Most parents go through a period where they try to choose between cloth and disposable diapers. They know that both have their problems, and both have their good points too. It really comes down to what works best for your situation and your budget. Let’s look at the cost, the environmental effect, and the ease of use.
The Cost
If you compare cloth diapers to disposable diapers that are eco-friendly, the cloth diapers seem to cost less. Here’s a breakdown of what you need.
Cloth Diapers
Good cloth diapers will cost about $300 dollars to get started with them. You’ll need the following equipment to use cloth diapers successfully.
* Cloth Diaper Pail – This diaper pail on Amazon costs 70 dollars and can hold a few days of diapers for more than one child.
* Cloth Diapers – You’ll need about three days’ worth for a good start. That’s about 80 diapers. You can buy unisex, plain cloth that can be used for any child, and even go up to multiple sizes. That will cost you about 13 dollars per 10 diapers if you buy basic ones for a total of about $104.00. If you buy the kind that you don’t need pins for, it will be much more expensive – as much as $30 for six diapers. Plus, with these types, you’ll need to buy different sizes more often as your child grows.
* Diaper Pins – Today you can buy special pins to close diapers that aren’t pins at all. They cost about $15 for a five pack. It’s suggested you buy at least enough for a day in case they get dirty, but three packs of five will work fine for a total of $45.00. Or use regular, old-fashioned pins that cost just a few bucks per package of six to ten pins. Hint: if you’re using the pins, you may want to buy a bar of soap to stick the pins in for easy grabbing and use. The soap makes the pins stick through the fabric more easily.
* Diaper Inserts – You can get reusable bamboo inserts that help keep the diapers from leaking. You don’t have to have them, but you’ll like them. These will set you back about $25 per 12 pack. You’ll want to have enough for three days so buy at least three to four packs. Total $100.00.
* Plastic Diaper Covers – You can spend tons of money on fancy diaper covers but using the old-fashioned plastic covers works just fine, even though plastic is usually something most parents don’t want to use. This isn’t touching your baby and will keep leaks at bay. They cost about $6.00 each. You’ll need about 3 to 5 per day. You really will get a lot of use from these.
Disposable Diapers
If you purchase disposable diapers and are worried about the environment, you’ll want to find the eco-friendliest disposable diapers you can find. Naty by Nature Babycare Eco-Friendly Disposable diapers cost about 40 cents per diaper. That’s going to cost you about $5 to $6 per day to change your baby the recommended 12 to 14 times a day, which is going to add up to about $180 dollars per month. This cost may go down as your child learns more bladder control.
The Environmental Effect
Both cloth and disposable diapers have issues with causing damage to the environment. But, of course, it’s very necessary unless you teach your child elimination communication and don’t use diapers at all. Cloth diapers and disposable diapers cause us to either use a lot of water or fill the landfill. You’ll have to choose which is best for your family based on the type of diapers you plan to buy, your lifestyle, and other factors.
Resources are used to make the diapers in either case. Then you must use resources to dispose of the diapers or waste in either case. Washing cloth diapers take a lot of water as well as labor. With disposable diapers they have an environmental cost during the manufacturing process and depending on the type you buy, they may last millions of years in the landfills.
If you’re using the newer, fancy cloth diapers, they’re not any more environmentally friendly than regular disposable diapers and in fact can get quite costly in all ways too.
Ease of Use
The main reason you should choose one over the other is your lifestyle. There is no point wasting money on cloth diapers if you cannot keep it up. Daycare centers, due to sanitation concerns, don’t allow cloth diapers.
If you are going to go back to work in six weeks, go with the eco-friendliest disposable diapers that you can afford. If you are going to stay at home with your child the first year, then you may have more flexibility to use cloth diapers.
The other factor is whether you have time to worry about washing diapers. If you don’t have your own well-made washer and dryer, using cloth diapers can be too much trouble. If you have many children, using cloth diapers can also be too much trouble. But, sometimes children are allergic to disposable diapers, so you may end up having to spend even more money finding just the right ones to use.
It’s important to not let anyone pressure you one way or the other. Do your research and choose what’s best for your baby and your family, while also balancing what’s best for the environment. There are a variety of opinions both ways that are both true arguments, so it’s not going to make or break the earth if you choose in a mindful way.
