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| |    Cloth Diapers by Susan E. Davis reviewed by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. Reusable and made of soft cotton, these are the old-fashioned kind of diapers that your grandmother, and maybe even your mother, used. They come either pre-folded (with a center strip more absorbent than the outer strips) or flat (so you can fold them to the shape you want), and they have to be used with some kind of waterproof cover to keep your baby's clothes dry. (Several brands also combine the cotton diaper with a built-in cover.) The advantages of cloth Advocates of cotton diapers say they are more comfortable (i.e., softer), healthier (because they're free of chemicals), and more environmentally friendly than disposables since they're reusable and won't end up clogging a landfill. In some ways, they are also more convenient: If you use a diaper service, they'll bring you a nice pile of fresh, snowy-white diapers every week, and you don't have to haul those bulky packages of disposables home from the store. They also can save you a bundle of money. Disposable diapers cost between $.15 and $.30 apiece, which can set you back between $36 and $100 a month, depending on the age of your baby. Over the course of three years, you've shelled out about $2,000 in diapers alone. Diaper services can cost up to $60 a month; over the course of three years you can spend some $1,500 on the service, plus another $100 on wraps. But buying, say, four dozen diapers for your growing child, at about $25 per dozen, plus a range of diaper covers, can cost you as little as $300 for those same three years. The disadvantages of cloth Before you pat yourself on the back for saving the earth and your family some bucks by going with cloth, you should realize that the argument is not that straightforward. For one thing, the environmental claim is debatable. Cotton diapers require both energy and water to wash, which can make them an ecological liability, especially in regions that don't have a lot of those resources. Most cotton also requires heavy amounts of pesticides to grow, and diaper services may use harsh chemicals or chlorine for washing, none of which of which is good for the environment. Diaper-service trucks use gas to deliver their wares and disgorge pollutants into the air as they tootle around town. (You can buy organic cotton diapers to solve the pesticide problem, but they're more expensive. If you forgo the diaper service, washing your own diapers in environmentally friendly detergents and drying them on a clothesline will reduce their ecological costs.) Cloth diapers also entail extra work. If you have a diaper service, you must remember to put out your dirty diapers every week to be picked up, and you'll probably need to fold the diapers before you put them away. If you buy your own cotton diapers, you'll need to wash them. (This isn't nearly as hard as it sounds--you just shake out any fecal matter into the toilet, soak the dirty diapers in a pail of water with vinegar or baking soda, then throw them in the wash.) As far as your baby's comfort is concerned, if you're not scrupulous about changing your baby's diapers when they get wet, he can end up with a nasty case of diaper rash-you may dislike the idea of the chemically treated layers in disposables, but they do a good job of whisking moisture away from the skin. And unless you wrap very carefully, cotton diapers can leak more than disposables do. Finally, many daycare centers won't use cotton--they insist on disposables because of convenience and hygiene concerns-so you might end up buying disposables for the center even if you use cloth at home. The bottom line Before you make a decision, be sure to read our article on disposable diapers. If you decide to go with cloth, you can safely estimate that you'll go through 10 to 12 diapers a day at first; having three or four dozen cloth diapers on hand will save you daily laundry bouts if you're washing your own. If you elect to use a diaper service, ask friends about their experiences with local services to find a dependable and economical agency (one that uses earth-friendly detergents is another boon). The service typically will supply you with 50 to 60 diapers your first month. And don't forget to lay in a supply of waterproof covers. They're available in several styles, from plastic pants to plush, breathable fabric covers that hold the diaper in place and wrap up like a disposable. One final note: If you decide on cloth diapers, you still might want to buy some newborn-size disposables for the first week or two when your baby's umbilical-cord stump is attached. Disposables are easier to fold down than diaper covers, so they won't irritate the cord while it's drying.
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