Best Cloth Diapers
Cloth vs. Disposable Diapers
It’s a conundrum that every new parent eventually faces – should they buy cloth diapers or use disposable diapers for their new baby? This blog seeks to objectively compare the pluses and minuses of both kinds of diapers, without casting any judgements on your eventual choice.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Disposable Diapers
Hard to believe, but disposable diapers have been around since the early sixties, and with the ensuing years their popularity has only become more pronounced. This is because of the following factors:
Disposable Diapers – Advantages
• You can throw them away after use, unlike cotton diapers.
• Less leakage in most cases – they tend to fit a little tighter, thus leading to less leaks and they also tend to be a little more absorbent.
• Usually easier to fasten and adjust – less complicated in most cases vs. cloth.
• Travel – friendly. This advantage is undeniable.
Disposable Diapers – Disadvantages
• Increased Possibility of Diaper Rash – while disposables can hold more fluid (urine), the additional wetness on your baby’s skin can cause more rashes.
• They Cost more Money – some estimates put the total difference of using cloth diapers vs. disposables at over $1,500 when your baby graduates from using diapers. Of course, there are factors that may influence this figure – namely, whether or not the parents are going to use a diaper service for cloth diapers or launder the diapers themselves, the quality of the disposable diapers and the quality of the cotton diapers as well.
• Harmful to the Environment. Although many pro – disposable advocates have made claims of increased water usage to wash the diapers as being somehow equal to the waste of disposables in our landfills, most estimates put the advantage firmly to the cloth diaper in this regard.
• Harder to Potty – Train your Baby. Primarily because disposables make wetness more difficult for your baby to actually feel on a daily basis.
Cloth Diapers – Advantages
• Less Expensive – even if you decide to use a diaper service, cloth diapers cost you less money in the long run. There is an modest set – up cost involved, since you have to buy more diapers initially.
• Easier to Potty – Train. Since your child is more likely to feel moisture, he or she is more likely to get potty – trained at an earlier age.
• Less Chemicals – dyes, fragrances and the most common absorbent gel used in disposables (sodium polyacrylate) have been known to cause allergic reactions.
• Reusable Diaper for Additional Children – which also costs you less in the long run.
• Decreased Chance of Diaper Rash – washable diapers are naturally more organic diapers, since their fibers tend to breathe more easily than disposables.
• Environmentally – Friendly. Although it’s claimed that some disposables are biodegradeable, it would take hundreds of years of exposure to direct sunlight and air in order to achieve complete decomposition. Since that exposure would be highly unlikely in a landfill, the benefits to the environment via the use of washable diapers is clear.
Cloth Diapers – Disadvantages
• There are some daycare centers that refuse to use cloth diapers.
• May have a tendency to leak more than disposables.
• May be hard to fasten – however, there are many types of cloth diapers available today that come with snap or Velcro fasteners. Additionally, washable diapers are now offered as prefold cloth diapers and fitted cloth diapers, leading to a greater ease of usage than was previously available. Some parents feel that the best cloth diapers feature a wide variety of styles, including the currently popular one size cloth diaper.
Ultimately, the decision to buy cloth diapers (i.e. organic diapers) or disposable diapers is a matter of personal preference. Factors such as finances, lifestyle and environmental concerns all play critical roles in your choice. Some families decide to use both types – disposables for the times when they’re traveling, and cotton diapers for when they’re at home.
From the Blogosphere
The new cloth diapers are easy and fashionable.
Diaper Change Resistance – Radical Unschoolers Network
I understand that when it comes down to it, there are not a lot of have-tos.
5 Simple Ways to Go Green and Save Money
Cloth Diapers are so much more affordable than cases upon cases of disposables.
Save Money and Mother Earth by Cloth Diapering
Cloth diapering is back with the introduction of modern cloth baby diapers in recent years.
If I could say one thing to families considering cloth diapers or currently cloth diapering it would be "if I can do it, you can do it, we can do it".
Cloth Diaper Myths Debunked – Go Green – SustainLane
There are so many myths out there about cloth diapering it disgusts me.
Cloth Diapers vs. Disposables: The Water Issue
The short answer: Most households waste so much water that they should focus on conserving it instead of worrying about how much it takes to wash diapers.
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