Wearing Cloth Diapers

[LuvsGurl]

I don't know where you are getting your information from, but it's not the 1950's anymore. Modern landfills are specially lined to prevent leeching, and what about all the bacteria from food being thrown away? That is certainly worse than what comes from any human waste. Your information is out of date and incorrect. Please get your facts straight before trying to preach to people.

[diaperbrownie]

I still prefer the oonvenience of throwaway disposable diapers. I would rather not have to deal with cleaning up after using; it's easier to just throw it all away and forget about it. I have enough laundry as it is, and think it would be more of a hassle to take care of cloth diapers. If what the descriptions of cloth diapers are is true, then it's like pooping or whatever into a towel wrapped around you, which I have done before. And it takes time to clean up cloth stuff.

I thinik if I ever switched to the soft side, it would be because I like soft things. I would hate the cleanup, and prefer to just throw it away. My carbon footprint is probably 5 miles in each direction.

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

I don't know where you are getting your information from, but it's not the 1950's anymore. Modern landfills are specially lined to prevent leeching, and what about all the bacteria from food being thrown away? That is certainly worse than what comes from any human waste. Your information is out of date and incorrect. Please get your facts straight before trying to preach to people.

If you are going to be nasty, cite 3 sources. Your "1950's" referemce is totally gratuitous.. The improper disposal I described is NOW and ongoing for the last 20+ years that I know of and is a medical 9/11 waiting to happen

An aritcle in Reason magazine c1990 (not the 1950's and far from the dark ages) discussiong garbage, trash and landfills touched on the then current idea of making disposable diaers biodegradable pointed out that doing that would release toxins and bacteria into the open where they could get into things

E coli has been found in drinking water in Rhode Island just this last fall and in Fall River in ground water near the landfill in 1989 that I can point to specifically and I can remember several others

Anti-leaching construction is very expensive. Love Canal was a toxic waste dump built for that purpose. It was taken by eminent domain fro Hooker Chemical, which warned the municipality not to dig into it because it was made to prevent leaching of toxic chemicals and when the municipality built the school, they breached the special clay shell that was the anti-leaching shield. This last was writtne about by Erich Zeuff both as an ariticle in Reason Magazine and as a book for which he was interviewed by Larry King on his radio show in late 1980/early '81

It is one thing to say something is availible and another to say it is attainable. Good anti-leaching construction is out of the range of affordability of most municipalities. To wit, the skyrocketing "boil water" alerts of the last 35 years and the high level of e coli bacteria found in ground water and getting into resevoirs

Even though the spoiled food bacteria may or may not be as dangerou as fecal (and I happen to know that this is the case), the fecal matters still adds to the threat. If someone bashed you 5 times, would it be all right for me to come and bash you 3? No So that boat will not float. How does the pig being a mugger justify the cow being a thief?

There is stll the problem caused by the prevalent improper disposal of the things, which invites the animals that spread the material around

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

I still prefer the oonvenience of throwaway disposable diapers. I would rather not have to deal with cleaning up after using; it's easier to just throw it all away and forget about it. I have enough laundry as it is, and think it would be more of a hassle to take care of cloth diapers. If what the descriptions of cloth diapers are is true, then it's like pooping or whatever into a towel wrapped around you, which I have done before. And it takes time to clean up cloth stuff.

I thinik if I ever switched to the soft side, it would be because I like soft things. I would hate the cleanup, and prefer to just throw it away. My carbon footprint is probably 5 miles in each direction.

Read "I wanna dump my shit in someone else's lap" How self-abosorbed is THAT? No wonder they are considering banning disposables with that attitude being prevalant

[justagirl4fun]

Read "I wanna dump my shit in someone else's lap" How self-abosorbed is THAT? No wonder they are considering banning disposables with that attitude being prevalant

Not to be a smartass or anything, but who is this "they" that is considering banning disposable diapers? And does anyone think "they" have any remote chance of succeeding? Sure, it would be nice to keep all that waste from piling up in landfills, but I don't see it happening even with the shitty "let someone else deal with my mess" attitudes some people have.

