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Diaper Wars: Cloth vs. Disposable?

November 4, 2010 7:22 AM

Newborn babies can go through up to 10 diapers a day. Dr. Alanna Levine talks to CNET's Natali del Conte about what to consider when deciding on cloth or disposable.

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by polarkiwi November 18, 2010 10:15 AM EST
Wow, this is a terribly researched and inaccurate piece of journalism. I'm very disappointed. I've used both disposables and cloth so I am well aware of what both involve. They were anti-disposable and didn't mention so many of the great aspects of cloth diapering. I'm quite appalled overall.
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by snigglefeck November 17, 2010 12:11 PM EST
Today is the first I've heard of this ridiculousness. I'd first like to commend Natali on trying cloth diapering. Unfortunately, the positive feedback ends there. This WAS a pretty crappy piece of journalism. Not because of the whole "cloth vs. disposable" debate, but on journalistic principle alone. It certainly feels last-minute and not well researched. As a new mother, I did research a few months in advance, although I had considered disposables. The choices for cloth diapering are so varied, and no one kind works for everyone. The overwhelming cost of disposables in comparison to 3 dozen prefolds weighed heavily in my decision. What tipped the scale for me was learning about the chemicals used for absorbency's sake (i.e. less diaper changing/work), and the staggering effect from landfill filling. This "parenting expert" also did not do her research, to claim the detriment as being so minimal. Whether people choose cloth or not is not my mission, but I advocate RESPONSIBLE journalism as well as RESPONSIBLE parenting. Do your research. Surely your child's health and well being in the present, as well as what they inherit from our decisions, are of utmost importance to you, not how "quick and easy" something is, or touting the benefits of "not having to think about it". Yikes! Really? That's the message you want to send to viewers? Not having to think? To your child? Mindfulness be damned, huh?
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by adamsaadeh November 15, 2010 12:12 PM EST
Come on people it is just a short segment on the choices available. My Girlfriend and I considered cloth diapers, but eventually choose disposables after trying them. The way everyone is talking here we could be confused with child rapists for choosing disposables. Talking about cost the diaper service was 100.00 a month, compared to the 35 bucks a month we spend buying our diapers on amazon through subscribe and save. And for all the talk about how much waste they make up, diapers make up less than 2% (1.97%) of municipal waste in the US, while paper products and non-corrugated card-board make up 40% of municipal waste, meanwhile 90% of waste in this country is non-municipal. So that empty box of cheerios you threw away this morning is taking up a lot more room in our landfills than the diapers we are throwing away.
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by tdllm November 11, 2010 11:07 AM EST
What a disappointing report. I was hoping to see some real comparisons of sposie diapers to the cloth diapers that people actually use these day. It was instead to be a very poorly researched and presented pieces, seemingly based on what someone picked off the top of their head. This could have been a good story if a little time and effort had been invested.
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by Lauraloutoo November 10, 2010 11:00 PM EST
This is the most terrible, biased, uninformed piece of "journalism" I've ever encountered. Cloth Diapers have come a long way in the past 40 years and what you showcase here shows none of that progress. Please do some research next time.
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by gaylefleming November 9, 2010 5:44 AM EST
Okay--When my daughter was born there were ONLY cloth diapers. When she was a few months old Pampers were introduced. The only time I used them was when we were out, because, yes, it was nice to not have to carry around poopy diapers in a diaper bag until I got home. I was a young mother who worked and was a college student and I found time to wash my cloth diapers.

Yes life was less complicated but for what most families spend on disposable diapers many mothers around the world could feed and clothe their entire family. I think it's deplorable to try to justify the use of disposable diapers but making it look so hard to use cloth diapers.

And they keep making these things bigger and bigger so that children will be using them longer. I know 5 and 6 year olds who still wear pull-ups at night. And this crap about children will let you know when they're ready to be potty trained completely. Not if they can pee in a pull-up at night and not have to get up to go tot the bathroom. It's a marketing scam, plain and simple.
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by misskandas November 8, 2010 3:09 PM EST
I cannot believe how poorly this was done. I have used both disposable and cloth for at least a year each. Never again will I use disposables. They show the best of the disposable but the worst of the cloth. Why? This was terrible journalism. If you're going to show the best of disposable wouldn't you also want to go with better quality cloth like FuziBunz or Goodmama's? I'm in awe about the lack of time that must have been put into this piece. It's as though they went to Walmart and picked up the only cloth that is sold and a package of disposables thinking this must be it! If that was all there is to cloth diapering I would never do it again, but that's the low end. I use modern cloth diapers and will never again go back to the Huggies I once loved. It sickens me to think that someone thought this was a good piece to air! Shame on you CBS!! Try again and please DO BETTER NEXT TIME! It would not be very difficult, I promise!!
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by marikoday November 8, 2010 2:50 PM EST
I am so disappointed in CBS for such poor journalism. This piece seemed like they just threw it together without doing any real research!! Did they run out of things to talk about and just put this together last minute?? Why did they only show the old-school type of diapers? I am the furthest thing from a tree hugger and I use cloth diapers. For me it was completely about the bottom line. Cloth diapers save a ton of money. And they are super easy. Velcro on, velcro off...a monkey could do it. And ONE extra load of laundry every other day is not too much for me. My diapers look almost new...no stains. I just hang the ones with stains to dry in the sun. Whoever is responsible for putting this piece together needs to go back to journalism 101.
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by teenygreenykc November 8, 2010 1:23 PM EST
This is the most ridiculous piece of "journalism" I've ever seen. Neither one of these women has a clue about real cloth diapering. Modern cloth diapering is nothing like what was just shown. She didn't know her facts at all and didn't show a single MODERN cloth diaper, or even a hybrid diaper that uses a biodegradable insert with a cloth cover. She minimized the fact that you are comparing putting over 9,000 disposables in a landfill versus about 24 cloth diapers that can be reused for multiple children. The cost difference? Over $2,000 easily, just for one child. Oh, and we wouldn't want anyone to feel "guilty" for dumping tons of excrement into the landfill that will end up in our water. Seriously??

And just because she's a "doctor" doesn't mean she is an "expert". Really... how many classes do you think a doctor takes in medical school that have to do with cloth diapering? I can tell you... ZERO. Obviously she has never cloth diapered a baby, or even gone into a cloth diaper store. Why in the world would you choose to have her speak about cloth diapering???

Please, CBS, a simple google search would have come up with more facts about cloth diapering than this piece. You probably did measurable damage to people on the fence about deciding to do cloth diapering. Way to go, encouraging more people to pollute our landfills!

Here are a few sites with REAL information about cloth diapering in the 21st century, to get you going for a second, more accurate report on cloth diapering: www.fuzzibunz.com, www.cottonbabies.com, www.diaperpin.com, www.realdiaperassociation.org, "Disposable Diapers Linked to Asthma" http://mothering.com/green-living/disposable-diapers-linked-to-asthma, and my favorite article, "Nappy Link to Infertility" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/941174.stm
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by ad9891 November 7, 2010 3:00 PM EST
This is horribly researched. If you are truly going to do a cloth diaper vs. disposable diaper GET ALL THE FACTS and have an actual cloth diapering expert! There has been a lot of information on cloth diapering that was missed, which can sway a parents decision on which way they want to diaper. Disappointing.
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