I made a very offhand comment on someone’s blog the other day about how I used cloth diapers with LilZ for a short time and after that? I have decided that there is nothing more heavenly than disposable diapers, generic or otherwise. This seemed to impassion one of this person’s readers as they actually EMAILED me to
A) Ask me what “diaper system” I used, or did I just use the generic ones from WalMart
B) Tell me that fuzzibunz (www.fuzzibunz.com) is the diaper system to use and she uses it and maybe I just shouldn’t have used the generic diapers and pins and then I would have liked it.
They also commented on that blog after me saying “I want to mention to the uninformed about cloth diapers that I purposefully use CLOTH diapers on my child. And I love it. No, it does not suck. There is just not enough info out there about it and sadly, many of you don’t realize that it is completly different from what it used to be. They’re cute, easy to use, no pins, and many are very much like disposables. I suggest you google it or start with http://www.fuzzibunz.com”.
Okay. First of all: What? Someone actually gave me unsolicited advice from someone else’s blog. THAT is impressive. I mean, I just thought I was being funny! Second of all: Seriously. Is there ANYONE whose ONLY complaint about cloth diapers is the PINS? No. My number one complaint? Having to WASH PEE and POOP out of CLOTH. That is what sucks about cloth diapers. No matter what fancy “system” you buy to COVER the cloth diaper, or whatever, at some point, SOMEONE still has to wash the damn things. I was ONLY using them to prevent diaper rash, and I was POOR so its not like I could have afforded the fuzzibunz anyway.
But really, here is my thing. I hate that all of my disposable diapers will fill up landfills and just clutter the environment in general. I do. But in reality? There are way more things I’m concerned about. Like: MY SANITY. Not all of us have the time to deal with cloth diapers. And even if we DID have the time while we were home to deal with them, most of us have to work and MOST affordable daycares do NOT allow you to use cloth diapers because THEY don’t want to deal with it. So yeah, it would be noble and good if I were on the cloth diaper bandwagon. Maybe. There is just NO WAY. My child will grow up loved and wanted. I will don halloween costumes every year and take her trick-or-treating. I will stay up late with her to study for a test. I will braid her hair. I will listen to her cry about friends betraying her. I will teach her multiplication. I will make her MacNCheese.
I will NOT wash her POOP and PEE out of cloth everytime she goes potty. Not when there are alternatives that allow me to simply THROW IT AWAY.
Oh gawd that is just too funny! Some people are just so insecure they have to go around defending every little thing they do to strangers. IMO, every mother is capable of making these kinds of choices on her own and people should just mind their own business.
YEAH ZOOT!!! I’m with you. I did the cloth diaper thing and HATED it for the exact same reason you do. Disposables are the only way for me, and with THREE babies in diapers in my house right now I can’t imagine haveing to wash all those nasty things!!
sounds like that person works for that company. It’s not unheard of for people to use blog comments to increase word of mouth or awareness for a product. And I think that you should do whatever it is that you want to do.
I remember feeling guilty about my contribution to the landfills until I read that the water and bleach and energy needed to launder cotton diapers is possibly even more taxing/harmful for the environment.
Regardless, this is one of those issues where people just need to agree to disagree and back away slowly.
Gee Ms Z, right on but sheesh I do hate unsolisated (or however it spelt) spam e-mail.. But hmm your right of course. Funny post, I need to visit more often
All I can say is, Amen, sister! I refused to be made to feel guilty about disposables when my kids wore them. I had a babysitter that I didn’t want to burden with that whole washing pee and poop out of cloth thing all day. Sorry, but this working mom said no way to cloth.
Having worked for a company that made the evil disposables, I can say you’d be surprised the effort that goes into making those more environmentally friendly, and the success they have in doing so.
Oh, I’d better go pop my popcorn now… I’m expecting the rabid cloth diaper brigade here any second. Hahah
I’ve done both. Mostly I’ve done disposables but I did use cloth for most of the first year with my 2nd (back in 1985) and then again with my baby (who is just over a year now). They really HAVE changed a lot. Incredibly so. But you’re right – you still have to wash out the poop and pee.
