# Ask the lady who is cloth diapering her kid and quite liking it. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 30, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-lady-who-is-cloth-diapering-her-kid-and-quite-liking-it/611136 "2012-01-30T01:36:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-lady-who-is-cloth-diapering-her-kid-and-quite-liking-it/611136/21 "2012-01-30T18:07:11Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Is it actually better for the environment? That’s a lot of time and soap and water (and shit) to process, and it makes me wonder how much worse disposables really are. There’s pretty broad agreement that disposables fill up landfills, and take more resources to manufacture, while cloth diapers take more water and energy to heat the water for washing. Which one is worse pretty much comes down to how much you weight landfill space versus water use versus energy use. So my humble opinion is that bottom-line, since it’s close, you can ignore the environmental impacts when deciding. Disposables for convenience, cloth for savings. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-lady-who-is-cloth-diapering-her-kid-and-quite-liking-it/611136/22 "2012-01-30T18:12:50Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Out of curiosity, how old’s your child? There’s a definite (unpleasant) difference between breast-fed children’s poop (kind of like bad yogurt) and that same kid’s poop once they start eating food (like adult crap). > > What sort of “cushion” do cloth diapers give against infrequent changes? > > The reason I ask, is because some of the better disposables have reserve capacity for multiple peeings without leaks or diaper rash. > > Also, what do you do when you change them away from home? Bag them up and stuff them in the diaper bag? **BabyBird** is 3 months old. He’s got the juicy breast fed poop right now, and we have had nary a poosplosion, and only had a few pee leaks. One was due to user error and the others were on a certain label of the Kawaii that I will not be re-purchasing. (the “fun print” ones) I change him every 3-4 hours during the day, mostly the same time I feed him–unless he’s just dropped a duke, in which case he’s changed right away. At night he goes as long as 10 hours in his overnight diaper. The only rash we’ve had was right after he was born, when he was still in the disposables from the hospital. At home we don’t have a “wet pail” we have a “dry bag” that we toss the diapers into with no water. We have two changing stations, one upstairs and one down, and each has a bag. They are made of PUL and have a handy hanging elastic loop. We toss them in the wash with the diapers every time they get pood up, probably about every other wash cycle. Out and about I have a couple similar bags that are much smaller and zip closed. The diapers go in, zipper keeps all smells contained, and when I get home I empty them into the big bags. They also get washed on the same schedule as the big ones. > [@rachelellogram](#): > > Is it actually cheaper in terms of money plus labor-hours to go cloth? Is it actually better for the environment? That’s a lot of time and soap and water (and shit) to process, and it makes me wonder how much worse disposables really are. Definitely cheaper, probably better for the environment. We have a HE washer that uses less water than others and use a very low amount of soap. Most stuff gets line-dried and then fluffed in the drier. The shitty water gets shipped off to the water treatment facility along with everything we flush down our toilets, instead of a landfill to sit and fester. > [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Edit: Er, not to steal the OP’s thunder. No worries, all happy cloth diapers are welcome to share. Haters can get their own thread. > [@AuntiePam](#): > > Why do the diapers need to be boiled and how do you do it? I’m picturing a huge kettle and everyone waiting for supper because the diapers aren’t done. Like I said, they don’t **need** to be boiled, it just shaves a couple washes off the initial prep. It gets the oils off the natural fibers–synthetic diapers only need one wash before they are ready to go. My husband home-brews, so we had a huge stock pot to boil in. I only ever boiled a couple hemp liners, since had bought them alone and didn’t want to wash them a five times without anything else in the washer. Apparently if you just throw them in with your regular diaper wash the oils will migrate to your nice stripped diapers. > [@Antigen](#): > > I like the _idea_ of cloth diapers, but then I imagine my washing machine full of shit, and I quickly reconsider. How do you get over that? Breast fed poo is water soluble and just goes right away, and when it gets solid I’ll toss it in the toilet. Do you just throw away baby clothes that got shit on them too? > [@steronz](#): > > Is this your first child? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-lady-who-is-cloth-diapering-her-kid-and-quite-liking-it/611136/23 "2012-01-30T18:39:09Z")
> [@Little\_Bird](#): > > I highly recommend you try cloth on a small-scale basis. You can get a dozen prefolds or flats and a couple covers for less than $30 a lot of places, including Kawaii or Itsy Bitsy Bums, and try those out in the apartment washing machine. They will be really quick and easy to wash and even line dry if you don’t want to drop the coin in the machine. I am struggling mightily to keep up with the laundering of actual clothes in our house, so the idea of adding even one or two additional loads per laundry day is overwhelming. There is no outdoor space, or other space at all to line dry anything. Weirdly, though, this thread makes me feel better about not using cloth – I feel guilty about it, but after reading about other people’s cloth diaper routines, I feel better knowing my decision is based on logic and not laziness on my part. So I do appreciate you sharing your experiences! ---
**Author:** ![raspberry\_hunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@raspberry\_hunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raspberry_hunter)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-lady-who-is-cloth-diapering-her-kid-and-quite-liking-it/611136/24 "2012-01-30T21:04:38Z")
> [@thatguyjeff](#): > > There’s definitely a big cost savings - I’ve read anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000 per year assuming you launder your own. I don’t have exact numbers because we haven’t done the math ourselves. And I have no idea how it figures with labor-hours factored in. …wow. I either don’t diaper the Little One enough or diaper prices have gone down (probably both, I get mine at amazon with their super subscription and it is dirt cheap), because I think we spend $500 on diapers a year. _thinks_ Oh, we probably spend about the same amount on wipes, so that would bring it to $1000/year. (Though our babysitter, as far as I can tell, uses wipes for EVERYTHING, so that’s a fairly liberal estimate.) ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-lady-who-is-cloth-diapering-her-kid-and-quite-liking-it/611136/25 "2012-01-30T23:00:39Z")