[diaperbrownie]

Hey Christine, I didn't want to anger you like I apparently did. To clarify, I don't dump my diapers (dirty or just wet) in other people's laps. I put them in trash bags and let them get taken to the dump. I mean, there ar far worse things in landfills than dirty diapers. People have all sorts of things thrown away in this fashion. And you would have to be ignorant to not admit that it's highly probable a good number of murder victims end up in landfills.

So I don't dump things on other's laps like you claim I do. You've had a negative attitude today in this thread, and whatever made you cranky, I am sorry it made you cranky today.

Oh, and who is considering eliminating disposables? That seems like quite a difficult thing, to quit making something so inherently useful to parents and incontinent people.

[LuvsGurl]

If you are going to be nasty, cite 3 sources. Your "1950's" referemce is totally gratuitous.. The improper disposal I described is NOW and ongoing for the last 20+ years that I know of and is a medical 9/11 waiting to happen

An aritcle in Reason magazine c1990 (not the 1950's and far from the dark ages) discussiong garbage, trash and landfills touched on the then current idea of making disposable diaers biodegradable pointed out that doing that would release toxins and bacteria into the open where they could get into things

E coli has been found in drinking water in Rhode Island just this last fall and in Fall River in ground water near the landfill in 1989 that I can point to specifically and I can remember several others

Anti-leaching construction is very expensive. Love Canal was a toxic waste dump built for that purpose. It was taken by eminent domain fro Hooker Chemical, which warned the municipality not to dig into it because it was made to prevent leaching of toxic chemicals and when the municipality built the school, they breached the special clay shell that was the anti-leaching shield. This last was writtne about by Erich Zeuff both as an ariticle in Reason Magazine and as a book for which he was interviewed by Larry King on his radio show in late 1980/early '81

It is one thing to say something is availible and another to say it is attainable. Good anti-leaching construction is out of the range of affordability of most municipalities. To wit, the skyrocketing "boil water" alerts of the last 35 years and the high level of e coli bacteria found in ground water and getting into resevoirs

My sources are called common knowledge of the modern world. Your sources are 20 and 30 years old, a lot of things have changed since then. Your "skyrocketing boil water alerts" sounds like a lot of paranoia and very little current factual information. Nobody here buys that load of BS, so I suggest you quit while you are ahead.

[tcc]

Disposable diapers are a major example of the desire of our society to move toward a "disposable society". Try to get a television fixed. Try to get other electronics repaired. You can't take your car to an auto mechanic who isn't computer savvy and doesn't have one to hook up to your car to figure out what is wrong and where. Our society has chosen the route of one-use products - "when it's broke, throw it away" - and once it's broken and in the trash, "out of sight, out of mind". As long as our garbage is taken off of our curb, after it's out of our house, we don't care WHERE it ends up, or what it might mean to us LATER, once it gets there. The challenge has been to be able to recycle once-used, but no longer serviceable items, AND make a profit from it. Now, before the thread heads into the direction of evil profit-making corporations, it is profit, no matter WHOM makes it, that fuels our society, pays people's salaries and grow businesses. Our society is profit-driven. That is a given. And, we wouldn't have disposable diapers if it wasn't profitable to make them. And, given the sheer number of companies in the market, the business IS profitable, regardless of where the used product ends up! If reusable diapers were still in vogue, we would not see the decline and death of diaper services/laundries for infants, and would have actually see creation and growth of "geriatric"(adult) diaper services/laundries.

Doomsdayers can continue to decry disposable diapers - and there will continue to be a segment of "greenies" that will promote and encourage reusable diaper use at any age - but, they are here to stay. They will be refined, enhanced and, presumably, made "safer" or eco-friendly.

