Cloth Or Disposable Diapers: Which Ones Are Better?
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Consideration #6: Containment ability
With elastic leg bands, waterproof coverings and super-absorbent gels to absorb wetness, today’s disposables are better than ever at containing messes. Because they’re so reliable, even many parents ardent about using cloth often reach for the disposables when they head out of the house. That said, cloth diapers also have improved dramatically, with new designs, materials and features that boost absorbency and decrease the likelihood of leaks. Some styles, such as All-in-Ones and Pockets, have eliminated the need for waterproof covers, while others (pre-folds, contours and fitteds) still require them. Using absorbent inserts and liners is another way to prevent your baby from soaking through.
Also, how you wash the cloth diapers can greatly affect their absorbency, notes Hillary Mizia, co-owner of Monkey Hugz, a natural parenting and baby store in Golden, Colo. She recommends using no more than a tablespoon of bleach-free detergent and 1/2 cup of vinegar to prevent detergent buildup (which can lead to leaky diapers), and avoiding super-hot water temps (which break down the diapers faster). “Containment is all about the way you put [the diaper] on,” adds Alexander, mom of 1-year-old Brody. “You have to make sure it’s snug around the legs and that the inserts aren’t sticking out of the diaper.”
The bottom line: While cloth diapers have come a long way in the containment department, disposables still rule.
Ultimately, the best diaper is the one that works best for you and your family. So before making a decision, you may want to test different options to see how well they fit your lifestyle and how they affect your baby. Like many parents, you may even find you like using both types-cloth for certain situations and disposables for others. Whatever their impact on Mother Nature, diapers are a necessity of modern life. And before you know it, your baby will be out of them and heading off to school, using a computer, learning to drive, friending you on Facebook and getting his first job. So enjoy the diaper days while they last.
What a great gift idea for a mom-to-be. Pregnancy Countdown Hand Painted Magnetic Chalkboard $28.00 
Comment by Mariah on Jun 30 2011 12:16:03:
youve got to be kidding…. you are saying that disposable diapers, which clog up landfills and take 300 years to break down, are just as bad for the enviroment as cloth? Obviously this article is driven by some corporate funds…. Huggies or Pampers perhaps? you can say that cloth is a bit more time consuming and that some daycares refuse to do it, but bad for the enviroment? SOMEONE didnt do their research…..
Comment by Kate w on Jun 30 2011 12:20:07:
I have a daughter who was diapered in disposables, and have a baby due this fall who will be in cloth..an am truly upset by this article. It is biased, and un informed. It would scare anyone considering cd away from it and right towards disposables (good thing there is an ad for them righ there huh) I know their are pros and cons of each, but in my opinion this article does a terrible job of representing both sides. Their are much better articles that give an un biased review of both systems this is not one of them. It is ridiculous that this article is in a magazine given to first time moms and dads at ob offices and birthing classes, it doesn’t give them the chance to decide for them selves. It makes a case for disposables hidden behind the facade of ‘comparing’ the two.
I hope ftm do a little more research into cloth and disposable beyond this article.
Comment by Amy on Jun 30 2011 12:25:34:
As a cloth using mother, I think that your article is very one sided and would love to know which cloth diapers you have personally used. I do an extra load of laundry every other day and dry my cloth diapers outside using the air and sun. Our water bill went up by 5 dollars a month once starting cloth. I don’t have to spend time folding my child’s diapers and am not a ‘slave’ to them.
Investing time into the health of your child has no price. We have become a society of convenience and it negatively effects our children. There is no comparing cloth to disposable diapers. Disposables contains chemicals that can harm a child and cloth doesn’t. Disposables contain chemicals that hold massive amounts of urine causing parents to change their children less often… that is just gross.
Not to mention cloth is WAY more attractive than plastic.
Comment by Rhonda on Jun 30 2011 12:32:15:
I hope that anyone reading this article reads the comments and does their own research. This is obviously sponsored by a diaper corporation and is irresponsible reporting. so much for credibility.
Comment by Sam on Jun 30 2011 12:35:21:
SAP not touching the baby’s skin- Sure it doesn’t touch the skin until it’s so wet that the diaper explodes and if you have a heavy wetter, you’ve experienced this.
