diaper help??

Question

cloth diapers or disposables?? which is the better of the two?

i have a 2 year old and 10 month old. i have another baby on the way. i've been using huggies disposables since my first born. and its been bloody expensive. my parents have suggested cloth diapers to me for the longest time. i'm actually considering it now.

if i were to start with cloth diapers, what kinds am i looking for? easy to use and easy to wash?

Answer 1

You could definitely save money by switching to cloth... You would also benefit the environment!

The upfront cost will be high to get started for three kids, but it should easily pay off in the long run.

I worked in a daycare center for several years, and the cloth diapers were no big deal... basically, you dump the poop into a toilet, soak the diapers (add a little vinegar to the water to fight bacteria and odors), then wash and dry them. I've seen a little sprayer that can attach to the water line to the toilet, and all you have to do is spray the diaper to get the mess off. It doesn't really seem necessary, but if you're totally grossed out by rinsing them, it might be worth it to you.

There are several diffferent kinds of cloth diapers. With kids of three sizes, it may be easier for you to use the cotton prefolds for each of your kids and pin to fit (you wouldn't need to sort the diapers). Just cover with a diaper cover or plastic pants that fit properly. I personally disliked plastic pants... They're plastic, which couldn't have felt very good, and you have to remove everything to change a diaper. The velcro and snapping diaper covers were much better.

My preference was definitely the ones that were more fabric-like diaper covers with velcro closures. You could stick an additional liner inside to make them more absorbent. An easy way to keep the covers sorted would be buy each size in a specific color. That way you could just remember, Amy wears red now, Brad wears yellow, and Carly wears green. Honestly, these look way cuter than disposable diapers with Big Bird or Elmo on the rear anyway!

When you go places, it may be easier to have disposables, but you may be fine with plastic bags to carry the used ones home in.

Here's are two good links to information about cloth diapering:
http://www.gentleparenting.com/diaper_faq.html
http://www.babysabode.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=WhyClothDiapers

Here's a link to a site that carries several different types:
http://www.babysabode.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc

Good luck on weighing your options!

Answer 2

In my humble opinion, there is only one choice in this matter. That is cloth, cloth, cloth, cloth. The only real diaper is a cloth diaper.

Cloth diapers are cheaper in the long run than disposables, true, there is a larger cost up front but each time you use those cloth diapers they become cheaper and cheaper until the are less than the disposables.

Cloth diapers breathe where disposables won't. Even with wearing diaper covers over the cloth diapers, they breathe better. This means next to no diaper rashes. You just need to make sure that you change them right away. They are better for your baby's skin.

Cloth diapers aren't that difficult to maintain. Under normal circumstances, for one child, you shouldn't have to do more than one or two loads of diapers a week. That really isn't that much when you think about how much better off your baby will be in the long run not to mention your wallet.

Cloth diapers, when taken off your baby, should have any waste dumped into the toilet and flushed away, then they should be put in a diaper pail with water and white vinegar to cut down on the odor causing bacteria.

Cloth diapers should be washed with a detergent just like your other laundry, don't use the kind that says "chemical free" because they leave a residue in the diapers. Make sure you use a 2nd rinse cycle. During the first rinse cycle put in a cup of white vinegar and let the 2nd cycle rinse it out.

Cloth diapers should not be washed in bleach because bleach will break down the fibers in the diapers causing them to prematurely wear out and become nothing more than rags.

Cloth diapers should not be washed or dryed with any kind of fabric softener because it leaves a coating on the fibers and makes them less absorbent.

Cloth diapers can be dryed in the dryer but if you can, hang them in the sun, it is a natural bleach and helps get rid of stains and gives the diapers a very fresh clean fragrance. I use a drying rack instead of a clothes line to dry mine. That way I don't break my back reaching up to hang them up, I don't drop clothes pins and I don't hang myself on the clothes line.

Yes, I say mine, I'm incontinent and have to wear diapers 24 / 7 due to a medical condition. I wear cloth diapers all the time. The only time I will wear disposables is on a long trip where it isn't easy to wash or store used cloth diapers.

