She thinks cloth diapering is for hippies.

My mother-in-law and I have a very special relationship that involves colossal amounts of passive aggression (on her end) and patience (on my end). My husband is an only child from rural NY and I come from a huge family of eccentric French-Cajuns from New Orleans. You do the math.

How do cloth diapers compare to disposables in terms of options?

When you are expecting a baby, a bunch of things run through your mind.  Among millions of things you check off your list of essentials for your precious little bundle are diapers.  One big decision that is usually overlooked is which route you may choose to diaper your baby. 

Most people automatically assume disposables and ask you "are you going to use Huggies or Pampers?"  There is an option that more parents are considering: cloth.  Some people get discouraged with all the negative feedback from people (and believe me, there is a lot!).  Some people buy a few cloth diapers but for various reasons, end up using disposables and many others try cloth diapers and absolutely love them! 

I was so eager to start cloth diapering my son a year and a ago. I purchased my pocket diapers and dove right in with washing, drying, and stuffing the cloth diapers. I loved it because it was saving me so much money. I quickly found a problem. I repeatedly found used, washed, and falling apart disposable wipes entangled with my washed diapers. Yes, I switched to cloth diapers, but the concept of cloth wipes somehow did not enter my thought life. I eagerly stopped using disposable diapers, but kept using disposable wipes.

I hate disposable diapers. Most people who know me would think its because Im such a huge cloth diaper advocate, but thats not the case. I understand that cloth diapering isnt for everyone and that using cloth diapers full time is not always an option even for people who wish they could. I hate disposable diapers because I think their gross. Why?

There are so many reasons why families choose cloth diapers over throw-away diapers including, environmental, health and price reasons. But when you start your research to determine what is best for your family, you might be overwhelmed with all of the opinions and  research that exists out there on this topic.

For example, Tricia Henton is a director of environmental protection in London, England. She says, “There is no substantial difference between the environmental impacts of the three systems studied.”  On the other hand, some people say that Tricia’s diaper study is wrong. Even government agencies can’t agree on cloth diapers versus throw-away ones! Either way, parents need to begin looking for the answers to the diaper debate somewhere. The question is, with all of this information out there, where do you start?  Here are some ideas that may help:

Everyone has their reasons that got them started on cloth diapering. They can be the cost, the environment, what the baby’s skin is exposed to. In our house we do cloth diapers half the time and disposables half the time. So, what are the day-to-day comparisons of disposable vs cloth?

About a week ago we posted a link of interest about a group of grandmothers in Utah who volunteered to make cloth diapers for needy moms in the area. A friend had sent over the link, so we didn't delve too deeply into the site, just reading enough to get a gist of the issue. What we hadn't realized at the time was that this one article is a small part of a continuing debate over cloth versus disposables for low-income families in Salt Lake City...perhaps everywhere since it is a topic that affects communities nationwide. Doing a search on diapers on the Salt Lake Tribune site yields letter after letter either in support of cloth donations to shelters or defense on the use of disposables. Just reading some of the letters makes it clear that parents, whether or children still in diapers or now grown, are quite passionate about the side they choose.

"You want to give birth naturally…yeah right, they all say that. You are going to breastfeed…I give it a month. You want to do cloth diapers…are you crazy!"

While I was still pregnant it seemed everywhere I turned people were skeptical. Each time I discussed a desire to have my child naturally, to breastfeed or cloth diaper people continued to doubt my resolve. The fact that I was having my first child also earned me the extremely popular, "you just wait and see" remark.

Now, going to the dentist may seem like torture to some, but for me, it's not only a nice way to take a mommy break in a comfortable, reclining chair, it's a chance for me to knit more wool diaper covers. I mean, get to kill two birds with one stone - get my teeth clean, and make more fluff for my baby's bum!

After having 4 babies in 5 years, I grew frustrated with the expense of disposable baby wipes.

Even purchasing them by the case taxed the bank account. Researching homemade wipes opened up a whole world of opportunity. In general cloth baby wipes can be broken done into two categories: disposable and reusable.

When I cloth diapered my babies I was on the answering side of a lot of questions. Of course, people had heard the horror stories from their grandmothers, or possibly their mothers, about cloth diapers. They always want to know WHY I would chose cloth diapers when the alternative, disposable diapers, were readily available.

That question was a simple one to answer. It was answered with a question of my own. "Would YOU like to wear paper or plastic underwear?"

Use a cloth diaper again and again. By definition, disposable diapers are single use items. The debate rages on and on whether or not disposable diapers are more environmentally sound than cloth diapers, but for the life of me I can't figure out why.

alt="Group rubbishes nappy habits." />I'm a visual learner and so I had to smile when I came across this trashy display of disposable diapers.

As we read across blogs and web forums we hear a lot of excuses for why families don't cloth diaper their babies - even from families who pride themselves in making earth-friendly choices.

I just read some encouraging, but not surprising, results to a poll over at Breastfeeding 1-2-3 regarding Cloth -v- Disposable diaper usage among breastfeeding mothers. The respondents to their poll chose cloth diapers over disposable diapers 2 to 1.

There is a myth that has perpetuated itself far too long – the myth that somehow disposable diapers are easier than cloth diapers. The myth has sustained itself from the mouth of our grandmothers and their horror stories of dunking, washing, wringing, and pinning cloth diapers.

When it comes to making smarter decisions for our Earth, cloth diapering ranks high. Disposable diapers are the 3rd largest single consumer item in landfills, and represent 30% of non-biodegradable waste. No small beans.

Have you ever found yourself wiping shiny gel-like crystals off your baby’s bottom when changing a disposable diaper?