A Man of the Cloth: One Dad Gives Up Disposable Diapers

I will be trying them with this baby for the first time. i will be using sunbaby,alva baby, and bumgenuis. wish me luck!

I used a local diaper service to get my cloth diapers cleaned. You pay an initial fee for the amount of cloth diapers you need then pay a monthly cleaning service for them to pick it up weekly. It wasn't that expensive long term and I didn't have to clean one cloth diaper. There are also ECO disposable diaper options. Last, outside of disposable diapers use plastic...plastic comes from crude oil. The inside of disposable diapers uses wood pulp from trees.

I loved reading this article. He made me laugh out loud several times as I pictured the scenarios. Thank you for doing the research and sharing your study. We're awaiting our 4th and considering what we could do to save $. Thanks again for the information and laughs.

May I recommend http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marshmallow-Fluff/249285728437559 bought these cuties- best priced cloth diapers here!Everyone I know is using these- they are made with love and care by a regular Mom who uses them everyday. Check it out ;} Easy to clean, cute and comfy.

My husband wrote his own article on this subject. We've been cloth diapering our son with a lot of success for the past 4 months: http://howdyhepworths.blogspot.com/2011/06/one-mans-perspective-on-cloth-diapering.html

I mean really? this guy tried the old fashion way diapers.... I actually combine the cloth diapers with a biodegradable thin liner on top, so the clean-up is super easy, he didn´t do his homework on trying cloth diapers. I do care about the earth and only use the disposable when it´s necessary (e.g.travelling)

I think this author was just in a hurry to get this article and experiment over with. I use gDiapers with the cloth inserts. It would have been nice if he had mentioned those. In reference to the amount of water used in washing at home, a single day worth of gDiaper Med/Large cloth refills is about the same amount of fabric as one bath towel. gDiapers have a lot less to wash than most fitted cloth diapers. Cloth is super easy.

continued: If you buy like ten diapers of each size, you really do not have to do laundry all the time. If you dry them on a rack, then you save the dryer energy, too. We don't even have to do the dunk & flush b/c Wes is still breastfed and the poop comes off in the pre-wash rinse cycle. Its really not that hard, or time consuming, and if done with any degree of intelligence is clearly the better choice. This article is so stupid I will probably stop visiting this site.

This was one of the most selfish, stupid articles I've ever read. I'm personally a fan of FuzziBunz diapers. Our son is 6 months old, and has been on cloth the whole time. He has had 0 diaper rashes, and they are not any harder or more time consuming than paper. I actually find them far less stressful, as I don't have to worry about running out and having to run to the store to buy more. We do laundry once a day (when he was littler it was more often, but now we're down to once a day).

Con't: I've even switched to a environmentally friendly laundry soap! I didn't want to cloth diaper (as I did it with my siblings when I was younger). My HUSBAND convinced me to give it another try & I'm happy he did. My son has not had a rash since the switch to cloth!!! This was a poorly written article by a poorly educated person (in the cloth world realm at least).

I wash my diapers every 3-4 days (bought enough so I wasn't doing a million little loads of laundry). I HANG them on a drying rack to dry-saving energy. My diapers have snap closures & I use a liner (it will disintegrate) to peel off the poo. I don't agree that disposable is a better way to go! You have to be smart and educate yourself. A good website: Green Mountain Diapers, the A-Z in cloth diapering (I don't work for them, just found them extremely helpful)!

Disposable diapers use water! The production of the materials for disposables uses a lot of water and other natural resources. There are transportation wastes to distribute the product. Bowel from a breastfed baby does not need to be flushed. The water level can be set to small and the diapers can wait to be washed every other day. I think the author¿s stance is clearly stated by his slanted writing. He should have done research prior to cloth diapering to know about the options.

I switched to cloth because of the chemicals in disposables, something this article didn't even mention. I don't want carcinogens against my son's body 24/7. Several other studies show that disposables ruin the bodies ability to regulate genital temperature, which is related to infertility issues. Maybe the author of this article should include a little more fact and a little (lot) less opinion.

i don't know about anyone else, but i do laundry everyday anyway. at least one load, should we switch to disposable clothes to avoid using water? in your list of cons about disposables you forgot to mention the toxic chemicals that cause cancer and genital abnormalities. parents magazine, this is further proof of your complete uselessness to parents and justifies my decision to stop paying for your trite nonsense.