Give them a try, I think you will like them, today's cloth diapers are not your grandmother's diapers any more. There are so many different styles of diapers and diaper covers that are just as easy to use as disposables.

Congratulation on the baby.

Good luck.

Answer 3

I don't know much about cloth diapers, but the best way i've found to cut cost in the diaper area short of switching to cloth is to use the generic store brands during the day and if you're babies are anything like mine, use pampers or huggies at night. I have twins so everyweek I go through 14 pampers and the rest of the time I use store brand. I buy all of them in bulk, the store brand I usually get from Sam's club, its around $30 for a 160 pack of size 3, thats in Hawaii so if you're in the continental U.S. it will probably be a little less, the pampers I also buy in bulk but it takes a lot longer to go through a full box. I wish I could help more on the cloth diapers, but I know when I was pregnant I looked into a diaper service for cloth diapers and they now make them with cover that velcro and the cloth part is just an insert that fits into the cover, at least thats how I understood it to be. Your best bet would be to look up a number for a diaper service hopefully in your area but if not it won't really matter unless you want to use the service, and just ask them all of your questions. They'll be a very good source for information. If you need, you can email me and I can give you the number of the diaper service out here, but you can just do an online search. Good luck and congratulations!

Answer 4

I used cloth and I started with a diaper service then bought my own to wash. You can use pins or clips (called snappi) or nothing, just put them in place and et the dipaer cover hold it all together. For a cover, I used Prowraps, which are a breathable cover with a velcro or snap closure. There are other brands out there, too. The Gerber ones are nice, but they don't stay leakproof too long.

The prefolds at the stores are not high quality and won't last more than a year or so. I recommend diaper-service quality prefolds that are 4x8x4 (4 layers on each side and 8 layers in the middle). You can buy bleached or unbleached. Unbleached are better for the environment, but you have to wash them 7-10 time on HOT water before you use them to get rid of the natural wax from the cotton. Bleached ones you need to wash 3 or 4 times on HOT before you use them.

Once you start using them, you don't need to dump anything in the toilet until the baby's poop is solid. Then you just open the diaper up over the toilet and it falls right in. No big deal. For a diaper pail, I used a large kitchen garbage can with a foot pedal (Target, $10) with a plastic garbage bag in it for a liner. When the can was full, I'd take it to our laundry room, pour a cup of vinegar in the wash with COLD water for a soak cycle (let it soak over night if you can, but you don't have to). Then in the morning, I'd run a pre-wash after the soak cycle. This would rinse all the loose stuff off the diapers. Then I'd turn on a regular cycle on to HOT and add my 1/2 cup of regular detergent (I use Tide). An extra rinse is always good to get the extra soap out. (You'd be surprised how much soap is left in our clothes after a regular wash.) Of course, you can always just run them through a regular cycle without the soak and prewash. It's up to you. It doesn't have to be complicated.

Don't use bleach or fabric softener with cloth diapers because it breaks down the fibers and they won't last as long.

Other options are all-in-ones (fitted diapers that don't require a cover) or fitted diapers that do use a cover. Either of these will be more expensive, but more convenient.

Many diaper services sell diapers also. You can check your phone book, Ebay, and do an internet search. I bought all of mine from 2 places:
www.angeldrydiapers.com
GraniteSmith on Ebay

Answer 5

I use Luvs and go to a warehouse. I go to Bjs and spend $25 on a month worth of diapers for my two year old.

You can also try these new "eco-safe" diapers.

Kushies Reusable Ultra Diapers for Infants — 5 Pack - $40
Kushies Reusable Ultra Diapers for Toddlers — 5-Pack - $43
Kushies Pull-On Training Pants for Girls - 2 Pack - $15
Kushies Pull on Training Pants for Boys - 2 Pack - $15
Kushies Flushable Biodegradable Diaper Liners - 2 Rolls - $12 (200 liners)

You just wash the diapers and flush the liners!!!

I don't like it, but it may be something for you. $12 for 200 liners (200 diapers basicly) equals $0.06 per diaper change.

I pay about 16 cents per diapers with my Luvs brand from Bjs.