It's going to be one thing for those who are "expected" (and accepted) to be in diapers - the infant and the true incon - even though the way they are manufacturing diapers, and parents have gotten plenty lax at potty training, "you can feel wetness" diapers are being made and worn by toddlers longer and later into life! Given there are plastic pants available for adults from a variety of sources, it means that SOMEBODY is keeping enough money flowing in to keep them being manufactured, and I believe there are more brands and styles available for adults than ever before. And, if one truly wants to be true to going green, it's pretty easy. All you have to do is buy a sewing machine, learn how to sew, and custom make truly comfortable and well-fitting cloth diapers for yourself!

Yes, I was raised in cloth and plastic pants. At 55, for me, cloth STILL rocks! But, like with air travel - and yes, as a DL, I travel diapered many times - cloth would not be practical, nor would having to launder cloth diapers in, say Vegas, or have to bring used diapers back home to be laundered. Cloth tends to be more absorbent, though bulky, and is less likely to leak when "flooding", but less convenient. It's a trade-off.

Disposables are here to stay. Regardless. And, some of us "elderly" LOVE to hear the younger generation is trying and finding the pure pleasure of sensations - as well as practicality, like at night, while sleeping and sleeping on one's side and not having leaks - of cloth. May the cloth adult diaper manufacturers be blessed with additional revenue and a larger customer base in years to come, AND let us all assist in the "green" movement in our own, be it with a purely pleasure and decadence driven motive!

[packrat]

Folks:

Regarding Boil Water Alerts: Just for the record, all municipal (public) water systems in America require chlorination of the supply. It is very common to receive a boil water alert, not because of problems with the source water, but because the municipality has lost pressure on the system or opened the system for a repair. These alerts are standard procedure to protect against the odd chance that fecal coliform may have entered the system during the outage. Private wells don't have the benefit of chlorine and are more succeptible to water contamination. (That is why the water should be tested by a laboratory for bacteria periodically) If you have a public water system, you will likely be provided with an annual report on your water quality. It will include test results for organics as well as minerals contained in the water. For those who might have had a plumbing inspection recently and been asked to install a vacuum breaker on their outside hose bibb, that little device is designed to prevent water back-syphoning into the water system if the pressure fails. If you have a private well, these vacuum breakers are especially important, as you could contaminate your well from a pump system failure.

The stuff to worry about in landfills isn't the bacteria, its the heavy metals like mercury; PCB's and the organic solvents that are heavier than water and will leak into the soils and may be picked up by nearby wells. The current technology for hazardous materials landfills includes a thick plastic sheet liner, over which a protective layer of soil is added before the filling operation is begun. All current landfills include testing wells to sample the groundwater for leaking materials. (And many landfills now collect the methane gas to generate electricity)

Rat

[clothbaby]

Those who like disposble diapers probably wore them as a baby.My like for cloth includes comfort,less expensive,feels great on and look far superior than what I call paper diapers.

Over the years I have tried many vendors and styles...thick...prefolded,contour only to come back to what I feel are the best combination.That combination include waterproof panties from Fetwear...great hi backs for night wetting,super colors and great elastics that do no cut into babies legs.The diaper..prefolded from Mountainview.

We buy a six pack and the last and last.No bleach!!! Hang dry the vinyl panties. Both items last and last. Use a nice size diaper, wash dipers and pants once a week and you are ready for the next week. Have atleast 6 diapers and 3 vinyl pants.

Get a nice diaper pail so you are not washing everyday.

In the summer,hang your diapers out for the freah look and smell.Air dry your wanterpoof panties,but no sunlight!!!

Diaper pins... nice set of baby ones...e bay has them most of the time.

Lots of dollars saved...go cloth!!!

[phl655]

I like the 4 ply gauze folds from adultclothdiaper.com they are 36" square and can be folded in a variety of ways. I also think that the superflannel at Walmarts is a very good buy at $2.97 a yard for a 45' width. Both gauze and cotton flannel are very soft and comfortable. Phl655

[LuvsGurl]

Those who like disposble diapers probably wore them as a baby.My like for cloth includes comfort,less expensive,feels great on and look far superior than what I call paper diapers.

