Diapers: Disposable vs Cloth
Carol Ann
~Carol Ann
www.bestinatlanta.com/mybaby.html
Jill
"Carol Ann" <lowc...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:iikTb.206538$xy6.1059507@attbi_s02...
> What are your opinions?
I'm doing disposable, and following my friend's advice to zip them in a
ziplock bag before tossing them in the garbage/diaper pail so they won't
stink up the room.
I can't apologize for disposable-- I don't know of a diaper service, I can't
do all that laundry myself when I have so much other work to keep up on, and
disposables are convenient. I don't know anyone who uses anything other than
disposable around here to be perfectly honest, people use cloth diapers as
baby wash cloths and nothing else. I wish disposables were not bad for the
environment but.....can't help it, I'm using Pampers.
toypup
"Jill" <noe...@spam.com> wrote in message
news:DnkTb.49229$5K1.2...@twister.southeast.rr.com...
> I can't apologize for disposable-- I don't know of a diaper service, I
can't
> do all that laundry myself when I have so much other work to keep up on,
and
> disposables are convenient. I don't know anyone who uses anything other
than
> disposable around here to be perfectly honest, people use cloth diapers as
> baby wash cloths and nothing else. I wish disposables were not bad for the
> environment but.....can't help it, I'm using Pampers.
Don't worry, you could claim water conservation. ;)
Plissken
"Carol Ann" <lowc...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:iikTb.206538$xy6.1059507@attbi_s02...
| What are your opinions?
|
I do both. Sometimes I get lazy and use disposables more. The only reason
really is that our laundry is down the stairs through the sunroom and out
into an unheated room. I tend to do laundry way less now (once a week if I
can get away with it). When we were in our condo and had the washer/dryer
right there I used them all the time and it wasn't much extra work at all. I
like the cloth diapers because they just feel natural. I have always put her
in disposables at night though as I am way too lazy to be changing diapers
in the middle of the night. Besides she would wake up even more if I were to
change her.
Nadene
toypup
I found this site had a pretty interesting article regarding the
environmental impact of cloth vs. disposables:
http://webhome.idirect.com/~born2luv/e-concerns2.html
H Schinske
>I'm doing disposable, and following my friend's advice to zip them in a
>ziplock bag before tossing them in the garbage/diaper pail so they won't
>stink up the room.
Um, you're kidding about the ziplock bag part, right? *Please* tell me you're
kidding.
--Helen
Chotii
"H Schinske" <hsch...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040202021320...@mb-m17.aol.com...
How is this different from people using those execrable "Diaper Genies" and
making plastic-wrapped diaper sausages? And what difference does it make
anyway? Nothing biodgrades in a modern landfill, the very fact that it's an
anaerobic environment sees to that. Even "biodegradable" disposable diapers
don't biodgrade in a landfill. Even newspapers and bananas do not
biodegrade.
If nothing else, maybe this is a smarter thing to do. Okay, so the human
waste is locked away forever inside plastic wrapped inside plastic, but at
least the "super absorbent crystals" in the diapers are not going to keep
absorbing fluid and locking it away where it can never re-enter the water
cycle. That, by the way, is something that I have never gotten an answer
to: If billions of these diapers a year soak up, and hold, all the fluid
they can (from urine, rainwater or leachate in the landfill, etc) and *lock
it away from the environment forever*, how long before we start really
regretting ever inventing the stuff?
--angela
Kari
.
> What are your opinions?
>
> ~Carol Ann
We do both. This is the first time for me with cloth however and I really
like it. It's more time consuming, yes, but it's cheaper and healthier so it
all pans out I think. I do laundry every day anyway! I had to try several
different types before I found ones that fit well on Xander, that washed
well and were convienent. We use that kissaluvs with bummis covers and they
dont leak at all. There is a picture of him wearing just the kissaluvs on
his changing table if you want to see how they look, in his folder baby
Xander - picture is my cloth diapered boy :) . Here's the link
http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/firedancer623/my_photos
We do disposables at night usually and if we go out somewhere and then we
use Huggies Ultratrim. I think generics & Pampers are so/so, never worked
for any of my kids (tried them all with each baby) and the Huggies Supreme
aren't worth it to me. The Luvs, if you can get past the smell - like fake
baby powderish smell - are fine. I dont like the smell but to save 3.00 on
the jumbo pack it might be worth it (9.50 for the huggies here, 6.50 for
luvs) and some people have told me they like the smell so its a YMMV thing.
Good luck!
Kari
mom to Kaylie (8) Noah (4) and Xander (4 mos)
Ericka Kammerer
> What are your opinions?
We've done both. Cloth are much cheaper and work well once
you've found the right combination for your baby. Washing your
own makes it much cheaper--I don't think you save nearly as much
using a service. I didn't think washing them was much trouble
at all--just an extra load every couple of days. We always used
disposables while out, though, since I didn't really enjoy
hauling dirty cloth diapers back home.
Best wishes,
Ericka
Anne Rogers
CLOTH!
mainly for price, but also because even though there are some debates
about overall which is best for the environment, the landfill factor puts
me off.
We do relax a little bit and take disposables in the diaper bag.
Kat
do. I also want to do it that way so that the diapers have as much
opportunity as possible to decompose. that's also why we don't use a diaper
genie, not good for decomposing the diapers.
Kat
mama to Maggie 11/03/01
and #2 EDD was 02/01/04
Sophie
> ziplock bag before tossing them in the garbage/diaper pail so they won't
> stink up the room.
That will get expensive. Just tie the dirty diaper up in a plastic grocery
store bag, then toss.
> I can't apologize for disposable-- I don't know of a diaper service, I
can't
> do all that laundry myself when I have so much other work to keep up on,
and
> disposables are convenient. I don't know anyone who uses anything other
than
> disposable around here to be perfectly honest, people use cloth diapers as
> baby wash cloths and nothing else. I wish disposables were not bad for the
> environment but.....can't help it, I'm using Pampers.
