After feeding the baby, the inevitable will happen. You'll have to change a dirty diaper. One of the first choices you'll make as a new parent is which type of diaper to use on your baby. Here you'll need to explore the pros and cons of all options. The “bottom” line is this: You should choose what is most comfortable for the baby and convenient for you.

Cloth Diapers

You can purchase a set of 50 or more diapers and wash them for reuse. Your baby may go through six to eight diapers per day. Pros: You can save a lot of money on diapers. Cons: It's a lot more work, and you'll go through tons of heavy-duty detergent in the process. Some reports indicate that home washing machines don't sterilize the same way commercial units do. Also, cloth diapers often leak — leading to more wet clothes.

You can hire a service that drops off clean new diapers and removes the dirty ones once per week. Pros: It's convenient and environmentally responsible. Cons: It's costly and annoying, particularly if you miss your dirty diaper pickup.

Disposable Diapers

You can buy these virtually anywhere, and their manufacturers claim that they are friendlier than ever to the environment. Pros: They are convenient and readily available; these diapers are also great for travel. Cons: They can be expensive, and are not always readily available.

If You're a Diapering Rookie …

Diapers can be a scary experience for first-timers, since you can never really be sure what's inside a dirty diaper until you are brave enough to open it. Once you do, you will learn something you never knew before about babies: their stool can change colors dramatically. Once you get past that initial shock, everything else becomes more practical.

Here are some more diapering tips for newbies:

• Take off the dirty diaper, wiping away as much stool as you can with the front of the diaper and using a warm wash cloth or baby wipes for the rest.

• Be aware of the differences between boys and girls, and wipe accordingly.

  For girls, you should always wipe from front to back (and never in the opposite direction) to prevent any debris from getting into the vagina. Even baby girls can get urinary tract or kidney infections, and fecal matter in the vaginal area is a primary cause.

  For baby boys, clean a circumcised penis with warm water and apply a thin layer of petroleum jelly to the tip. For boys who have not been circumcised, wash with a warm cloth and do not retract the foreskin.

• Let the baby “air dry” without a diaper for a few minutes to minimize the chance of diaper rash. Then apply some petroleum jelly to the diaper area to keep baby's skin soft and protect it from irritation.

Dealing with Diaper Rash

To deal effectively with diaper rash, you'll need to keep baby's skin dry, and change wet diapers as quickly as possible. Allow the baby's skin to air dry as long as you possibly can, since that will help keep skin from getting irritated. Launder cloth diapers in mild soap and rinse well. Don't use plastic pants.

Avoid irritating wipes (especially those containing alcohol) when cleaning baby's bottom. Ointments or creams may help reduce friction and protect baby's skin from irritation; however, powders such as cornstarch or talc should be used cautiously, as they can be inhaled by the infant and may cause lung injury.