Considering switching back to disposables

[rusugiru]

I've been using cloth diapers (Thirsties Fab Fitteds and Thirsties covers) with my son since he was about three months old. I like the fact that by using cloth diapers I'm not adding to the landfill. HOWEVER, I DO NOT like the fact that we have to use WAY more water and electricity now to wash and dry the cloth diapers. It's neither environmentally friendly nor good for our budget. We do a diaper laundry load every three days, using the longest wash setting, including hot water for the main wash. Then the TFFs take THREE goes in the dryer before they're actually dry because they're so thick.

Also, I find using cloth to be WAY more time and labor intensive. It takes about twice as long for me to change a cloth diaper vs a disposable (and I've been doing it for almost a year, so it's not like I just need more practice). And just doing the laundry takes time too. 

The disposables I use (he's in them at night) cost $7 for a pack of 35 (Seventh Generation from Amazon Mom). By my calculations, we're spending more on the extra water and electricity needed to wash and dry the cloth diapers than we're saving by not buying disposables. And given the extra time and effort needed to use cloth diapers, I'm really considering just switching back to full-time disposables. 

Can anyone convince me to stick with the cloth???

[EchoSoul]

Originally Posted by rusugiru 

I've been using cloth diapers (Thirsties Fab Fitteds and Thirsties covers) with my son since he was about three months old. I like the fact that by using cloth diapers I'm not adding to the landfill. HOWEVER, I DO NOT like the fact that we have to use WAY more water and electricity now to wash and dry the cloth diapers. It's neither environmentally friendly nor good for our budget. We do a diaper laundry load every three days, using the longest wash setting, including hot water for the main wash. Then the TFFs take THREE goes in the dryer before they're actually dry because they're so thick.

Also, I find using cloth to be WAY more time and labor intensive. It takes about twice as long for me to change a cloth diaper vs a disposable (and I've been doing it for almost a year, so it's not like I just need more practice). And just doing the laundry takes time too. 

The disposables I use (he's in them at night) cost $7 for a pack of 35 (Seventh Generation from Amazon Mom). By my calculations, we're spending more on the extra water and electricity needed to wash and dry the cloth diapers than we're saving by not buying disposables. And given the extra time and effort needed to use cloth diapers, I'm really considering just switching back to full-time disposables. 

Can anyone convince me to stick with the cloth???

That's why when I was looking into the pros and cons of diapering, I chose flat diapers for the efficiency in folding(folding to the unique body type), and efficiency in cleaning. To my understanding, as I haven't given birth yet, flats wash very quickly, and dry very quickly. So maybe flats are something to consider, :) Your experiences are the some of the cons which I was reading about - cloth diapers with thicker material and/or more material take longer to wash and longer to dry - so they're not REALLY all that economical in that sense, are they? Either way, water is needed to make both cloth for cloth diapers, and for disposables, but if you can seriously reduce the amount of water and electricity you're using to wash diapers, simply by changing WHAT you're using, I think that's honestly much more economical. But that's just my opinion.
 

[woodchick]

What if you changed up your routine a little?  We wash all of our diapers with cold water and one regular cycle.  We've never had rash or smell problems.  Have you considered line drying instead of the dryer?  Maybe washing them just before dinner and then drying overnight? Especially if your LO is in sposies at night.  Or in the dryer you could get a few of those dryer balls. We have those and I think they help.  I have also found that I can shorten drying time by putting a beach towel (or bath towel) into the dryer with the diapers. 

Also, remember that disposables have an environmental impact when being created as well as when disposed of.

You could also check freecycle or craigslist for some different diapers.  You might find that having a few cheap pockets in your stash may make things easier (for away from home changes or for using while the others dry since they dry pretty quickly).  And having an easy option might make you feel better about the not so easy option the rest of the time.

[ammiga]

What if you wash every other day and line dry the diapers? Or only do one short dry cycle then finish by line drying?

We use Thirsties Duos, and those only take 60 min in the drier or 24 hours to line-dry and are super quick for changes.

[DevaMajka]

Originally Posted by woodchick 

Also, remember that disposables have an environmental impact when being created as well as when disposed of.

Yes, that's my thinking as well. They use water and energy in the prodution of sposies, and transporting them to stores.