I’ll tell ya, though… I’ve encountered women for whom cloth diapering is a central theme in their LIVES. No matter how I diaper my kids, it will never be such an important thing to me as it seems to be for some…
Yay Zoot! And I agree with miss Mir. There have been many studies that show that the environmental effects from sterilizing/bleaching transporting (via diaper services) etc makes cloth, at least presently, almost equal if not equal in potential damage to the environment.
Assvice, heh. Who needs it?
As Mir pointed out, the extra detergent and energy used to wash the extra laundry (and I’m sure babies go through A LOT of diapers, so I can imagine how much extra washing would be done) negates the environmentally-friendly nature of cloth diapers. I’m sure even the most hardcore user of cloth diapers would not stand over a sink hand-washing them with enviornmentally friendly soap that doesn’t work - there is no time, and any time used detracts away from that which you can spend with your child. So disposables win because they’re convenient. Plus, after using cloth diapers with LilZ, you totally desrve the luxury of of the disposables.
She was probably just a salesperson from that website anyway, so I would just ignore her.
Actually when all is said and done, I’m not sure that the bleach seeping into the ground water is any better than the plastic piling up in the land fills. There’s just no eco-friendly way for kids to poop.
Actually when all is said and done, I’m not sure that the bleach seeping into the ground water is any better than the plastic piling up in the land fills. There’s just no eco-friendly way for kids to poop.
I think there’s pro’s and con’s to both. I know that when my sister used cloth she had a service. She didn’t wash them, she just had to dispose of the poop. I loved Pampers, and the pampers corp loved me too I’m sure.
Do what easiest. Because NO one wants to have to drump poop with a crying baby in their arms.
Good rant, Zoot! I don’t have kids so I have no actual, concrete idea about the pros and cons of each way, but I do always love a good assvice retort.
oh my
I tried cloth with Noah…HATED it…like you don’t have enough laundry to do…lets add a dozen or so filthy diapers to the mix.
It will probably even out if you don’t throw away the Halloween costumes.
I love to come up with solutions like this. It makes me feel needed.
Hell yes.
I agree, if I could conceivably afford a diaper service (who will come and deliver new diapers and take the dirty ones away to clean), MAYBE. But frankly, the ease and convenience of disposables make them difficult to resist for the unwashed masses.
Assvice from a commenter on someone elses’ blog…I’m so jealous.
No no no! I cant even tell you how many pairs of underwear I threw away during potty training. I cannot handle poop!
Is it a bad thing do use the cloth but still throw them away? Just buy new. Because I could so do that.
You said it, Zoot! You’re going to be a fantastic mom to NikkiZ regardless of what diapers you choose to use on her little baby bottom. It really is a personal decision anyway, and it’s really no one’s business what you decide to use.
I’m not a parent, but I was a stepmom to a toddler when I was married, and also I worked on a pediatric unit for 2 1/2 years.
I can’t imagine having to use cloth diapers.
Yes, it’s horrible for the environment. But if I was a parent, I’d do something else to help the environment elsewhere in my life (recycle, buy items with less packaging or whatever) but stick with the disposable diapers.
you know, i’ve never seen anyone argue so much over any other topic like parenthood. breast or bottle. cloth or disposable. cosleep or crib. everyone has an opinion and if you’re not doing it exactly how someone thinks you should, you’re going to hear about it.
we were going to cloth diaper with our son, but at the time, we didn’t know how to go about it. i’ve researched it quite a bit more now and have considered that direction with our next child. however, i’m kind of leaning back and forth. anything that takes time away from the bonding and enjoyment of that precious time with a newborn probably isn’t worth it, in my opinion. yes, it’s cuter. yes, it’s cheaper (in the long run). there’s no chemicals and i’m sure it’s more comfortable. however, it’s also a lot more work. work that you shouldn’t have to stress yourself out over when you have so much going on already.
I checked out that website and found that not only do they sell the cloth, reusable diapers, but also cloth, reusable menstrual pads! Ewwww! If there is something I am not willing to wash and reuse it’s my menstrual pad!
Hey there! To commemorate 9/11, I’ve decided to visit every single blog on my blogroll today. I appreciate the entertainment and enjoyment you provide, and I wish you peace and happiness.
LJ
P.S. I would have DIED without disposable diapers. Yes, died… no exaggeration. (okay, maybe a little exaggeration…)
De-lurking.