Not as good for the environment- A lot of cloth moms are very eco friendly and do line dry or have an HE washing machine so I think it’s pretty safe to say that it’s the 40% less waste category. Meanwhile it takes decades for disposable diapers to decompose. Cloth diapers can be reused multiple times but disposables you throw away after each use so every time you grab a new disposable diaper, you’re contributing to more trees being cut down and more factories pumping pollution into the environment.
Convenience-How do you contradict yourself in the same paragraph and then conclude that disposables are better? You quote someone to say that they are time consuming and keep you at home and then quote someone else that says they aren’t difficult to wash at all. Why don’t you test it yourself. I guess though if laundry is too difficult for you, you could just wear a new paper sack every day because cloth diapers are no harder to wash than your own clothes. This article is stupid. Hell I’ve gone on an 18 hour trip with nothing but my cloth diapers and it was no harder than my friend who was with me and had disposables. The difference is when we got to our destination, I got to wash those diapers and use them again.
Cost-Even some cloth diapering services are cheaper than using disposables especially for multiple kids.
Rashes-My cloth diapers keep more moisture off my daughters bum. I used to do disposables and they’d be soaked and puffy at the end of the night. My cloth diapers don’t get that bad. My inserts are amazingly absorbent. I’ve changed diapers that I swear she didn’t pee in because of how dry they are against her skin.
“We do know that excessively wet skin and contact with urine and stool can cause diaper rash-so you should be sure to change your baby quickly after she becomes wet or soiled, especially if you’re using cloth.” You should change your kid when they are wet regardless of what diaper they have on but I can tell you now that soiled and wet diapers are easier to deal with in cloth.
Containment- If my daughter poops, it doesn’t get all over her clothes like it did with disposable diapers. When she pees it absorbs quickly into the diaper. For all diapers it’s recommended to change every two hours but I’ve gone 3-4 hours with no leaks. My daughter sleeps through the night (12 hours) with no leaks.
The bottom line-This article was written by a mom with biased opinions. Obviously she has something against cloth and is afraid to try it herself so that she can write an article fairly exposing cloth diapers for the amazing diapers they are.
Stacy Whitman- Why don’t you head on over to CBS’s Natali Portman’s page and see what she has to say on the subject. She had the same opinions as you and once she tried it, she converted.
http://www.cbsnews.com/1770-5_162-0.html?query=cloth+diapers&tag=srch&searchtype=cbsSearch
Comment by Pamela on Jun 30 2011 12:37:36:
Clearly the author of this bogus article has never cloth diapered. I am a soon to be mother of 4. I have used disposables on two of my children and cloth diapered my last. The baby due later this year will also be cloth diapered. As a mother who has done both, I’d like to comment on the leaking of disposables. Why is it that you state in your article that disposables give you “leak resistance”, yet, many parents that use disposables have to shop around for the diaper brand that does not cause massive leaks? With cloth diapering, I have never had leak issues, even with an exclusively breast-fed infant. Many cloth diapering families chose to line-dry their diapers which take absolutely no energy what so ever. I have also found that disposables being more absorbant have been the cause of too many parents allowing their children to sit for more hours than they should in a dirty diaper. Also, as a mom who has who both types of diapers I can fully attest to the “yuck” factor of disposables. They smell really bad when soiled and even if properly tied up, they still make your house smell bad. The same can not be said for cloth diapers.
I am incredibly disappointed in this magazine for allowing articles to be written without research backing up the points made. I find that articles like this make your magazine no longer credible. It makes me wonder which disposable diaper company is funding such articles as clearly the author and publisher of this is biased.
Comment by Sam on Jun 30 2011 12:37:52:
Above, I meant to say Natali Morris.
Comment by Jennifer on Jun 30 2011 12:41:30:
The article stated, “the SAP in disposable diapers is used inside diapers where it doesn’t come in direct contact with babies’ skin.” Wrong, it does come in contact with the babies skin when the diaper explodes. I have seen parents change their children and have a hard time wiping the gel beads off their baby. Before you say that this only happens when parents don’t change their child’s diaper often enough remember that some times babies just pee a lot when they are sleeping and don’t wake up because their diaper is full!
