Cloth vs disposable?

Question

I am reviewing the pros and cons of cloth and disposable diapers. I know cloth ones are supposed to be better for baby, plus I have heard they make potty training just a tad easier. Has anyone on here actually used them? Are they worth it? Do diaper services come in handy? I would love to hear from parents that have used both. Stories would be appreciated!

Answer 1

My mom told me potty training was no different with me and my younger sisters.  She used cloth with me and disposable with my sisters.  I am going to try cloth though because of the environmental impact.  Who knows if i'll be able to stick with it - lots of extra laundry.

Answer 2

I have four children from almost-7 down to 1, and baby #5 due in January.  I have used cloth diapers.  Right now I use prefolds with pins, fleece liner to keep skin dry, and Dappi's nylon diaper pants (much more durable than the vinyl ones you may find at Walmart).  Prefolds are a very affordable option.  For a few years at the beginning, I used flatfolds, laid 2 together and folded them out.  Prefolds are more convenient, but flatfolds aren't the end of the world.

Personally, I usually end up using disposable diapers at night, especially with 2 of mine that were prone to rash.  I also use disposable when out and about.  And I use disposable for the first few weeks postpartum.  But, the majority of the time I use cloth.

I've never used a diaper service.  I shake off excess p**p, put the diapers in a dry pail, and wash twice a week.  My diapers do have some staining, but no one else sees them.  So, I don't really care as long as they're clean.  Other people have a cleaning plan that minimizes staining.  BTW, by law, for health reasons (read the package), you're supposed to shake excess p**p off disposable diapers too, so cloth really aren't that much more work.

Definitely would recommend cloth diapers for financial reasons.  I also feel it's wasteful to be throwing out several thousands of diapers between birth and potty training.

Answer 3

I have used both, and prefer cloth. Depending on what you go with cloth can be cheaper. I like the prefolds with a simple wrap cover. Prefolds are inexpensive and I only needed about 8-10 covers total. They were only slightly messy, if you breastfeed it's less mess to deal with.

I will get  diaper service for the first month after my baby is born, just to help with the transition, it's about 95.00 for the month. Less than I would spend on disposables anyway.

Answer 4

I used cloth. I used a diaper service.  I loved it.  The dollar savings weren't really significant with a service, but it was much better for baby's bottom and for the environment ... and no more difficult.  If you have a service available, definitely consider it.  (Alas, there aren't many around any more.)

I switched to disposibles for the last 6 months or so. (My daughter was a toddler who wet VERY infreuqently, so it wasn't cost effective to use the service [I needed to get, and pay for,  at least 50 diapers a week, and she never used that many]). When she was ready for potty training (2 years, 8 months) she trained easily.

Answer 5

I thought about using cloth.  But have always used disposable.  I just felt it would be easier, and would just throw them out.  Rather than having to use more of my time away from my babies and adding to the list of a million other things I have to do to clean diapers.  That was my deal breaker for disposable diapers.

Answer 6

I've used both...disposable are very convenient, but cloth are better for the enviornment...cloth are messy....money wise, the both come out the same...I'd still choose disposable..

Answer 7

I chose disposable because I just really didn't want to deal with the mess and laundry of cloth diapers. I tried cloth diapers a few times and I always ended up throwing them away to avoid the mess.