I love reading articles that were written by people who clearly have zero experience with the subject. I used disposables from the time my son was born until he was 7 months old when I switched to cloth. I’ve used multiple varieties of cloth diapers and I can tell you that hands down the cloth diapers are far superior to any disposable diaper I tried, name brand or not.

Let’s take a look at a few things here:

Laundering diapers uses up a lot of energy and water, and the detergents used pollute the nation's waters. This argument by far is the front runner of disposable diaper fans but it often leaves out many important points. The manufacturing of disposable diapers also uses energy and resources and creates waste (both solid and water based – and mainly of the chemical variety) for each diaper that is created, while users of cloth (generally) use environmentally friendly (and often even gray water safe) detergents that will cause far less destruction to the planet than anything produced by a disposable. And many users of cloth diapers choose to line dry their diapers when the weather is nice which cuts back on even further energy usage. Perhaps we should all switch to wearing disposable clothes if running the washing machine is that big of an environmental hazard.

Some fans of disposables even argue that diaper delivery trucks use up natural resources of gas and oil and contribute to air pollution. Apparently disposable diapers magically appear at the grocery store and never have to utilize gas guzzling delivery trucks of any kind. Not to mention the very small percentage of cloth diaper users that even still use a delivery service over laundering their own at home.

Cloth diapers are sometimes unwieldy. No matter how you fold a cloth diaper, you may find it difficult to fit it into a diaper wrap. The author points out in one sentence that new cloth diapers come equipped with Velcro tabs just like disposables but then in the next sentence contradicts his or her own article by describing a lesser used version of cloth diapers. I myself have used prefolds in covers and have NEVER had an issue with simply popping a cover on top and going on my way but many people (myself also included) choose to use more modern all in one or pocket diapers that look and act identical to disposables except that they’re made of cloth not plastic and chemicals. I have changed my sons diapers at the same time when on outings with friends and my diaper changes take no longer or involve more hassle then theirs. My child is off the floor and running around with his friends in the same amount of time.


You need to store them in a diaper pail until your weekly diaper service pick-up or until you have enough to launder. The stench, especially after your baby has begun eating solid foods, can sometimes become overwhelming. And what do you do with your disposable diapers might I ask? The poop filled disposables end up in your diaper genie or in your garbage can until garbage day. My son’s nursery smelled far far worse when we used disposables then after we switched to cloth because the human waste was always present. With cloth, if he poops, I shake the poop into the toilet and the now non poop filled diaper goes into a covered pail. There has been absolutely no stink issue whatsoever in our home since we switched. A dirty diaper is a dirty diaper, I can see no logical reason for arguing that one made of cloth somehow would magically smell worse.

Finally, disposable diapers do not leak as much as cloth diapers (as long as you change them often enough). Rubbish. Again stated by someone with obviously no hands on experience with the subject. Like anyone who diapers a child, I had the occasional soaked pants or need to change a bed in the middle of the night incident with our disposables. I thought that came with the territory. In cloth we’ve been practically leak free. I haven’t had to change a single sheet because of wetness in the 11 months that we’ve been in cloth. As the author says themselves – as long as you change them often enough – applies to any type of diaper that you’re using. And in the case of cloth, you can adjust the absorbency by adding more inserts for overnight super soaker toddlers. No disposable lets you do that. And can we take a second to talk about blowouts? I had up the back, out the leg, in the hair blowouts every other week in disposable diapers. Poop all over clothes, poop all over baby, poop all over ME. Cloth contains runny or extreme poop situations far better because there’s more friction across the cloth fabric and better and more elastic in the legs and all across the top to help contain anything that makes it that far. How many blowouts have I had in cloth – zero. How happy has that made me – immensely.

Of course, if you're foolhardy enough to buy and wash your own cloth diapers, that's by far the cheapest alternative of all. I’m not even going to touch on the foolhardy aspect of this since it’s ridiculous and insulting. The author acts as though there MIGHT be a slight advantage savings wise to choosing cloth over disposables. Here’s the truth. I’ve spent roughly $300-325 cloth diapering my son for the last 11 months. Our utilities have increased less than $5 a month in that time due to extra washing. So we’ll make that a grand total of $380 for 11 months of diapering. This stash will last my child through potty training without spending another cent except that budget busting 5 dollars a month. Even better, I can use these same diapers on the child I am expecting in the fall and on the possible third child we may one day have. I’d like to see a disposable diaper user who can claim that.

I’m glad that the author got one fact right that most people get wrong. Cloth diapers do result in far fewer rashes than disposables. My son had the off and on occasional rash in disposables but since switching to cloth we’ve had exactly one rash and it was caused by a very bad batch of teething. One rash in 11 months is something I’ll celebrate for sure. And like the author said – cloth is more comfortable. Disposable diapers do not breath at all and cloth does, allowing more airflow to get to sensitive bums instead of trapping all that sweaty moisture against the skin. Not to mention I wouldn’t want to wear plastic underwear if I was given the choice.