Your article also stated, “another study conducted two years later tested cloth diapers with protective covers (which help to prevent leaks) and found scrotal temps on par with disposables.” This is probably true if you are using those rubber pants, but there are many options for leak prevention that actually help with air circulation. PUL (polyurethane laminate) covers are semi-breathable, fleece and wool covers are very breathable (and no wool is not hot to wear). You said, “you’d like the convenience and leak-resistant qualities of disposables, there are options” in reference to disposable diapers. Well I can tell you from personal experience I have had only 2, yes 2 poop blowouts in cloth diapers and that was because he had massive diarrhea. My friends that use disposable have blowouts constantly! The only time we have a pee leak is if my son does a super soaker impression.
Everyone I know that using cloth diapers does so to help reduce the impact on the environment. We line dry whenever possible, using energy-efficient appliances and wash only when necessary. In the 20 months I have been cloth diapering my water bill has not significantly gone up, nor has my electric bill and I do tumble dry my diapers in the winter!
You stated, “However, there are concerns that they don’t decompose properly in landfills and therefore wouldn’t be helpful if thrown in the trash. However, if composted at home, they might do a world of good” when discussing hybrid diapers. I am glad to see you failed to mention how long it takes for a disposable diaper to decompose in a landfill. Not to mention how many of those diapers contain human waste (poop) that is supposed to be dumped into the toilet before being thrown away! (Edit: I see you did mention this at the very end.)
As far as it being more time consuming, I do an extra 2 loads of laundry a week. It takes all of 15 minutes to re-stuff my pocket diapers and put them away. I have not noticed any real time differences when changing my son. They do take up my room in the diaper bag, but they are super cute (way cuter than the prints some of those disposable diaper companies are trying to market).
Comment by Summer on Jun 30 2011 12:44:12:
Besides the fact that you clearly didn’t do proper research I would like to point out that SAP frequently gets on baby’s skin. I used disposables with my oldest and he had numerous diaper changes with the little gel beads were all over him. Also, dioxin has been completely banned in most other industrialized nations bc of it’s harmful effects. Even in the minute amounts you claim are in diapers.
Comment by Poo on Jun 30 2011 12:53:19:
So is a dishwasher more wasteful than plastic utensils?
It’s a fairly ridiculous argument that the water/energy used to wash a diaper is equal to or more than the energy required to manufacture/package/transport new diapers everytime.
There’s a reason why people wear cloth boxers/briefs/underwear and not disposable – they’re more comfortable and less wasteful. Same goes for babies.
Comment by Shelley on Jun 30 2011 01:20:45:
Shame on New Parent magazine. This is NOT a fair comparison. I have no doubt that the author and/or magazine were compensated by a disposable diaper company. Shame!
Luckily the paper this sad anti-cloth article was printed on will degrade in a landfill quickly, unlike the disposable diapers written about- which will be sitting in said landfill for…. Ever?!
Geesh.
And for any new moms reading this—- it’s awesome buying diapers once and having them for all of your kids. Never having to run out last minute because you’re running low, no coupon searching, no heavy trash bags full of poop to carry out… Plus, there’s not much cuter than a fluffy lil butt!
Oh yeah, and Miss Disposable forgot to mention that once you’re finished with your diapers, YOU CAN SELL THEM AND GET AT LEAST HALF YOUR MONEY BACK. Ever thought about selling a used disposable? The cost savings from cloth is truly amazing.
And guess what else!? Every. Single. Blowout. We have ever had was in a disposable diaper. Every. One. Right there I’m doing less loads of clothing laundry. So I run an extra load or two per week with cloth. I hang dry and use environmentally friendly and biodegradable detergent for those SMALL loads. And I wouldn’t have found the Eco-friendly detergents without cloth diapering.
Again, shame on the author, and SHAME on New Parents Magazine.
Comment by Shelley on Jun 30 2011 01:26:37:
LOL I just saw the cute baby on your article who is meant to grab readers’ attention is wearing a cloth diaper…. Why is that if you’re not a fan?