Were the crotch shots really called for?

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

Those who like disposble diapers probably wore them as a baby.My like for cloth includes comfort,less expensive,feels great on and look far superior than what I call paper diapers.

Over the years I have tried many vendors and styles...thick...prefolded,contour only to come back to what I feel are the best combination.That combination include waterproof panties from Fetwear...great hi backs for night wetting,super colors and great elastics that do no cut into babies legs.The diaper..prefolded from Mountainview.

We buy a six pack and the last and last.No bleach!!! Hang dry the vinyl panties. Both items last and last. Use a nice size diaper, wash dipers and pants once a week and you are ready for the next week. Have atleast 6 diapers and 3 vinyl pants.

Get a nice diaper pail so you are not washing everyday.

In the summer,hang your diapers out for the freah look and smell.Air dry your wanterpoof panties,but no sunlight!!!

Diaper pins... nice set of baby ones...e bay has them most of the time.

Lots of dollars saved...go cloth!!!

I have heard of only one pressure-relateed boil water alert. Overwhelmingly the word "contamination" or suspected contamination in the ground water is usually the culpret

Heavy metals are more of a long term hazard and overplayed. In 65 years of life, I have never met anyone damaged by lead paint and that has been an on-again off-again thing since the late 1950's. The Romans used to use "sugar of lead" as a sweetener and they pretty much conquered the known world by superior use of the intellect. By and lage we have done pretty good at keeping these substances out of the human intake chain since we have known about their dangers for many decades. The Lone Ranger used silber bullets so his weapon would not cause lead poisoning despite the fact that many soldiers wounded during wars have carried bullets in them for decades which have later exited the body through some pretty strange places

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

Disposable diapers are a major example of the desire of our society to move toward a "disposable society". Try to get a television fixed. Try to get other electronics repaired. You can't take your car to an auto mechanic who isn't computer savvy and doesn't have one to hook up to your car to figure out what is wrong and where. Our society has chosen the route of one-use products - "when it's broke, throw it away" - and once it's broken and in the trash, "out of sight, out of mind". As long as our garbage is taken off of our curb, after it's out of our house, we don't care WHERE it ends up, or what it might mean to us LATER, once it gets there. The challenge has been to be able to recycle once-used, but no longer serviceable items, AND make a profit from it. Now, before the thread heads into the direction of evil profit-making corporations, it is profit, no matter WHOM makes it, that fuels our society, pays people's salaries and grow businesses. Our society is profit-driven. That is a given. And, we wouldn't have disposable diapers if it wasn't profitable to make them. And, given the sheer number of companies in the market, the business IS profitable, regardless of where the used product ends up! If reusable diapers were still in vogue, we would not see the decline and death of diaper services/laundries for infants, and would have actually see creation and growth of "geriatric"(adult) diaper services/laundries.

Doomsdayers can continue to decry disposable diapers - and there will continue to be a segment of "greenies" that will promote and encourage reusable diaper use at any age - but, they are here to stay. They will be refined, enhanced and, presumably, made "safer" or eco-friendly.

It's going to be one thing for those who are "expected" (and accepted) to be in diapers - the infant and the true incon - even though the way they are manufacturing diapers, and parents have gotten plenty lax at potty training, "you can feel wetness" diapers are being made and worn by toddlers longer and later into life! Given there are plastic pants available for adults from a variety of sources, it means that SOMEBODY is keeping enough money flowing in to keep them being manufactured, and I believe there are more brands and styles available for adults than ever before. And, if one truly wants to be true to going green, it's pretty easy. All you have to do is buy a sewing machine, learn how to sew, and custom make truly comfortable and well-fitting cloth diapers for yourself!