How do you know Pampers will fit? Finding the right disposables takes trial
and error.
I personally use disposables.
Sophie
#4 due 7/18/04
Marnie
news:iikTb.206538$xy6.1059507@attbi_s02...
> What are your opinions?
Add us to the "both" category. Probably about 75-85% cloth, using disposable
when we're travelling or otherwise particularly busy. We've never had a
service, just more laundry.
--
Marnie
--
Jill
Nope. Not kidding. This was rec'd to me when I asked about what kind of
diaper pail to get so the room won't stink up. Was told that with diaper
genies etc you still have to keep buying the plastic linings and ziplock
bags and no diaper genie work just as well.
Sorry about our landfill situation, but this time I have to do what's
convenient.
Fer
You just blew my mind Jill :-(
--
Jenn
-WAHM
-DS Feb'92
-DD Feb'97
-Jellyfish due June 25/04
Jill
"Sophie" <Sop...@fakeaddress.com> wrote
> How do you know Pampers will fit? Finding the right disposables takes
trial
> and error.
>
> I personally use disposables.
>
Grocery store bag is a good idea. I have no earthly which brand will fit,
but I do know Pampers Baby Dry will be the first ones I try. I plan to try
the ones from Wal-Mart as well, and whatever else are given to me. I have no
idea which ones will work best. Hopefully cheaper ones!
Shelly
was overwhelmed when I first started looking at all the cloth options, but
now I am kind of obsessed with them. LOL! Some of the diapers are just so
adorable!
I probably will do sposies when we go out, but am planning to buy the
biodegradable kind...yes, I know they don't actually biodegrade in the
landfill, but I really don't want my baby exposed to the chemicals in
regular diapers.
-Michelle
edd 3/14/04
Fer
Plan on mostly cloth. I am sure there might be the odd time a disposible is
in order (vacations and such).
Kari
> || Nope. Not kidding. This was rec'd to me when I asked about what kind
> || of diaper pail to get so the room won't stink up. Was told that with
> || diaper genies etc you still have to keep buying the plastic linings
> || and ziplock bags and no diaper genie work just as well.
> || Sorry about our landfill situation, but this time I have to do what's
> || convenient.
>
> You just blew my mind Jill :-(
>
> --
>
> Jenn
I know, me too. That's a really really sad comment, IMO.
Kari
mom to Kaylie (8) Noah (4) and Xan man (4 mos)
Nikki
I use disposable. I had originally planned on cloth but then I spent the
money on a breastpump, lol. I started with disposable then and being a
working mom, I just couldn't imagine adding one more load of laundry so I
stuck with disposables. I didn't have a very convenient laundry set up
though.
--
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2)
Jill
"Kari" <kar...@fakeaddress.com> wrote
>
> I know, me too. That's a really really sad comment, IMO.
>
> Kari
Are the millions who choose to use disposable diapers but just don't say
things like what I said, any less sad? Just wondering....most people pop
their kids into disposables without even thinking twice. Everyone I know
uses disposable diapers, and that's a lot of people. (This doesn't make it
ok on the environment but still...)...It doesn't make a difference to the
landfills whether I , or they, comment on it or not- anyone using
disposables is basically evil to the landfill siutation. So if I am sad for
using disposable diapers then I am sad along with a lot of people including
posters here. By the way, I'm not offended or angry or anything; I just hope
I can choose to use disposables without judgement. If I don't put them in
ziplock baggies, they will still be in some kind of plastic garbage bag etc.
Also this is not a comment in anger or defense, just an observation-- I
never noticed before becoming pregnant that people feel VERY strongly about
a lot of related topics. If you don't breastfeed, if you circumsize, if you
choose not to use cloth diapers, if you don't try for a natural
childbirth.....in the opinion of some you're substandard, sad, or not
putting forth the effort you should etc. I personally don't judge someone
because they circumsize; I know people who never do intend to even try to
breastfeed, they always planned on using formula and their babies grow up to
be smart, healthy, and well adjusted; I do what I decide to for myself, but
don't judge others who choose differently. Someone can tell me "I plan to
formula feed- breastfeeding is not for me", and I literally wouldn't blink
an eye, and it doesn't mean I won't do everything possible to breasfeed etc-
but also, that's their baby, their decision, etc.
I hope the worst thing I ever do in my life is use disposable diapers and
consider putting them in plastic bags to avoid a pooey diaper smell. :)
Honestly.
Just my opinion....I appreciate differing opinions. I also appreciate the
fact that the cloth-diaper-argument is factually based and truly better for
the environment. I know that's why people feel strongly about it. But I
don't think it makes me a sad, ignorant, selfish, or bad character to use
disposable diapers. It's not even laziness, but I just *don't* want to deal
with cloth diapers. I don't know much about them. My interest is piqued, so
I will at least do some reading and see what it entails and what it would be
like to choose them.
Jill, opinions are my own, even the sad ones. :)
Jill
"Fer" <TIR...@SPAM.XX> wrote
>
> You just blew my mind Jill :-(
>
Sorry about that. I don't feel good about the effects on our landfills from
disposable diapers and plastics- I am not living in a bubble etc, I DO think
about things like that. But, I can't deal with using cloth diapers, and as
bad as it may be, just want to use disposable ones. I wish the U.S. did have
landfill friendly disposable diapers but I have never heard of any. I could
reconsider the ziplock bags but it's the decision for me to use disposables.
I really do think about the landfill situation, I am a big proponent of
recycling, but cant shoulder the guilt myself about how horrible the U.S. is
and how most people don't even give a flip about the environment, I have too
much else to really worry myself about.
So it's not without conscience, but I do plan to use disposable diapers. And
would very very much prefer to find ways to deal with potential stinky areas
in my house, with baby diapers on the way as well as a cat litter box. I
scoop cat litter (or pregnant, have my husband do it) very often and we
don't toss it in the house garbage we go ahead and get it out of the house.