Comment by Christina on Jun 30 2011 01:34:41:
Did you do even an ounce of research for this article or pick up a cloth diaper? We have cloth diapered two children. We use the same diapers for both children. I don’t believe for one second that disposibles are as safe or equal in their environmental impact as cloth. In calculating the enviromental impact, did you take into consideration the resources used to create the diaper, the costs of getting those resources to the manufacturing plant, the manufacturing itself, the packaging, the shipping, and then the consumer who takes his/her car to the store to go buy them? The impact of human solid waste in the landfill? The impact of diapers and packaging that doesn’t biodegrade? This article seems so biased and one-sided I’m shocked it would be run in what appears to be a rather reputable magazine. Guess those sponsors really have you by the you-know-what.
Comment by Jennifer on Jun 30 2011 01:52:06:
Wow! It’s so obvious that many of these comments are left by the same person. Talk about hijacking!
To the person who said: “There’s a reason why people wear cloth boxers/briefs/underwear and not disposable – they’re more comfortable and less wasteful.”
Um…hate to point out the obvious, “Poo,” but adults don’t actually have BM’s in the underwear. At least you have to hope not!
I for one have my children in disposable…I personally think cloth diapers are kinda gross. But that’s just me!
Comment by Lauren on Jun 30 2011 02:00:43:
I have not commented yet, for the record.
Why do you think it’s the same person? There are a lot of us who cloth diaper nowadays. In fact, a cloth diapering mom I know posted about this article. That may be why so many are on posting close together.
I am confounded that the writer has to go back 20 years to find a research study to support her POV.
When that article was written, the modern cloth diaper wasn’t in use and washers weren’t as efficient. And most folks were using diaper services. Big difference today.
I have no issue with folks who use disposables. I think its wrong to put out incomplete information for new parents, though. Put it all out there. Let the new mom decide.
Comment by Brooke on Jun 30 2011 02:06:29:
Seriously? What a load of hogwash! I already caculated my savings over the next 3 years by having switched to cloth, guess what…. I will save $2145 by the time my daughter is potty trained. That INCLUDES the cost of water/electricty.
Oh yeah, and being tied to the house. BULL. I leave the house all the time and take my cloth on trips. Its called a wetbag. And every hotel I’ve EVER stayed at has washers and dryers.
Comment by Brooke on Jun 30 2011 02:08:14:
Oh and chemicals not being an issues in disposables?? Please thene explain WHY is it that my daughters get horrible, blistered, bleeding rashes when they wear a disposable diaper of ANY brand, and then once I switched to cloth, the rashes vanished?
Comment by Laura on Jun 30 2011 02:27:00:
Really? This article is beyond absurd. Please anyone who is considering cloth; do not listen to this article. Try it for yourself, I’ve never met a person who tried cloth and went back to disposables. NEVER!
Comment by Natalie on Jun 30 2011 02:32:08:
Wow, I am fairly new to cloth diapering and am appalled by the lack of correct information in this article. I had wanted to cloth my first child but my husband would not hear of it. We found out we are expecting another in September, and I made the switch to cloth in March. Since then my daughter has had only a rash or two, and those come from DAYCARE where they refuse to use my easy pocket cloth diapers. Since making the switch we went from $40-80 a month in disposable diapers to $13.47 which is only for DAYCARE. We haven’t noticed an increase in our water or electric bills. And, my doubting husband actually thanked me for saving the family money and space in our trashcan. Our city has a once a week pickup and the trashcan would fill up fast with dirty diapers.
Oh and for only $700 I will finish diapering my oldest, and my newborn later this year. I am estimating that my newborn will be in diapers for about 2.5 years. We have not decided if we are having any more children, if we do, we will use the same diapers with any more that we have. If we decide that we are done, then I will sell them and recoup about $350. So for about $350 I will diaper at least two children, which in my estimation would only buy me about 6 months of disposable diapers. All extra money that we save goes into college funds for the children.
If you want, you can keep throwing your money in the trash while mine sits an interest bearing account.
