Friend or Foe?

First Tooth!

Chase's first tooth came in today. It's on the bottom in the front. He's been drooling quite a bit lately and we thought we felt one in the back about a week ago but the first visible one is in the front.

Cloth Diapers

Some time in the fall of 2008 we decided to use cloth diapers for our first child. We had various reasons for this the mains ones, in order of importance, are environmental, economic, and sustainability. We have all different types of cloth diapers.

Prefolds: these are the type that most people, us included, use as burp rags. They are 24"x18" and the middle third is thicker than the outside thirds. You wrap you baby in them and then cover them. These are the least expensive but also take the most work. You have to wrap the baby, fasten them and then cover them. These cost less than a dollar each and the covers are $9-$12 each.

All in ones: We were at a second hand baby clothes store asking if they had any cloth diapers and another customer volunteered that she had a few that she wasn't using anymore and gave them to us. The have a cloth section sewed to a nylon cover and usually a flap that folds in for easy drying. These are much easier to put on than the prefolds. They cost about $15-$20 each. We have about 5 of them.

Pocket diapers. These have a nylon cover with polypro lining. The lining has an opening that allows you insert an absorption cloth. These are as easy to put on as a All in one but you have to take them apart after washing to get them to dry. We have 15 of these. They cost $17 each.

Here I'd like to compare our experience with cloth and paper diapers.

Environmental:

Disposable diapers are made out of plastic and paper and are not disposable at all. They sit in land fills for a long period of time or are burnt and pollute the air. Cloth diapers, ours are actually nylon, polyester and cotton, are not perfect. Their production energy cost is substantial but the main problem is the amount of water that is used when cleaning them. We have a front loading washer that when run on the fastest cycle probably uses about 15 gallons of water. The electricy cost is fairly negliable, our electric bill didn't go up when we started doing them (308 kWh, 309 kWh and 296 kWh for Jan, Feb and March of 2009), but our water bill didn't either. Originally I thought that cloth diapers where near perfect but there is quite a bit of research saying that they have as much environmental impact as their paper cousins. In practice however I think the assumptions they took are skewed (one such research project was funded by Procter and Gamble which has a large portion of the $3.2 billion dollar paper diaper market).For one, we always air dry the diapers. They easily dry in six hours. Second, the water usage is for top loading washers, these use forty gallons of water or more per load. In addition the diapers we got supposedly fit 8-35 pound babies so we won't have to buy new ones every 6 to 9 months as some of the studies assume.

Winner: Cloth

Economics:

The upfront cost of cloth diapers is steep. Especially if you have a large hospital bill to pay. We spent about $250 on these diapers and had 5 or 6 given to us. But over time they easily pay for themselves. The cheapest I've seen paper diapers go for is $.14 each. When Chase was first born he went through 12-16 diapers a day ( I know, I washed them). At that price in eight weeks we would have spent as much as $125. Now he goes through 6-8 per day but even at that amount after 8 months we would have spent $260. Cloth diapers don't last forever. They have velcro closures that will wear out someday but after eight months they look good as new. We will really come ahead if we can use them for our next child.

Winner: Cloth

Convience:

This is why most people use paper diapers. It is easier and quicker to go to the store and pick up package of diapers then to wash them and hang them to dry. We use paper diapers anytime we travel. Anything longer than one overnight, we don't want to be carry around soiled diapers. Cleaning diapers takes me about 10 minutes every other night. Although until Chase was about 4 months old this was every night. The main time that it's inconvenient is when we're gone all day and get home to dirty diapers that need to be washed. For this reason we always have a package of paper diapers in the house. Paper diapers aren't perfect either. You do run out them and when you do you can't just wash them and go to bed.

Winner: Paper

Absorption:

When Chase was younger this would have been a hands down victory for cloth. The paper diapers always left him with poo on his back. Now that he's older I'd say they both do.

Winner: Draw

Since we did invest the money (and are very happy we did) I'm going to stop while cloth is winning :) Actually I have lots more to say but am not sure anyone will be interested. If you have any questions leave a comment and I'd be happy to answer it. I'm also going to plug the kind of diapers we like best. If you are going to get some cloth diapers don't bother getting all different kinds and seeing what you like. Get the Bum Genius 3.0. It's the best. And get them from Wee Bunz in Corvallis Oregon they have free shipping!