Alternatives to Disposable Diapers

The amount of disposable diapers the average child will use in their lifetime is a staggering 5000 or more. Think of all that filling our landfills, much of it with the solid waste still intact because although you are supposed to dump it into the toilet, few actually do. Aside from the environmental impacts of manufacture and disposal, there is the problem of what the diaper is made with: carcinogens such as dioxins (to bleach the paper or cotton), and sodium polyacrylate (the absorbent gel) that are clinging to your child’s mucous membranes. The idea of cloth diapers seems better in your mind.

But you wonder, what kind of cloth diapers should I buy? Cloth diapers have changed so much since our mothers’ or grandmothers’ time. They used to be huge sheets of cotton that you had to be a master folder to get to go on your baby, and took pins, and if you were lucky, plastic or rubber pants over the outside to keep leaks in.

Now there are so many fun styles that, while cloth diapering can be an economical investment, it can also be quite an addiction. Let me cover the basic kinds of cloth there are out there.

Prefolds are about as basic a diaper you can get These are what most diapering services use. These are several layers of cotton weave sewn together in a rectangle shape, and are used with some kind of waterproof cover, such as vinyl pull on pants, polyurethane laminate velcro covers, fleece covers, or wool soakers. . They come in four general sizes; preemie, infant, premium, and toddler. When you put them on your baby you can secure them with pins, or with the ingenious Snappi, which is like those clips on the ends of ace bandages, and is used in place of pins so you don’t have to worry about sticking yourself or the baby. Alternatively, you can fold your prefold into thirds longways and simply lay it into a cover. You would need 3 dozen prefolds and about 6 covers in each size to diaper your baby and do laundry no more than twice a week (this would be higher when diapering a newborn, because they poop more!). Unless you have a very small baby, or a very late potty-trainer, you can usually get by with just the infant and premium sizes, making this a very economical way to diaper your baby, costing about $300-400 for your child’s diapering lifetime (and can of course be used on future siblings).

Fitted diapers, like prefolds, are several layers of absorbant cotton or sometimes bamboo or hemp and