I don't know what else to do with diapers, except the same, but tossing them
out in the garbage can would still have them enclosed in plastic bags. Also
I can't control the fact that a lot of garbage is comprised of plastic-
bags, trays, packaging etc. If you really take a good look, a lot of trash
that doesn't fall in the "recycle bin" category, is stuff that is horrible
for our landfills.
Kari
It's totally ok to have an opinion, and I use disposables too, just not all
the time (tho I did last 2 times around) I guess it was just the way you
worded it, like it didnt matter and it should, not just to you particularly
but to everyone. Our world really needs people to be more careful and
observant I guess, because it's a very dire situation and not just because
of disposable diapers. Sorry, Im just a little earthy crunchy feeling today
and you are entirely welcome to your opinions here too!!! ;)
Kari
mom to Kaylie (8) Noah (4) and Xander (3 mos)
Carla
was #2 on the top 10 Myths & Lies (by John Stossel)
Here's just what was on the abcnews.com website:
*************************************************************
Myth No. 2 — We're Drowning in Garbage
We've been told we're running out of places to put our garbage. We do
produce a lot of it — more than any other country in the world. But
it's not the crisis described in so many media reports.
Analysts say this myth was jump-started by a 1987 story about a
garbage barge on the Mississippi River.
The barge was filled with 3,000 tons of compacted trash and garbage
from New York. It was supposed to be shipped to a landfill in
Louisiana, but on the way, the shipper tried to save money by dumping
his trash in North Carolina.
Suspicious local officials said no thanks. Their response got so much
publicity that by the time the barge reached its original destination,
the Louisiana dump wouldn't accept it anymore.
The publicity over the barge ignited 10 years of activism.
Cynthia Pollack of the WorldWatch Institute said back in 1987 that we
were approaching an emergency situation. But it wasn't true. The EPA
says while some cities have to ship garbage out, overall landfill
capacity is actually increasing. All around America, people are
building bigger landfills. Some landfill owners are competing for our
trash.
Jeremy O'Brien of the Solid Waste Association of North America said
some of his group's members are actually looking for waste.
Some communities put parks and golf courses on top of trash sites.
O'Brien said, "In the United States, there's plenty of land to
properly dispose of our solid waste for hundreds and even thousands of
years."
We hardly have a garbage crisis.
*************************************************
here's the link to all of them:
http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/2020/myths_john_stossel_040123.html
Carla
On Mon, 02 Feb 2004 18:05:20 GMT, "Kari" <kar...@fakeaddress.com>
wrote:
Jill
"Kari" <kar...@fakeaddress.com> wrote
>
> It's totally ok to have an opinion, and I use disposables too, just not
all
> the time (tho I did last 2 times around) I guess it was just the way you
> worded it, like it didnt matter and it should, not just to you
particularly
> but to everyone. Our world really needs people to be more careful and
> observant I guess, because it's a very dire situation and not just because
> of disposable diapers. Sorry, Im just a little earthy crunchy feeling
today
> and you are entirely welcome to your opinions here too!!! ;)
>
> Kari
> mom to Kaylie (8) Noah (4) and Xander (3 mos)
I didn't mean to word it like I don't care etc, because actually like I said
I do think about the environment. I didn't know before becoming pregnant
that disposable diapers don't biodegrade, and hadn't thought of it before.
It skeeves me out to think that my child's poopy disposable diapers will be
here long after we are not. I wonder why there *aren't* choices in the U.S
at least that I know of, for biodegradable dispoable diapers. Is it
impossible to manufacture a disposable diaper that does the trick without
staying around as long as nuclear waste??
I would definitely be willing to put up with (disposable) diapers that may
be a little more leaky or need to be changed a little more often, just
because they are biodegradable. I have looked over some cloth dispaer
websites, and just don't want to use them. A couple of sites have washing
tips etc, and say to dump the poop and wash those diapers on cold in
detergant, then add the wet/pee diapers and wash on hot, then put them
through an extra rinse cycle with vinegar to get rid of the ammonia. Me
personally, I feel MUCH more comfortable with the cleanliness of not washing
poopy diapers in the machine- in my mind whether it's true or not, I
wouldn't feel like the cloth diapers ever get quite clean enough for me. And
definitely can't deal with the extra laundry recs. I could have nightmares
if I really took a minute to ponder just how many diapers there are in
landfills in the U.S. alone that are just going to hang around practically
forever.
Sidheag McCormack
we're using Tots Bots shaped nappies and wraps (http://www.totsbots.com).
We have Pampers in the changing bag for when we're out, but I try not to
use them. The TotsBots seem to fit better and more comfortably than the
Pampers (we have occasional leaks with the Pampers but not with the
TotsBots), so I find them easier to put on him than the Pampers, and
they're very cute. We wash almost every day and it's totally not an issue.
We dry pail, with a nappy mesh in the bin so that the whole lot just lifts
out and goes in the washing machine; start the drying in the tumble dryer
to keep them soft, finish on the ceiling dryer. Whole thing takes a few
minutes per day and can be done holding DS. I did use it as an excuse for
replacing the ancient washing machine with a very snazzy one just before DS
was born :-)
I decided to do cloth to begin with because I couldn't bear the idea of
that much landfill, but TBH I much prefer it just on selfish grounds anyway
- not tempted to use disposables.
One thing we did that I recommend is to limit what you buy before the baby
arrives, get one or two of several kinds that you're interested in, and
then see what you prefer once the baby arrives and only order in quantity
then. It's a shame when you hear of people having bought 2 dozen X and then
finding it doesn't fit their baby well. Many of the nappy sellers do trial
packs for this purpose.
