Diapering Baby: Cloth vs. Disposable

By Alysia Clancy

"You use cloth diapers? [pause] Really? [longer pause] WHY?" That's the typical reaction I get when someone learns I use cloth diapers on my youngest son. I don't blame them really, I mean, when one of my sisters-in-law mentioned she was thinking of using cloth diapers (or CDs for short) I had the same reaction.

I was pregnant with my third child when my sister-in-law told me about her research into the world of modern cloth diapers. I don't consider myself a Greenie (you know, the uber-environmentally conscious), however, what really got me was the cost savings.

At the time I was a pregnant stay-at-home mom of a 2-year-old who had absolutely no interest in potty-learning, and the thought of buying cases of diapers for two kids each week made me a little light headed.

All I could think of when I heard "cloth diaper" were those flat, white, towel-like squares I knew as burp cloths ... and PINS. Yes, those do still exist, and I admit that I am now a fan of these diapers (known in the CD world as prefolds or flats) and I do use pins too. However, there are so many cloth diapers now, and most are as easy to use as disposable diapers, with velcro and everything. So I went ahead and used CDs on my newborn, and then, because I liked them so much, I started using them on my 2-year-old too.

Are cloth diapers really environmentally friendly? I think the jury is still out on this, or at least it's not a landslide victory for either side. Disposable diapers get put into landfills where it takes decades for them to break down, you have the oil and pollution involved in making and shipping the diapers to the stores. But cloth diapers require a lot of washing. We're lucky that we have well water, so we have a renewable resource there, but the electricity to run the washer/dryer adds up.

Are cloth diapers really cheaper? YES -- if you go with the least expensive versions. Like anything else, there is a wide variety of cloth diapers. At the low end are prefolds, which run a few dollars each. At the other end are the easier-to-use diapers similar to disposables that can run $16, $25, $30 or more each. There you are paying for convenience. All in all, I've saved money using cloth.

Do you have to cloth diaper all the time? Heck no! I recently spent two weeks in Florida with my kids and was perfectly happy using disposables. I know a lot of people that cloth diaper during the day, but use disposables at night. Or use disposables during the day at day-care and cloth at night.  The key is to do what works for you.

Pros:

My sons, who have very sensitive skin, have had considerably less rashes since switching to cloth.

I don't throw out bags of diaper garbage each week, and where I live you have to pay for each bag of garbage, so that is a savings too.

I have not bought a diaper-related item in the past 6 months (well, I bought special laundry detergent, but I don't count that).

Cons:

Laundry -- If I thought figuring out the kinds of diapers was hard, figuring out the wash routine was worse. So many variables factor in -- the hardness of your water, the age of your child, is the baby breastfed or bottlefed?

Convincing my husband. Now while I was all gung-ho on using cloth, my dear husband couldn't figure out why I would want to do such a thing. If there are disposables in the house, he will always reach for one of those first.

The wonderful world of CDs is overwhelming (at first). In addition to the various styles of diapers, there are diaper covers, and snappies (a wonderful invention to replace steel pins) and doublers and boosters and wetbags. But if you are even the slightest bit interested, do your research, you may be surprised at how cloth diapers have changed, and you might be even more surprised to learn how many people use them!

Some Web sites to get you started:
Clothing Diapering Tutorial: jilliansdrawers.com/newtocloth
Diapering Basics: pinstripesandpolkadots.com/basics.htm
DiaperSwappers Online Community: diaperswappers.com/forum/

Alysia Clancy is the NEPA Family webmaster, mother of three (now diaper-free) children.