Pregnancy & Parenting

Disposable Vs Cloth Nappies

Pregnancy & Parenting

Posted by: Le3pstar

26th Oct 2011 05:17pm

Disposable or Cloth nappies

The BIG TOPIC of Disposables and Cloth Nappies , We all have our own opinions and experiences in using them !

They have their Pro's and Con's that fit in with each and every lifestyle whether its a hustle and bustle or a more relaxed lifestyle ...... These things always come up in conversation, Oh what brand of nappy do you use ? DO they fit well , Where can you buy them , WHAT are my options

Disposables :there are alot of reviews stating Chemicals in them causing Early puberty in children , Clogging up Landfil they arent biodegradable , They are Expensive , They smell , More reuglar changes , Rashes ......

Cloth : I guess when we think cloth we automatically think big white terry towling squares that you fold yourself ! Well yes they do still exist ... But we now have More Eco friendly Modern Cloth nappies, That dont require a cover they are water proof meaning minimal leaks, They are made from materials that absorb wetness and last about 2-4 hours There are MANY diferent styles - fabric choices and sizing options Easy to keep clean with a teaspoon of oxygen wash and hung out to sun dry
These too can be used from NB - Toilet Training you just adjust the absorbent boosters to your child needs ..

So What is your Opinion Disposable or Cloth?
Which one is your Poo catcher !!

Lets get this Topic Rolling !!


Comments 36

Anonymous
  • 17th Jun 2014 11:34pm

I used cloth nappies to start with but I found the soaking agents costly and it was time consuming soaking rinsing and washing was cheaper and less harmful on the bottom and I was using the best brand nappies

Anonymous
  • 14th Mar 2014 01:44pm

the ides of cloth nappies is great, personally i love disposable nappies, there conienient, much easier if your going out for the day although they may not be cheaper in the long run i do find them alot more convieniant than cloth nappies, especially when i have 3 kids under 5.

sam88
  • 26th Nov 2013 07:47pm

I really admire anyone using cloth nappies, I barely manage to stay on top of the washing as it is, I don't think I could survive without disposable.

squeekums
  • 4th Nov 2013 06:46pm

Disposable all the way
I was way too lazy for cloth.
Id like to see these reviews on early puberty, are they just opinion pieces dressed as fact or based in real research
Never had issues with rashes
All nappies smell when full of cr*p, mine just didnt sit in a bucket inside, they went out in the bin
Im willing to pay for convenience
I would have thought more changes with cloth as they dont hold as much. That is not a reason to leave a disposable on longer though lol

leesh
  • 31st Jan 2013 01:11pm

cloth all the way. i only use modern cloth nappies on my youngest. i also used them on my middle child.

Jane
  • 3rd Nov 2012 08:19am

Forgot to mention - I used white vinegar as a stain removal (pre-wash) and hung the nappies on the line - the sun is the best stain remover going. If weather wasn't so nice then I'll put them on the clothes maiden/airer.

Jane
  • 3rd Nov 2012 08:16am

Good piece of advice I got was to wait until baby is born to decide what you would like to get. Don't go and buy a load of cloth nappies as baby may be allergic to them. Buy one and then you can test it and then buy more once trialled. I used cloth nappies for first child and occasionally for the second child. With cloth nappies have to change them every 2-3 hours which is good in a way but not very practical sometimes. Saved money by using cloth nappies. I also used cloth wipes which I would swear by. The wet baby wipes just smudge mess around the child and don't actually clean properly.

Anonymous
  • 2nd Nov 2012 08:35pm

Wow this topic has been interesting. I am currently expecting my first child and didn't realise so many people use cloth nappies. It is really interesting to see these different views, I have never even considered cloth nappies.

Anonymous
  • 22nd Oct 2012 10:25am

I have 2 children, with my first I tried using cloth nappies but found that it lead to nappy rash and later found it was from the washing powder i was using. Switched to disposable nappies and have used them for 4 years now. My personal favorite brand of nappies were Huggies as they fit quite well, both my children used to get rash's from other brands of disposable nappies. I've tried every single brand that is available to me but kept coming back to Huggies.
Yes Cloth nappies are alot more hygienic and natural but I couldn't use them with my children.

angelic
  • 7th Oct 2012 09:49am

I have 4 children. I used cloth with my first child because i believed this would be cheaper than constantly buying disposables and also environmental reasons. But at the end of the day when you are a first time mother time is of the essence and time cleaning dirty nappies became a rather big chore. Nowadays there are many other products on the market that make cleaning of cloth nappies much easier. The other problem i had with cloth nappies had been severe bum rash. I eventually turned to disposable nappies. I used disposable nappies with my other 3 children. Disposable nappies are not environmentally friendly, but you can buy cheap nappies today. The range is huge. My partner and i purchase them from Aldi's. We think they're the best ones after trialing all the others. It is though the mothers choice. If i had the time and effort i would have gladly chosen cloth over disposable.

