Diapers: cloth vs disposable; anecdotes requested

In My Humble Opinion
1

Because I’m bored at my job, I spend my breaks and evenings researching stuff for every interesting topic I can think of, including a lot for my faraway best friend, who’s having a baby in November. I asked her this weekend if she was planning on using cloth or disposables, and she said “Disposables, because I think they’ll be easier and I’ve heard they’re really about equal to cloth, environmentally speaking.” (She’s tends to be environmentally aware and wants to do the right thing.)

I could set her straight about that pretty quickly; if you get a diaper service, cloth is probably more convenient except away from home, and no reputable study I’ve found or heard of has shown that disposables are close to cloth environmentally speaking when all factors are considered.

Also, I’ve learned that disposables and diaper service can be about equal in price, or they can differ; it depends on the going price of each where you are. Cloth apparently leads to less diaper rash, if only because you change them more often.

Because her mind works like mine and appreciates details, I’ve been putting together the least-biased information I can find on the subject to mail her (her computer’s kaput at the moment). It’s tough – both sides tend to overstate, and both sides throw in a lot that’s irrelevant or misleading. The diaper manufacturers are out to make a profit, and the cloth advocates sound like crusaders in a holy war. I’ve found some good numbers on environmental aspects, but very little that I trust about what it’s like to use the things day by day.

What I hope y’all can do for me is provide actual experience-based opinions on the subject of how the two choices differ in use. Stuff from anyone who’s used both and can compare would be fantastic.

I’m not quite as interested in hearing about laundering your own cloth diapers, as that’s not an option for her. She does have access to a diaper service.

Sources I’ve already looked at or used:

the 1990 Minnesota Extension Service report, “The Diaper Dilemna”
the Born to Love site
Heather Sanders’ “The Diaper Drama” at http://www.punkinbutt.com/diaper_drama.html
Jane McConnell’s essay “The Joy of Cloth Diapers” and her ten-years-later followup
The Canadian Cloth Diaper Association’s several articles
Mothering magazine’s 2000 article on the link between disposables to asthma
Carl Lehrburger’s “The Disposable Diaper Myth” in The Whole Earth Review

I’ve also looked at disposable diaper-brand sites, but they seem to be ignoring the entire concept of cloth diapers.

2

(I should mention that this is her first baby and I have none.)

3

My chap was prone to nappy rash and it was worse with cloth nappies. I think disposables tend to keep the skin drier.

4

Friend of mine bought some really nice $10-a-pop cloth diapers for her little boy, citing “would you want to wear a maxi pad all day?” as her reason.

They worked well for her. Getting them fit to throw in the washing machine was nasty, I’m sure. The nice thing with the ones she used is after they were washed, if she hung them up to dry, they would dry more quickly than if she put them in the dryer, FWIW.

I would think a diaper service would be more expensive in the long run than disposables. My friend washed her own so I imagine that she spent less money overall on her cloth ones than I did on disposables. However, I imagine her “start-up” costs were sky high. Newborns need LOTS of diaper changes per day and unless she wanted to be washing them constantly, I imagine she probably started out with a good 2 dozen new ones; and that’s not to mention buying new sizes.

I used disposables the entire time LilSnoopy was in them and I don’t regret it. She had one … count it, ONE … case of diaper rash the entire time she wore diapers, which was cleared up overnight by Desitin (Creamy, of course). Disposables today aren’t like they used to be, the puppies on the market today suck all that wetness and stuff away from the baby’s skin.

The PunkinButt lady sounds like she works for the company that makes the diapers she’s pushing and I bet she’s one o’ those parenting nazis that tries to make you feel like you’re a terrible parent if you don’t breastfeed for 3 years, make your kid’s baby food from scratch, or if you put your kid in a daycare (for any reason) and not homeschool them. That’s the vibe I’m getting, anyway.

5

It was a loooong time ago, but I used exclusively cloth diapers for my 2 babies except when traveling. Carrying around used stinky cloth diapers on an outing of any time at all is nasty. Neither child ever had diaper rash. I was on a very tight budget and simply could not afford the disposables. Cloth is definitely cheaper.

As I understand it, those who say the environmental impact is similar are factoring in the fuel use and pollution involved with the diaper service trucks. It still seems to me that the amount of plastic from disposables filling up the dumps has got to have a huge impact, though.

Although it’s not an option for your friend, which I understand, I saved oodles by washing them myself and in nice weather, hanging them outside to dry. This is rarely done nowadays, and I can’t see it being at all practical if Mom works outside the home.

A side benefit of buying your own cloth diapers is that when you no longer need them for their original purpose, they make great dusting and cleaning cloths.

6

Apparently it’s often about the same. I don’t have the rate sheet from the diaper service nearest her yet, but I will, so I can calculate that then. She’s anti-WalMart and doesn’t have storage space in the apartment for bulk disposables from Sam’s Club or Costco or whatever, though, which affects the overall cost. The cloth sites continually point out that most parents don’t realize how much they’re spending on disposables and wipes because it’s mixed in with the groceries and is a gradual expense.

In any case, cost isn’t my pal’s main consideration unless the difference is big. Baby heallth and the environment are her priorities.

She definitely comes off as a fanatic, though I don’t get the shill vibe so much. Several different cloth diaper companies have posted her stuff on their own sites, so I don’t think she works for any one of them. IIRC she says she’s trying to be a writer.

7

I’ve been thinking and reading about this for a couple of days.

Few of the comparisons (from either side) are really comprehensive or fair. I made a little chart that shows every factor I can think of and adds in the fact that you use, on average, around 7,000 disposables or 90 + washing cloth diapers per child in his or her lifetime. (Most people change less often with disposables because they feel dry longer, but that’s not necessarily a good thing as it’s implicated in diaper rashes.)

The fuel and exhaust from the diaper service truck is roughly equal to the garbage truck fuel and exhaust for the extra trash volume pickup and delivery to landfill with disposables; both trucks are on routes with many customers, though, so it’s nearly impossible to calculate this out exactly.

You send more water to the sewage treatment plant with cloth, but you send more poop, paper, plastic, and chemical gels and what-have-you to the landfill or trash burner with disposables.

Cloth people get worked up about the poop in the landfill, which is technically illegal (disposable packages tell you to put the poop in the toilet, as if anyone ever actually does that!). In theory you could get bad stuff, including viruses, in the groundwater if that poop leached, but in practice in the US that doesn’t seem to be happening much. Modern landfills are supposed to be leach-proof.

8

Heh! My sister and were diapered in cloth. We always had those great old soft diapers around for projects and cleaning. I remember the day when I was about 17 that there weren’t any more nice ones to snag from the “unused except for original purpose box” and complained to my mom. She was much amused!