Disposable Diapers Don’t Work for My Baby!

Several people asked us during my pregnancy whether we were going to use cloth or disposable diapers. We didn’t really have an opinion either way; I sort of said disposables, because we live in an apartment with a Laundromat and there was no way I was plugging loonies all the time to wash cloth diapers.

I considered checking into a diaper service, as that’s what my parents had used with me, but didn’t get around to that until an acquaintance gave me a recommendation. Even then, we hoed and hummed, and checked prices (finding the diaper service cheaper than disposables) before finally signing up the week after Sunshine was born.

Cloth Diaper Service Begins

The diaper service drops off our supply of cloth diapers and picks up the dirty ones every week. We have a few disposables on hand for when Sunshine goes through more diapers than the service provides (which she usually does). She doesn’t like being wet, so she fusses and we change her diaper frequently.

We Try Disposable Diapers

When she was about a month old, we went away for a weekend, and decided to use disposables rather than packing all the cloth diapers there and the dirty diapers home. A friend had given us a bag of disposables, and I packed those and three onesies and three sleepers for Sunshine – she usually went through that many in a week, so I figured that was safe for a two-day vacation.

In the first evening at my grandparents’, Sunshine pooped out of her diaper and I had to change both her onesie and her sleeper. The next morning, my husband had loaded the car up for us to leave when Sunshine noisily filled her diaper. He went out to the car to get the diaper bag and I started changing her, only to discover she’d once again pooped out of her diaper. My hubby went back out to get her clean clothes, and we finally hit the road.

When we got to my sister-in-law’s that evening, Sunshine was wearing only her sleeper because she’d—you guessed it—pooped out of her diaper again and dirtied her onesie. And soon after arriving there, she dirtied her sleeper too. I wrapped her in a blanket and went in search of the laundry machine.

Cloth Diapers Work Best

By the time we arrived home, I was firmly in favour of cloth diapers. Just tonight, she pooped out of a cloth diaper for the third time since she’s been wearing them. Maybe that brand of disposable diapers just didn’t fit her, but whatever the reason, while wearing disposable diapers she dirtied more clothes in a weekend than she usually does in a week.

But that wasn’t the end. While we were traveling, Sunshine became very fussy and developed a red bottom. My mother-in-law diagnosed diaper rash and sent our husbands off to get some cream. In a few days the rash was gone and Sunshine was much happier, and her mommy was even more in favour of cloth diapers. It seems that Sunshine’s sensitive skin reacted to something in the disposable diapers, as she’s never had diaper rash while wearing her cloth diapers.

So disposable diapers don’t work for me. Depending on where we move in September, I’ll be either changing diaper services or buying a stock of cloth diapers and learning how to wash them myself. One thing I find ironic… when I was born, my parents priced out the Laundromat, diaper service, and disposable diapers, and found that the diaper service was the cheapest. That hasn’t changed!