OT-Rant and Rave

Hey - I suspect any of us would have cleaned that up if we wanted a shower.

D would have just avoided taking a shower. It's like silverware. He'll get out plastic rather than wash cutlery.

Elizabeth

Where are the d*mn spoons?

Well, you used one for the Jello pudding, one for the icee and one for.... And DS did the same.... That's six of the eight already. C

I compromised with my two - because it's a doody that must be done! I used disposables when they were at daycare or we were out somewhere - cloth when we were at home. And yes, you use water and electricity but I was always very good about setting the water level in the machine.

MelissaD

GGRRROOOOAAAANNNNN!!!! lol

I used

Most new washers and dryers are excellent on conservation, including the use of detergents, bleaches and other additives. Washers use much less water, sense the amount of water needed for the weight of the load, and cycle depending upon the type of load (long to short washing cycles). Dryers sense moisture and stop drying when the load is dry, rather than on a timer basis only. They also use less heat (thus energy) than older models.

It takes non-renewable resources to make disposable diapers, and as noted, take up a huge amount at the landfill, including adding plastics to the mix.

I think disposable diapers have helped to reduce (not eliminate) diaper rash, and I can see that they are wonderful for many occasions. But they do not eliminate some diaper rashes, particularly those caused by yeast or strep. I think each family has to decide what is most cost-effective for their individual needs. Those disposables aren't cheap. Granted, cloth diapers can be a burden in many respects, you certainly can't beat them for dust rags. :~)

That aside, I have revamped my website, including the forum, for those that might be interested. Nothing new. Just a new look.

Dianne

What is most bothersome is the huge amount of years for the things to degrade in a landfill. Poop is full of bacteria and that will all remain in the landfill area for a long, long time. These buried diapers could become the scourge of the future.

And rats and racoons and bears and the turkey vultures and probably the fisher cat in the wetlands beside me. Meat goes out to the curbside.

Just not feasible here.

Ah - you must have relatively low property taxes!!

I get yard waste pickup once a week, recycling once a week and garbage twice. Also, a pickup of bulky items, with some restrictions, twice a year. Just gained space in garage after getting rid of an old chair. Yay.

In pure dollars and cents, what works out cheaper? My mother boiled diapers on the stove and hung to dry. Had to be cheaper than buying disposables, (which didn't exist then) but what about diaper service factor? Just curious if this has been worked out.

I'm not sure about now but I can vouch for the early 60's

. Money was very tight in my house at that time so I dropped diaper service and definitely saved money that way. Fortunately I didn't have to boil them on the stove and just tossed them in the washing machine, and I had a clothesline out my kitchen window so they dried in the sun.

Rainy days meant diapers hanging all over my apartment, but we managed to make our way around them. lol.

Lucille

One factor that hasn't been brought up here: When my last was in preschool (early 1990s), the school secretary (also a parent of six, the last still preschool age) brought up that kids in disposables are harder, in her experience, to toilet-train. Because the paper dipes have become so good at wicking away moisture, it just isn't *uncomfortable* to be in them the same was as cloth diapers. She noticed that four and five year olds were beginning to be happy to remain in paper diapers if the parents themselves didn't really *push* to have them trained....and many of the parents were too "busy" to make an issue of toilet training.

(Though for me, the sheer cost of paper diapers would be an incentive. I guess the parents in this area were economically well off enough that the cost of convenience wasn't prohibitive.)

Sue

I had not considered that (comfort) but I think you are right. Plus, boiling cloth diapers I had incentive to train as early as possible. My three were all trained by the year through the day and surprisingly, boys were supposed to be more difficult, my son was dry day and night by ten months, of his own accord. Just couldn't bear for his sisters to do something he couldn't lol