Alysha
  • 7th Oct 2012 09:32am

I originally planned to use cloth nappies but in the end I decided on disposable. I am so glad I did because there is already so much washing and it's mainly all bub's clothes and bibs!!!! It is hard enough finding time to hang out a load of washing let alone cleaning cloth nappies. That's just how I feel though. My bub had some medical issues so I found it really hard getting jobs done.

I must say- I do think the cloth nappies would be much better for bub's skin and the designs are very cute!

lurch101
  • 28th Sep 2012 10:14pm

We, the wife and myself used cloth nappies for both of our children, yes there was the problem of "dirty nappies" thank god for plastic bags. Shortly after our son was born he was averaging fifty to sixty per 24 hour ( he developed a bladder problem ) The cost in using disposal nappies would have sent us to the wall. These day our children would never consider cloth nappies
A, what do you do with a soiled or wet nappie when away from home.
B, the smell of a soiled nappie when it could be quite a while before they get home.
C, who would go to all the trouble of scraping the bodily waste out of the nappie and then washing them in the machine that is used to wash our clothing

ashu
  • 14th Jul 2012 03:08pm

disposable is the best way other wise the cloths are very unhygenic and babies get irritated so i advice every one to use disposables

sesame__St
  • 18th May 2012 12:47pm

i have a 2 month old, and i use disposables, mostly for convenience.
i recently bought my first house, and because of a tigh budget, had to buy a small unit. the land is soo small that i have a teeny tiny clothes line, that is not undercover, and a patio isnt allowed (land:covered ratio bylaws or something) so in winter all my clothes have to hang on clothes horses inside (and like i said it is a small house so this is also hard).
therefore i dont really have a choice - where can i hang all these cloth nappys???
i calculated that nappies cost me about 30c each - and he uses about 6-10 a day.
so $3 a day and me getting to spend time with my son, rather than washing nappies everyday with no where to hang them!..

but each to their own - it is a lifestyle choice.

Glace
  • 3rd May 2012 04:52pm

Disposables: I think disposable are better they are easy to use and no complications to wear.
cloth: they are ok but you need to wash after every use i personally don't think that they are hygenic and specially in winter itis hard to dry them.

legs
  • 19th Apr 2012 11:19am

i was only 23 when i had my child and i used cloth nappies at home i think it is better for them to breathe thru and used disposables when we went out

ashu
  • 14th Jul 2012 03:11pm
i was only 23 when i had my child and i used cloth nappies at home i think it is better for them to breathe thru and used disposables when we went out

when ur using clothes the baby didnt get irritated the r very unhygenic please i advice u to dont use clothes at home also

Sian
  • 18th Mar 2012 04:33pm

Happy to stumble across this topic - I'm pregnant with my first child and have been trying to figure out whether I will go for the cloth or disposable nappy option. I love the idea of cloth (and they have such cute designs!) but I'm worried with the amount of extra washing it will create, and I'm also not sure about the best way to wash them to keep them hygenic.
I'd love to hear any hints or tips. For people who swapped from one to the other, what was the reason?

sattfield
  • 17th Mar 2012 03:05pm

Onto my third child, and have tried about 6 different brands of cloth nappies. My first was mainly a disposable child, my second was about 1/3 of the time in cloth, and now I'm proud to say that my third is just about full time in cloth (now. he's just turned one.) I have to say that I feel guilty for using disposables, and it is a HUGE waste of money. But it's all in the mindset. I feel like it's easier to use disposables. But considering I have a good stash of cloth, and have finally found some AWESOME ones for overnight (Issy Bears, they seriously work for the whole night), I have managed to change the way I think about using nappies, and instead of thinking it's easier to use disposables, I am now happy to use cloth all the time. It's all in your mind. But i'm very happy to use cloth now, and wish I had had the confidence to do it full time with my first two children.

