We are using a cloth diaper service - it's fantastic!!! I don't feel as guilty about the disposable waste and I don't have to wash the cloths - just the wraps. I think it's win/win...
Wed, 08/06/2008 - 11:07 — Lacy
We do about 95% cloth as well. We started at 3 months because I just felt too guilty about all the garbage that takes something like 500 years to decompose. It's something that even just one baby makes a huge difference. It was expensive to start - about $450 for 23 BumGenius one size diapers and a diaper sprayer - but I did the math for disposables and we're saving money already 7 months later. We use a dry pail, flushable diaper liners as well for easier clean up, and I wouldn't do it without the diaper sprayer! I use Arm & Hammer Essentials detergent (better for environment) and get no diaper rash, leaking, or any other problems. I use disposables overnight because they absorb more and I don't think extra stuffing in the cloth diaper would be comfortable to sleep on, but that's pretty much it.
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 11:29 — aberdeen14
We are primarily diaper-free! We started infant potty training (EC) when my son was 7 months. He's now just over a year and we go diaper-free when home and for naps. It was so easy and we were so successful the first day we started. We save lots of money and are doing good for the environment and love being able to communicate with our son about his elimination.
Fri, 08/01/2008 - 13:44 — Ashlea
I'm very interested in this diaper free business but I am also confused. I'm assuming it doesn't work 100% of the time and there are quite a few messes to clean up here and there.
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 15:26 — melljones
That is amazing, diaper free so early. I will have to look into how you do that so young.
Tue, 08/26/2008 - 16:13 — Elena B
very impressive! good job!
Mon, 07/28/2008 - 22:20 — rjdoghouse
I used cloth when I was off, but now that I'm back at work, I use disposables. I'll go back to cloth when baby #2 is born.
As for environmentally friendly diapers -
G-diapers are the ones to look for. They use a cover and liner, kind of like cloth, but they are a disposable insert, that you can flush or compost. This way you aren't putting all that plastic into the landfill. They have a website where you can watch a video about them and they are now available in many locations across the country.
Seventh Generation makes diapers, but they are still plastic and don't decompose in the landfill. They are, however, made in a more friendly way (I believe they are chlorine free)
Mon, 07/28/2008 - 11:54 — Ashlea
I think I saw disposable diapers that were eco friendly somewhere and I can't for the life of me remember if I saw them on 'The View' or at a nursing clinic I was at. I'll have to rattle my brain a bit but I'll be sure to post them if I can find them!
Mon, 07/28/2008 - 11:29 — Psmommy
I use disposable diapers. I think if using cloth was somehow made easier than more people would do so. I also have a question...why is it that a lot of people don't seem to be potty training their child until they are two years old or even older. I mean...if the child can walk and talk to you than stating the potty training seems like a great idea to me. I know things take time. I plan to start my child as soon as shes walking and talking. I really don't see any reson to wait. Plus the sooner shes out of diapers the better it will be for us and the rest of the world.
Mon, 07/28/2008 - 11:19 — Karmakatsu
Unfortunately we use disposables. I know they're harsh on the environment & I do my best to balance that out by recycling everything that I possibly can in my home.
Mon, 07/28/2008 - 09:59 — Shaninna
Disposable diapers ~ unfortunately ~ are easy and convenient! Is there a product out there more eco-friendly with the same ease and at the same cost?
Shaninna
Mon, 07/28/2008 - 09:51 — sdanckert
We use cloth only. It took a lot of experimenting to find something I loved (DS #1 took a bit of experimenting!) but I love it and don't ever want to use ANY of the bleached, chemical-laden, not-so-cute disposables on DS #2!
As for washing, not a problem at all! We use flushable rice paper inserts that catch everything and use a front loader to decrease the water used. There are lots of gentle detergents available that are much less harmful than the ivory some people have been suggested to use on poor baby's skin!
As for the cost - diaperswappers.com is an awesome place to trade or buy and discuss diapers with other earth-saving and baby-spoiling mothers!
Dare I say, after appreciating all of the dioxins etc in disposables I even switched to cloth for myself and much prefer the feel of bamboo velour to the bleached paper of disposables!
Mon, 07/28/2008 - 06:59 — DianaI
I thought of using cloth diapers, but then I took into consideration all the time I would have to take to do laundry and the chemicals used to get the cloth diapers clean and did I really want that next to my baby's skin? I know there are laundry products out there safe for baby and the environment, but do they really work on whites? So I chose to go with disposables. But I am interested in diaper free...seems so much less costly.
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 22:03 — baby.gonnermann
As for the time it takes to do laundry ... really, what's an extra load of laundry every couple of days? I do cloth diapers and I'm doing a load of diapers once every three or four days (my boy doesn't poop much!!). I'm already doing an average of one load a day, so an extra one every couple of days is really nothing.