For any parents out there that say they don't have the time to wash cloth diapers, that is just a cop out! I work 2 jobs take care of my child and find time to wash his diapers everyday! I have found Cloth diapers are safer because they don't have all the chemicals, my child never has diaper rash, and He seems like a much happier baby in cloth! I use the FLIP diapers and love them, I would highly recommend them to anyone!

The argument that cloth diapers are as damaging to the environment as disposables is so dumb. With that argument we should all use plastic plates, cups and utensils at every meal. Plus no one should use reusable grocery bags and the ridiculous list could go on and on. Also someone should probably check this guy out. If he is this incompetent with diapers is his child being properly cared for?

Sorry cloth diapering is just as damaging to the environment with all the water and electricity used to do your laundry is. If your washing every single day or every other day your wasting tons of water and electric. Do any of you bother to see how much more water it is exactly for your washer how much energy it is or what about the cost for running the appliances so often. Most people do not own top of the line washers and dryers that use the lowest amount of everything

This person is so lacking of so much info. I use Grovia diapers and love them, very convinient and save you lots of money. you should be getting more propper information from people that have really used cloth diapers. And cloth diapers are also cute! way much more than a dispossable!

The amount of water used in washing cloth diapers is negligible - it's about equal to how much water your child will use once they are toilet-trained, so that part should be excluded from the environmental impact argument.

Most probably parents who are using cloth diapers for their kids actually have time to attend to the laundry almost every day. But it's a pain for parents who lack such time and regularly do the laundry on weekends. On the long run, cloth diapers are great for budget saving but for busy parents, snapping on a disposable is more time-efficient.

Yes, this guy is an idiot. I love my EcoBums, they are all-in-one velcro and have a nice fleece center and they do not leak. I have used these since birth and still use them for my 11 month old. The fleece makes it easy to shake off the dirty diaper. I don't keep a diaper pail as I wash the diapers every day and a half and I just keep them in the washing machine, add hot water and 1/4 soap for a regular load of clothing. This is much, much better than throwing 2,000+ diapers in a landfill!

I agree with you guys. Cloth is better for many reasons including less chemicals on your babies skin, less diaper rashes, and quicker potty training. I am using Gro Baby which also makes a flushable liner like gDiapers has and it is just as good and cheaper than gDiapers. I use a high efficincy washer and dryer and environmnetal friendly laudnry detergent. So tell me that this is making a bigger impact than disposables! I don't think so!

This guy is absolutely ridiculous!!! Why would he even be allowed to write this article? He has NO idea what he is talking about. Sad that he says those things about cloth without researching first. I love my cloth diapers and have never done or had the issues he's had. This article should be taken off of here!!! I totally disagree with him!

We still use disposable for travel, like I said and I love the convienience of disposable, however Bum genius has already payed for itself to my calculations, plus they have adjustable snaps for sizing from just after newborn until they are 2. So give me a break.

we wash the diapers and inner liners about once every day and a half. (with the flushable liners there is no swishing in the toilet) Which consists of flushing the liners, removing the inner liners and spraying them with the shower head into the toilet or the drain, then washing on delecate with cold water. The BumGenius have velcro, so they operate like a disposable, no rubber pants required.

There are days where I'd rather take a disposable and use it instead of the cloth BumGenius diaper, but that's where I have my self-control kick in. We purchased 12 diapers, and inner liners for under $200 then purchased 4 rolls of flushable liners; (which are an extra guard between baby and diaper) with 500 per roll for only about $15, Aidan is almost 3 months old, we still have 2 rolls of the flushable liners left.

What about BumGenius? No one said anything about those! I'm a dad who uses cloth diapers too, and I can tell you this dad really didn't even try to learn about cloth diapering. Yes, I still use disposables for travel, because no one wants to keep smelly diapers in a diaper bag, or have to dump, spray and swish at someone else's house.

(con't) At least take the time to write an un-biased article... say where a (arent who actually uses cloth regularly puts in their two cents... not just one dad who gave it a half-@ss attempt. There are plenty of moms (on your own boards even... who use & love cloth) Why not ask some of them for a better article.

(Con't) There is no multiple dunking & flushing, no copious amounts of baking soda, and certainly no daily washing. Being the victim of a very mis-informed & un-educated saleswoman, is not the fault of the diaper.

I must say... from one journalist to another, that I'm appalled at the lack of journalistic integrity to say the least in this article!! I didn't know any better with my two younger children, & used disposables. I also use them for my daycare children... cloth diapering is far easier!

