Cloth Diapers Vs. Disposable Diapers

It's time to compare the differences between cloth diapers vs. disposable diapers. Your baby will go through 8 to 12 diapers a day when he's first born. Although that number does decrease as babies get older, that still adds up to thousands of diapers that may need to be thrown away. Many parents want to do what's best for both their baby and the planet, but it can be tough to figure out what that is.

The debate over whether to use cloth baby diapers or disposables is ongoing, and both sides have excellent points. Learn what you can about both sides and then make the decision that's best for you and your family.

Cloth Baby Diapers
When your child is wet in a cloth diaper, you'll know it. Unlike disposable diapers, cloth diapers don't have the absorbent materials to soak up wetness. This means you'll be changing your baby's diaper more frequently, which can actually be a good thing when you consider that sitting in a wet diaper can lead to diaper rash. Avoiding diaper rash is a high priority for parents. Many factors can cause diaper rash, including lack of air circulation, sitting in a wet diaper for too long, soap, exposure to chemicals and dye allergies.

Cloth diapers can be better for your wallet. While the typical cost of disposable diapers is $50 to $80 a month, it costs just $25 to $60 a month if you launder your own cloth diapers. If you use a diaper service, it will cost around $50 to $80 a month, so you'll pay the same as you would for disposables. Proponents of cloth diapers claim that a diaper service may help the environment, as they are washing large amounts of diapers at a time, although they are using a great deal of water to do so.

The thought of cloth diapers still conjures images of big pieces of cloth secured by sharp diaper pins and everything near them soaking wet. All of that has changed. Newer cloth diapers are more convenient than those of old. Some are multi-layered with Velcro fasteners, making them just as easy to put on and take off as disposables. Flushable liners are available now, which let you take the soiled liner off and flush it down the toilet. This is especially helpful when your baby's mess is a little dirtier.

Changing cloth diapers can be easier as well. Changing a cloth diaper is much like changing a disposable-just make sure that the back is high enough to prevent leaks and fold the front just under your baby's abdomen.

The major downside to cloth baby diapers is that they lack the convenience of disposable diapers, especially when traveling. It can be much easier to simply toss a used diaper rather than having to store it and bring it home to be washed. Cloth diapers also mean more laundry, if you're not using a diaper service, about two extra loads a week.

Disposable Baby Diapers
Convenience is the number one benefit of using disposable baby diapers. Once your baby has soiled their diaper, you simply take it off, toss it into the nearest trash can and slap on a new one. However, some question the safety of the chemicals used in baby diapers, especially considering they're touching your baby's skin 24 hours a day. Several studies have shown that diapers do release toxic materials that may cause cancer or other detrimental health conditions with long-term and frequent use. 

Disposable diapers also require fewer diaper changes than cloth diapers, as they have more absorbent materials.

Disposing of diapers takes up a lot of space on the Earth. Roughly 250,000 trees a year are used to make disposable diapers for babies in America alone. About 18 billion diapers go to landfills every year. 

Some diapers claim to be biodegradable. To biodegrade, however, they would have to be exposed to sun and air, two things that are limited at landfills. Untreated waste in landfills can also contaminate ground water. 

While those in favor of disposable diapers claim that the water used to wash cloth diapers is just as detrimental to the environment, those in favor of cloth diapers say that is not the case. The amount of water used to wash cloth diapers is roughly the same as a person flushing the toilet four or five times a day-exactly what will happen once your little one is potty-trained. Also, when you dump the contents of your baby's cloth diaper into the toilet, it is treated at wastewater plants, not dumped at a landfill.

As with many other products on the market now, some disposable diapers have gone green. There are a number of green diapers out now, including Seventh Generation, Tushies and G Diapers. These diapers get mixed reviews, including some that claim they're not as green as they claim or that they don't absorb well. Some parents swear by them. They may be worth trying if you're looking for the best of both worlds.