Basement update
8:42 PM Posted In baby gear Edit This 8 Comments »
Our washer and dryer are working! We did our first load of laundry since the flood last night and all went well.
Cloth diapers here we come!
Does anyone have any opinions about cloth vs. disposable diapers? Any success stories or failures? There are so many new cool cloth options, but I know that it is not as easy as just using disposables. I would love to hear your opinions/advice on the subject.
Cloth diapers here we come!
Does anyone have any opinions about cloth vs. disposable diapers? Any success stories or failures? There are so many new cool cloth options, but I know that it is not as easy as just using disposables. I would love to hear your opinions/advice on the subject.
8 comments:
I was totally gung-ho for cloth diapers at first (I *was* an environmental studies major, after all!) but you know what ultimately put me over the edge was that the daycares won't deal with cloth diapers. There's a good discussion of the pros and cons of both in "What to Expect in the First Year" (which you can borrow whenever you want, of course!)
Holly,
We actually have "What to expect the First Year"--we had to get it during the homestudy. I will check it out. Since we won't be doing daycare, I might maintain my idealism a little while longer... :)
--K
Some day, in the undefined future, when I have a child, I would like to use cloth diapers, mostly for environmental reasons, but also because it seems more natural and therefore more healthful.
And also in the undefined future, when I one day have a child, I would like to avoid daycare at all costs (mostly because of the high $$ cost!).
Well, when Rachel was a little baby...and actually for about the first 6 or so months of her life...she went through over 100 diapers a week. She's one of those babies that just wouldn't sit in a wet diaper. As with cloth diapers I would imagine you can't just let them sit wet for a long time, you'd probably also have to change them often. So on the one hand, 100+ diapers a week is a lot of money on disposable diapers. On the other hand, 100+ diapers a week is a lot of laundry with cloth diapers. Not to mention, those baby poops (especially the little bitty baby baby poops) are absurdly disgusting. I just wanted to mention just how big of a task it is in the beginning keeping baby in fresh diapers. Now, at 1 year, we're probably closer to 70 or so per week. On the upside, the very frequent changing has meant she hasn't ever had diaper rash. Just my $.02. If you're up to the task of cloth diapers, more power to you - but you're a stronger person than me!
One upside of cloth diapers is that the discomfort is supposed to push the little tike into potty training faster. But, my mom said she used cloth diapers on me, and the jury's still out as to whether I'm legitimately potty-trained even now, so...
We have some friends who are expecting right now and plan to go the cloth route, which I think could make the experience a bit easier for us, having someone with whom, perhaps, to commiserate.
My preference, I think, is to go cloth at home and keep disposables around for when we're out. But, I'm basically up for being as adventurous as Kathryn wants to be.
Short of going diaper-less, of course. :)
Oh, I think you should try the potty-training immediately. That was such a hot topic last year. I remember a news show that showed a parent holding a one month old baby over a toilet trying to potty-train it. But please, when aunt and uncle are babysitting, put the kid in disposable diapers.
I know nothing about diapers, but there is some very good info about making cloth diapers work in the Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. Lots of practical tips on how to launder and what you will need, stuff like that. There are 3 Tightwad books, but The Complete Tightwad has all three books in one volume. I would definitely check it out if you want to use cloth diapers. I have a friend who was committed to cloth but when the baby came, it never happened. Hope you can make it work!
Hey, I just wanted to say that using cloth diapers isn't really all that hard or discusting as it sounds. If you have a small sprayer attached to your water line at the toilet, you can spray all the icky stuff right in, without having to swish or dunk. I have used cloth diapers with all four of my boys. The first being 13 years ago. Since then, the cloth diaper world has gone thru a renassance. The diapers are adorable, and are high tech! You can get diapers that are pockets. Once side waterproof, the other side a stay dry liner, and you put a diaper in the middle. The icky stuff comes off easier with these kind of diapers too! I think you should check out the cloth diapering group on www.pregnancy.org. http://www.pregnancy.org/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=84&sid=c273811afc1c9c7d4bd105e986b3ff6b The ladies there are extremely helpful, and we all have lots of fun collecting adorable diapers. Good luck on your decision!
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