Please New Moms and Dads, do your research before deciding which type of diapers you should use. There is tons of current information out there and plenty of people that will help you. I know that I got help, and am happy I made the switch 3 months ago.
Comment by Shannon on Jun 30 2011 02:38:22:
I switched to cloth because my one year old had a bleeding diaper rash. Dr said yeast. We treated for that and it didn’t go away. Dr finally determined it was an allergy to the chemicals in the diapers. I switched to cloth and the rash went right away. Plus it was costing me $12-$15 a week for disposables. I just bought a years worth of cloth for $200. I line dry. A pretty decent savings if you ask me. Oh and dumping poo in the potty is less gross than throwing it in the trash in my house. That’s disgusting.
Comment by Nicole on Jun 30 2011 02:46:08:
Clearly, you are paid by some disposable diaper company. This is probably the most outrageous thing I have ever heard. Disposables STINK. Are full of God knows what chemicals. They rot on our earth for many, many, many years!! Parents who use disposiables, did you know that even with a DISPOSIABLE you are supposed to be flushing the poop in the toilet? I bet you its not in letters that are even readable. My daughter had HUGE massive BLEEDING rashes when using disposiables. Since starting cloth she has not had one rash. The time it takes me to do diapers = 10 minutes. The time it takes me at work to pay for some plastic peice of GARBAGE (literally) is an hour and a half. I think I will “suffer” through one load of laundry every two days. I think the writter of this heinous article needs to do some research instead of bending over backwards for some more money. You clearly are not qualified to write about diapers or anything at all for that matter. Its good to know mothers can be bought off for the right price.
Comment by Julia on Jun 30 2011 02:51:14:
I just wanted to point out that there’s a difference between a hyphen (-) and a dash ( – ). Being a “writer,” you may want to investigate that!
Comment by Beth on Jun 30 2011 03:00:18:
Are all of you pro-cloth moms scientists? Or have you actually spoken with any re: what you’re saying? What’s that you say? No?? It’s funny how the author is clearly citing valid sources, while the only link I see any of your providing is a story on Natalie Portman.
Maybe you guys should put a cloth diaper over your mouths for what’s coming out…
Comment by Melanie on Jun 30 2011 03:02:37:
“A 2008 study by the U.K. Environment Agency in Bristol, England, found the global warming impact of cloth diapers slightly higher than that of disposables in their baseline scenario.”…
@Lauren, I don’t think 2008 is 20 years ago.
Comment by Sam on Jun 30 2011 03:17:48:
Beth, we aren’t cloth scientists but if you haven’t noticed us a lot of us have discussed about how we are converts. What’s written here has sources that talk about cloth diapering in a way that is eco friendly which most of us do. Of course there is going to be some environmental flaws if you wash in the least eco friendly way you can find but to take that and compare it to the waste of disposables is dumb. Notice how even in her words it says that the article states that if used in the least eco-friendly way it can be 43% greater BUT used correctly and it’s 40% less. That means that correct washing would make disposables 40% more worst for the environment.
A lot of what she says in the article isn’t backed up by science. She talks about the fact that the SAP in disposables is linked to TSS but she gives no source for the fact that it doesn’t touch the baby’s skin. Common sense has proved that when wet enough the disposable diapers burst and those SAP chemical induced beads get on our baby’s skins.
Don’t be mad because we use logic and have clearly spotted a bad article. Instead of taking this woman’s word for it, why don’t you do research. This article is so biased that it’s pathetic. Did you even look at the link to Natali Morris’s (I meant Morris not Portman) cloth diaper experiment? She had the same views as Stacy Whitman here and she tried cloth diapers and found that the results are actually quite different than she and even Stacy Whitman wrote. It goes to show that you should try things before you knock them.
Comment by Anna on Jun 30 2011 03:31:49:
It’s common sense that you save money by using cloth diapers. We spent $100 a month when our son was in disposables (this includes the cost for wipes). We do not let our child sit in a soiled diaper, it gets changed every 2 hours or if pooped in – as every parent should (it is disgusting to think that people wait until the diaper is full, yikes, do you want to sit in soiled underwear????). Anyways, our son suffered from constant diaper rash until our ped suggested cloth. He never had rashes again. And we saved money, like crazy! We also switched to cloth wipes that are used with plain water only so there are no more hazardous chemicals near my baby’s bum. The results are amazing – no rashes, no blowouts (disposables cannot hold in breastfed poo at all).
