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How Big Diaper absorbs billions of extra dollars from American parents

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Re: How Big Diaper absorbs billions of extra dollars from American parents

#291

Post by gus_massa »

giardini wrote: post #178
gus_massa wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's like $3 per day (a coffee). Most diapers only get pee, but cloth diaper are more difficult to use, let's add 2 extra minutes, 4 or 5 times per day. No solids means "not hard rock solids", they still make a nasty stinky brown paste. Hopefully only once per day. But that diaper MUST be partialy hand-washed, don't put it as is in the washing machine. At least a partial hand wash and then go with the rest to the w…

Quick trick for processing dirty cloth diapers: After changing and settling the child, take the dirty cloth diaper to the bathroom, open the toilet, drop the solids into the pot and flush. Grasp the two ends of the diaper, turn it inside out, and dip the middle of the diaper (where the solids were and where some may remain) into the toilet water several times to rinse it further. Flush. Squeeze out the diaper and dro…

Kid's are too old now and we used disposable diapers. Anyway, diarrhea, accidents and just going to the park after the watering system created the cleanest mud on Earth gave us a lot of opportunities to clean cloth.

Using the water from the toilet would be considered gross here. I'm not sure if the rule make sense, but I'd prefer not to break it, so we used a small buckler instead. Filling and cleaning it each time adds some time.

Re: How Big Diaper absorbs billions of extra dollars from American parents

#292

Post by ProllyInfamous »

jswelker wrote: post #282
fred_is_fred wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but that's not super hygienic. You're willing to wash and re-use for one kid but not then to let the next one re-use? So does that mean the wash doesn't get the diaper clean? And if that's true, why re-use them at all for anyone?

It's more about the accumulation of fecal matter over time. I don't feel convinced that a washer removes it all, hence staining. And I don't feel great about making my kid sit in another kid's shit.

I would need a second washer — you feel comfortable washing your own clothes afterwards?!

Re: How Big Diaper absorbs billions of extra dollars from American parents

#293

Post by waffletower »

Freud had a lot to say about excrement and shame -- I think cultural fears are still very resonant here. With modern washers cloth diapers clean extremely well -- you can bury your nose into them afterwards with confidence and not notice the faintest evidence what the diaper was like prior to washing. If you feel you can't, I think that is culture speaking, not reality. You are definitely already well exposed to your family's intestinal bacteria strains so any phobia here is purely psychological. While I admit it was difficult for me to consider buying used cloth diapers, after raising two children I think I wouldn't have a problem doing it now. We found buyers for all of our children's used cloth diapers. They were in great condition. One thing to also keep in mind, typically children have difficulty with bedwetting at the late stages of diaper training, so our diapers at least, were washed dozens of times without being soiled by excrement prior to re-sale.

Re: How Big Diaper absorbs billions of extra dollars from American parents

#295

Post by caminante »

abustamam wrote: post #268
caminante wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seemed to defend claims that breastmilk trumped formula on price. That's wrong and shortsighted, yet people keep repeating these myths. Adding new parameters contingent on discretionary priorities and resources is vastly more subjective. Enjoy parenthood.

I didn't say that. I just said formula is not cheap. I never ran the numbers because I didn't care to. I am enjoying parenthood, thanks :)

You definitely said that by replying "very likely" to

> Is formula more expensive than the portion of the mother’s caloric intake that’s used to produce milk

You also "ran the numbers" in the same comment.

Maybe you're not getting enough sleep from tending to your kid.

Re: How Big Diaper absorbs billions of extra dollars from American parents

#296

Post by FeloniousHam »

ProllyInfamous wrote: post #292
jswelker wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more about the accumulation of fecal matter over time. I don't feel convinced that a washer removes it all, hence staining. And I don't feel great about making my kid sit in another kid's shit.

I would need a second washer — you feel comfortable washing your own clothes afterwards?!

Have you ever had a wife having her first baby?

There are many decisions young parents make that from the remove of a keyboard in a happily single or child-free relationship seem irrational or (mon dieu!) _inefficient_, but there is a emotional depth to these choices that are _very_ meaningful to the people involved.

Re: How Big Diaper absorbs billions of extra dollars from American parents

#297

Post by em-bee »

nephihaha wrote: post #286
em-bee wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

water is not entirely free. it has to be cleaned, which costs energy. energy is free, but access is still limited. likewise cotton also requires effort to produce. i agree with your overall point though.

It depends where you are. The main problems are that a) we keep polluting water and b) most of the water is salty.

exactly, i mean water after use. using water to create or clean diapers pollutes it, and because overall we use and pollute water faster than nature recycles it through rain we have to add our own cleaning mechanisms to keep up. that's fine, but it makes the water not totally free.

Re: How Big Diaper absorbs billions of extra dollars from American parents

#298

Post by jswelker »

sfpotter wrote: post #289
jswelker wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess if you buy them used the math changes. Second hand diapers was a line in the sand for my wife. But these people talking about diaper washing services, at that point, surely what is the point? I guess the thought of diapers in a landfill keeps some folks up at night.

What do you find confusing about the idea of a diaper service? It seems too unsanitary for you? The idea that it might cost slightly more than disposable diapers is intolerable to you? Do you have any reason to believe washing diapers actually is unsanitary?

The price tag and environmental impact of constant diaper delivery seems off the cuff like it would negate the original benefit of cloth diapers. Admittedly I have not done math on this one.

Re: How Big Diaper absorbs billions of extra dollars from American parents

#299

Post by anal_reactor »

tempaccount81 wrote: post #271
anal_reactor wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"An SLL error has occurred and a secure connection to the server cannot be made" - William Shakespeare

Why did you make a snarky reply? The post you replied to referred to a real Chinese proverb 家家有本难念的经

Haha lol I look stupid now. But it definitely would've made sense to add the Chinese version for credibility.

Re: How Big Diaper absorbs billions of extra dollars from American parents

#300

Post by blks »

sfpotter wrote: post #260
sfpotter wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We kept the diapers from our diaper service and the covers. The washing machines used by the service are much beefier and can handle these kind of loads easily, and will generally be more water efficient. We also got a good number of used diapers on Offer Up. When we're done with our diapers, we will rehome them instead of throwing them out. How does this change your calculations?

Oops, talked to my wife and realized I got a detail wrong: we did not keep the diapers from the service, we gave them back. And the diapers we got from the service were almost surely used by plenty of other people before. Someone else on here seemed confused about the logistics off the service. We lived in Brooklyn at the time. A big truck would drive around our neighborhood and pick up and drop off diapers from many…

Sorry, does the truck picks up dirty diapers? Or what’s the point of the pickup? How do you package them for pick up?
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