Yes, I was raised in cloth and plastic pants. At 55, for me, cloth STILL rocks! But, like with air travel - and yes, as a DL, I travel diapered many times - cloth would not be practical, nor would having to launder cloth diapers in, say Vegas, or have to bring used diapers back home to be laundered. Cloth tends to be more absorbent, though bulky, and is less likely to leak when "flooding", but less convenient. It's a trade-off.

Disposables are here to stay. Regardless. And, some of us "elderly" LOVE to hear the younger generation is trying and finding the pure pleasure of sensations - as well as practicality, like at night, while sleeping and sleeping on one's side and not having leaks - of cloth. May the cloth adult diaper manufacturers be blessed with additional revenue and a larger customer base in years to come, AND let us all assist in the "green" movement in our own, be it with a purely pleasure and decadence driven motive!

This has been discussed for 40 years and there is some legitimacy to it as far as I am concerned. A couple of times in the last year Dr. Dean Edell has read and commented on articles form the pweudo-intlellectuals about how bad it is for children to have a "best friend" (and I am sure that Michelle Obama and the busybodies are listening hoping to find another place to insert the government in our lives). If inplemented, this will be the dream of the collectivists: disposable persons; since this will be the end of personal relationships

On the other hand we do have, im many places mandatory recycling; Iever notice how some persons have "mandatory", "required" and "compliance" very prominent parts of their scheme of things?) where we scavenge paper and cheap bottles by government decree.

We seem to be trkying to get the most mileage we can out of a 30 cent piece of paper whild treating human beings as cheap commodaties. A few crackpots are tryking to come up with a scheme to recycle disposable diapers. One mistake their could wreak havoc with about 10,000 people or more

[ThomasInWVa]

Cloth diapers are not all fluffy and soft. Sure the cloth part is when you first put them on. But once you start to wet they become uncomfortable very fast. For me the plastic pants are the real problem. My upper legs can realy hurt after a while. The combination of wet plastic on skin can be so irritating. Sometime I just have to wear disposable to give me skin a break. It not an alergy, just the way things are.

The main thing is that really wearing 24/7 isn't as grand as you might think. Have your fun but don't go out buying a lot of cloth diaper before you've tried to really wear for a while.

The main thing about cloth is that they are a lot cheaper over the long term. But they are not easier!! I like the fell of the Wellness diaper best. Very comfortable and I'll feel dry for hours. No problems on my skin at all.

[Bettypooh]

Cloth diapers are not all fluffy and soft. Sure the cloth part is when you first put them on. But once you start to wet they become uncomfortable very fast.

Flannel does get hard after wetting but birdseye seems to do OK. I've heard gauze is better but I can't afford such luxury As far as the comfort goes, keep an open mind Wetness doesn't feel bad to everyone- some of us like it!

For me the plastic pants are the real problem. My upper legs can really hurt after a while. The combination of wet plastic on skin can be so irritating. Sometime I just have to wear disposable to give me skin a break. It not an allergy, just the way things are.

You may need looser elastics or a larger size. Also don't wear the same style after a change- that lets the elastics ride in a different spot so the skin stays healthy I'm almost always wearing plastic panties and I almost never have problems or unintentional leaks Finding the fit I need to be this way took 8-10 tries of different ones. Once you find the right ones wearing plastic panties becomes a whole different experience

The main thing is that really wearing 24/7 isn't as grand as you might think. Have your fun but don't go out buying a lot of cloth diaper before you've tried to really wear for a while.

The main thing about cloth is that they are a lot cheaper over the long term. But they are not easier!! I like the fell of the Wellness diaper best. Very comfortable and I'll feel dry for hours. No problems on my skin at all.

Again everyone's 'mileage' varies I'm at least as happy 24/7 as I was before, maybe even happier since I don't have the old constant worry about wetting my pants anymore That level of relief is most welcome here It's as if huge weight has been lifted from me. There's been some really good in-depth discussion about total costs on this site, and if cloth is cheaper it's only by a tiny margin

The main thing is that you try different things till you find what works best for you, remembering that when it comes to diapers there is perhaps the widest range of needs and preferences of anything you can wear There are very few absolute 'truths' about this, mainly that quality and absorbency cost more There is something out there perfect for you, even if it's not that way for anyone else so keep trying till you're happy!