And we seriously didn’t even notice a change in our water/electricity bills. We wash with eco friendly detergents only and own an HE washer and line dry when possible. Apart from that – pocket diapers dry in a pinch anyways (10 minutes in the dryer and they are bone dry).
Each parent can decide on sposie vs. cloth diaper, but the “facts” cited in this article are very wrong.
Comment by Vicky on Jun 30 2011 03:43:18:
I just read your article and I’m quite upset about the bias of one over the other. If you truly want to give parents a choice of their own, you need to give facts on each side. Not lean towards one side or the other. I chose to use disposable diapers with my first child and for a year with my second. I now am using cloth with my second and with my third. The amount of money I am saving is much more than I realized. I only needed to buy 24 diapers total for both of them. Those diapers (being flat one layer diapers or prefold diapers) can then be reused (I believe that’s the reuse, reduce and recycle theory) for all sorts of things. I can resell them, give them to a family in need, or I can use them around the house. They work great as dust rags and for household cleaning. If you choose to use pins, surprise!, you can use those pins again. I also choose to frequently use wool covers, a cover that is made of wool, only needs to be washed once a month and is known to be naturally antibacterial. Guess what, I can use them for both of my children and pass them along to another mother who needs them. It’s true that cotton has a strong impact on our soil. It depletes the nutrients and does not grow quickly. There is another option for that as well. Bamboo is can be made into an amazing fabric that is amazingly absorbent. It also regrows at a very rapid rate, leaving a very small environmental footprint. I almost always dry my diapers on a clothes line either outside or a drying rack outside. When washing cloth diapers, you use about 1/4 of the recommended detergent that you would normally use for a small load, sometimes even less.
With my daughter, her diaper was used… and thrown into a landfill. Landfills do not break down garbage like they are supposed to and even if they do, it is known that it takes as much as 500 years to break down a disposable diaper. It’s a good thing Christopher Columbus didn’t use disposables, the land would just now be free of his disposable diapers.
As for explosive poopy diapers in cloth… I have had 1 explosive poopy diaper with my youngest. Even after having his bowel movement in his Exersaucer and continuing to bounce, my breast fed 8 month, 20 pound baby didn’t leak out of his cloth diaper. My oldest used to have one sometimes twice a day from her disposable.
Please rethink your articles before you decide to give parents a “choice”.
Comment by Christina on Jun 30 2011 03:54:24:
I find it amusing that the author conveniently left out the environmental impact of factory production and constant store trips in the car to go and buy disposables. Did disposable diapers fall out of the sky? Unlike disposables, cloth diapers can be easily made at home with basic materials and you don’t have to have a permit since you aren’t working with toxic chemicals. $200 for a sewing machine and a few pounds of fabric, I can cloth diaper multiple children for the extent of their diapering years. Can a disposable diaper using mom make the claim to spend less than $1000 on her diapers for multiple children for multiple years?
Comment by Vicky on Jun 30 2011 04:03:34:
Wikipedia Although I’m not usually one to use quotes from them, here are some interesting quotes. “Wool is an animal protein, and as such it can be used as a soil fertiliser, being a slow release source of nitrogen and ready made amino acids.”
“Wool ignites at a higher temperature than cotton and some synthetic fibers. It has lower rate of flame spread, low heat release, low heat of combustion, and does not melt or drip…”
“Wool is considered by the medical profession to be hypoallergenic.”
