Cloth diapers or disposables

Today I set off to find cloth diapers.  With my fourth and last child at 3 months I have weighed my options and my opinions about diapering.  With all my other children I never considered cloth, with the extra laundry and inconvenience of cloth I just could not do it.  Even now the thought of more laundry is daunting.  However,with all the new green books, blogs, and stylish diapering options I have found new reason to try out reusable covers and cloth inserts. 

So off I went in search of cloth diapering.  New Seasons carries G Diapers as does Babies R Us and Posh Baby does not carry any brand.  I am surprised to find that this is the only brand I could find.  They run almost $20 a cover and then the inserts.  G Diapers does give the option for composting (only for wet) or cloth washable ones.  I really was looking for another brand that may be a bit less costly.  I have decided to order online through Craigslist or Ebay to find a used set.  This would offer me the lowest cost and get everything I need. It is also a great way to reduce and reuse.

For now I am using Earths Best diapers.  I chose those due to the wheat and natural absorbents used rather than the gel in conventional brands.  I am willing to pay a bit more (one or two dollars above Huggies) for these to have chlorine free and a natural absorbent.  After reading The Eco-nomical baby guide by Joy Hatch and Rebecca Kelley and their take on cloth verses disposable, I was finally convinced. With the thought that the materials in the gel absorbent called SAP (sodium polyacrylate) could be damaging to baby boys by raising the temperature of the scrotum.  This may cause infertility in boys.  (Hatch, Kelley, page 98,2010)

With the covers and having smaller inserts that are washable, the laundry may not be as much as I visualized.  I also have a high efficiency machine for low water usage.  I also am using my own home made detergent to save even more.  I will post my recipe for that soon.  One of the problems some of my friends have had with cloth is that most detergents have waxes in them that seals the cotton not to absorb.  With homemade detergent there are no fillers to do this and it is perfect for HE machines as it is low suds. 

Although I was not a success today on finding the right diapers for my baby boy, I will be posting about my experience on using cloth and my detergent recipes. 

Check out The Eco-nomical baby guide by Joy Hatch and Rebecca Kelly
Published by Stewart,Tabori, and Chang 2010
And their website www.greenbabyguide.com