Sidheag
DS Colin Oct 27 2003
Shelly
> I wonder why there *aren't* choices in the U.S
> at least that I know of, for biodegradable dispoable diapers. Is it
> impossible to manufacture a disposable diaper that does the trick without
> staying around as long as nuclear waste??
Hey Jill,
I'm not going to get in on this little debate, but did want you to know that
there are biodegradable disposables for sale in the US. They are a bit more
expensive, and I doubt you'd be able to find them at your local big-box
store, but they are out there. Now, granted, given the way we build our
landfills in this country, they will not actually biodegrade...in fact,
hardly anything you throw away will, including things that would normally
break down quite well, like food waste. However, the biodegradable diapers I
have seen have far fewer chemicals in them... so there is a potential health
benefit if you chose them over the commercial brands.
Here is a link to our local diaper service, which sells biodegradable
disposables. It has some good info on the diapers:
http://www.mothernaturesdiapers.com/tushies.htm. Maybe you could find
something similar near you, and there might even be other brands out there
that are much cheaper... I haven't really shopped around for them, so I
don't know.
-Michelle
edd 3/14/04
Sue
I plan to cloth-diaper most of the time and do the laundry every other day.
Disposables would be for out-of-town trips or vacations where laundry isn't
feasible to do. I am a part-time at-home consultant and also work part-time
for my husband in his office, so CD'ing won't be a hassle. I plan to bring
waterproof tote bags for outings to store dirty diapers, as grocery bags are
reserved for my cats' litter waste and we don't shop that often, anyway.
I only bought a dozen of diapers, 5 wraps and 18 cheap washcloths because I
don't want the laundry to build up too long. The start-up costs were very
cheap as I did a lot of research on-line and found a couple of sites with
reasonable prices for CPF's and wraps. I am frugal by choice. :-)
Also, I don't like the thought of my child wearing disp's 24-7 for about 3
years. So, to me, it's healthier to cloth her.
---
EDD: 2/16/04 Baby girl - Countdown begins ....
Age 39 First baby
Sue
laundry every day, not every other day.
Placenta brain and all. :)
"Sue" <x...@ok.com> wrote in message news:0DxTb.211965$na.345519@attbi_s04...
Elizabeth H Bonesteel
Jill <noe...@spam.com> wrote:
>
>Nope. Not kidding. This was rec'd to me when I asked about what kind of
>diaper pail to get so the room won't stink up.
See, here's where I'm glad I have pets. I lived for two years in a very
small apartment with two cats and three ferrets. Stuff was emptied daily,
or as often as necessary - even sometimes in the middle of the night.
Babies smell like sunshine and roses to me. ;-)
Liz, who still owns one very sweet, very geriatric ferret who can make your
eyebrows drop off with one use of the litterbox
EDD 5/22/04
--
li...@world.std.com
"No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man's reason and
spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable - and we believe they
can do it again." -- John F. Kennedy, 6/10/1963
Jill
"Elizabeth H Bonesteel" <li...@TheWorld.com> wrote
> See, here's where I'm glad I have pets. I lived for two years in a very
> small apartment with two cats and three ferrets. Stuff was emptied daily,
> or as often as necessary - even sometimes in the middle of the night.
> Babies smell like sunshine and roses to me. ;-)
I just plain don't like poopy smell throughout the house. My cat puts out
some toxic litterbox smells, and I can't just let them sit. I have to scoop
it away constantly. I feel the same about diapers and actually about dirty
laundry and dishes- I don't like anything stinky just sitting in the house.
I have friends who scoop cat litter barely once a week. Yuck!
Sue
--
Sue (mom to three girls)
I'm Just a Raggedy Ann in a Barbie Doll World...
Fer
|| There was a story about this just a couple of weeks ago on 20/20 --
|| it was #2 on the top 10 Myths & Lies (by John Stossel)
||
|| Here's just what was on the abcnews.com website:
|| *************************************************************
<snipped>
Myth or not that the US is 'drowning' in garage still leaves the fact that
it adds up every minute or every day and as others have pointed out it's not
biodegrading. Eventually it will happen.
Jenn
Fer
I guess it was the way your comment came across. I was just surprised at the
'tone'. :)
Dealing with diapers is not fun, and nobody wants to deal with the nasty
side of it. I look at it as just another thing that is my resposibility as
a parent (cleaning up their messes and helping with a cleaner evnrionnment).
For me I cannot help but look forward to when this child will be diapering
their little one and think of the 1,000s of TONS of disposables that have
accumalated, something that could have been prevented. Just my 0.02
*shrug*
Maggie
>One thing we did that I recommend is to limit what you buy before the baby
>arrives, get one or two of several kinds that you're interested in, and
>then see what you prefer once the baby arrives and only order in quantity
>then.
Yes, I'm a bit worried about what will best work for us and so exactly
what to buy. My friend, who used to live in the UK, swears by
Motherease Onesize so I ordered a sample pack from Canada - you can't
get them here in NZ. I'm loathe to order any more until I know they'll
work for us, as it's an expensive outlay (initially). I figured I'd get
loads of plain flat (cheap!) diapers as backups (plus they sound handy
generally). In NZ, these are made of flannelette, so I'm not sure if
they're as good as the 'terry' ones available elsewhere. I have seen
the Australian 'Brightbots' stuff on sale, so might get a few of those.
Question: what's best for newborns? The Motherease Onesize can
apparently be used for newborns, but they look awfully bulky, and I was
wondering what I could use for the first few weeks. Or will they be
okay? I could use disposables, but I'd rather leave using them for
travelling, etc.
--
Maggie
EDD 28 April #1
Cathy Weeks
I did both. I used cloth during the day and when we were traveling,
or away from home for more than a few hours, and disposables at night.
However, a couple of months before Kivi's second birthday, I turned to
Chris and said "I'm tired of washing diapers. We've been good for
almost two years, and did our part. Can we switch solely to
disposables? And he agreed.
