cloth or disposable diapers?

Question

moms, i would like to start a debate right here (tada) in this question about diapers. just a few facts, did you know that disposiable diapers are not ment to hold the poop in the trash, you are suppose to shake it off in the toilet jsut like a cloth diaper; reason; because the poop ends up in our land fills and poultes the ground with human pathogens and increasing the risk of the spread of disease. also, it take 500 years for a disposible diaper to biodegrate and 18-23 billion are thrown away each year. in time for the first years of diapers to biodegrate, 8,500,000,000,000-11,000,000,000,000 will be degrating still. we all know that diapers wernt around for 500 years and that they wont be for much longer, but could you imagine???
please just post opnions, not hate.
as for me, i use old fashioned cloth diapers and covers. they work just fine for us. i use chemical free detergent adn viniger to wash, it only takes 20 minutes to dry them and about 60 to wash them. i only wash one...

load every other day and it take no effort to fold, its harder to hang shirts, IMO.....

hahahah, dont you like how there are sooo many 0's in the second number that the computer just put ...... after it!!!!
there were 12 of them....

haha, to CK. your right, we need golf.......ya know, more than our planet. giggle~~~

winnie, you have never tried them, i assume, because i thought the same thing but they are so easy to use, if not easier, you dont put poo in your washing machine and that is why i expalined that you dont use a lot of extra enengy because you only really have to do it every other day and a lot of peeps hang dry. can you believe that the first disposiable was made in 1942, and was make to only hold one wetting???

aww, i would never bleach a diaper, thats why you had rashes, thats crazy!! ahhhhhh!
sun dry to get stains out silly!

Answer 1

If we didn't throw away diapers into land fills, where would we build golf courses?

PS... To tell you the truth, I have a hard enough time getting my laundry done as it is. I couldn't see adding this to my chores especially with a husband who has the super human power of smell. I can't leave anything for very long at all before he starts complaining that something smells funny. The diaper bucket wouldn't be allowed.

Answer 2

Shalomd's "two cents" worth is worth a million dollars. She hit the nail right on the head.

Both of my kids were cloth diapered when they were babies and now that they are older, grown and gone from home and I find myself incontinent and have to wear adult sized diapers 24 / 7, the ONLY thing I would use is cloth.

Can you imagine, you see how much is put into landfills, think of adding all the adult diapers on top of that, one of which is equal to about 4 baby diapers.

As far as electricity, water, chemicals to keep cloth diapers clean, that's a no-brainer. I do a load twice a week, so two tubs of water in the washer every week, To me, that is very little extra cost to me because I have a well for all my water needs. The electricity is only for running the washer for those two loads because you put the diapers outside and let the sun dry they for you.

Now, the chemicals, I use a half cap of detergent that is chemical free and biodegradable along with a half cup of white vinegar. The vinegar helps to purify the diapers and take care of the bacteria the causes the bad odors. Hanging the diapers out in the sun to dry takes no electricity and the sun will naturally bleach the diapers.

Never use bleach on diapers, it degrades the cloth fibers and the diapers will wear out much much sooner. Also you never get rid of the bleach completely from the cloth, even with a double rinse, and the bleach will aid in the development of diaper rash.

My kids never had a diaper rash and I have had only one since I've started wearing diapers all the time. Oh, by the way, that rash was during the first week while I was wearing disposables until I was able to get my cloth diapers.

Like everyone else, there is my opinion, like it or not.

Good luck.

Answer 3

I LOVE our cloth diapers. They are so much better for the environment and for your child's health.

Many people do not realize that disposable diapers contain carcinogens that can be absorbed through the skin such as dioxin and tributyl-tin. There are also studies being done to determine if disposables affect the developing male reproductive system.

I cloth diaper our son and have been since he was born (he turns one this week!!) and when I have my nephew I cloth diaper him as well. The laundry is really easy and I only do a load every other day or so. Getting the mess out is very easy. BTW modern cloth diaper users don't dunk diapers. That is what our parents and grandparents did. LOL

As for cost of washing-go to www.diaperpin.com and use their diaper calculator. It calculates the cost of washing and drying along with the cost of your detergent to see how much money you will save. It is very easy to do and I have shown it to many, many dads!

There is NO WAY I would throw my money away on disposable diapers or constantly rub chemicals on my baby's skin. I am always talking to other mamma's (and some dad's) about cloth diapering and giving advice and help to them. The more you know the easier it is.

Just my two cents.

Answer 4

Did you know that actually nothing biodegrates in a land fill. A land fill is air tight therefore nothing can biodegrade in it. See this article: http://www.howstuffworks.com/landfill.htm

Both cloth and disposible have effects on the environment.

I've found the best thing to do is to use biodegradable diapers and put them in the compost bin -- you just have to get rid of the poop down the toilet before you put it in the bin.

Answer 5

Having used both, with the option of having a diaper service who picked up the dirty cloth diapers, washed, sanitized and returned clean ones I much prefered disposable diapers. The amount of water needed to properly clean dirty diapers, not to mention bleach and other chemicals that go into the water...it's either 6 of one or half a dozen of the other in regards to pollution. Besides there have been a lot of changes to disposable diapers. The outer waterproof section is now biodegradable in many disposable diaper products. My children suffered through more diaper rashes in cloth diapers that were professionally cleaned than with disposable. I also grew up in a family of 11 children and keeping enough clean cloth diapers for the little ones still in diapers was a very daunting task....

Answer 6

Hello:

While disposable diapers may be bad for our landfills or our environment,it is alot cheaper and alot easier to use disposable diapers over cloth diapers! The reason being because you use up ALOT OF ELECTRICITY,having to wash the diapers non-stop,and I am sorry,but I would rather not have cloth diapers that have been pooped on,in my washer,ewww!! :-(

Answer 7

Disposable for me. My friend just had a baby she is using clothes, they have a lot more options now. Go to babycottonbottoms.com

Answer 8

Cloth all the way! They are much cheaper, better for the environment and much better for babies bottom! It is even better and cheaper with cloth wipes too! There really is no way to dispute that they are cheaper(try as the previous poster might), there is no comparison in price.

Answer 9

7th Generation disposables. They're not bleached. She's never had any rash.

Answer 10

disposable diapers