Babies: Cloth Diapers and The Great Diaper Debate

In one of the first conversations I had with my husband, he informed me that his future wife would be using cloth diapers. My reaction was that “I feel sorry for your future wife”. I mean, not only had he never changed a cloth diaper but he had never changed a diaper period!  There is no comparison to the great convenience of disposable diapers . Or is there?

When my children were young, I was forced to compare the two, something I had hoped never to do. I was balancing the checkbook one week and we were negative in dollars, again! Two children in diapers plus the wipes we use were costing us around $100 a month. When I worked full time, the cost of diapers was just another added expense. When I made the decision to stay home, the extra income wasn’t flowing and we are forced to cut many conveniences of our previous life.  After a brief thought, I ran to town and came home with 24 cloth diapers, diaper covers and baby pins (and 50 lbs. of potatoes-but that’s another story.) My husband was appalled when he came home. Now his reaction was “Are you insane?!” . The tables had turned.

Luckily our oldest son was nearly potty trained. In fact, I think that’s what pushed me over the edge. After sticking my hand in toddler poo what seemed like a hundred times a day, I became immune to the gooey stuff that touched my hand. The things that held me back from trying cloth diapers included sticking my hand in the toilet and fear of diaper rashes. After two days of cloth diapers I got over the hand in the toilet syndrome.

As for the diaper rashes, they actually improved. Our youngest son battled a severe diaper rash for several months. He was unable to wear most disposable diapers without breaking out. Although his initial rash was not diaper related it did improve with the cloth diapers. I still used disposable diapers at night, for the nursery or babysitter and vacation.  He had a rash every time I used disposable diapers for a full day or more.

Environmental factors for using cloth diapers should also be considered. Although you use more water to wash the diapers you are decreasing the landfill problem America faces today. And it only takes a few extra minuets to hang dry the diapers to save on energy and the cost of the dryer.

I used cloth diapers over four years and I can honestly say that I will not go back to disposable. It took a few weeks to get used to the cloth diapers, but I soon became a master at the art of changing a wiggly 11 month old without sticking him with diaper pins. Besides, I hear kids potty train faster with the cloth diapers. (Whoopee!!)

In defense of the disposable diapers, they are still very convenient.  As I mentioned, I used them for overnights because with the cloth diapers I have, I would have to change him in the night. I also feel that caretakers should not have to deal with cloth instead of disposable diapers because I am on a save-some-money and save-the-universe flurry.  I also spoke to a few moms that were dissatisfied with the results of the cloth diapers. One person commented that the diapers were too leaky and another disliked the amount of laundry she had to do with the amount of diaper covers that she had. I personally have not had a leaky diaper yet, but it may be due to the fact that my son has chubby legs and her daughter was slim.  I also wash my diapers every other day so they don’t get stinky. I give these ladies thumbs up for trying.

If you have ever considered trying cloth diapers or would like extra money each month, then I encourage you to try cloth diapers.  I calculated that if you used them for a thirty day trial period you will pay for the diapers by not using the disposable and this would give you plenty of time to practice. If it doesn’t work after 30 days, go back to disposable.

By using only 8 disposable diapers a week I saved $817.60 this year for one child and $1635.20 for two kids using name brand diapers. (Based on 28 cents per diaper, 8 diapers a day) Two thumbs up for cloth diapers.