I never thought disposables in the trash stunk things up particularly,
but we weren't generating all that many. I don't like the diaper
genie or putting the diapers in plastic to through them away because
that seems like that much more trash in the landfills that won't
degrade.
Cathy Weeks
Mommy to Kivi Alexis 12/01
Jamie Clark
We use disposables, and although at times the baby's room does get a wee bit
aromatic, basically it's always "cured" by taking out the trash can filled
with diapers. We roll/wrap the diaper up into itself very tightly, so on
their own, the smell very little, especially for the first day or two. It's
old diapers that really begin to smell, so as long as you take out the trash
pretty regularly, it's not that bad. We even use small regular trash cans,
no lid. A lid would help keep the smell in too.
--
Jamie & Taylor
Earth Angel, 1/3/03
Check out Taylor Marlys -- www.MyFamily.com, User ID: Clark_guest,
Password: Guest1
Become a member for free - go to Add Member to set up your own User ID and
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Handmade Baby Blankets -- www.geocities.com/digit_the_cat/Blankets.html
"Jill" <noe...@spam.com> wrote in message
news:YSvTb.35582$YG.26...@twister.southeast.rr.com...
Vicky Bilaniuk
Wow, only hundreds of years at the low end of the limit? I would worry.
Vicky Bilaniuk
> "Carol Ann" <lowc...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
> news:iikTb.206538$xy6.1059507@attbi_s02...
>
>>What are your opinions?
>>
>>~Carol Ann
>>www.bestinatlanta.com/mybaby.html
>>
>>
>
>
> I found this site had a pretty interesting article regarding the
> environmental impact of cloth vs. disposables:
> http://webhome.idirect.com/~born2luv/e-concerns2.html
>
>
This is inaccurate in at least one way: the introduction (gasp) of high
efficiency washers. I own one and love it. They really do use a *heck*
of a lot less water and soap. The dryer also runs a lot less (well it
*would* if the stupid thing wasn't so old that the element barely gets
even warm anymore), and we can leave things out on the clothes line for
less than half the time we used to require. Honestly, it looks like
that web page is support for getting a high efficiency washer. ;-)
HollyLewis
>Chris and said "I'm tired of washing diapers. We've been good for
>almost two years, and did our part. Can we switch solely to
>disposables? And he agreed.
>
LOL. We went through something similar, but it was prompted mostly by my
returning to work full time, and it was the *covers* I got tired of having to
launder -- we had a service for the diapers themselves. So we only made it 6
months with cloth; it was pretty easy, particularly with the service, and it
although a service isn't any cheaper than disposables, it isn't really any
*more* expensive either. (It also isn't as environmentally friendly as washing
your own, because of the gas usage, smog and so on involved in the pickup and
delivery, but it's probably still better than the impacts of manufacture and
disposal of disposables.) In our case, my parents gave us 6 months of service
as a shower gift, which was fantastic, not only for the obvious cost reason but
also because it relieved me of having to make the cloth vs. disposable
decision!
However, we did have a lot of problems with leaks and ended up going though 6
or 7 covers a day. That got old fast, plus it was expensive to keep having to
buy more covers. So when I was returning to work -- and was thus less willing
to do laundry every other day -- and DS was outgrowing the covers, meaning we'd
need to invest in another dozen or more of the things if we'd continued with
cloth, we caved. And now with DS not yet potty trained and in preschool, it
would be hard to go back to cloth -- the school will only deal with
disposables.
Haven't decided yet what we'll do with #2. I might buy a sampler pack of
newborn fitted diapers and see how it goes, but have disposables on hand too.
:-)
>I never thought disposables in the trash stunk things up particularly,
>but we weren't generating all that many.
I never had any odor problems either; an exclusively BF baby's poop doesn't
really smell bad, and the disposables keep any odor pretty well contained even
when they're not in plastic -- you just roll them up into a little ball and
fasten the ball closed with the tabs. We only get a little bit of stink when
the diaper pail gets full, and the problem is solved by just emptying the pail.
We use a Diaper Champ, so we do use plastic trash bags, but the overall amount
of plastic consumed is less than with a Genie.
Holly
Mom to Camden, 3yo
EDD #2 6/8/04
dd_...@kitten.hotmail.com
<lowc...@mindspring.com> wrote:
>What are your opinions?
We currently use mostly cloth, disposables are used at childcare (I
have no choice in this) and if we are away from home all day/several
days - however I am trying to get DH to change his mind on this one -
and almost did at christmas time :).
The new bubba will also be in cloth, hopefully 100% of the time.
Personally I find cloth easier than disposables, it is much much
cheaper, the washing etc is no problems what so ever (and both DH and
I work out of home 5 days a week). DD only ever gets rashes from the
disposables, blowout occur more often with her in disposables, they
stink much more than cloth - even when solids are dumped as they
should be.
I can understand some reasons for using disposables - but for us there
was no reason.
Di
dd_...@kitten.hotmail.com
>Me
>personally, I feel MUCH more comfortable with the cleanliness of not washing
>poopy diapers in the machine- in my mind whether it's true or not, I
>wouldn't feel like the cloth diapers ever get quite clean enough for me. And
>definitely can't deal with the extra laundry recs.
So what happens when your little one has a major blowout and gets poo
all over their clothes? (it happens with all babies I've known at
least one or twice :)). Are you just going to throw those clothes out?
The washing list you have listed is overkill in my option :). Nappies
get a heavy load wash in hot water, that's it. No extra rinse, no
double wash. One load. Also nappy liners normally catch most of the
poo so very little/none gets onto the nappy.
I'm not trying to change your mind :), just a different point of view.
Di
-L.
> What are your opinions?
>
> ~Carol Ann
> www.bestinatlanta.com/mybaby.html
Honestly, I don't know how any educated person in their right mind
could possibly use anything other than cloth.
You asked.
-L.