If it were more environmentally friendly to use disposable as opposed to reusable, there would be at least some "green" people out there pushing for everyone to use disposable clothes, kwim?

But that's just part of your complaint.

Are you sure that it would cost less to use sposies than it does to wash/dry your cd's?

That said, it would drive me crazy having dipes that needed to be in the dryer that long. However, I do a prerinse, then 2 wash cycles for mine, so I suppose I adapted. Could you do one go in the dryer, then line dry the rest of the way?

I do suppose that a fitted plus cover would take longer than a sposie to put on. For me, sposies take longer to put on than our fitteds (which I use under fleece longies, so no separate cover) or pockets. I have to flatten out the sposie so it goes on right.

[dayiscoming2006]

I'd consider the health benefits to your child with using cloth as well. I haven't been perfect about it myself but I know that even those 7th gen diapers you are using have some icky chemical gel in them to make them more absorbent. I think tushies is currently the only disposable brand that doesn't use the chemical gel?

I'd also recommend trying prefolds or flats. I'm not sure, but prefolds are probably easier. I have never used flats. Prefolds also wash and dry quickly. If you switch to prefolds - you can probably line dry pretty easily and they are pretty inexpensive unless you get the fancier ones (hemp for example.) Getting a few hemp or bamboo ones would be smart for naps, long periods between changes or night though. I like using snappis with prefolds, but many just trifold and lay it in a wrap style cover. If you decide you like prefolds or some other type better, you could try to sell your old diapers if you wanted.

It really is up to you in the end though.

[SilverFish]

how old is your child? that makes a difference to my advice... you said you'd been using them for a year, so if your son is a year old, then maybe it isn't a bad idea to switch to disposables.

i use cloth myself, and it's working for me, so no need to change, but if it's not working for you, then switching to disposables might be a good idea. at his age, the amount of disposables you use during the day will be quite small. when we travel, i often use disposables, and since my dd only poops once a day, and the sposies absorb so much more liquid, i only go through maybe 4-5 diapers (combined with using the potty at least 2-3 times per day). it would not be economical to switch to an entirely new diapering system at this stage in the game (unless you are actively planning to have more children).

i read an independent British study last year that showed that basically, especially with our modern diapering options, cloth has fairly minor benefits over disposables. prefolds/flats and covers washed on cold and line dried 100% of the time have the clearest benefits. the benefits of cloth over disposable get weaker and weaker as you move down the line of diapering options and washing methods. AIO's or thick fitted, washed multiple times with hot, and fully machine dried, are pretty much on par with disposables in terms of energy consumption and cost. the cost goes down with multiple children of course, but buying a whole new set of diapers would kind of negate that. this study is factoring ALL the costs of disposables/cloth too... transport, manufacturing, landfill etc.

IF your child is much younger than a year and you're planning to have another baby in the near future, i would say try to tweak your system or consider buying new diapers (sell your old ones and see if you can recoup the costs). if you are able to keep a disposable on him for a couple of hours with him still feeling comfortable and dry and not rashy, if you're able to start incorporating some ECing methods as part of potty-learning, and if your calculations of cost are correct, then by all means, switch to disposable.

in the end, it's silly to pretend like cloth is the be-all and end-all to the problem of dealing with our babies' wastes. if it's not working for you, then it makes no sense to keep using them to fulfill some kind of "green" goal.

[dayiscoming2006]

This site has some good info in my opinion... http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/

[DevaMajka]

Originally Posted by SilverFish 

i read an independent British study last year that showed that basically, especially with our modern diapering options, cloth has fairly minor benefits over disposables. prefolds/flats and covers washed on cold and line dried 100% of the time have the clearest benefits. the benefits of cloth over disposable get weaker and weaker as you move down the line of diapering options and washing methods. AIO's or thick fitted, washed multiple times with hot, and fully machine dried, are pretty much on par with disposables in terms of energy consumption and cost. the cost goes down with multiple children of course, but buying a whole new set of diapers would kind of negate that. this study is factoring ALL the costs of disposables/cloth too... transport, manufacturing, landfill etc.

