I would like to talk about the reasons why My family has chosen to cloth diaper. When people hear that we are cloth diaper they nearly faint. We are a “throw away” society, that let’s the big marketing companies bully us. Well it’s time to fight back.
Here is the “surface” reason’s people think to cloth diaper “It’s cheaper” and “It’s saving the planet”. Well let me tell you people that there are many more reason’s than those to cloth diaper. Let me begin!
FASHIONABLE : gone are the days when cloth diapers were just a rag and plastic pants. Today they come in a variety of styles; Pockets, All in Ones, Pre-folds, Two In Ones, and fitted. You can get a diaper with your husband’s favorite football team logo on it, and your baby or babies can wear it for years to come. If you like pink on your princess or blue on your little man you can have every shade of those colors you could imagine. Even a plain white cloth diaper has more personality than a disposable.
COMFORT: We used disposables the first 2 weeks Mary Rose was home in order to get used to all the other changes. That is a piece of great advice I got from another great cloth diapering mama. The minute I put fluff on Mary Rose I felt like she was a whole new baby. Do you really want your baby to make crunchy sounds every time you pick them up? She knew something was different and we haven’t looked back since. Again they come in fleece, hemp, micro fiber, cotton, minky’s (my personal favorite which is a waterproof cover that has soft fleece on the outside of the diaper as well as on the inside). They even have wool, which I hear is soft and not itchy like the wool you are thinking of.
FUN: I was surprised how much dad, grandpa, grandma, and auntie all got into picking out their favorite prints. Now each relative has their favorite diaper print or style. The market is endless and waiting for your purchase to arrive in the mail is almost as exciting as putting the diaper on itself. It’s fun to network with other mom’s and see who is using what type of diaper and who has found a better more absorbent diaper for night. There is so much fun information, and you’ll find your feedback is important. What can be better than surfing the net for new diapers, or selling your gently used diapers to update your collection. Oh and don’t forget the extra cushion babies have when they start meeting gravity. Cotton is much softer to land on than a flat paper diaper.
MARKETABLE: I can sell my diapers after I use them. Who knew. You’ll never see a used disposable diaper on eBay, or Craig’s list. Then again, you might. You can buy a diaper for 20.00, use it for 2 years, and then if it is still ready for many more uses sell it for at 10.00. Good diapers whole there value….I would compare cloth diapers to a Toyota or Honda versus a disposable which would be a Saturn. You’ll see a running ’93 mint Toyota for sale in 2011 but never a running ’93 Saturn.
IF EVERYONE JUMPED OFF A BRIDGE WOULD YOU: Be different. Sometimes the only reason people choose to do something is because they have never been taught anything different. If you break the mold, you might just break a few more. It is a lot of fun to spread the joy and passion of cloth diapering.
SAFTEY: Not enough research has been done on what effects chemicals against baby skin can cause after several years. Here are a few things in disposable diapers; Polyethylene or cloth-like film, tissue, hot melts, Hydrophobic Non-woven, Hydrophilic Non-woven, polyurethane or polyester foam, synthetic rubber or Lycra ,Lateral Tapes,
Cellulose, frontal tapes, ADL, Sodium Polyacrylate, did I lose you yet….Aloe Vera, Vitamin E, Petrolatum, Almond Oil, Vitamin D, Oat Extract, Jojoba, etc. There is another trend to use antibacterial lotions (such as tertiary ammonia or silver salt compounds); however, many pediatricians are against its use for obvious reasons, for even greater product differentiation, some diapers use decorated films underneath the cloth-like back sheet. Some use as many as nine inks with all kinds of well known characters such as Disney, Sesame Street, Soccer teams, etc. Another gimmick they use is a wetness indicator. I think that list speaks for itself.
A video of how Disposable diapers are made :
(If you don’t have time to watch the full 5 minutes watch from 4:19 -on…it’s the most crucial reason to make your mind up about cloth) Those gel particles while convenient harbor bacteria. Also a different polymer has been used to clean up the oil spill in the gulf of Mexico. Basically polymer’s are versatile, but should be used with caution. “if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is”.
ENVIRONMENT: It takes 500 years for 1 disposable diaper to decompose. Which means your poop from when you were a baby is still in the landfills! The chemicals in disposables also can leach into our waters and soil, contaminating our water supply. Water and electricity are renewable energy sources, which is what cloth thrives on to be clean. It takes tons of crude oil to produce the diapers you see on the racks at stores. Enough said.
If your interested in starting your cloth diaper collection I know of several great resources. Here are two of my favorites :
www.Abbyslane.com ( Free shipping, Amazing customer service, giveaways and sales often, and any questions you have about products are answered timely and honestly.) My entire cloth diaper collection is from them.
http://www.clothdiaperfoundation.org/ ( I have never had the pleasure to use their services, but this could be helpful to many mother’s) I wish I had access to them before I had my daughter. They have a great program that jump starts cloth diapering for families in need. Check it out!
