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Monday, November 17, 2014
Monday, November 3, 2014
Diapers: Disposable vs. Cloth
It is a popular debate, disposable vs. cloth. I personally chose disposable for my first child and up to two years with my second. My only reason for disposable, was the 'ick' factor of cloth. The idea of having to scrap and rinse the poop off was very... off putting. Then the time came for potty training my oldest daughter... and I found myself scraping and rinsing poop off of thin underwear. So I asked myself, why not try cloth?
So I began my research. I talked to my cousin, why had recently switched to cloth, and my friend who has always used cloth for her two girls. I researched on Pinterest, and found blogs of cloth diaper-ers... it was all very overwhelming. In the end, I decided to just dive in. I ordered my Sunbaby's (12 for $90), and while waiting for them to arrive, I borrowed some diapers from my friend.
I have been cloth diapering for only 4 months now. As a newby I thought I would give my pros and cons of disposable and cloth...
Price: Disposable diapers were costing us around $40 a month (target brand). Cloth diapers cost us $90 for 12, which means within three months, we are saving $40 dollars a month on our overall expenses. Some people debate that you spend more on your water bill, having to wash all those diapers. We wash them every other day and have not seen an increase in our water bill at all. We are planning on having two more children, in which case, we will be saving that $40 a month for lets say 5 years... savings = $2,400 (and that is just a very rough estimate). Oh ya, and when you are all done with your cloth diaper stash, you can sell them.
Convenience: Disposables are so convenient on outings and vacations. Cloth diapers are difficult for long trips if you cannot do laundry (unless you have enough diapers), and having to haul the diapers around (dirty and clean) is rather difficult. For example, here is a picture of 9 disposables and 9 cloth. The cloth takes up a lot more suitcase space.
The one convenience of cloth is using them at home. where the diaper pail can stink up a room, cloth diapers can be rinsed right away to avoid any odor. However, having to wash them is a bit of an inconvenience.
Environment: Disposables go straight to the landfill... Cloth can be used from newborn to 35-37 pounds. Plus when you are all done with your cloth diapers, you can resell them or donate them!
Looks: I actually like the cute dots of the target diapers, but compared to my Sunbabys... No one can deny that cloth diapers are adorable. They give your kids the cutest fluffy butt, and the prints are so cute! Even my daughter loves to ask for her favorite diaper (the monkey one)
Health: I settled on the Target brand diapers, because my oldest daughter would get rashes in almost all other brands. Occasionally, both my girls would get rashes, but nothing to bad. And I just dealt with it. Once I switched to cloth diapers, I have not seen any rashes. When we went to visit my family for the weekend, we brought some target diapers for convenience. Within 24 hours my daughter had a bad rash. I then experimented with switching from cloth to disposable for a few weeks. Every time, she got a rash, even though she had been in target diapers since birth!
Care: Disposables are a one time use. You throw them away and that's that. Cloth has to be taking care of, to prolong their life. A basic care routine would be, to scrap any dirty diapers into toilet (normal healthy toddler poop makes this easy, It basically rolls off the diaper and only leaves some skid marks. Loose stool is simply no fun, and is when a sprayer connected to your toilet is handy. I resorted to dunking the diaper in the toilet to get it sorta rinsed.), throw them in your washer and do a pre rinse with cold water. After the pre rinse, add a TBSP of approved cloth diaper friendly laundry detergent. Set Washer to a Hot and then Cold wash setting. Do one more Rinse cycle. Hang dry the diapers, and machine dry inserts (without any dryer sheets!). I like to then stuff my dry diapers and have them waiting for me, when I need them.
Brand: As I had mentioned before, most disposables gave my girls rashes, and even Target brand gave me some issues. I loved Target also for the fit. I rarely had blow outs unless it was time to go up a size. There are so many choices for cloth diapers. Not only in brand, but in style. My personal favorite has been my Sunbabys with a bamboo/microfiber insert. These are called pocket diapers, as you stuff the insert in a pocket.
Another type of cloth diaper is called the Flip diaper. These can be convenient since only the insert is exposed, and so the actual diaper could possibly be reused.
A third type of diaper that I have used is the typical cloth diaper. The type that was probably used on our parents.
All in all, my personal choice is to use both. Most of the time, I use my Sunbaby's. Although, when I know I'm going to be out and about for a long time, or any overnight trips, It is very helpful to use some disposables. Ultimately, we still are saving money, being more environmentally friendly, and keeping my darling's bum mostly rash free.
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