Tuesday, June 10, 2008

What Kind of Diapers Should I Use?

So now that I'm going to be a new Mom in approximately 3 months, I've been seriously thinking about what kind of diapers I should use. I want to analyze every angle and find out which would be best for my baby. This is one of the reasons why I'm having my first child now, a few years ago, I would not have really given this matter much thought.

I have always thought that disposable diapers seem wasteful, but I also feel that I shouldn't judge others for their choices. Don't most people use disposables anyway? It seems that most people don't think about diapers very much. But I saw a post about saving money and cutting costs and the author mentioned cotton diapers, they also mentioned that the disposable brands (for the most part) contain chemicals like dioxin which certainly can't be good for anyone, especially baby. I also read an article that linked disposable diapers with asthma and allergies. All of these factors make me feel pretty upbeat about cloth diapers.

Not to mention that you can now find cloth diapers in cute patterns, and nice bright colors and there are some brands that make a one size fits all that allow the diaper to adjust from 8lbs to 35lbs! Also, children that wear cloth tend to potty train quicker.

Disadvantages would be that I will be doing more laundry! One would think that it would be grosser but, I've read that some Moms think the disposables smell worse and are grosser, so that appears to be subjective.

I think my baby would want me to do cloth diapers, because it is what is best for her. I didn't know that some tampons have dioxin in them (if not all?) I just found this out from reading about diapers, so I'm going to have to change the products that I use as well. If my baby is anything like me,(and heck, she has my genes!) then I know she will be happy with this decision. The chemicals in disposable diapers alone have me running for the cloth at this point.

I will also get the added plus of knowing that I am not being wasteful and contributing to the gross, massive diaper landfill! The upfront cost of using cloth diapers is more, but the overall savings really adds up. Especially if I can use them for baby #2 if and when they should ever come along!

Doe anyone else have any diaper advice or recomendations?

*Note: I ended up going with bum genius 3.0 "All In One's" - It was a GREAT decision!

1 comment:

Jennifer said...

Ran across your blog off of scapblog designs and thought I would drop you a line.

Kudos to you for doing all the research on diapers. I actually didn't know that their were toxins in diapers, but now I do.

I use disposibles. I am happy with that decision. If you are planning on exclusively breast feeding the cloth diapers won't be too bad. But when you add cereal, fruits and veggies to the mix when the baby is 4-6 months is when the big change comes. It just gets grosser from there. This is my opinion. I just like the convenience of the disposibles.

Good luck to you.

Jennifer