What's your take on reusable diapers vs disposable?

[Dayhome Mamma]

Do you find it to be more work in some way? I have now taken on a 2nd child who requires reusable diapers, only because the 1st parent has made it quite simple for me (i take dirty one off, close it up and put it in special diaper bag that gets zipped up and prevents any smells, pee and poop included). This second one I think might be expecting me to run and throw the poop out, but she had also wanted to use her special wipes and i really don't like those wipes, nor filling my garbage with non contained or non-covered poop. I was wondering what your own personal views are on this in terms of accomodating that?

[Inspired by Reggio]

...I was wondering what your own personal views are on this in terms of accomodating that?

My policy is when caring for 5 children under the age of 6 years of age I do not have the time or resources to be out of the room 'shaking and rinsing' ... either cloth diapers of training accidents when the time comes!

Cloth diapers need to arrive 'prepared' for use each day - aka any lining inserted into them, any covering accompanying each one, etc so that all I have to do is open them up and put them on just like a disposable...only extra might be applying a plastic protective cover over it so 6 seconds.

Soiled diapers are removed and folded and placed in a sealed bag or container for the client to take home and deal with at pick up. I have had clients who had a little 'disposable liner thing' in theirs that you could fold up the corners of a fairly solid poop and toss into the plastic bag with the disposable wipes and put it with the other diapers in the garbage (I like to take all my diapers out of the house at each change so it does not get that 'diaper' smell in my house so I put all disposables into a bag and they go out the backdoor into a can and I put these 'inserts' into that bag and out it would go).

I do not mind supporting cloth diapering - in fact I LOVE cloth diapers - however we need to be realistic that with 5 children in the house shaking and rinsing solid diaper or underwear is NOT a priority for me during the day!

[mom-in-alberta]

I cared for a little girl last year in cloth diapers. I have no problem with it, with the same stipulations as Reggio. I want the diapers ready to go, no fussing with inserts etc. And I will not be rinsing them out, they go into the waterproof (close-able) bag the parents provide.
There are paper liners that can be put in for "solid" matter. I will use those if they are septic safe (I am not getting my whole system pumped out!!). No real hassle to just dump and flush.
The whole time this little girl was here (p/t before mom went on mat leave) she NEVER pooped. Did all the pooping at home! Yay, for me. I was not sure what it would be like with cloth. To be honest with you, they didn't look all that comfortable. She waddled due to the bulk/size, and always had red marks from them digging into her skin. Not a ringing endorsement to me. But to each, their own!!

[sunnydays]

The majority of my dck's are in cloth diapers as that is something I fully support (I use them myself). However, as the others have said, I just put it all in the bag they provide and they deal with it at home. For awhile I was dumping for the family who provided flushable liners, but they clogged my toilet, so I had to stop. Some of my families use cloth wipes...all I have to do is wet a bunch of them at the beginning of the day and keep them in a wipes box. Those that pack disposable wipes, I just put them inside the diaper and they can separate it at home...like Reggio said, I can't have bunch of poopy wipes in a grabage can stinking up the place. I love cloth diapers because they go home at the end of the day and don't fill be garbage can up with stink ;)

[playfelt]

Pretty much the same rules here - diaper comes ready to use and MUST be covered by a waterproof cover not just a water resistent one such as the extra thick wool ones - yes they absorb most but I need it all contained. Most have a cover that is sufficient. Diaper is undone, I do use disposable wipes which I provide, and toss just as I would a disposable diaper. Whatever is in the diaper is folded up and put in the bag provided by the parents - if they want the poopy ones separate they provide two bags or some plastic grocery bags not up to me to find a plastic bag for them. If they want clothes used for cleaning I make it clear that it will be a most of the time only. If I am in a rush or changing somewhere other than near the sink I grab the disposable wipes rather than take the time to wet a cloth and drag it somewhere else. This is rare and more likely to happen if we are in the back yard and I run in and grab the child's change bin and take it outside.

I don't find they take any more time than using a disposable once you get the system down. It does take a few weeks to get used to order and having things ready but after that it is just as fast.

What I dont' like is when I have more than one in cloth in that instead of tossing all the disposables in the can I am trying to store 3 or more bags of diapers and colour choices are limited so entirely possible to have all the same colour or parents alternate so who had blue yesterday has red today so you end up doing a lot of name checking which does take time.

For disposables I have one of those plastic 5 drawer towers and each child has a drawer for diapers. My biggest complaint with the cloth is that I can't be as organized with them ahead of time. I have to get them from their bag each day and take them back to the door to go home each night compared to parents that bring me a big bag of disposables that stay at my house either in their drawer or their cubby so I am right ready to go.

[Dreamalittledream]

From the viewpoint of a parent who used to send their son to daycare in cloth diapers what really was easiest was to pack a diaper bag each day...diapers ready to go. In it was a 'wetbag' that came back home with the dirties in it. I never ever expected my provider do to more than simply fold up the soiled diaper (poop or not) & pop it in that bag.

[Momof4]

I wish all my daycare parents used cloth! Then I could send them all home every night instead of having a huge black bag of stinking diaper garbage. One of my daughters uses cloth diapers with velcro fasteners and I think they are wonderful. Much better than the cloth diapers I had to use on my children with those scary diaper pins.

[Sandbox Sally]

My kids wore cloth. I take cloth diapered children, but no way would I scoop out poops or rinse. In my contract, I say to bring a wet bag, and they all go home every day for the parents. I haven't had anyone take me up on it, but I am willing.

[sunnydays]

As for comfort, I am convinced that cloth diapers are much more comfortable and most of them are quite trim these days. Just ask yourself, would you rather wear paper underwear or soft fleece or cloth ones? hahaha! They do feel the wet more, so you do have to change them when they are wet, but that actually helps them learn and be ready earlier for potty training.



I cared for a little girl last year in cloth diapers. I have no problem with it, with the same stipulations as Reggio. I want the diapers ready to go, no fussing with inserts etc. And I will not be rinsing them out, they go into the waterproof (close-able) bag the parents provide.
There are paper liners that can be put in for "solid" matter. I will use those if they are septic safe (I am not getting my whole system pumped out!!). No real hassle to just dump and flush.
The whole time this little girl was here (p/t before mom went on mat leave) she NEVER pooped. Did all the pooping at home! Yay, for me. I was not sure what it would be like with cloth. To be honest with you, they didn't look all that comfortable. She waddled due to the bulk/size, and always had red marks from them digging into her skin. Not a ringing endorsement to me. But to each, their own!!

[Sandbox Sally]

As for comfort, I am convinced that cloth diapers are much more comfortable and most of them are quite trim these days. Just ask yourself, would you rather wear paper underwear or soft fleece or cloth ones? hahaha! They do feel the wet more, so you do have to change them when they are wet, but that actually helps them learn and be ready earlier for potty training.

Agreed! My son's diapers were SOOOO soft, especially on the inside, next to his legs and skin. Sometimes if people use prefolds and wool covers, I can tell through clothes that they're in cloth, but the ones I used for mine (pocket diapers with hemp and/or microfiber inserts were very trim and no more bulky than a sposie.