Kim
sh...@earthfink.net says...
> There was a story about this just a couple of weeks ago on 20/20 -- it
> was #2 on the top 10 Myths & Lies (by John Stossel)
>
>
> Some communities put parks and golf courses on top of trash sites.
But the question is... who wants *their* golf course or park on a
landfill? Plus this does not take into account decreased groundwater
quality from landfill runoff. Sure there is a ton of land for
landfills, suburban sprawl, weapons of mass destruction ;) whatever!, if
we cease to care about degrading the quality of the land.
-kim
Chotii
"Mary S." <nos...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:bvnc0h$to8up$1...@ID-63359.news.uni-berlin.de...
> Jill wrote:
> > I wonder why there *aren't* choices in the U.S
> > at least that I know of, for biodegradable dispoable diapers. Is it
> > impossible to manufacture a disposable diaper that does the trick
without
> > staying around as long as nuclear waste??
>
> Tushies disposables. They're produced in an environmentally friendly
> way and they do biodegrade,
...if exposed to the air, sun, rain, and time. They do not biodegrade in a
modern landfill. Basically nothing does.
(This is not a good excuse for tossing 'em out the car window while driving
along, as I have sometimes (sadly) seen people do, even though it's probably
the only way they WILL biodegrade.)
--angela
Amy
disposable? You are supposed to flush the poop first. I would be
interested on how many people actually do this and how many people are
littering our landfills with virus filled diapers all in the sake of
"convenience". I prefer cloth as well. I find it much more sanitary.
Amy
Chotii
"Amy" <thunder...@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:Q9JTb.393045$ts4.271646@pd7tw3no...
>
> > Honestly, I don't know how any educated person in their right mind
> > could possibly use anything other than cloth.
> >
> > You asked.
> And here's another "food" for thought. What do you do with a poopy
> disposable? You are supposed to flush the poop first. I would be
> interested on how many people actually do this and how many people are
> littering our landfills with virus filled diapers all in the sake of
> "convenience". I prefer cloth as well. I find it much more sanitary.
Well, this much is true:
When you rinse out/wash a poopy diaper, or even a wet diaper, you know that
the human waste is going to go with all other human waste (including that of
all adults in the house, who would never DREAM of sending their waste to the
landfill) to the water treatment facility. It will be recycled.
All fluids that go into a disposable, as far as I know, stay there. The
fecal material does not biodegrade, and may contaminate local groundwater
through leachate.
We use(d) disposables for the sake of broken skin that needed healing, but
only as needed for baby's health. That was our criteria. YMMV.
--angela
Sidheag McCormack
> Yes, I'm a bit worried about what will best work for us and so exactly
> what to buy. My friend, who used to live in the UK, swears by Motherease
> Onesize so I ordered a sample pack from Canada - you can't get them here
> in NZ. I'm loathe to order any more until I know they'll work for us, as
> it's an expensive outlay (initially). I figured I'd get loads of plain
> flat (cheap!) diapers as backups (plus they sound handy generally). In
> NZ, these are made of flannelette, so I'm not sure if they're as good as
> the 'terry' ones available elsewhere. I have seen the Australian
> 'Brightbots' stuff on sale, so might get a few of those.
Sounds sensible, and what we did :-) A colleague was selling a load of
secondhand prefolds so I bought those, and also got some terries and some
muslins. We no longer use any of these as nappies, but they are all coming
in very handy, especially the muslins.
> Question: what's best for newborns? The Motherease Onesize can
> apparently be used for newborns, but they look awfully bulky, and I was
> wondering what I could use for the first few weeks. Or will they be
> okay? I could use disposables, but I'd rather leave using them for
> travelling, etc.
Lots of people like Motherease Onesize but I was put off them (and one
sizes generally) by the bulk. We used disposables for the first few days
(meconium) - that was DH's choice, and as he was doing all the changing at
that point I didn't argue. Then we used the sample shaped nappies, and
prefolds or terries when we ran out (since we didn't have many shaped).
When DS was tiny the 2 Kissaluvs size 0 we had were particularly nice, but
they only fit him for a few weeks. At that point TBH anything was fine as
far as containment went because he didn't produce high volumes of output!
Prefolds worked well and weren't bulky. After about 4 or 5 weeks the
prefolds began to be unable to contain what he produced always which was a
nuisance, but plenty of people do use prefolds all the way through so YMMV.
At that point we ordered the TBs; my guess is that going on to the
Motherease Onesizes at that point would also have been OK, if bulky.
Perhaps use flat nappies to begin with, see how long you're happy with
them, and order more Mothereases or some sized shaped nappies when (if) you
start not to be happy with the flat nappies, and decide then which way to
go?
Lots of more knowledgeable nappy enthusiasts at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Cloth-Nappies/
HTH
Sarajoyo
> What are your opinions?
>
received a pack of disposables as a shower gift, so we used those for
the first few days because I didn't want meconium staining my new
cloth diapers. Next baby I'll probably just stick a cheap fleece
liner in there so I can throw it away with the meconium and use cloth
from birth.)
I use disposables when we're away overnight and occasionally for trips
out. I buy the Jumbo packs of Pampers, but I've bought only a handful
of those in nearly two years of diapering. Pampers has always fit my
DD well, but she's chubby in the tummy and thighs; I hear that Huggies
fits thinner babies better, while Pampers works well for the chubby
ones. I wouldn't buy a big package of any brand at first. Oh, and I
cannot stand the Pampers BabyDry -- I think the baby must be dry
because everything else is wet. They leaked like crazy the one time
we tried them, so now I only buy Pampers Premium (the
Swaddlers/Cruisers). More expensive, yes, and if I used them often,
I'd shop around to see what brands were cheaper but still worked. As
far as wipes go, I use cloth wipes at home, and I keep disposable
wipes in the diaper bag because they take up less room, and because
they're great for lots of things besides just diaper changes. I have
tried both Huggies and Pampers wipes, and I far prefer the Huggies
Unscented. Personal choice though.
