The future of Cloth, Part I of ? Cloth and Disposables

When I asked for Mailbox Mondays submissions back in August, Hannah gave me the following idea for a post:

I think this would make an interesting blog post:

What do you think or hope cloth diapering will be like in the future (5-10 years)?

-Hannah  

Interesting indeed, but as long winded as I am, even when I am trying to keep it short, I could never fit it all in one post.  I had thought about writing a post about what my "dream" diaper would be, but I think this is even better.
 
As I thought about this, it got me thinking...why haven't disposable diaper companies gotten in on the action, instead of attacking cloth diaper users?  I don't know if anyone followed the Pampers Dry Max debacle, but there were a lot of fingers pointed at the cloth diapering community, saying that we were making it up/instigating it to further our "agenda."
 
With designer disposables actually selling at their crazy prices, people clearly want a cute diaper.  GroVia and gDiapers both make disposable inerts/soakers for their covers, so why aren't the big names in disposables getting in on the act?
 
Now, if they did, I would expect it to be a marketing scheme; I wouldn't expect inserts they manufactured to be compostable or flushable.  But really, why not?  They could sell their own covers, or even just make a durable disposable cover that could be reused several times.  They could make a thin soaker, maybe even work on making it compostable/flushable.
 
All of my thoughts on the future of cloth diapering are pretty intertwined, but maybe the baby step of getting disposable diaperers used to the concept would be a step in the right direction?
 
On a totally different tangent, I think another huge leap in the right direction would be getting the free disposables out of hospitals.  I know that even the biggest cloth diaper companies don't have infinitely deep pockets, but what if we "practiced" diapering babies with cloth diapers in the classes at hospitals?  What if every hospital used prefolds and covers on newborns instead of disposables? 
 
I know that will happen at about the same time they start refusing the formula freebies but hey, even a choice would be huge!  In fact, if I had the money (or the sponsorship) I would LOVE to take some diapers over to my local hospitals, and offer a quick Q&A on cloth during all of the new parent classes!

Designer disposables (and the time I wore a diaper-on my leg)

I had heard of the new "designer" Cynthia Rowley Pampers, but just noticed them in the Target Ad today.  $14.99 for 23 size 4 diapers?!  *gulp*

I'll say, I'm not a "sposie hater."  I used them for my daughter for 2+ years and on my son for 4+ months.  My daughter never had issues with diaper rash, though my son did (which is really what made me finally make the switch.)

Do I regret it?  Yes!  Mostly because I could have an  awesome stash of cloth diapers (or a diamond ring for that matter!) for the money I threw away on disposable diapers.

I'm cheap frugal, so I stockpile; diapers were no exception.  I worked sales, coupons, special offers etc. to get diapers from 8 cents each (name brand.)  I would buy them if I needed them if they were under 22 cents each.  For wipes my price was around 2.5 cents per wipe.  Now, that led to the problem of how many to stockpile.  I'm a worrier, so it stressed me out.  I was often left with too-small diapers to get rid of.

Speaking of too small diapers, it wasn't just that they were too small, they had blowouts all the time.  I joke that I'm hardly doing more laundry now with cloth since we had so many wardrobe changes with sposies.

Then, there was the trash.  The pails were stinky, I had to keep on top of emptying them, then smell them again on trash day.  I'll admit that at the time, I was more concerned with my convenience than the environment, but now the thought of all those diapers in a landfill sickens me.

When you get down to it, the reason I didn't cloth diaper my daughter was ignorance.  If it weren't for the cost, I would have been interested in the new Pampers.  I'm not into "character" stuff, it's just not my thing.  So I hated seeing purple stripes through her clothes and Sesame Street characters peeking out of her pants.  Now I know that cloth diapers are easy, fun and addictive.  That they pay for themselves in no time, and even the plainest cloth diaper is cuter than the cutest disposable!!

Speaking again of money, I love being able to change my son whenever, without worrying about the cost.  You figure even at a good price, a diaper change costs you a quarter or more for a diaper and wipe or two. 

Even though disposable diaper manufacturers try to say you should change after every "use," really, how many people do that?  I know some kids are just super soakers, but I was able to get a diaper to hold 5 cups of water in my little experiment.  Really?  I think they are more absorbent so you don't have to change after every pee.  Even my doctor would say oh, I think you can get a little more use out of that, and close the diaper back up after checking her.  Sometimes we'd change 3 diapers just in the doctor's office!

 

At 65 cents per diaper, do you really want to change it after an hour or two? 

So, about my wearing a diaper.  I received samples of the new, ultra-thin (and somewhat controversial) disposable diaper in the mail.  So, I decided one evening to wrap one around my leg and see what happened.  I'll be honest, I was hoping it would give me some awful rash, 'cause that would make for some good blogging.

Alas, it did not, and while I took pictures, I won't even bother posting them.  OK a few pics, LOL.  They're not very exciting, I took them myself.

I started with a dry diaper and it instantly felt itchy and scratchy, especially at the leg openings.  No way would I want  to wear one of these on my bottom!

After an hour, I poured some water in and put it back on.  Each hour, I took a pic of my leg, added more water and put it back on.  Now, granted this was water and not urine.  I will do a lot in the name of my blog, but I have to draw the line somewhere!

After a while, the diaper warmed up to my body temp and felt squishy.  I actually forgot I had it on until I stood up from the couch!

I haven't done this with a cloth diaper, so I really can't guess what this means for potty training.  I've heard that cloth diapered kids tend to train (learn) sooner, but I don't know if the soft, stay dry and comfy fabrics of today's diapers make a difference.

My hubby didn't blink when I put a diaper on my leg, but he sure looked at me funny when he caught me in the kitchen with a diaper, measuring cup & scale.  That diaper is a good 3 inches thick I think!

5 cups of water!  Won't someone please change my diaper?!

Anyway, if you can afford to spend 15 bucks on 3 days worth of diapers, consider cloth!  In a month's time, you could have a day's worth of Smartipants diapers or a great stash of a hybrid/all-in-two system or prefolds & covers.  If nothing else, you could use them until they had paid for themselves (saving the money you had not spent on disposables) then sell them and buy something even cuter and nicer! 

Use them for another child, sell them...heck you could  donate them and still be way ahead of where you'd be had you used disposables!