Cloth diapers. More than I wanted to know.

I was checking out some new dad blogs the other day when I started to read on Thingambaby.com a four part "Dr. Strangepoop" series about reusable diapers. Reusable diapers? I've never given much thought to reusable diapers. To me it just seemed like an old fashioned way of doing things, so old fashioned in fact that when I first read "reusable diapers" my gut reaction was to think he was reusing disposable diapers. But I guess there are lots of people out there who are doing this, and the technology has gotten a lot better than the fold and pin days of our mothers.

I can't argue with the reasons for doing it - better for the environment, cheaper etc. It all makes sense, but honestly I've got to say that not having to wipe off then launder dirty cloth diapers is one of life's luxuries that I can afford. Environment be damned.

Part 1: Dr. Strangepoop: Preamble for Cloth Diapers [Thingamababy.com] (the other parts are linked to in that article).

Also check out new soon-to-be-dad blogger Webgoonies.com. Especially his (facetious I hope) "Baby's First Year Expectations" in the "Tidbits" section of his right hand column. Oh to be expecting again...

Comments

[Clint Carter]

My wife is huge into cloth diapers. They can be messy and fragrant, as a matter of fact they are absolutely disgusting. I hate them but we are a team so I comply. The cloth wipes are equally enjoyable.

[ThreePts]

Thanks for the bit about my website.

[AJ]

Oh yeah... wiping poop off your baby's butt is far grosser than wiping an occassional bit off a diaper. That's why I say, if you've got the guts to change disposable diapers, you've got the guts for reusables.

[AJ]

I launder with the same amount of regular detergent I use for our clothes. Water use is at a minimum because we have a front loading washer (more efficient). I occassionally add a cup of vinegar to quelch odor. No bleach.

There's actually very little "wiping off" of poop. I use biodegradeable flushable liners. Slide the liner into the toilet and I'm done. Once in a blue moon it's a little messy. I guess I should clarify that in the blog posting.

A good portion of most throwaway diapers comes from petroleum, which taxes the world, not just the local environment. But anyhow, I went with resuables for many other great reasons.

[Karyn]

At the risk of getting flamed, there are environmental reasons for NOT using cloth diapers - in areas prone to drought the use of scarce water to launder them taxes the natural resource. Also all the bleach and detergents can't be good ....