I agree with you that it doesn't make sense to force yourself to keep using cloth if you don't like it. We use sposies at night, just because I feel like it. ;)

Would you mind sharing more info on that study so I might be able to find it? The numbers don't sound right to me, based on my calculations of cost of cloth vs. sposies. I took into consideration washing, detergent, and using a dryer part of the time. And I bought some more expensive cd's (though mine never take more than one cycle to dry). I'm not saying the numbers are wrong- maybe they are taking into consideration something that I didn't think of, or maybe the energy cost that I found wasn't accurate. Just curious where the discrepancy is. :)

[1love4ever]

My biggest concern is for the health of my child as far as reasons that I use cloth diapers.  The Seventh Generation are no different than Huggies except that they do not use chlorine, that is it.  They still have all of the other things mentioned in these links.  Please read about some of the chemicals found in disposables, and the dangers.  These are just a few of many of the articles on this issue.

As far as all the washing and drying, it does sound like you need a new routine, and some new diapers.  I have Happy Heinys Organic one size pocket diapers, and I use Fuzzibunz and Joey Buns hemp inserts.  They all dry really fast.  I just wash them on a regular cycle, small load, hot water, and dry them on low heat for about 40 minutes, and that is it! 

Please think of all the cancer causing agents that are in disposables, all the off-gassing they emit, and what your child will be exposed to!

http://www.babiesnappies.co.uk/2008/06/19/scary-sposies/ 

http://www.awchamburg.org/health-and-home-articles/childrens-family-health/26-hidden-dangers-of-disposable-diapers.html 

http://goarticles.com/article/The-Dangers-of-Disposable-Diapers/1187686/ 

[dejagerw]

Also, your child will likely toilet train earlier since he's in cloth.

I also recommend cleaning out your dryer. The inside of the lint trap and the exhaust hose might be built up with lint, dramatically increasing your drying times. I also line dry my prefolds and bumgenius 3.0s. Its a great alternative to using the dryer.

[Skinjob]

Originally Posted by 1love4ever 

My biggest concern is for the health of my child as far as reasons that I use cloth diapers.  The Seventh Generation are no different than Huggies except that they do not use chlorine, that is it.  They still have all of the other things mentioned in these links.  Please read about some of the chemicals found in disposables, and the dangers.  These are just a few of many of the articles on this issue.

And guess what else? Seventh Generation is just as deceitful as any other company - the DYE the diapers brown so that they appear to be "natural". Since most big diaper companies are not using chlorine in their diapers anymore, this makes Seventh Generation NO DIFFERENT than any other sposie on the market. Check out this expose for proof that those of us who tries Seventh Generation thinking they are better for our babies just paid 4X times more for a dyed brown disposable. Despicable.

http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2011/lousylabels/

[lil_stinkyfeet]

I wash every day or every other day  and most of the time only wash them one time and hang to dry. I haven't had any problems with stains or smells and I don't

feel it is costing me really any more money.  Sometimes I do an extra rinse and use some Tea Tree oil if needed.

[1love4ever]

Thank you for that link Skinjob!  That is so cool that they have a video out there that I can forward to my friends.  And I totally agree with the PP, I have not noticed cloth diapers costing me any more money as far as utilities go, but I have certainly noticed them saving me money from the $50 a month I was spending on disposables.

[quantumleap]

We used to be pretty militant with the cloth, but more and more disposables are creeping into our lives, precisely because of what you're saying, OP (well, and the fact that my son is a peeing machine and I can't contain it overnight, even if I diaper him so that he's wider than he is long!). I do agree though that a cold water wash SHOULD be sufficient. We moved a year ago, to a city with about .4 seconds of sunshine a year and an apartment with a front loading "efficient" washing machine. I have to wash our diapers THREE times, and can only hang to dry a handful of times a year and it's just not worth it with two in cloth. Are you planning to have more children? Can you wash your diapers somewhere else (like, do you have a diapering friend or are your parents near you?) just to see if a different sort of machine might work better? Is line drying an option? We used to do a sigle cold water wash and line dry and honestly there was essentially no change in our energy bills from childless to having a babe. I remain unconvinced one way or the other on the cloth vs disposables environmental argument, but health-wise, I think cloth is a pretty clear winner. Is that aspect enough to push you back to cloth?