What do you people have against cloth?

Oh wait, yes I do. She told me. She thinks cloth diapers are more work than using disposables. She said that when I am exhausted from being up with a crying newborn, the last thing I would want to do is wash and dry a load of diapers.

Since she is the voice of experience, I do believe her. But I also believe we are somewhat substantially poorer than my parents were when they had me, and therefore might be more willing to do the extra work.

Here’s the kicker: Darling Husband is also against cloth diapers! He thinks it’s weird and hippie, and said when it was his turn to diaper “Junior”* he would put a disposable diaper overtop of the cloth one.**

So here is my research, for all of you non-believers …

The Weecare Diaper Company (based in B.C.) began because the owners wanted “a cleaner, healthier, less-leaky alternative to disposables.” They claim that cloth diapers are “soft, keep baby dry, and are easy to use.”

New & Green Baby Co. claims cloth diapers are “just as convenient” as disposables, “when taking into consideration the late-night, last minute run to your local convenience store, standing in line at the till, the gas, wear and tear on your vehicle, and the extra trips to the garbage.”

Cost is an important factor for us — especially since we want to have two or three kids, and cloth diapers could be reused for Kiddos #2 and #3. 

Here are some great stats I summarized from DiaperingDecision.com:

Type of diaper	Unit cost	Cost per week	Total cost over two years
Disposable	$0.22 – $0.45	$16.94 – $22.05 per package	$2,694.54
Cloth	$20 purchased new, $3 when hand-made	$.44 – $1.50 for laundering	Purchased ones pay for themselves within six months, hand-made ones pay for themselves within one month

According to a great article on the New & Green Baby Co. site, here are the three basic kinds of cloth diapers:

• All-in-One diaper:  Has the absorbent materials and the outer wet proof layer all sewn together, so ultimately is a cloth version of the disposable. 
• Pocket diaper: Has an inner layer of microfleece sewn to a wet proof outer layer. There is an opening at the back where you slip in an absorbent pad. Because it is two pieces, it dries really fast out of the wash.
• Two-part system: Has a soft fabric diaper that goes onto your baby, and a “wet barrier” between the diaper and the baby’s clothes (looks like little pull-on pants or a diaper). The most popular material for the wet barrier is called PUL (polyurethane laminate).