I just read an article about a trend towards teaching potty training from birth. It involves naked babies and constant towels around. It really makes the whole cloth vs disposable seem more sane, doesn’t it?
Love the site.
Amen. Hallelujah. Ditto, ditto, ditto!!! =)
I had a cloth diaper service for my daughter - and used the velcro diaper covers, stuck the cloth in ‘em like a liner then threw them righ tin the dipaer pail and put out the bag of stinky dipes once per week where they were whisked away by the servce, and replaced w. new fresh ones. It was actually easy and cheap, too. But I think for this next kid I am going to use “tushies” which are an all-cotton disposable. My kid never got a rash w. cloth and I used tushes for her when we traveled.
With a service it is quite easy - but I can’t imagine washing the stanky things either! Let them (the diaper service) use their industrial-strength boiling-water washing machines on them!
But everyone has to use whatever is most suited to them and their situation.
I am one of those ‘will only use cloth diapers’ people. Not that I think everyone *must* use cloth diapers. I just don’t like the fact that the average disposeable diaper takes something like 500 years to decompse. If everyone used disposeable diapers for every child, it wouldn’t be a pretty picture.
That being said, I don’t use bleach. I have never used bleach. You can sun bleach cloth diapers by hanging them on the line. I also use natural laundry soaps and never had a problem. They clean my clothes nicely and DH doesn’t get the rashes like he used to get from Tide, or any other brands. Me neither.
I am not against disposeables though. If I ever have a child, I will have to use disposeables for daycare. That being said, I will use the earth friendly disposeables that can be found in health food stores or co-ops. A little more expensive, but much better for the environment.
Sigh, My commenters. Spreading the assvice across the entire blogosphere.
Another thought…the disposables these days are pretty soft and not plastic. My two youngest never got diaper rash with them and I even used every cheaper “store brand” that I possibly could find. The only time there was ever a rash was when my youngest daughter got a yeast infection from taking antibiotics. Not trying to sway you one way or another, just saying they aren’t the plastic diapers from years and years ago. They’ve come a long way, baby.
You know, if you really wanted to save the environment and not contribute to the landfills or groundwater contamination, you could go with the Elimination Communication method of infant potty training. Nothing like holding a 2 month old baby over a toilet or bucket (!) while they do their business.
I did the disposable thing and, amazingly enough, the guilt wasn’t what kept me up at night.
Nothing gets people more riled up than a debate on how to properly care for a sweet innocent bebe.
Kind of makes you wonder how you did such a good job with Lil z eh? Sheesh, I have gotten very careful what I say on my blog lest I get 23829031 million lectures about exactly what I am doing wrong.
If you use cloth diapers and hire a service, the cost of the servicing costs just about the same or more than disposable diapers. I went the cloth diaper route and ended up switching….disposables just ended up being so much easier for me.
Bravo!
Pee and Poo and horrible things to SCRUB out of a babys diaper, I have seen poos that were navel to mid back : which means it goes over the diaper.
I would ( if i were having a wee child ) go with disposable, seems like a good idea.
I don’t have a baby. I helped my sister with her daughters though and cloth was AWFUL. They lasted about 2 weeks, and she was using luvs after that. YUK!
I tried what were the fancy cloth diapers with my oldest one. That lasted all of a week. Disposable diapers are the way to go. Period.
I am not going to offer the obvious comment that both disposable and cloth diapers consume precious resources - I think it is a No Win situation. Nope, not even going to mention it.
Personally, I think it is just yet another way to inflict guilt on Mommies. Seriously - has MrZ had to confront these accusations?
I dare you to offer us your stance on pacifiers and co-sleeping. Triple dog dare, ya!
Okay, so cloth diapers are economically a good investment…BUT like you said, there’s that whole wash the poop out of them thing. There is nothing worse than a poopy diaper that needs to be rinsed in the toilet prior to being put into the diaper pail.
And the diaper pail, my God, the diaper pail! This is Hell on earth.
I used cloth diapers for my son while we lived with my parents and had free laundry available, but once we lived on our own, I went to disposables because there was no way I was going to lug a diaper pail to the laundromat. I liked using cloth but now disposables are the only way to go.
