Diapers Q&A

cloth diapers?

i am pregnant and planning on sticking with cloth diapers, environmentally conscience and all that, anyway... i was wondering if theres anyone here who uses cloth diapers and what do you think of them. are they really that much of a hassle?

Public Comments

1. well I am an ecologist and i planned to use them, brought loads etc. My baby is now 3 months old and them remain unused in the nursery. i use environmentally friendly disposable diapers instead. " reasons for this. 1 - convenience (believe me when u are changing 12 nappies a day at first, they are much more convenient) 2 - When u think about it, are they really any more environmentally friendly? U have the detergent to clean them going into the environment, the water to wash them etc. not to mention the electricty u would use to wash them I feel the env. friendly disposable diapers are bio-digradable and much easier.
2. I tried that with my second child after spending so much money and creating somuch trash with the first one, however it didn't work out like I planned because my son got a horrible diaper rash every time no matter what I washed them with. Maybe a diaper service would be better.
3. I used cloth dipers on my first born son. Its not that big of a hassel if you have a strong stomach and a washer machine. Were not living in the old days. It's not like we have to wash them by hand or nothing. Just be careful with the safety pins with your newborn and in reality, the money you save on disposable dipers by not using them you can start a college fund for the child.
4. I used them for no other reason than I got them for free. It was hard for me because of my small washer/dryer. I was doing laundry constantly. And because the dryer wasn't that great, it took forever to dry the diapers completely. It was too much for me in that way.....but because you have a more solid reason to use them, you may not be put off like I was. Oh and Also...mine had velcroe...no saftey pins :)
5. Good for you, not only will you save money, but you will save lots of space in our landfills.
6. i dont know about this as this is something i am too planning on doing with my second who is due in december. i think the only hassle they cause is the large amounts of washing ull need to do (unless u use a laundry service).
7. I used them 26 years ago before Pampers were affordable. I would rinse them out in the toilet if a BM was in it. I had a diaper pail filled with bleach, water and borax. Just throw the dirty ones in and wash when pail is full. Not much worse than washing a bunch of bathroom towels.
8. I think a diapering service is really worth the money if you are mostly just worried about the environment. I found one that costs about the same as disposables, and you don't have to do all that work. And it IS a ton of work. A newborn can produce a load of laundry per day without cloth diapers, WITH cloth diapers expect an additional three loads of laundry every day...
9. I researched the environmental impact of diapers before my oldest was born as well. There's a lot more to it than you would initially imagine! After reading into it a lot more and looking at the environmental conditions of our geographic area...we actually went for disposables!! Have a look at this article from the Institute for Lifecycle Environmental Assessment. It is a great resource for deciding which method is more "responsible" in your geographic area! http://www.ilea.org/lcas/franklin1992.html
10. I don't have any kids of my own, but I have taken care of many with cloth diapers. The biggest hassles that I came across were the fact that they were not as easy to put on as disposable (I eventually got better at it), also you can't just toss them in a trash can while you are out. Many of the lady's that used cloth diapers, actually started using disposables while they were out at parks and such, so that they didn't have to carry around dirty diapers. Congrats on the baby.
11. with my first child, i used cloth when she was a newborn, with a diaper service. i liked the whole idea in theory, and it worked out to be cheaper too (my son went thru a diaper an hour, minimum at first). anyway, i found them to be rather hard to manage. she wound up with poo coming out the sides and the top all the time... stained countless cute little outfits... you can never have enough of the covers, 'cause inevitably you'll run out of the ones that aren't in the wash... they suggest 3 or something... get at least a dozen. i guess i maybe just never got the hang of it, and kudos to those that have. but as horrible as disposables are for the environment, i had to switch. i have heard of a new style of cloth ones, btw... you might check around... i forgot what they're called tho, sorry. they just seemed a little easier.