“Bamboo has gained popularity as a “green” fibre. Manufacturers tout the fact that bamboo can be cultivated quickly, can be used as a cash crop to develop impoverished regions of the third world, and is a natural fibre (as opposed to popular synthetics like polyester) whose cultivation results in a decrease in greenhouse gases.[1]“
Comment by Kate w on Jun 30 2011 04:08:04:
Okay, just wanted to point out I did not write alll the pro cloth responses, I wrote one! Cloth mommas are just very used to being judged and condemned for what we know is the best choice we could make for our babies. That choice isn’t right for everyone (I used disposable for my first child). We aren’t attacking disposable diaper moms, we simply want both sides represented fairly and supporting relevant sources sited. I don’t care which you choose, it’s your choice. But I think all moms and moms to be should be able to make parenting choices based on facts. This article was given to me in my doctors office, that is why I am so upset at it’s biased nature.
Oh and I may not be a diaper scientist (whatever that is) but I do have a degree in biochemistry, that helps a little.
Comment by Lauren on Jun 30 2011 04:46:26:
Melanie: I was referring to the OTHER cited article written in 1991. THAT IS 20 years. This is 2011. Hence my statement that modern cloth diapers weren’t used then. I am aware that 2008 was 3 years ago. Thank you for being silly.
Good grief. My whole point was just to make it relevant and actually offer up plenty of facts on both sides.
You use disposables, great. I do not. I think it’s a viable option these days IF it fits with someone’s lifestyle. If not, dosposables are usefull. But I would like relevant information to be provided.
My issue is with the article, not with you. And with quoting out of date references.
Comment by Angela @ The Cloth Diapering Site on Jun 30 2011 05:14:34:
The only reason I like this article is because it has given me a great topic to blog about. I, too, am a cloth diapering mom who made an informed choice to use cloth based off of facts from my own research. I truly hope that moms- and dads-to-be do their own fact-based research on the diapering topic and don’t form an opinion one way or the other based off of this biased article.
For what it’s worth, I have had to wipe those SAP crystals off of my older sons bum (I used disposables the first time around) numerous times so you can’t tell me that it doesn’t come in direct contact with the baby, and the ONLY blowouts I’ve ever experienced were with disposables…they absolutely do not contain the mess better than cloth. There was a two month period in my older son’s life when every time he pooped I knew it was coming out. In fact, that’s what finally made my mom a convert. She was tired of getting pooped on!
Comment by Rhonda on Jul 24 2011 01:17:46:
Wow. I actually read this article and was impressed that it really didn’t seem to push towards one option or the other. In fact, I appreciated that the comparison between the two diapering methods came out as a wash (or pretty darn close), and that the author concluded with the sentiment that you should choose whichever method works best for your family. So much parenting advice out there is so divisive (as is evidenced by the comments here), that I was glad to see “do what works for you”. A little sad to see the comments posted to this article (which is why I stopped reading them about halfway down).
Comment by Karyn Wheeler on Jan 13 2012 06:02:02:
This is a totally biased article and from the beginning, OBVIOUSLY supports disposables over cloth and I am appalled by the ignorance and lack of research.
Comment by R-n Adoption Journey on Apr 04 2012 04:36:27:
I agree with Karyn…..I'm pretty sure Pampers wrote this article
Comment by Crystal Biehl on Apr 07 2012 01:30:40:
I would think any time you can reduce the number of chemicals your child is exposed to, the better it is for them. Regardless of whether those chemicals have been proven to be "harmless"…they are still chemicals.
Comment by Michelle Sherman on Apr 07 2012 01:30:46:
I agree this was a completely biased article. And the "no research" part couldn't be more true with the final point, regarding blowouts. Sorry, author, but I hear friends who use disposables complain MUCH MUCH more often about clothes-ruining blowouts than those who use cloth.
I know the few times my son was in disposables, he ALWAYS had a blowout that required a change of clothes if not a full-on bath. Statistically, cloth wins.
Comment by Linda Auge on Apr 07 2012 01:54:56:
Well, I will give the author this, she does very clearly state that the chemicals in disposables are harmful if ingested or placed next to baby’s skin. So, how fast can you call poison control or race baby to the ER after baby gets into your diaper bag and chews on a disposable diaper? How unworried are you if baby chews on a cloth diaper?
Comment by Lis Freemantle on Apr 07 2012 03:00:40:
I think this is really one sided. I agree with the others here… must have been written by a disposable manufacturere.
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