As far as cloth goes, I prefer them for several reasons. No dirty
diapers sitting in a landfill, which is great. No gel balls next to
my baby's skin. And I just plain like having cloth next to my baby's
skin, and I like cuddling a cloth-diapered baby. :) When I first
started looking into cloth vs. disposables, cost was a major factor
for me. Cost has been between $300 and $400 for the supplies for us,
which includes the fabric I bought to make my own when DD was about 16
months old, and it includes buying and reselling some things that we
didn't end up liking. Hopefully we will have more babies who can use
the diapering supplies I've got, which lowers the cost a bit more, but
if we're not blessed that way, I will hopefully have lots of neices
and nephews (already have my sibs convinced that cloth is the way to
go!). :) The drawback is needing to spend larger amounts of money all
at once, even if it costs less in the long run. If you're really set
on cloth diapering, though, make it a priority in your budget.
I'm happy to tell you what we have as far as cloth diapering, if you'd
like. Feel free to email me at sarajoyo at earthlink dot net.
-Sara:)
Carol Ann
: arrives, get one or two of several kinds that you're interested in, and
: then see what you prefer once the baby arrives and only order in quantity
: then. It's a shame when you hear of people having bought 2 dozen X and
then
: finding it doesn't fit their baby well. Many of the nappy sellers do trial
: packs for this purpose.
:
: Sidheag
: DS Colin Oct 27 2003
Great advice. I believe I'm going to try using both cloth and disposable.
I will give it more thought.
~Carol Ann
www.bestinatlanta.com/mybaby.html
Katie
<jami...@earthlink.net> asserted:
>Jill,
>We use disposables, and although at times the baby's room does get a wee bit
>aromatic, basically it's always "cured" by taking out the trash can filled
>with diapers. We roll/wrap the diaper up into itself very tightly, so on
>their own, the smell very little, especially for the first day or two. It's
>old diapers that really begin to smell, so as long as you take out the trash
>pretty regularly, it's not that bad. We even use small regular trash cans,
>no lid. A lid would help keep the smell in too.
>--
>
>Jamie & Taylor
>Earth Angel, 1/3/03
>
I second this. We use disposables for overnight and we haven't had
any problem with bad smells. We put the dirty ones in a regular
garbage pail with a tight-fitting lid, line the pail with an old
plastic grocery bag and toss it in the trash when it gets full. At
this stage (DS is 3 months and exclusively breastfed) the diapers
aren't at all stinky (well a tiny bit but the lid really works to keep
the smell in). Once in a while we spray out the pail with Lysol but
we've never had a problem with the room stinking up.
Katie
Real email: sphyrapicusathotmaildotcom
Katie
>What are your opinions?
>
>~Carol Ann
>www.bestinatlanta.com/mybaby.html
>
>
We do both. We mostly use cloth diapers from a diaper service, but
also use disposables when we go out and overnight (an effort to
encourage DS to sleep longer at night - seems to be working so far!).
For us, the diaper service is the cheapest option because we're in an
apartment building and don't have our own washer/dryer. It costs us
$3.50 for a wash and dry which would really add up on top of the rest
of DS's laundry (about one load a week) and our own laundry. And
that's not even factoring the inconvenience of having to haul all
those loads of laundry down 3 flights of stairs to the laundry room
while trying to carry a 16 lb baby in a Baby Bjorn. The service costs
about $60 CAN per month, which includes 70 diapers per week and 7
diaper liners. We buy our own covers. Oh, we paid for 6 months of
the service up-front in order to receive a 20% discount and 2 free
diaper covers, so it's actually less than $60/month overall.
Anyway, I'm very happy with the way we're doing it (diaper service
supplemented by disposables here and there).
Katie
Real email: sphyrapicusathotmaildotcom
Donna
"Carol Ann" <lowc...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:iikTb.206538$xy6.1059507@attbi_s02...
> What are your opinions?
I love the idea of cloth diapers - ecologically, they're wonderful.
Unfortunately, for me, I couln't work them in to my lifestyle, and they
aren't accepted at most day care centers. So while I like cloth, I'm using
disposables.
Donna
Linz
>So it's not without conscience, but I do plan to use disposable diapers. And
>would very very much prefer to find ways to deal with potential stinky areas
>in my house, with baby diapers on the way as well as a cat litter box. I
>scoop cat litter (or pregnant, have my husband do it) very often and we
>don't toss it in the house garbage we go ahead and get it out of the house.
>I don't know what else to do with diapers, except the same, but tossing them
>out in the garbage can would still have them enclosed in plastic bags. Also
>I can't control the fact that a lot of garbage is comprised of plastic-
>bags, trays, packaging etc. If you really take a good look, a lot of trash
>that doesn't fall in the "recycle bin" category, is stuff that is horrible
>for our landfills.
How about having one bin dedicated to nappies? That gets lined with a
bin bag so there's only one per amount of nappies. Make sure it has a
well-fitting lid if you really think the smell will be a problem - and
try taping a cotton bud dipped in lavender or tea tree oil to the
inside of the lid - but to be honest I can't say nappy smell is a
problem. Despite being fairly sensitive to smells (and I can tell from
a fair distance when YoungBloke has filled his nappy) we just threw
nappies into an open bin in the bathroom and there really wasn't a
smell issue.
We started off using dispos when YB was tiny, to avoid meconium on
cotton and to get used to the whole nappy thing. Then we moved to
cotton during the day and dispos at night - so we weren't filling the
bathroom nappy bin very quickly, so if it had been going to smell that
would have been the time. We are now using cotton at night and only
using dispos if we're out for any length of time so there are even
fewer dispos in the rubbish. Even accounting for cats (two cats, two
litter trays) we're back down to one bag of rubbish per week, which I
find acceptable.