And that whole unsolicited advice thing…while I’m good at giving it, I HATE to receive it.
hey, I like the new design!
a) aren’t there cloth diapers with velcro now? So no pins?
b) aren’t there discardable paper inserts use you use so there’s no poop to wash out?
c) There’s no garbage fairy who makes the diapers you ‘throw away’ disappear. It goes into a landfill and eventually, stuff from landfills leaches into the water table. SOmeday you may be drinking that diaper.
Shudder.
Thank you for such a wonderful chuckle.
As a mom of 2 tots in diapers, I have never used bleach - and the amount of detergent ? Just enough to break surface tension and suspend the “ick”.
And we use the cloth diapers until they are more hole than diaper, on more than one child usually.
Time and effort - no more than 2 or 3 extra loads of laundry a week, and less clothing laundry because we don’t have to deal with the inevitable “blow-outs” of disposables.
Why ? Because not only do I feel better about being environmentally friendly (yes, I recycle, I reuse, I reduce - and yes, I use cloth menstrual pads), but my babies are more comfortable and have less reactions. Both are sensitive to the huge amounts of BLEACH and toxic CHEMICALS in any disposable diaper out there.
You do know that you are legally required to remove any solid waste from a disposable diaper and flush said waste, right ?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
FIND me that law! I DARE YOU!
I wasn’t going to chime in on this, because I’m with you… why are we so up in arms over it? However, I have one big CON to cloth, at least for a baby boy. My best friend used cloth with her middle son (now age 4) complete with pins. Beside the major pain in the ass that it was, not just washing the diapers but the sheets, pjs, etc that got leaked on…
Are you ready for this?
She stuck him NOT ONCE, but THREE TIMES over the course of 2 years, right through the privates. Obviously, he was fine, but how traumatic is that, piercing your son by accident?!
I wasn’t going to chime in on this, because I’m with you… why are we so up in arms over it? However, I have one big CON to cloth, at least for a baby boy. My best friend used cloth with her middle son (now age 4) complete with pins. Beside the major pain in the ass that it was, not just washing the diapers but the sheets, pjs, etc that got leaked on…
Are you ready for this?
She stuck him NOT ONCE, but THREE TIMES over the course of 2 years, right through the privates. Obviously, he was fine, but how traumatic is that, piercing your son by accident?!
My mom used cloth diapers on me when I was a baby; the first time she changed my 1st child’s diaper she dumped the poo into the toilet then threw the diaper away. I told her to just throw the whole thing away and she INSISTED that her way was right. Why? Because if I didn’t the diaper pail would smell.
Hello? Just EMPTY the diaper pail or better yet just throw the stinky diaper into the trash bucket outside. And I seriously doubt there is any law about this. I inquired about the landfills and stuff and found out that disposable diapers account for only 1% of the total amount of trash dumped in landfills each year.
Sorry for the long post; just wanted to share. Good luck with your delivery!
Okay - not laws, my mistake. Simply ordinances set out by the WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, and supported by both the American Academy of Pediatrics and theAmerican Public Health Organization. Oops.
[quote from http://www.thediaperhyena.com/diaper_drama_scene4_environment.htm
Both the American Academy of Pediatrics and The American Public Health Association advise parents that fecal matter and urine should not be allowed to be disposed of together in the regular trash, because it contaminates the ground water and spreads disease (11). These are associations that are not 'linked' to any particular 'side' in this issue. And yet, what is their 'unbiased' response??
"Disposable diaper packages contain a request printed on the outside of the package that the inner diapers be rinsed and the fecal material flushed down the toilet before the diapers are put out for curbside collection (14)."
[further from same source]
Thing is, the World Health Organization guidelines are being violated whenever human waste goes into the landfills. So, technically putting diapers into the trash without cleansing them is ILLEGAL.
[and the sources they used]
2. Caldwell, Ginny, “Diapers. Disposable or Cotton?”, Eco-Baby Catalogue http://www.ecobaby.com.
4. Allison, Cathy, “Disposable Diapers: Potential Health Hazards?”
5. Peggy’s Diapers Slings ‘N Things http://www.peggysdiapers.com.
6. “Why Cloth Diapers?,”www.diapersafari.com.
7. ‘The Poop on Diapers,” http://www.slonet.org/~scoward/poop.html .
