The first 2 plus years of a child’s life are lived in diapers. Raising a baby has many wonderful rewards and some challenges. As parents we sometimes are just concerned with finding convenient ways to be a great parent.
One thing that we don’t always consider is the impact that the diapers we choose for our baby have on the health and comfort of our baby, the positive impact that we can choose to have on the environment, and the substantial savings available through the use of child diapers made from cloth.
Here are 7 great reasons for choosing cloth-style diapers over disposable-style diapers.
1. Better for the health of your baby. Sure today’s disposable diapers are super-absorbent – but what makes them that way. They are made from a sodium polyacrylate which is a strong chemical that in studies has
been shown to potentially lead to toxic shock syndrome. In addition, since disposables go through a bleaching process when they are manufactured a by-product of this process is a dangerous chemical (it’s
called Dioxin) that cause liver problems, suppression of the immune system and even genetic problems
2. Less chance of diaper rash. When your baby wears disposable diapers parents can be fooled into thinking that their baby is dry since the diapers are so absorbent. This often means that the baby is changed less than babies that are using cloth-type diapers. We use cloth diapers and find that they start to feel damp after approximately 4 hours. So the bottom line is that with cloth diapers your baby will be changed more often which means less chance of diaper rash. The material used in disposables is not very breathable versus cloth diapers which are made with breathable cotton. The hotter the baby’s covered area the easier it is for bacteria growth – which results in diaper rash.
3. Baby’s comfort. Cloth-style diapers are made from layers of breathable, soft-to-the-touch cotton. Plainly stated cotton just feels better next to baby’s skin. Cotton is breathable which means that it is cooler next to baby’s tender skin. Especially on hot, humid days cotton clothe diapers are much cooler than the disposable alternative.
4. Less expensive. Studies have shown that during a baby’s diaper-wearing years they will wear about 7500 diapers. If you choose to use cloth diapers over disposables the savings to your household will be in the magnitude of between one and two thousand dollars. And that’s when you include the costs of purchasing disposables versus the cost of buying and laundering the cloth baby diapers at home. Saving money is important to our family. Our experience with our first child, in his first year we saved over $800 by using cloth diapers. Using cloth makes sense on a number of different levels – but if you only use cloth because you want to save money – you will save money.
5. Do your part to improve our world – cloth diapers can be used over and over again making them better for the environment. Consider some other items. A high quality cloth diaper can be washed a hundred or more times. And if you have or plan on having more than one child the cloth diaper can be used for your 2nd and 3rd child. And sure it use up energy to wash cloth diapers. This energy use cost is very small when you compare it to what the cost to the environment caused by the use of disposables. We can expect a disposable to take at least 400 years to be fully decomposed in our already crowded landfills. Also consider
that the manufacturers of diapers that are disposable in a year will use more than a million metric tons of wood pulp and 75,000 metric tons of plastic each year.
6. As easy to change as disposables. There is no argument it is easy to change a baby if you are using disposables. But today`s cloth diapers are as easy to use as the disposable type. This is especially true for
the cloth diapers that have a built in outer liner. All cloth diapers nowadays use a snap closure or a Velcro-type closure to ensure a snug, good fit for your baby.
7. Diaper and outer cover built together. If you are looking for convenience in a cloth diaper look for ones that are called all-in-one diapers. This means that the diaper and the outer waterproof cover are built into one item. This makes for quick changes of your baby.
About the Author: By Jen Stoddart
I am a preschool and primary school teacher and mum to 3 children. I have been involved in education since 1997 and have trained in a variety of educational specialist areas. It is with this expertise that I write articles to help parents and educators provide quality learning experiences for the children in their care.
