Cloth
or Disposables?
By Elizabeth Pantley
Take this quiz to help you determine which type of diapers
would be most suited to you, your baby and your lifestyle.
Add
the scores next to your answers. Then consult the chart below
for more information and insight on your answers.
| 1. I’m always on the go
with a busy schedule; driving from place to place is a big
part of my day. |
| Always 3 |
Sometimes 1 |
Rarely or Never 0 |
|
| |
| 2. I recycle everything; I even
take home pop cans from a day at the park. |
| Always 0 |
Sometimes 2 |
Rarely or Never 3 |
|
| |
| 3. This baby is my: |
| First 0 |
Second 2 |
Third or more 4 |
|
| |
| 4. My laundry is always caught
up; there’s never a pile in my house! |
| Always 0 |
Sometimes 1 |
Rarely or Never 4 |
|
| |
| 5. My child does (or will) attend
daycare in a commercial day care facility. |
| Full time 3 |
Part time 1 |
Not at all 0 |
|
| |
| 6. I often run out of grocery
staples such as bread and milk. |
| Often 0 |
One in a while 1 |
Rarely or Never 2 |
|
| |
| 7. My baby has a disability or
health problem that requires I carefully monitor his food intake
and wet diapers. |
|
| |
| 8. I live on a very tight budget;
every penny counts. |
|
| |
| 9. My time is more valuable than
money. I’m always too busy. |
| Always 3 |
Sometimes 1 |
Rarely or Never 0 |
|
| |
| 10. I’m pretty squeamish;
vomit and cleaning out the toilet make me queasy. |
| Always 3 |
Sometimes 1 |
Rarely or Never 0 |
|
| |
| 11. We live in a community with
water shortage problems. |
|
| |
| 12. We live in a large city. |
|
 |
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The following scoring breakdown may be helpful. Keep in mind,
though, that for any given family, one or more of the above items
may weigh in as more important than the others. Looking at each
answer more closely will provide further help as you make this
decision. Also, keep in mind that while the initial investment
of cloth diapers is a consideration, you can always buy a few
and try out both types before you decide which to use.
Add up your total points: __________
0 to 10 points — Cloth diapers
may suit your lifestyle best. Many types and options are available.
10 to 15 points — You may
want to combine cloth and disposable for different times of
the day and night
and for different schedules
and activities.
15 points and up — Disposable
diapers may be your best choice.
Your raw score can give you a quick idea of your best diaper
choice. To further analyze this decision, read the information
provided below for each question.
1. I’m always on the go with a busy schedule, driving
from place to place. It’s a challenge to carry around smelly
diapers in your already over-filled diaper bag. If you’re
already very busy, it might be difficult to add laundering diapers
to your schedule.
2. I recycle everything. I even
take home pop cans from a day at the park. While neither reusable
diapers
nor disposables are
perfect for our environment, current thinking is that cloth diapers
have the edge when it comes to environmental concerns. If you
are focused on doing your part to save our planet, the use of
cloth diapers is one way you can help. Of course, this is just
one aspect of a family’s commitment to the environment.
You can be environmentally conscious and still use disposable
diapers, since recycling, reusing and careful purchasing of all
of your household products combine as parts of your effort to
protect and conserve our environment.
3. This baby is my: First? Second? Third or more? It stands
to reason that the more children you have in your household,
the busier your daily parenting tasks and the higher your laundry
pile. The extra task of handling cloth diapers may be more than
you choose to handle. Of course, another option is a diaper service
that can do most of the work for you.
4. My laundry is always caught
up; there’s never a pile
in my house! If you’ve already got stacks of laundry taking
over your house, you probably don’t want to add to the
mountain. But again, if you are organized enough to use a diaper
service properly, this can be an option for you.
5. My child does (or will) attend
day care in a commercial daycare facility. Many day care centers
require
the use of disposable
diapers since workers don’t want to (or can't, due to health-related
concerns and restrictions) handle multiple babies’ cloth
diapers all day long. If your baby is in day care, it’s
likely that you’ll need to use disposables during day care
hours. Of course, you can use cloth at home if you prefer.
6. I often run out of grocery
staples such as bread and milk. There’s nothing worse
than a poopy diaper in the middle of the night and no more
diapers in the sack!
If you choose to
use disposables, keep a backup supply of cloth on hand in case
of emergency.
7. My baby has a disability or health problem that requires
I carefully monitor his food intake and wet diapers. Discerning
wetness in a disposable diaper can be difficult, so if you are
monitoring wet diapers, cloth might be the better choice. While
you can learn ways to gauge the wetness of a disposable, this
takes careful scrutiny and practice.
8. I live on a very tight budget;
every penny counts. Disposal diapers cost hundreds of dollars
more than
cloth per year. Many
families feel that the convenience is worth it — but if
you're on a tight budget, it may not be. This is true, of course,
only if you do the laundering yourself. When you add the cost
of a diaper service, the gap between the two closes.
9. My time is more valuable than
money. I’m
always too busy. Some studies show that up to 90 percent of
diapers used
are disposables. This is most likely because many parents today
opt for the convenience of disposable diapers.
10. I’m pretty squeamish: vomit and cleaning out the toilet
make me queasy. Using cloth diapers, even with a diaper service,
does require more handling of the mess than if you use disposables.
If you’re truly bothered by this task, disposables may
save your stomach. Keep in mind though, that after the first
hundred or so diapers even the most squeamish among us do toughen
up!
11. We live in a community with
water shortage problems. You’ll
need to consider the large amount of water required to wash and
disinfect cloth diapers. Laundering diapers can use up to 4,000
gallons of water per year. Additionally, if you live in an area
plagued by high energy costs, remember that this water must be
very hot to sanitize the diapers.
12. We live in a large city. Highly populated areas have more
landfill-bound trash that they must store or use additional energy
to transport. This may be something to consider in your area.
As with every choice we make, there's no single right answer.
Every family must make their own best choice.
© Elizabeth Pantley; excerpted
from Gentle Baby Care by Elizabeth Pantley
Parenting educator Elizabeth Pantley
is the author of numerous parenting books, including the widely
cited The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your
Baby Sleep Through the Night. Buy her books at Powells.com.
She is a regular radio show
guest and is quoted frequently on the web and in national family
and women’s publications. Elizabeth lives in Washington
state with her husband, their four children and her mother. Visit
her at www.pantley.com/elizabeth.
