|
#1. Your
baby's comfort.
Would
you like to wear stiff paper (and/or
plastic) underwear 24 hours a day? The
comfort of cotton and knowing I was
providing the best possible comfort for my
daughter was the #1 reason I switched to
cloth diapers, and why I still love them
so much today.
#2.
The environment.
Leave a
cleaner world behind for your baby, and
your grandchildren. Disposables leave
behind an average of 2.7 tons*
of non-biodegradable waste (not to mention
the waste produced by manufacturing them
alone) per child. Compare that to a few
dozen cotton diapers, and the responsible
choice also becomes an easy one.
#3.
Save money.
With
disposables, some estimate you spend an
average of $2000 per child. Cloth compares
at only an average of $150-$350 per child
(with the added but minimal cost of
electricity and water to launder them).
What a great excuse to start a college
fund for your baby now, and you can rest
assure that your money is being well-spent
and not going to "waste" in a
land-fill!
#4.
Potty training is easier, and happens
earlier.
It's a
little-known fact that cloth diaper
children potty train earlier, and with
less effort on their parent's part. This
has mostly to do with the fact that when a
cloth diaper is wet, they can feel the
sensation. Chemical laden disposables can
feel so dry, your baby never gets a chance
to understand what their body is doing.
#5.
Cotton diapers are gel free.
Polyacrylate
gel in diapers is a relatively new
phenomenon, and no one really knows what
the long term effects are. It also leaches
moisture from your babies skin.
Additionally, disposables are full of
dioxins. While non-organic cotton cloth
diapers can also have dioxins, they
typically are washed out within the first
few pre-washes (before your baby will ever
wear them), however one-use-only
disposables are never rid of them.
Additionally, and perhaps the most
compelling reason to use cloth diapers, is
that disposable diapers containing
polyacrylate gel are suspected of exacerbating,
and even causing, asthma.
#6.
Cloth diapers are so much better looking.
Photographers
still traditionally photograph
diapered babies in cloth diapers, simply
because they are so much cuter! Today they
are available in as many prints and colors
as their are fabrics available, not to
mention the combination of choices you
have with twill, flannel, hemp, terry and
more. Imagine how many classic baby photos
would suddenly become less
"quaint" with a baby wrapped in
a disposable diaper. I prefer to bring my
groceries home in paper and plastic, not
my baby!
#7.
More fun for Mom.
While
not every mother (or woman, for that
matter) is a born "shopaholic",
most moms I know just love how fun it is
to shop for cloth diapers. There are
unlimited choices today in cloth
diapering, like all-in-one, terry,
flannel, contour, prefold, fitted and
other contemporary-style cloth diapers.
And when you are on a budget, swapping is
a great, and economical, way to try the
latest new "rage" in cloth
diapers.
#8.
Better cushioning for baby's bum.
We all
know that babies and toddlers have their
fair share of bumps and spills! Cushy
cotton provides a much softer
"landing pad" than a flat paper
diaper.
#9.
Convenience.
Convenience?
Yes, convenience! You'll never have to
worry about making another late-night trip
to your grocery store for a package of
disposable diapers... You'll never have to
hold your nose while emptying and
re-bagging one of those complicated
"Diaper Genie?"
contraptions... And you'll have
approximately two bags less of garbage to
haul to the curb every week!
#10.
Being a leader is much more fun than being
a follower.
Stand
out from the crowd and show you care to
give your baby the very best, including
the way you diaper. It's so much more fun
to share the joy of cloth diapering with
other mothers (who are usually very
curious!), than to waste time clipping the
latest coupons for the cheapest disposable
paper diaper.
*Have
you also read The
Top Ten Myths About Cloth Diapering?
*
"Disposable diapers
were introduced as recently as 1961, but
they now dominate the market, accounting
for 80 percent of the diapers used in the
United States, with each child using an
average total of 5,000 diapers from birth
to about 30 months. This adds up to over
16 billion diapers or 2.7 million tons of
municipal solid waste nationwide which
contributes to the already existing
landfill problems, according to the EPA
(Environmental Protection Agency)."
-- Luanne Berk, Family.com
**
Disposable diaper emissions cause
asthma-like symptoms in mice
WESTPORT,
Oct 01 (Reuters Health) - Chemical
emissions from disposable diapers leads to
pulmonary irritation and other symptoms in
exposed mice, researchers report in the
September-October issue of the Archives of
Environmental Health.
Drs.
Rosalind C. Anderson and Julius H.
Anderson of Anderson Laboratories, West
Hartford, Vermont found that following
exposure to "...two brands of
disposable diapers, many mice exhibited
reduced mid-expiratory airflow velocity,
sensory irritation and pulmonary
irritation." These Effects were
increased with repeat exposure.
"Chemical
analysis of the emissions revealed several
chemicals with documented respiratory
toxicity," the authors write.
Exposure
to a third brand of disposable diaper did
not cause irritation, but negatively
affected breathing rate and pattern, while
only slight respiratory effects were noted
with cloth diapers.
The team
concludes that "[d]isposable diapers
should be considered as one of the factors
that might cause or exacerbate asthmatic
conditions."
Dr.
Julius Anderson told Reuters Health that
further studies "...are needed to
determine whether child care products such
as disposable diapers are contributing to
the worldwide childhood asthma
epidemic."
He
recommended that in children "...with
asthma or other respiratory diseases [one]
should probably avoid disposable diapers
and use cloth diapers instead...and
mothers with asthma should probably avoid
handling disposable diapers."
Arch
Environ Health 1999;54:353-358.
-Westport Newsroom 203 319 2700
©
1999, Susan Dodge-Doak. May not be
reprinted without permission.
|