Also the liners fit ANY of the diapers, infants, toddlers, or pull ons!!!! I just can't get into the whole cloth diaper thing and my two year old has been potty training herself anyway.

If you decide to stick with disposable, store brand is CHEAPEST but a lot of kids are ALLERGIC! My daughter was. Luvs is the next cheapest then Huggies and then Pampers is the most expensive!!!

Answer 6

cloth diapers are very cheap and easy to clean. Hot water in the washing machine and if you use bleach, ALWAYS go through a second rinse.

You might not like the idea of it, but the off brands of diapers are just as good as huggies, and half as expensive. WalMart sells a brand called White Cloud and they were wonderful -- and far more affordable. In fact, I liked them better than Huggies and Luvs.

If you're having a shower for your next little one, ask your mom to put the word out for people to buy you diapers. I got nine months worth of diapers -- all different sizes -- for my first born at my shower. At first I was like, Diapers?! And then I realised just what a great gift it was -- after Abigael was 10 months old and I was having to buy diapers for the first time.

Also check your city's version of the 99-cent store. They've got great baby stuff -- for only a buck.

Answer 7

First off cloth. With that said, read the others posts about cloth diapers, you are getting some wonderful information.

When you are thinking of saving money (like everyone does) think what disosable diapers are doing to us (the store brands are even worst)

Most diapers and wipes are made with materials that have been whitened with chlorine. But these whiter materials come with unpleasant consequences. Bleaching with chlorine creates dangerous toxins such as dioxin, furans and other organochlorines. Once loose in the environment, these chemicals accumulate in both people and animals. Hundreds of studies have shown a direct link between dioxin exposure and cancer, birth defects and environmental and reproductive disorders.


Now a few tips for cloth diapers,

-buy some flannel, and cut it to fit inside the cloth diaper, you don't need to sew it, this will catch all the poop so the poop doesn't even touch the diaper. No stains. Less for you to touch, just shake it off into the toilet.
-use a dry pail, a wet pail breads bacteria like made, and you need to change the water daily, and worry about the older children pulling it over.
-put a few drops of lavender and tea tree oil in the bottom of the pail to stop bacteria growth and odor.
-hang cloth diapers in the sun whenever posible, gets rid of stains like magic and kills bacteria.
-buy one size cloth diapers that is adjustable, so you can use it on ALL your babies, and not have to sort through the laundry finding the right size!
-start practicing with the older children now, so when little baby comes home you'll be semi pro!
-very easy to wash. Each one is different, so read up on the website, most times it is cold rince, hot/warm wash with little soap, extra spin, hang dry.

You will save hundreds of dollars, and the enviroment. Yay you!

Answer 8

I'm a big fan of Chinese prefolds, a Snappi and a Bummis SWW. I also like BumGenius when I go out, just because they're trimmer and cuter. My friend uses fitted diapers with wool covers. I really like homemade woolies (if you know someone who knits), and fitted diapers are nice for newborns.

Unlike disposables, Bummis are blowout-proof! That's reason enough to go with cloth!

I love cloth diapers. I've been using them for almost two years, and I find them MORE convenient than disposables because I never have to run to Wal-Mart at bedtime because I ran out of diapers. Check out these websites to decide on the system that is the right balance of convenience, affordability and appearance for you.

www.diaperpin.com
www.dy-dee.com
www.cottonbabies.com

Answer 9

I used cloth, and didn't mind. I don't know if you have your own washer, because most community machines (laundromats, for example) don't allow diapers to be washed in them. You can also hand and and hang them to dry.

I used Gerber prefolds and the plastic covers, and they worked well. You can get them at Target, Walmart, Babies r Us, and any other big store that carries baby stuff.

You can also use a diaper service (like the other poster mentioned), and it would probably still be cheaper than disposables.

Answer 10

I used Pampers diapers, not quit as expensive as Huggies, there are the store brand diapers which work, about 1/2 the price, just they don't work as well.
I didn't use cloth diapers because I didn't want to have to wash them out...but there are prefolded cloth diapers, and there are diaper services (which will cost you).