I'm using the Bummis brand of cloth diapers, and it says right in the instructions NOT to use any soap with harsh chemicals, otherwise you'll end up with leaching and leaking. I use an environmentally, baby friendly soap to clean my diapers, and they come out just fine. In order to properly clean the diapers right from the start, there should be baking soda and/or vinegar in the diaper pail, and that helps to keep the diapers extra clean. So really, there are no harsh chemicals against your baby's bottom.
Wed, 08/06/2008 - 07:16 — DianaI
Thanks for the tip. May I ask what is the brand of laundry soap that you use?
Sun, 07/27/2008 - 16:57 — HollyC
I used cloth until my area started recycling diapers. Now I can use disposable and feel less guilty.
Wed, 07/23/2008 - 21:01 — Cyansmom
I use cloth 95% of the time. I love CDs sooo much. They are so cute and I like the fact that I'm not throwing tons of stuff out in the garbage.
My babe loves them too!
Tue, 07/22/2008 - 15:40 — Ashlea
I think I would have to stare at my son all day to get any kind of cue as to when he's going to pee. That's amazing for the moms that can actually do diaper free.
Tue, 07/22/2008 - 15:28 — missrisse
I love gdiapers cuz I feel like I can still do my bit to help out the environment with the convenience of disposables! With twin boys, I'm not brave enough to go diaper free!!
Tue, 07/22/2008 - 08:42 — Andie7a
Diaper free is also called EC or elimnation Communication. You take cues from the baby as to when they need to go, then just take them to the toilet. I tried this out but was only able to catch the poops, but i do know of people who sucessfully use this technique. And LOL at free range baby.
Tue, 07/22/2008 - 15:26 — columbia
I wish I could read the cues that well
Mon, 07/21/2008 - 19:47 — Ashlea
My husband says it's called free range baby! Just put them out in the yard and hose them off when needed!!
I don't think there is a misunderstanding there must be some other kind of meaning because babies can't come out potty trained!
Mon, 07/21/2008 - 17:18 — columbia
What exactly is diaper free. You let them pee if they have to and clean up? I have never herd of it. Am I just misunderstanding this. Does it actually mean potty trained?
Mon, 07/28/2008 - 09:57 — sdanckert
You take the "cues" from the baby and hold them over the potty or toilet (there are many books on this) and provide great rewards (cheering etc) and it seems that a form of schedule starts to occur where you take them without cues and they go. My good friend has accomplished this for poos (wouldn't it be great not to have to clean that up!) but her baby still wears a diaper. She did it out of necessity - i.e. baby would poo every time the diaper was removed! I was too nervous to ever try but am envious now....
Mon, 07/21/2008 - 15:40 — Ashlea
Just the thought of 'diaper free' scars me!
Mon, 07/28/2008 - 11:15 — amiezing
I use disposable daipers and dont like to but are more flexible and easyer for me with 4 kids!!
Good thing i think my son is ready to start potty tranning at 21 months!!!
Comments
Disposable are somuch easier.
We are using a cloth diaper service - it's fantastic!!! I don't feel as guilty about the disposable waste and I don't have to wash the cloths - just the wraps. I think it's win/win...
We do about 95% cloth as well. We started at 3 months because I just felt too guilty about all the garbage that takes something like 500 years to decompose. It's something that even just one baby makes a huge difference. It was expensive to start - about $450 for 23 BumGenius one size diapers and a diaper sprayer - but I did the math for disposables and we're saving money already 7 months later. We use a dry pail, flushable diaper liners as well for easier clean up, and I wouldn't do it without the diaper sprayer! I use Arm & Hammer Essentials detergent (better for environment) and get no diaper rash, leaking, or any other problems. I use disposables overnight because they absorb more and I don't think extra stuffing in the cloth diaper would be comfortable to sleep on, but that's pretty much it.
We are primarily diaper-free! We started infant potty training (EC) when my son was 7 months. He's now just over a year and we go diaper-free when home and for naps. It was so easy and we were so successful the first day we started. We save lots of money and are doing good for the environment and love being able to communicate with our son about his elimination.
I'm very interested in this diaper free business but I am also confused. I'm assuming it doesn't work 100% of the time and there are quite a few messes to clean up here and there.
That is amazing, diaper free so early. I will have to look into how you do that so young.
very impressive! good job!
I used cloth when I was off, but now that I'm back at work, I use disposables. I'll go back to cloth when baby #2 is born.
As for environmentally friendly diapers -
G-diapers are the ones to look for. They use a cover and liner, kind of like cloth, but they are a disposable insert, that you can flush or compost. This way you aren't putting all that plastic into the landfill. They have a website where you can watch a video about them and they are now available in many locations across the country.