12. I used cloth for 8 months, it is NOT that much of a hassle at all. I think it's more of a hassle to have to go out and BUY diapers at 2 in the morning, then get mad cause your baby's size/brand/etc is out of stock... Plus having blow-outs all the time from disposies is no fun at all. I washed a load of diapers every three days. I never folded them, they just went into a big basket and I'd pull them out as needed. It's really not that hard, in fact I think it was easier. I had better leak protection in cloth, so I actually think I did LESS laundry than when I'd use disposables on occasion. They are environmentally better than most disposables. There is less incident of diaper rash in a cloth diapered baby They are cheaper for you They are prettier/cuter/more stylish I would definitely say go for it. You save SOOO much in the long run!!! Don't let any disposie users tell you how horrible cloth is!! It's so pointless for a disposie user to say that, as they have NO experience with cloth! And a week or two doesn't count either.
13. If expense isn't in the picture, go Pampers. Otherwise, the cloth has alot of the good points (a few more) and both get the job done.
14. I have been using cloth for 16 months and I say, go for it. It's not a hassle at all and the environmental footprint is MUCH smaller. I use mainly pocket diapers. These are diapers that you stuff with a soaker and then snap or velcro closed. The brand that I like best is Fuzzi Bunz. There are many different brands, though. At home, we use prefolds & covers. This is the kind that you USED to have to use a safety pin for, but now they have "snappi" fasteners that are easier and don't have the same fear factor as pins :) I do a diaper laundry about every other day. If I had everything to do all over again, I would probably use a service for the first 1-3 months while I got my new rhythm with baby (lord knows, I barely had time to BATHE, much less do LAUNDRY, lol) Then I would switch to home-laundering. Diaper Services usually supply you with prefolds and you supply covers and fasteners. A GREAT resource for all kinds of info is http://www.diaperpin.com A cloth-diapering chat forum that may help with any specific questions you have: http://www.diaperswappers.com
15. we use cloth diapers and I have found hardly any real hassle's. I love it. We started out with gdiapers which are part cloth and part flushable, then we started using prefolds inside instead of the flushable inserts. Then Fuzzibunz pocket diapers, and we have stuck to pockets and fitteds with covers. I absolute love using cloth, and we still use the flushable inserts for our gdiapers when we are out and about, that way no wet bag to carry around, but we still arn't incurring the cost of disposables constantly. I have a ton more information if you want it! They're is a lot of cute stuff out there for baby bottoms!
16. I cloth diaper and LOVE IT! I have done both ways and honestly feel that, for me, cloth is actually way eaiser. True, I have to wash them, but i'm never worried about running out and needing to use up alot of gas to go buy more, my son never has diaper rashes, and we're not setting a sack full of dirty diapers out by the road each week for the trash co to haul off for us. I had 3 kids that used disposables and my 4th and 5th are cloth babies. I really wish I would have gotten past my "fears" of cloth with my first kids. I use chinese prefolds and covers most of the time, but also have some all in ones for Dad to use when he wants. After using cloth for awhile, I can't stand the sight of a baby in "paper diapers" anymore. It's a ton easiser than you might think.
17. I use cloth diapers and I love them! But I think that cloth diapering is a love it or hate it thing. Maybe try a diaper service for the first few months before investing hundreds of dollars buying diapers you might not use. I wash diapers every other day with very little detergent (about 1 tablespoon) and add about a half cup of vinegar to the load as well to keep the diapers soft and get rid of soap residue. I also got a sprayer that attaches to the toilet to rinse messy diapers. ($35 and SO worth it!) I use the fitted diapers (Hemp and organic cotton- very absorbent) and covers at home, then all-in-ones for travel (I really like the Bum Genius ones) The "snappi" clips are great to keep the diapers closed. I am so glad I decided to cloth diaper my son! Congratulations and good luck!
18. Cloth diapers are a hassle at times but then so are disposable diapers. They both have their pros and cons it's just that to me, cloth diapers have so many more pros to them than disposable diapers do. I am in continent and I have to wear diapers 24 / 7 and I have used both disposable and cloth diapers. I currently use cloth diapers and the only time I will use disposable diapers is when I'm on a trip or something that makes it very difficult to launder my cloth diapers. Go to this site http://stores.ebay.com/hlnatural_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm and you will find many many reasons to stick with cloth diapers. Good luck.