Anonymous
  • 17th Mar 2012 12:32pm

I gotta say easier to change a meesy behinde with a disposable and although I did use cloth at the start cloth are not great for the older age bubs they work well for little bubs but the bigger they get the more the cloth nappies tend to soak through and make a mess!
Although I will admit that in the early days when my boy use to just explode if use a disposable nappy with a cloth Nappy over the top actually works wonders! Also cloth nappies are usefull for other purposes they are basically great for burping bubs toss it over your shoulder you got a vomit catcher not just a poo catcher! and I will admit that so long as they are washed cleaned and dried the amount of times they have come in handy when I couldn't find a towel for bubs or tea towel in the kitchen, I mean they are actually better at drying dishes because they are actually like a towel and soak up the water better then a regular tea towel!

Anonymous
  • 17th Jan 2012 09:50am

I personally prefer diposable, due to convenience and hygene. I tried cloth, and battled a bad case of nappy rash, so i relented and went back to disposables

musicmum
  • 2nd Jan 2012 03:16pm

Please,if you really want to help the planet do your research. Using cloth nappies are not always good for the environment or your baby if you are going to use bleach,nappy stain remover and rinses. There are a lot more choices these days. There are many environmentally friendly,compostable nappies on the market now so have a look at that. And why not on warmer days let them be nappy free and they will learn about what is natural a lot quicker. I have also heard there is a new(old) method which was used in many cultures,tribes etc where you can learn to recognize when your baby will wee and poo so you can catch it in a potty. Not sure where you can find the information but i am sure its out there. I would have loved to try it with my son. We did cloth and disposable(only when we went out) and I wish there was what is available on the market now 10 years later. Good luck to all mothers who are at least looking at this issue. Disposable is okay if it will break down easily and not be a burden on landfill. And if you are using cloth please use organic cotton and environmentally friendly cleaners.

Anonymous
  • 12th Dec 2011 11:45pm

I am a cloth user and everyone who wants to be able to save the planet we should be using them. Not clogging up the world trying to get rid of the disposal nappies. Burning them is no good, burying them just takes ages to break down etc. It would also be cheaper to use and save you money. Or even direct your money that you would use for disposal nappeis to buying extra food or use it to save a little

Pepe

heatherjean
  • 29th Nov 2011 11:45am

I used cloth ones with my first (now 23) but thank god for disposables!
I am pregnant with our 5th and toyed with the idea of using the new washable ones, but with all these kids and an endless pile of washing I honestly just decided to put myself before the environment on this one...I've stocked up on disposables through buying online in bulk and bought a disposal machine thing that ties them up so the dog can't get into the rubbish.
Maybe when we are past the newborn stage I will reconsider the options, but right now disposables win hands down!

marianne
  • 22nd Nov 2011 06:15pm

i used cloth nappies with my 2 elder sons back in the 90's and ecven pumped the water onto my lawn, which was always lovely and green. with my second husband we bought some of the modern nappies, but they leaked and he lost confidence in them. if it were up to me, we would have just put a plastic nappy cover over them as this worked perfectly well with the old fashioned one, but since they are not designed to have this we soon switched to disposibles, which personally i think is a waste, but there you go. all his family used disposible even when they first came out, so i think he thinks they must be better for the child.
I also think the nappy pants for potty training are a bit of a con, as if the child doesnt feel the wetness they cant learn.

kayteejay46
  • 22nd Nov 2011 05:47pm

I used cloth nappies as one did in the 70s, there was no other choice. I took my baby travelling and the only disposable nappies we could find were very hard and uncomfortable, and a lot like the horrible shiny non absorbant toilet paper used in public loos. I think cloth nappies are great, but can see that busy young parents opt for the easisiet solution - disposables. I never worked when my kids were young, so had time to hang out my flannellette three dozen in the war, breeze. Poo was cought in a reusable liner that was a bit like a chux cloth. You dropped the poo down the loo and washed it. My green inspired neice in NZ uses disposables as they are living in a quake ravaged place with water restrictions for washing, but she has her disposables picked up and recycled for a small fee each week. Seemed a good idea to me, rather than filling up landfill.

Killarney
  • 22nd Nov 2011 11:05am

The new eco cloth nappies are the way to go and all new mothers should thoroughly research this topic and make informed decision on what they chose, rather than just going 'disposable' because everyone else does.

sukhy
  • 22nd Nov 2011 07:34am

Oh and even going out with them on was not as diffiicult as I had imagined..yep everyone talks about nappy rash etc but that would happen anyway and reoleved by letting them run free.