> [@thatguyjeff](#): > > $2,000 to $4,000 per year assuming you launder your own Huh? I hope you mean $200-$400. A box of 234 diapers costs me $30 on Amazon. That box lasts almost exactly a month (in fact, it lasts a little longer). So that’s $360 a year for disposables. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-lady-who-is-cloth-diapering-her-kid-and-quite-liking-it/611136/26 "2012-01-30T23:05:13Z")
I have a question about the diaper covers… do they tend to have a waterproof lining in them? I was reading an older edition of Dr. Spock, written before disposables I guess, and he notes that the urine soaks into the diaper and evaporates into the air, and you probably want to use plastic pants if you are leaving the house. The idea of having a surface wet enough to evaporate just crawling around the house kinda… er… ugh. I’m glad it’s not the 1950s. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-lady-who-is-cloth-diapering-her-kid-and-quite-liking-it/611136/27 "2012-01-30T23:43:10Z")
When the kid was in cloth diapers, she always, \*always \*had the diaper cover (with waterproof lining) on as well, for exactly that reason. I did a combo of cloth and disposable. As others have said, cloth was cheaper. I didn’t have access to the internet or super cheap bulk disposables. The cloths had a flushable liner in to catch the poo and leave just a lightly ‘skidded’ damp nappy for the bucket. This got easier when she was on solids as the waste also tended to be more … solid. The bucket contained a sterilising agent that stayed active for 24 hours and the bucket was on rotation (I had two) between filling and soaking. No nappy went near the washing machine until it had soaked for between 8-12 hours. No shit clogging the pipes or bacteria buildup. It became a routine. It was more hassle keeping up with the towels (how can such a small person use so many towels in one day?) since they took longer to dry on the line. ---
**Author:** ![Lightlystarched](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Lightlystarched](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightlystarched)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-lady-who-is-cloth-diapering-her-kid-and-quite-liking-it/611136/28 "2012-01-31T00:30:08Z")
I cloth diapered and did it mostly for economic reasons. I bought 36 diapers that could be folded down to fit from baby to toddler. With covers, I think I spent $400. That diapered both of my children through toilet-training. Both children potty trained fairly easily around age 2 1/2. I think part of reason it was easy is that the kids could feel how uncomfortable a wet diaper is. After the second kiddo was done with the diapers, I was able to sell them on Craigslist for about $100 for everything. Their toddler poops tended to be little lumps that would just roll into the toilet. Sometimes I’d have to take a little toilet tissue and grab it off, but not a big deal. I washed diapers every three days or so, first with a hot rinse, then a hot wash, and line dry. It was really easy. For long trips, we did take disposables. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-lady-who-is-cloth-diapering-her-kid-and-quite-liking-it/611136/29 "2012-01-31T01:33:49Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > I have a question about the diaper covers… do they tend to have a waterproof lining in them? I was reading an older edition of Dr. Spock, written before disposables I guess, and he notes that the urine soaks into the diaper and evaporates into the air, and you probably want to use plastic pants if you are leaving the house. The idea of having a surface wet enough to evaporate just crawling around the house kinda… er… ugh. I’m glad it’s not the 1950s. Yep, waterproof covers. In adorable patterns and all the colors of the rainbow! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Defenestrator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/13edae/32.png) [@The\_Defenestrator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Defenestrator)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-lady-who-is-cloth-diapering-her-kid-and-quite-liking-it/611136/30 "2012-02-01T20:26:51Z")
I used cloth diapers with my daughter and would have spent $300 on all her diapers, covers, and cloth wipes had I bought them all myself. I got most of the diaper as gifts. The plus side to that is they are all still in good enough quality to reuse on my next child, except for the large diaper covers, but that will just be about $50 for the next kid. That’s where the biggest savings come in. And if you only have one child you can sell your diapers to someone else. And you don’t need some fancy wash routine. I used a dry pail and just dumped it in the wash. If you are the type of person who hates laundry I wouldn’t use cloth diapers, but diaper laundry is the easiest laundry because there’s no folding or putting away! I just dumped them in a laundry basket when I was done and put it next to my changing area. I’d rather do 5 loads of diapers than 1 load of clothes. Also, if your washing machine is so crappy that you are worried about poop in your washing machine, you probably need a new one anyway. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-lady-who-is-cloth-diapering-her-kid-and-quite-liking-it/611136/31 "2012-02-07T15:17:45Z")
> [@Little\_Bird](#): > > About a year ago I started a [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=597128) asking about cloth diapering. I got wildly dissenting opinions about cloth vs disposable diapering, and also some awesome advice from **Enderw24** about using [Kawaii](http://www.theluvyourbaby.com) diapers. Glad you liked the advice. We ended up switching to regular diapers around month 8. The problem for us is that it became a lot more difficult to wash them once our daughter switched to regular foods. We couldn’t use bleach because the cloth diapers had color and I wasn’t trusting a regular wash to truly get them clean. Overall it was a good run, but we’re also happy with the disposables. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-lady-who-is-cloth-diapering-her-kid-and-quite-liking-it/611136/32 "2012-02-07T15:35:23Z")
Each to his/her own. But if one is going to think about it from an environmental perspective, I really think it depends on where you live. Generally speaking, eastern US - more water, less space, so cloth may make more sense in this regard. Western US - less water, more space, so sending it to the landfill may make more sense. Again, if looking at it purely from the environmental POV. In NorCal - We used disposables on both of the little snows. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-lady-who-is-cloth-diapering-her-kid-and-quite-liking-it/611136.md?page=1)