8. McDiarmid, Catherine, “What’s Wrong with ‘Disposable’ Single-Use Diapers?,”Born to Love http://www.borntolove.com .
9. Flug, Rachael, “Top Ten Environmental Reasons For Choosing Cotton Diapers.,”Diaperraps, http://www.ebabydiaper.com .
10. The Canadian Cloth Diaper Association, “The Facts: Cloth Versus ‘Disposable’ Diapers.”
11. Fearer, Mark, “Diaper Debate - Not Over Yet.”
12. Michaels, Patricia A., About Guide http://environment.about.com/library/weekly/aa101600.htm .
13. Iowa Sate University - University Extension, “The Diaper Dilemma.”
14. Schiff, Sherry, “The Diaper Dilemma, Waterloo Centre For Groundwater Research.
15. McConnell, Jane, “The Diaper Debate: Ten Years Later.,” referenced at http://www.dy-dee.com .
16. Reilly, Lee, “The diaper debate: cloth vs. paper, . . . “(Answering Machine)., Vegetarian Times, March, 1997.
17. “The Diaper Debate” http://www.himesa.hn .
18. Swasy, Alecia, SOAP OPERA; The Inside Story of Procter & Gamble.
I used only cloth diapers. You know, the ones with the pins and rubber pants, and never was there so much as a problem. I definitely have to take sides with Jeanne who posted earlier and say that, “all babies should have to wear cloth diapers and rubber pants right from start to finish”. But just in case i have failed to make my point, if i were to have children again, in today’s day and age, my kids would be put into flannelettes with diaper pins and rubber pants! No question about it.
I used only cloth diapers. You know, the ones with the pins and rubber pants, and never was there so much as a problem. I definitely have to take sides with Jeanne who posted earlier and say that, “all babies should have to wear cloth diapers and rubber pants right from start to finish”. But just in case i have failed to make my point, if i were to have children again, in today’s day and age, my kids would be put into flannelettes with diaper pins and rubber pants! No question about it.
I’m sorry you felt upset by the unsolicited advice, I think the lady was just trying to tell you that other things existed (and I seriously doubt she worked for the company! Fuzzibuns are a popular “first-time” cloth dipe since they are simple to use and trim) - I know that *I* had no idea what modern cloth diapers even looked like - I babysat a boy growing up and his mom did flat pieces of flannel with a complicated fold, pins, rubber pants, wet pail, etc. Dh’s grandma gave us 2 mos. of dipe service and I thought , “Yuk, I’d rather have the $.” But after using it (since it was FREE, LOL) I liked it. Then I thought, “Hey, I could do this myself for cheaper.”
We do not use bleach, a tiny bit of natural detergent, and a front-loading low-water washing machine. I do understand the sanity part, though…when I had PPD really bad the little bit of extra work of cloth was too much, so I used disposables; we also use them for trips. But overall I have enjoyed using cloth with my dds. Somehow I’ve managed to get over the poop/pee thing.
But really, the size of house you live in and car you drive have a bigger environmental impact…I’ll still choose reusable products, though…
http://www.earthday.net/footprint/index.asp
yikes. you shouldn’t assume that disposables are going in the garbage; here they are part of the city-wide composting programme.
i was especially amused by the pro-cloth person upthread who ended her post with “if i ever have children…” uh, yeah. if you ever have children, you’ll have a more informed opinion about diapers. come back then.
the fact is that in some places cloth diapers are more environmentally friendly, in some places they are not. it depends on which resources your area has more of: water or landfill space. my area has plenty of water and no landfill areas for garbage, so cloth would make more sense if we didn’t have composting. but in areas like parts of california which often have water shortages, cloth is a very very bad idea.
The one lady said if she had children *again*…
That’s cool about the composting, tho! I would love to do that with the sposies I do use, but it’s not available here and won’t work in our home compost. But I do think it’s safe to assume that the vast majority sposies go in the garbage/landfill vs. commercial composting…
Oops, it was a different lady who didn’t have children yet…but she ended by saying she’d use disposables for daycare. Ah well, going back to lurkdom…
Why use diapers at all? http://www.natural-wisdom.com/
Just think:
In the time it took you to write this out and read all the replies, you could have done 4 loads of diapers by now - much more than you would need to do per week, let alone per day.
