lenh@azure.UUCP (Len Hayward) (10/29/84)
----- As promised, this is a summary of the responses I received on my disposable diaper query. Of 17 responses from the U.S. and Canada, 9 preferred cloth diapers over disposables. 3 liked Luvs, 3 liked Huggies, 1 liked Pampers, and 1 liked the store brand. Of the 9 prefering cloth, all suggested using a diaper service. The list of reasons include: 1) The price is cheaper than disposables. The service runs around $1 per 10 diapers; about 1/2 the cost of disposable diapers, depending on the prices in your area. They also give discounts for paying for a longer amount of service in advance. 2) Less likely to have diaper rash (some say none at all for their baby). This is attributed to cotton's ability to let the skin breath, easier to tell when the baby needs changing, and no allergic reactions since cloth diapers don't have the perfume and other materials babies can be sensitive to. 3) Not having to haul boxes of diapers from the store. Not having a tremendous increase in smelly garbage to be hauled away by the garbage man. The service delivers a weeks worth of diapers (70-140, depending on the service) and picks up last weeks worth.; some deliver twice a week. No need to launder, fold, or put them away. The services usually provide a deodorized diaper pail to toss the used ones into (powerful enough to withstand summer heat with no smell; even in Atlanta, Georgia :-) (credit to Kim Wallen @ Emory Univ.)). 4) Supposedly environmentally safer. The water used to wash the cloth is (hopefully) filtered by sewage treatment plants along with the rest of the sewage. Disposables just sit in landfills and the raw sewage can get into the water table. Plus, the diapers don't break down very well or at all. 2 also mentioned buying cloth diapers and washing them. 1 said this was cheaper, but the other said the service was cheaper. A few said their baby could wear the disposables, but tended to get rashes after a couple of days. One comment concerned the baby's point of view of disposables: "How would YOU like to wear plastic underwear?" (berry@zinfandel). Pampers got flamed enough to be cooked medium rare. Allergies, more rashes, and leaky were the complaints. Some said they haven't tried the new improved Pampers and did not know how leaky they were. One who has, complained to Proctor & Gamble about more rashes from the new Pampers. Proctor & Gamble said the perfume had not been changed, however, they had received other complaints and would be changing it. A few were indifferent to Pampers and one preferred them (response to the newsgroup by pking@uiucuxc). Curiously, a number of responses said their hospital use only Pampers on newborns. Huggies (Kimberly & Clark) and Luvs (Proctor & Gamble) were rated fairly close. The smell of the perfume, their own experience with leakiness, and whatever else have contributed to their own choice. Both have been said to leak very little. Everyone prefers one or the other, but it seems Luvs ended with the most votes from responders, their friends and day-care centers. Store/generic brands are cheaper, but they perform worse too. They aren't as absorbent, don't stay fastened as well and they don't seem to last through the night. They tend to run smaller for the same rated size and are more likely to leak. Also, it seems that babies tend to use more of them than they would the name brands. However, one person preferred them because they were loose and didn't irritate the legs as much. A few said they do fine for babies who aren't very active. The best disposable will tend to change as the baby grows. Some which work well may not do as well as another later. Also the quality, materials, and perfume (type and concentration) are subject to a lot of change. It was recommended to even try ones that gave trouble in the past when the current ones seem to go bad. Coupons are a good way to try a switch. Disposables with gathers are recommended more than not, especially with the amazing ability of babies to stand or sit in such a way that the diaper catches almost nothing. It was also mentioned that the newborn sizes are sold at a loss to generate steady customers. Even if a diaper service is used, disposables are handy for trips and some day-care centers require them for sanitary reasons. Then there are those occasional times when all of the diapers are dirty or out on the line and the baby needs to be changed NOW. Again, the disposables can be handy. Vaseline and Desitin were recommended to keep rashes to a minimum (never lasting longer than a day). As a side note, the price of all baby items seem to differ from store to store. Toys R Us were found to have the best prices in 4 different areas of the U.S. Also, watch for the sales. My wife and I had already decided on a diaper service, but were looking at disposables for trips. We will probably try Luvs first. To all who responded, thank you. Len Hayward Microprocessor Development Products Division Tektronix, Inc. Beaverton, OR (503) 629-1040 ...!tekmdp!lenh