Ewe, so gross! I don't know any of my cloth diapering friends who dunk 'n' swish. Get real! Our family has been cloth diapering for over 30 years and not once has anyone ever put their hands in a toilet. This guy is a complete fool. Parenting Magazine wouldn't dare risk saying anything positive about cloth diapering because they don't want to risk the financial benefits they receive from advertisers such as Pampers, Huggies, Luvs, etc. Obviously they are in it for the $$$, not the truth.

baby #8 and I am a first time cloth diaper user. I love it! it's so quick and easy to change a cloth diaper and they're so easy to wash (and it doesn't take 10 min/diaper since you wash them all at the same time). plus, there is no way that disposables are better for the enviroment. it's so sad that if you were going to do articles on cloth diapers that you wouldn't take the time to find someone more experienced and cloth diaper friendly. :(

I have never had to 'dunk and swish' once, nor have I spent countless hours washing and drying diapers, etc. I'm sorry that you have been uninformed and have had a bad experience. Cloth diapers are far better for the environment than disposables, considering the fact that they do not spend upwards of 300 years in a landfill and contain chemicals. When comparing the impacts of cloth vs disposables, one forgets to include the resources it takes to make disposable diapers.

I run an online cloth diaper store. It is a shame such a reputable magazine would publish a negative story about cloth diapering from someone who just used cloth for a short time. Anyone who sticks with cloth diapers past the first few weeks should begin to develop a routine for changing and washing the diapers. I think this magazine should find a parent who is new to cloth diapers that will commit to use them for a year and THEN publish their story.

(cont. from my first comment below) I'm honestly appalled that a resource as respected as Parents Mag would mislead prospective cloth diaperers by publishing such a badly researched piece. Please feel free to contact me, as I'd be more than happy to write an equally opinionated piece from the point of view of a first time mom who has found cloth diapering to be, perhaps, the most hassle free part of babyhood!

WTH? I'm assuming that your ability to write this piece signifies some level of intelligence, hence my bafflement of the complete and utter idiocy of it's content. In the almost 9 months of cloth diapering our daughter, my husband nor I have ever once had need to dunk and swish (ew), used a speck of baking soda, or flushed more than once to dispose of baby poo. Oh yeah, and we regularly use our luxurious velour cloth wipes on ourselves, too.

He should have done MORE research and better educated himself. And as far as risking sticking your one year old with a diaper pin, that's why Snappis were invented. They are a safer alternative. This guy is NOT educated on cloth diapering AT ALL!!! And you do you do NOT have to flush the toilet three times, and you do NOT have to empty half a box of baking soda on a diaper. There are WAY more types of cloth diapers than prefolds!

I have been happily using gdiapers for 4 months now. I did a huge amount of research and read many reviews of them beforehand and people definitely either love or hate them. I have never experienced the "white powder floating in the air" or read of any one else having that issue.

I would recommend that anyone who wants to try cloth diapers give Bum Genius 3.0 a try. (google it for places to buy). They are one size, fit great, and you could get away with spending less than $500 for the whole time that your baby is in diapers. ravenwrenmama is correct....you do NOT need to dunk them in the toilet. Just keep them in a tightly closed diaper pail and wash every two to three days.

I use cloth with my youngest, but my three oldest were in daycare and I have yet to find a daycare (home or not) that will use them.

I have used cloth with my two children and will do so with this third one (eta Feb 2010) so far, I have spent less than $500 TOTAL for all of their diapering needs and the diapers and covers have been handed down and handed back numerous times. Try that with a "disposable"!

AND you are most definitely supposed to flush ANY solid waste from a disposable, as landfills are not set up to deal with human feces (it actually says this in super fine print on the packages of plastic diapers.) You also don't need to dunk cloth in the toilet, that's really gross ;-) and outdated.

Egads man! There are huge flaws to the logic here. Cloth only has to be manufactured ONCE. The washing, if done in an HE machine is not a major environmental disaster. Whereas each disposable uses water in the processing from growing and pulping the trees to mixing the chemicals to cooling the plastics, etc....

Your article is very informative. I'm now pregnant with my 3rd child and considered cloth with the first two but didn't have the time to "experiment". With this last one I figured i'd do cloth but you've helped me decide to save the environment another way! Thank you soo much! Involved Dad's ROCK!

g diapers saved us and the environment! check them out.