New parents face a lot of challenges. Child rearing is new to them and they have so many doubts and questions. These days information is available in a click of the mouse, but there are so many choices and solutions, that choosing the best is quite overwhelming. They have the responsibility to make right choices for their children. Some of the common questions which arise in the minds of new parents are, whether to breast feed or go with baby formula, whether to use cotton diapers or disposable diapers, whether to make the infant sleep in the same room or separate room? But let us concentrate on diapers here.

As mentioned above there are disposable diapers and cloth diapers. Disposable diapers, as the name suggests is use and throw, whereas cotton diapers can be washed and used again. Both have their pros and cons. Disposable diapers are easy to use, no need to handle the mess, simply throw it away. But the negative aspect is, it’s costly when compared to cotton diapers and environmentalists say that it’s not earth friendly. On the other hand cotton diapers though cost only a fraction of disposable diapers, the time and energy spent on cleaning the diapers is far more. This task of cleaning the diapers adds to the pain and frustration of a new mom. So in general disposable diapers are preferred by many moms today.

Disposable diapers have evolved a lot. It’s not the same now as it was when invented. These diapers are also made of cotton and other fine material to suit the soft bottom of the baby and pre-folded. These days there are many brands available in the market, promising a lot of convenient features. Diapers are available in various sizes right from new borns to pre-schoolers. Pampers has Swaddlers for new borns, Cruisers for toddlers and Pull Ups for preschoolers. Huggies has gone a step further and has launched a new product called Preemies, which is designed especially for premature babies.

These days even store brand diapers have increased their quality and added benefit it costs less when compared to the brand names. Each child reacts differently to each brand. For instance my son got rashes after using Huggies, so I switched him to Pampers and he did not have problems with it. Once I sent my husband to buy diapers and he got the store brand because the particular size was not available in Pampers that day. I was very skeptical about using it but I didn’t have any other choice and to my surprise by son did not get any rashes and he didn’t seem to notice any difference at all. The only difference I noticed was some extra money in my wallet!

Whatever brand you decide to use keep the following tips in mind:

1. Keep the area clean and dry.
2. Change the diapers frequently.
3. Leave your child diaper free for at least for an hour or two everyday.

Please share your experiences with me.