So much for wasting all your time washing diapers instead of spending time with your baby.
You put yourself out on the internet, like it or not, you’re going to get responses you don’t like. If you don’t want to hear anything contrary to your own thoughts, don’t put all your thoughts on a public website.
I have a 14-month-old son who wears cloth diapers. One of our top ten priorities in choosing daycare was that it had to accept cloth diapers, but that wasn’t hard to find at all. We bought the diapers that snap (as easy as Velcro without that horrible ripping sound) and nylon pants that go over them. Hardly ever a leak, never a “blow-out”, and this is a kid who loves to eat beans…and who wears the same diaper all night for 10-14 hours.
We use the flushable liners and just drop the poop in the toilet. Sometimes the liner gets scrunched up and the poop goes off the edge, but we still don’t have to hand-wash, just wipe it off w/TP and the rest comes out in the wash.
We use natural soap and vinegar, no bleach, and the diapers get nice and clean. It’s just 2 extra loads of laundry a week, as easy as going out to the store–maybe easier since I can do it when baby’s sleeping. I don’t like the part when I put the dirty diapers into the machine, but that lasts just seconds, and handling the clean diapers is kind of fun. The water and energy used to wash diapers at home is far less than a diaper service; it’s less water per diaper than is used to flush a toilet or to manufacture a disposable diaper.
You cannot smell our diaper pail unless you’re standing right next to it and it’s been opened in the past 15 minutes. I remember the stench of the diaper pail when my brother was a baby, and I think it was caused by soaking the diapers in water, which is unnecessary as well as messy and a drowning hazard. We just toss them in the pail.
He wore disposables for a few days once when he had a rash and I was sick and thought it would be easier. The gigantic mound of garbage was disgusting, and I felt bad for my kid having to wear those crispy plasticky things. They may be more “cloth-like” than they used to, but compare them to nice cotton flannel and it’s just no contest! I use cloth menstrual pads too. I even used them postpartum before I left the hospital, even though I had no place to hang them after rinsing and had to put them wet into a bag to take home, because I could not stand the disgusting plastic pads any longer!!! The cloth pads are just like wearing extra layers of underwear. I don’t mind taking care of my son’s “underwear” and don’t want him to feel as uncomfortable as I do with a disposable pad.
You think it’s nobody’s business what you do, but in fact we all have to live with the landfills and the destruction of trees and petroleum (plastic) to make disposable diapers.
Not using cloth diapers doesn’t make you a terrible parent. My point is that it’s not all that difficult or yucky, and it has many benefits.
Hardly anyone uses bleach any more. It isn’t recommended. It breaks down the fibers. It takes more energy and water to manufacture a disposable than it does to wash a cloth diaper. The “studies” that try to claim that cloth isn’t better for the environment are funded by the disposable diaper companies. There are modern cloth diapers that are just as easy to use as disposables. They are the same shape as disposables and they have elastic and snaps or velcro and they contain poop better than disposables. They are much less expensive in the long run than disposables. Instead of dropping the diaper in the trash, you drop in in the diaper pail. Instead of buying more disposables at the store, you throw the cloth diapers in the washing machine. I use natural detergent and it works fine. It is true that you are supposed to empty the poop from the disposable diaper into the toilet. Read the outside of the package. Human waste does not belong in the landfill. It is improper disposal. Cloth diapering doesn’t take any more time than disposable diapering. It doesn’t involve any more work or stress than disposables. Disposable diapers are notorious for poop blow-outs. So then you have to wash the poop out of the clothes and you end up doing as much extra laundry as a cloth diaper user. Disposable diapers smell much worse than cloth. With the exception of Tushies, disposables *are* made with plastic and they contain chemical absorbers. Cloth diapers do not have to be rinsed in the toilet before they are dropped in the pail. You can spray them off or just shake them over the toilet. You don’t have to lug the entire pail to the washing machine. The pail has a cloth liner which you remove from the pail when full, and you just carry the bag to the washing machine. Similar to removing the trash bag from the trash bin when it gets full of disposable diapers and hauling it outside and putting it on the curb, but I know which one I’d rather do. You do not have to use pins. Disposable diapers take up *tons* of landfill space. They are one of the most common disposable items.