Now, once YB starts weaning I suspect his nappies might start to smell
a little whiffier, but for now, no.
--
Linz
YB: 15 weeks, 14lbs 14oz
Linz
wrote:
>On Mon, 02 Feb 2004 04:24:46 GMT, "Carol Ann"
><lowc...@mindspring.com> asserted:
>
>>What are your opinions?
>>
>>~Carol Ann
>>www.bestinatlanta.com/mybaby.html
>>
>>
>
>We do both. We mostly use cloth diapers from a diaper service, but
>also use disposables when we go out and overnight (an effort to
>encourage DS to sleep longer at night - seems to be working so far!).
Aren't babies different! We started using cloth at night to encourage
YoungBloke to sleep longer!
Jacqui
> Now, once YB starts weaning I suspect his nappies might start to
> smell a little whiffier, but for now, no.
TBH, although BF poo is sweeter, I find it's also a much stronger smell
than the solids poo we're seeing now. The solids poo might be nastier
when you get close to it but it doesn't seem to waft around in the same
way - maybe because there's less of it per nappy? ;-)
Jac
go...@ivillage.com
My day care accepts them. I asked them before we started and even though
they obviously thought I was crazy, they agreed to give it a try. They
were really impressed when he arrived in his FuzziBunz. He's now been
there for 4 months in his cloth dipes with no problems. They put the
dirties in a bag for me and I bring them home and deal with them. I don't
ask them to do anything special with them, so it isn't really any harder
for them to change him than if he was in disposables. I suspect that as
his poos become more solid, we'll have to modify the system a bit.
Manda
Hillary Israeli
-L. <k3_...@yahoo.com> wrote:
*Honestly, I don't know how any educated person in their right mind
*could possibly use anything other than cloth.
Well, let me enlighten you. An educated person in her right mind could use
disposables by heading out to the supermarket or warehouse type store, and
buying a case of diapers, heading home, and slapping one onto the kid's
butt. Does that help?
Perhaps more seriously, an educated person in her right mind could look at
the pros and cons of cloth and the pros and cons of disposables and make
the informed decision that disposables are definitely the way to go for
her and her family.
-an educated person in her right mind
--
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net in...@hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
not-so-newly minted veterinarian-at-large :)
H Schinske
>Nope. Not kidding. This was rec'd to me when I asked about what kind of
>diaper pail to get so the room won't stink up.
It stinks *much* less than you would think. (Remember, after the birth you
won't have pregnancy nose any more!) Just keep the lid on tight and take the
trash out every day or so. No big deal at all.
--Helen (who has used both)
Donna
"Hillary Israeli" <hil...@hillary.net> wrote in message
news:slrnc22djt....@manx.misty.com...
> In <c7b085a.04020...@posting.google.com>,
> -L. <k3_...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> *Honestly, I don't know how any educated person in their right mind
> *could possibly use anything other than cloth.
>
> Well, let me enlighten you. An educated person in her right mind could use
> disposables by heading out to the supermarket or warehouse type store, and
> buying a case of diapers, heading home, and slapping one onto the kid's
> butt. Does that help?
>
> Perhaps more seriously, an educated person in her right mind could look at
> the pros and cons of cloth and the pros and cons of disposables and make
> the informed decision that disposables are definitely the way to go for
> her and her family.
>
> -an educated person in her right mind
<grin> Thanks, Hillary. :) I needed the giggle.
Donna
dd_...@kitten.hotmail.com
<youdontkn...@spamproof.com> wrote:
>I love the idea of cloth diapers - ecologically, they're wonderful.
>Unfortunately, for me, I couln't work them in to my lifestyle, and they
>aren't accepted at most day care centers. So while I like cloth, I'm using
>disposables.
DD daycare also doesn't accept cloth, however they also supply the
disposables, so we only have to worry about one in the morning. Other
than that DD is in cloth at home full time.
Di
Maggie
>Maggie writes:
> > I figured I'd get loads of plain
> > flat (cheap!) diapers as backups (plus they sound handy generally).
>
>secondhand prefolds so I bought those, and also got some terries and some
>muslins. We no longer use any of these as nappies, but they are all coming
>in very handy, especially the muslins.
Yes, I like items that can 'multi-task' :)
>
> > Question: what's best for newborns?
>Perhaps use flat nappies to begin with, see how long you're happy with
>them, and order more Mothereases or some sized shaped nappies when (if) you
>start not to be happy with the flat nappies, and decide then which way to
>go?
Well, I've gone and ordered a sample pack from Snazzipants (NZ company)
- a shaped nappy, some wraps/covers, and some small prefolds, which look
like they'll do the trick for early on along with the 'flats'.
At the moment the NZD->USD exchange rate is great and Motherease shaped
nappies work out heaps cheaper, so I'm hoping that this will still be
the case in a few months time if I want more!
>
>Lots of more knowledgeable nappy enthusiasts at
>
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Cloth-Nappies/
I've just joined the Oz/Kiwi version and am still reeling from the
influx of mail. Who knew nappies were a science unto themselves? (Of
course, I'm secretly enjoying it.)
>
>HTH
>
Yup, thanks!
--
Maggie
EDD 28 April #1
Linz
<sirlawren...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>Linz wibbled
>
>> Now, once YB starts weaning I suspect his nappies might start to
>> smell a little whiffier, but for now, no.
>
>TBH, although BF poo is sweeter, I find it's also a much stronger smell
>than the solids poo we're seeing now. The solids poo might be nastier
That's interesting and useful to know! Bloke keeps wondering what on
earth I'm eating that makes YB's nappies smell the way they do...
>when you get close to it but it doesn't seem to waft around in the same
>way - maybe because there's less of it per nappy? ;-)
There's a thought! I'm hoping fewer pooey nappies, too?
Carrie Fitzgerald
during the day and size 4 at night.