I even had eco friendly disposable nappies but these were emergency use only when we had baby sitters who refused to handle terry towel nappies...

sukhy
  • 22nd Nov 2011 07:32am

Hi there everyone..I am a newbiew to cafe study but couldn't help adding to your comments. I have two boys and I can honestly say that using cloths was nit as cumbersome as I had imagined it would be..in fact the idea of putting a disposable nappy on at home whilst the children were with me seemed such a waste so most of the time I let them run free of nappies full stop..it's amazing how much you learn about your child and how easily they potty train when they do not have that layer of false padding..

Just my thought.s and thank God for liners and outer protection for the cloth..my husband used to moan but we both feel it made life a lot easier in the long run with the changeover from baby to toddler and them being more aware of their toilet needs.

marg
  • 22nd Nov 2011 06:27am

I worked out that by using cloth nappies I'd save about $900 per year. My daughter has suffered no ill effects from using cloth and for me it was an economical option. This was back in the day of the big flannel squares, I used to scrub the dirty ones, put them in a bucket to soak, in napisan, and rinse them before washing. It was a little extra work and harder in the winter but they always came out sparkling white and it was one of the joys of motherhood to see them all hanging on the line, glistening in the sun and knowing I was sparing the earth another dumping of unwanted plastic.

ranicles
  • 22nd Nov 2011 12:23am

Hi I agree with Dianah just before me. no problem with cloth nappies, used liner no need to pick off poo just lifted liner and every thing came of on it then deposed of liner. It was not a problem. To tell the truth I do know how parents to day afford disposable nappies,(waste of money), and no good for the enviroment. I had twins so I was using twice as many nappies as most andhad no problem

Stekel
  • 21st Nov 2011 10:30pm

We older folks used cloth nappies all the time, there were no throw away nappies around and I believe that is just as well , just think if people in the 1800 had started using throw-away's, we would be up to our necks in the things now, not just in the shopping center car-parks but every-where.

angelskies
  • 21st Nov 2011 07:58pm

I'm a clothie, both my boys had cute little cloth butts. And I saved a LOT of money doing it modern cloth, the average child costs over 3k in nappies if you use sposies! Add in wipes as well? and it really adds up!

Added fact that even with throw away nappies you are meant to take the time to flush any solid mass (it is NOT meant to go in the bin and yes it says so on the packs) I didn't see a down side to it.

I dry pail which means I use less water, and they are darn cute!

Le3pstar
  • 9th Nov 2011 01:53pm

Cloth Nappies have Evolved Dramatically -

From the Good old terry toweling squares , To full BLOWN custom hand made (MCN's)
which are made from all sorts of fabrics, Have a Hidden Layer of PUL (water proof Layer) which means NO MORECOVERS ! These nappies last anywhere from 2-4 hours you can Boost your Wetness absorbency with booster , Most are lined with Microfibre to draw wetness away from baby's bottom ,

Cleaning is a Breeze - Rinse of in your toilet with a " Little squirt" water hose - that can be fitted easily by yourself ...Store them in a Dry Pail (bucket) with a Lid Until there is a Full Load

Then wash with An Oxygen wash (Eco Store whitener)

Some BIG brand napes are:
www.ittibitti.com.au
www.babybeehinds.com.au

And many more :)

Shez
  • 9th Nov 2011 01:28pm

I like the idea of cloth nappies and used them while in hospital but unfortunately they are not as practical, need to be changed more often because there is no absorbtion and i don't like the thought spending so much time cleaning the poo off them and it costs the same to pay for them to go to a laundry service. I was not aware of the fact that the chemicals cause early puberty but my four are all out of nappies now!

dianer
  • 8th Nov 2011 09:31am

Give me cloth nappies any day! I am an older person who had the ability to use either cloth or disposable with my second child. I opted for disposable only when we went out, the rest of the time it was the good old cloth nappies. I'm sorry but I just don't get why we need to clog up the world with unnecessary rubbish and why spend all the money on disposables? And yes, who knows what effects the materials that these disposables are made of, have on babies skin. To draw the wet from bubs bottom we used to use a nappy liner (looked like Chux superwipes) which worked very effectively! You could use and reuse these liners.

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