Seventh Generation makes diapers, but they are still plastic and don't decompose in the landfill. They are, however, made in a more friendly way (I believe they are chlorine free)
I think I saw disposable diapers that were eco friendly somewhere and I can't for the life of me remember if I saw them on 'The View' or at a nursing clinic I was at. I'll have to rattle my brain a bit but I'll be sure to post them if I can find them!
I use disposable diapers. I think if using cloth was somehow made easier than more people would do so. I also have a question...why is it that a lot of people don't seem to be potty training their child until they are two years old or even older. I mean...if the child can walk and talk to you than stating the potty training seems like a great idea to me. I know things take time. I plan to start my child as soon as shes walking and talking. I really don't see any reson to wait. Plus the sooner shes out of diapers the better it will be for us and the rest of the world.
Unfortunately we use disposables. I know they're harsh on the environment & I do my best to balance that out by recycling everything that I possibly can in my home.
Disposable diapers ~ unfortunately ~ are easy and convenient! Is there a product out there more eco-friendly with the same ease and at the same cost?
Shaninna
We use cloth only. It took a lot of experimenting to find something I loved (DS #1 took a bit of experimenting!) but I love it and don't ever want to use ANY of the bleached, chemical-laden, not-so-cute disposables on DS #2!
As for washing, not a problem at all! We use flushable rice paper inserts that catch everything and use a front loader to decrease the water used. There are lots of gentle detergents available that are much less harmful than the ivory some people have been suggested to use on poor baby's skin!
As for the cost - diaperswappers.com is an awesome place to trade or buy and discuss diapers with other earth-saving and baby-spoiling mothers!
Dare I say, after appreciating all of the dioxins etc in disposables I even switched to cloth for myself and much prefer the feel of bamboo velour to the bleached paper of disposables!
I thought of using cloth diapers, but then I took into consideration all the time I would have to take to do laundry and the chemicals used to get the cloth diapers clean and did I really want that next to my baby's skin? I know there are laundry products out there safe for baby and the environment, but do they really work on whites? So I chose to go with disposables. But I am interested in diaper free...seems so much less costly.
As for the time it takes to do laundry ... really, what's an extra load of laundry every couple of days? I do cloth diapers and I'm doing a load of diapers once every three or four days (my boy doesn't poop much!!). I'm already doing an average of one load a day, so an extra one every couple of days is really nothing.
I'm using the Bummis brand of cloth diapers, and it says right in the instructions NOT to use any soap with harsh chemicals, otherwise you'll end up with leaching and leaking. I use an environmentally, baby friendly soap to clean my diapers, and they come out just fine. In order to properly clean the diapers right from the start, there should be baking soda and/or vinegar in the diaper pail, and that helps to keep the diapers extra clean. So really, there are no harsh chemicals against your baby's bottom.
Thanks for the tip. May I ask what is the brand of laundry soap that you use?
I used cloth until my area started recycling diapers. Now I can use disposable and feel less guilty.
I use cloth 95% of the time. I love CDs sooo much. They are so cute and I like the fact that I'm not throwing tons of stuff out in the garbage.
My babe loves them too!
I think I would have to stare at my son all day to get any kind of cue as to when he's going to pee. That's amazing for the moms that can actually do diaper free.
I love gdiapers cuz I feel like I can still do my bit to help out the environment with the convenience of disposables! With twin boys, I'm not brave enough to go diaper free!!
Diaper free is also called EC or elimnation Communication. You take cues from the baby as to when they need to go, then just take them to the toilet. I tried this out but was only able to catch the poops, but i do know of people who sucessfully use this technique. And LOL at free range baby.
I wish I could read the cues that well
My husband says it's called free range baby! Just put them out in the yard and hose them off when needed!!
I don't think there is a misunderstanding there must be some other kind of meaning because babies can't come out potty trained!
What exactly is diaper free. You let them pee if they have to and clean up? I have never herd of it. Am I just misunderstanding this. Does it actually mean potty trained?
You take the "cues" from the baby and hold them over the potty or toilet (there are many books on this) and provide great rewards (cheering etc) and it seems that a form of schedule starts to occur where you take them without cues and they go. My good friend has accomplished this for poos (wouldn't it be great not to have to clean that up!) but her baby still wears a diaper. She did it out of necessity - i.e. baby would poo every time the diaper was removed! I was too nervous to ever try but am envious now....
Just the thought of 'diaper free' scars me!
I use disposable daipers and dont like to but are more flexible and easyer for me with 4 kids!!
Good thing i think my son is ready to start potty tranning at 21 months!!!