag for putting the wet/dirty diapers in into the diaper bag before you get home. One side benefit of cloth diapers, is once the child has outgrown them, they are (when clean) really good dusting cloths for your housework! I hope this helps answer your question. Take care.
8. I used cloth and because you change so often with cloth diapers, we never had a problem with diaper rash. Once we switched to disposables, we just made sure we were still changing really often, even though we used Huggies and they were wonderful. At 18 mos. maybe you should start potty training.
9. The problem with the diaper rash is probably becuase their little bottoms can't breath. I would suggest switching to cloth with a wool or fleece cover for best breathability. We uses fittied cloth diapers that snap one the side so you don't have to worry about pins. I have tried a few brands and found the Swaddlebees fitted diapers work the best, but they can be a little pricey so you may want to try Kushies they work great for the price. The best fleece covers are made by Starbunz. They are made out of windpro fleece so they are much thiner than other fleece covers alot of people find the care for these alot easier than wool since you can just toss them in when you wash the diapers. I was kind of taking back by it at first becuase I thought my daughter's bottom would get hot in them, but it actually stays much cooler since air can move through it unlike with disposables and traditional cloth diaper covers. This will truely help cut down on the dipaer rash. You can also try a pocket diaper. The most popular are fuzzi bunzs. You just pick what type of insert you want to put in it, I like the hemp ones by hemperoo becuase they are so absorbant. Then stick the insert on the pocker in the back part of the diaper and snap it one. Very easy and comes in a multitude of colors, plus I have not had a problem at day cares or babysitters with these. All you need to do to wash them is run them through with any type of "free" laudry detergent with hot water. Or is you choose you can wash them good old fashioned baking powder. I would not use dreft or any detergent with fragrence or dyes. These can coat the diapers making them less asobent. If you choose to stay in disposables try giving you child some diaper free time to let the bottom breath. Plus your child will think it is so cool to run around with no diaper on.
10. At 18 months I would not even worry about a two piece cloth diaper system. I would purchase All in One cloth diapers. These do not require covers, pins, or inserts. I'm sure after using disposables for a year and a half, that you would probably appreciate diaper changes to not be that much more difficult than they have been. AIO diapers will go on just like disposables and close with velcro or snaps- very easy! And at your daughters age, she probably does not go through more than 6 diapers a day, right? In that case I would purchase just 12-14 cloth diapers to get you through 2 days between washings. Bumkins AIOs are my favorite. They are trim and dry quickly. They are not absorbant enough for nighttime though. For nights I would purchase a pocket diaper like fuzzi bunz or a thick AIO like Honeyboys. Both of these are expensive, but you will only need a couple. In addition to those things, I'd buy a hanging diaper pail and some flushable diaper liners (which takes the grossness out of poopy diapers). You'll end up spending around $200.00 on all of the cloth diapering supplies listed above if you buy new, but you will get more than half of it back at the end of use as cloth diapers have great resale value. You would probably end up spending more than that on disposables anyway, at least this way you can either get some of it back or reuse for another child.