Bettypooh

[CDLover]

I agree w/ Bettypooh...

I wore flannel diapers at night for about 10 years. They were really soft at first but when wet but did feel like cardboard. About 3 years ago, I finally replaced all my diapers with the 4 layer flat gauze diapers from ADC. I bought them 6 at a time, so the 44" diapers were about $16 each. I own 18 and wear 3 every night. My cost isn't too bad and they are great diapers.

CDL

[ThomasInWVa]

I haven't had any problems with stiff or hard cloth. All my diapers are made of flannel. Very soft and in themselves very compfortable. What I meant was that they don't feel dry like disposables. You will feel wet all the time and that isn't always comfortable. I've tried every type and style of plastic pants. While it can be more compfortable to have the elastic farther down your leg, that can allow for pooling in you plastic pants and leaks can more easily happen. I like to have my plastic pants ride higher up on my legs.

The other big thing is heat and odor. Plastic pants trap both. On warm days, just wearing a cloth diaper and plastic pants can cause you to sweat so much your diaper feels wet.

And wearing cloth or disposable diapers out in cold weather is just something you have to do to understand how much fun it isn't.

I have to wear 24/7 and there is no great way to do it. Everything has its drawbacks. If someone is just wearing for a while for "fun", they won't have to worry about this sort of thing. But if someone is thinking about wearing 24/7, this sort of info may be good to know.

My only real thing in all this is that if you really do need or want to wear 24/7 you need to get cloth diapers at some point. Unless you can afford disposables. If you can, great. But most people would rather save money and cloth is a good way to go when you have to wear.

I will say that good quality disposables are much easier and much more comfortable than cloth and if I could I would wear disposables all the time. I wish I could at night but I haven't found a disposable diaper that can be reliably worn at night without leaking.

[Bettypooh]

....The other big thing is heat and odor. Plastic pants trap both. On warm days, just wearing a cloth diaper and plastic pants can cause you to sweat so much your diaper feels wet....

....My only real thing in all this is that if you really do need or want to wear 24/7 you need to get cloth diapers at some point. Unless you can afford disposables....

....I wish I could at night but I haven't found a disposable diaper that can be reliably worn at night without leaking.

I haven't tried them but AC Medical and others offer a plastic pant which has a cloth section at the waist which is supposed to make them more comfortable in hot weather Also I noticed in one of Angela's posts a pic of some pull-ons from the 50's or 60's that had a few grommets near the top to allow for ventilation PUL pants such as "Salk "Sanipants" are cooler but less leak-resistant. Like the feeling of wetness, heat is a problem for some I've gotten used to it as it's not all that bad for me

I agree that people should give cloth a try It's a totally different experience and especially for those who wear for need, cloth solves a lot of problems with 24/7 wearing even if it does create other problems. All the incontinence support websites I've read (and that's a lot) highly recommend cloth diapers as the best solution for most people Cloth has the option of easily adding layers to match the situation you'll be in without needing to purchase additional supplies And no disposable can match the absorbency of cloth, especially when it comes to side-sleepers like me

Everyone's perfect solution will vary, but so far cloth diapers haven't become obsolete because there's simply nothing else that offers what they do I see it staying this way for the foreseeable future. If my life were different I'd wear cloth 24/7 They are my perfect solution but aren't the best daytime choice in my current imperfect life Maybe someday that will change!

Bettypooh

[diaperboyMKE]

My favorite cloth diapers are no longer made! Snap ez 4 life. My pocket snap ez is the BEST I've ever had. I hope it never wears out.

[willnotwill]

I have a few commercially made diapers from Angel Fluff plus my wife bought a lot of diaper fabric and made me a couple dozen birdseye diapers custom. They're pretty much all I wore to bed for several years. She'd do an extra load with Ivory Snow just for the didies.