The Great Diaper Debate: Cloth Vs. Disposable

You’re going to be a mom. Again. This was the initial thought I had when I discovered I was pregnant with my 2nd bundle of joy. I started picturing adorable clothes and nursery décor. My Pinterest became overloaded with adorable baby ideas and tips.  Then a few weeks later reality set in as I started to remember what it was like when my oldest was born and the things I had learned the first time around. I admit, with that first born, it was truly trial and error. I didn’t research a lot of things up front – I used the diapers that my friends said were best, I picked out his car seat because it was cute, not because it won the safety rating award… yes I definitely played Russian roulette on certain things.

The advice started coming as soon as I told people I was pregnant with the 2nd one. It seemed everyone knew what was best for my child and wanted to make sure I knew they were the expert on certain things. This wasn’t my first rodeo so most of their advice I would politely nod at and take it with a grain of salt. The one topic that did seem to keep coming up was disposable versus cloth when it came to diapering. I was hearing more and more about cloth diapers and the pro’s for using them. My hairstylist was the first person to give me the low down on cloth diapers. She had done her research and was very open about the pros AND the cons to cloth diapering. My oldest always got horrible diaper rash and I never thought it might be because of the diapers, I just assumed he was prone to diaper rash – Like I said earlier, he was my trial and error baby for sure. I started doing my own research and even found a class at a local baby boutique that educated parents to be on the ins and outs of clothing diaper. I was curious to learn more… the next step was getting my husband on board. I tried starting with the selling point that we were raised in cloth diapers so why not use what was used on us. He just gave me an odd look like I was crazy. I asked him to join me at one class and if it wasn’t something he wasn’t 100% on board with then we could go the disposable route.  

The class was very informative and got my hubby on board. We learned that there was a variety of cloth diapers – prefolds, covers, all-in-ones, pocket diapers… It seemed like the options were endless. The instructor showed each kind and went over the pros and cons of each. There were so many questions that we had, that were just like the other parents. We also learned the average cloth diapered baby is potty trained at 18-22 months, while disposable is 26-30 months. When it came time to potty train my oldest, I remember I tried pull ups until I realized they were glorified diapers, as soon as I put real underwear on him, he was potty trained within two days. The thought of cloth potty training a child sooner made sense.

I also did my research on natural disposable diapers such as Honest Company, Huggies Pure and Earth’s Best. I loved the designs that the Honest company offered, I loved that I could find Huggies in Target and Earth’s Best was the brand of baby food I had used with my oldest – all names that I was familiar with and felt “safe” with. They had their pros as well – they were hypoallergenic, made without fragrances and latex and have you seen the cute designs by The Honest Company?? My husband and I went back and forth on what we wanted to do. It ultimately came down to cost and our child’s health. The upfront of investment for cloth made more sense for us versus the long term cost with disposable. The chance of diaper rash with cloth was a lot less than with disposable – and in the event my 2nd was prone to diaper rash, I wanted to avoid it at all costs. We made the leap into cloth diapering and 6 months in, so far, it’s not that bad. I hardly notice the extra laundry – but I could do without the smell – yes, I admit, the smell of pee when you open up the wet bag that holds the dirty diapers, knocks you on your butt the first few times… but so does a diaper genie. 

There were also some myths that I would love to debunk.

A guest post by Karly

3 MYTHS DEBUNKED

MYTH #1
It’s expensive to invest in cloth diapers and cheaper to buy disposable. 
Cloth diapers are a bit more expensive upfront however, over the life of your little one, you save more money than you think. 

An example (using the medium priced cloth diapers) Fuzzibuns  at $18.95 per diaper. You would want to have around 35 to have a good stash and they are sized for kiddos 7-35lbs (so will last until your little one is potty trained).  The total upfront investment of around $665. Pre-folds are even cheaper. 

Pampers run around $24.94/box (for 80-100 diapers depending on the size). They say you’ll change your child on average 8 times a day – with that math from birth to age 2 you’ll spend around $2,000 on disposable diapers. 

Huggies Natural are about $18 for a pack of 30 – running $3,669. 

Honest Diapers are $13.99 for a pack of 40ish diapers – running $2,000. 

Cloth diapers also hold their value. There are lots of mamas who buy their diapers used (once they have been stripped and bleached) and they pay anywhere from 50%-75% of the original price. 

MYTH #2
My water will be increase dramatically when I use cloth diapers. 

Not true. Our water bill has gone up maybe $10/year. There are also services the do the cleaning for you!

MYTH #3
Disposable diapers really aren't that bad for the environment. 

7.6 billion pounds of disposable diapers a year are discarded in the U.S. They are not biodegradable, so they sit and rot for a lifetime. 


Cloth diapers are not for everyone. They do require a bit more time and some extra laundry each week. Some natural diapers offer subscription services so diapers arrive at your doorstep without you ever having to get out of your pajamas. I don’t believe there is any right or wrong way to diaper your child – it’s all about preference, time and cost. Do what is best for you and your family and you’ll have one happy baby. 

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Karly is a true southern girl through and through. Wife and mama to two sweet boys, she is also a professional event planner and publicist and has traveled with her littles more times than she can count. The sweet tea, loving Granola Mommy is a first time blogger on Nosh & Nurture and plans to continue writing on topics on various platforms to help mama's make healthy choices for their children.

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