Diapers Q&A

Cloth Diapers?

I have done a little reading on cloth diapers, and so far I have heard many great things about them, so im thinking about using them for my baby, Im only 9 weeks perg. so i have a while to think about it, but I was wondering a few things. Is there anyone who tried them and just didnt like them (for a reason other then having to wash them)? How much harder are they to wash then a normal load of laundry? How much cheaper are they then dispoable ones? Do you ever have trouble folding them right or keeping them on your baby? Thanks a lot, I of course will do more research on the subject!

Public Comments

1. it's not that cheap but it comes as the same price as disposable diapers but you have to wash and dry them
2. i used them on my daughter, but because they stay wet they cause a lot of nappy rash, the disposable nappies are much better but do cost a lot more than a box of soap powder, also my daughter is 24 and we didn't really have throw away's then
3. 1 Not here. I got a few to see if I liked them a little while ago. They are in heavy use and I just ordered some more. 2 I did have some hassle with poop that got into some leg gathers, but it's not a big deal. We were already using cloth wipes (buy about fifty washcloths; I highly recommend cloth wipes, esp for newborns), so it's not that much of an added laundry burden. Yet. I am only partially cloth diapering right now. 3 The 'Seventh Generation' disposables I'm using are CDN 75c per dipe. The cloth all-in-ones were about $13 each. I am grateful that I have a very new washer and dryer, though, for the energy efficiency... 4 No problems with keeping them on. The ones I use don't need folding.
4. They should be compulsary for the benefit of the environment. The so-called disposable ones just sit in landfill sites and take ages to rot away. It's not difficult to apply to the baby,your Mother should will know
5. Cloth diapers? I remember those when I was a little baby boy back in the early 60's I also remember using them to spit shine my boots when i was in the Military over 20 years ago
6. My children are grown but I used cloth diapers-the disposable ones made my babies break out in a rash. If you rinse the fecal matter off in the toilet, you will have no trouble with the washing. Use Ivory Snow detergent-all baby clothes are washed in this. You can fold them any way that fits your child. They come prefolded and sewn together so you don't have to fold them . A newborn would not use the prefolded ones but a bigger child would. I would think that they would be really economical as you use them again and again. I guess they require a little more time to maintain but if you want to save money, they are the way to go. When you;re done with them, they make great rags to dust or wash the car, etc.
7. its hard work, lot of laundry. I tried and switched. Dont buy too many in case you have to switch to disposable.
8. Okay, I have 2 kids and am halfway through my 3rd pregnancy and here is my honest opinion... Cloth diapers are a great idea if you are going to be home all day and have special absorbant matts for your baby to sleep on. To me, they are not worth the time. I wouldn't have minded washing the diaper but they leak so bad, I mean, I had to end up washing the diaper, the outfit, the bed-clothes or MY clothes and giving the baby needs a bath too. In the first few months you have a million things to worry about like how much they are eating, gettingthem to sleep at night and all of that... to me, they are just stressful. Sorry. I prefer the plain ole parent's choice diapers at walmart you get about 50 for $11 around here and they work as good as PAMPER's, which are the best I have ever used.
9. I use cloth diapers and really love them. It is something you have to get used to and perfect! I was so-so on it when I first started. But after trying many different kinds of diapers and washing routines I came up with the perfect layette and routine for me and my baby. They are not much harder to wash than regular laundry. If your baby is exclusively breast fed all the diapers can go directly into the diaper pail and then be washed. If they are formula feeding or eating solids you need to shake the poop off into the toilet before putting in the pail and washing. You can buy flushable liners that make this easier! I wash every 3 days. I put all the diapers in the washing machine and run a cold rinse cycle first to spin out the urine and remaining solids. After that I run a long hot wash cycle with 1/3 of the recommended amount of detergent. After the wash cycle is done I put them in the dryer for a cycle. In the summer I line dry them. This site I think has the best cost comparison on it: http://www.claudiaschoices.ca/store/index.php?main_page=infopages&pages_id=4 Scroll down a little and it compares using disposables against all-in-one cloth diapers (which are some of the most expensive). It also figures in the cost of washing and detergent for you. They work out the savings to be over $1000 even if you still use disposables for out of the house! Also, this comparison is for only two years. Most cloth diapered babies have potty-trained within two years while babies in disposables take longer to potty-train and sometimes are still wearing diapers at 3 years old. So disposables are way more expensive than cloth. No trouble with folding and keeping them on my baby! I use mostly pocket diapers, all-in-ones and a few fitted diapers. All are ready to wear, no folding required and they fasten with snaps or velcro so they stay on perfectly. I have found that with cloth diapers we have less waste out at the curb every week, no diaper rash and no leaks! The extra laundry is definitely worth it to me!