Diapering Your Baby
Paper, Plastic...or Cloth?
Everyone poops. So the popular children’s picture book by Taro Gomi reminds us. And sometimes it seems that no one poops more than your newborn baby. And of course one of the first questions you will consider when preparing for your baby is what type of diapers you will want to use. Which diapering practice is best for your baby and which type is best for the Earth that he or she will inherit from you?
Health and Comfort
Cloth diapers are made of cotton, are free of chemicals and are comfortable. You can even find diapers made from organically grown cotton. By contrast, paper or disposable diapers contain dioxins and are manufactured using petrochemicals that are designed to capture urine. “There is also a growing body of scientific evidence that dioxin exposure in humans causes prostate cancer”. Or do the test yourself—place a cotton cloth diaper next to your skin and then try the disposable. If you had to choose, would you want to wear cloth underwear or paper underwear?
Eco-Friendly Means Budget-Friendly
Assuming every baby born in Allegheny County in a year wears disposable diapers, it would take 684 tractor-trailers just to haul them away to the landfill. Cloth diapers, on the other hand, can be laundered and re- used not just for your first child, but they can be used for many babies to come. Think about all of the money you could save while you are also saving the Earth. (Cloth diapers can even continue to be used as fabulous window cleaning or car polishing rags after baby no longer needs them.) If you were to use disposable diapers for the 3 years your baby will be in them it would cost you $3,600. If you were to use a cloth diaper service it would save you $900, and better yet, if you were to buy the diapers and do it on your own it would cost you as little as $360.
Even when doing your own laundry some washing processes are more eco-friendly (and cost effective) than others. Certainly, everything we do unfortunately seems to leave some footprint behind. However, unlike the impact of tons and tons of plastic and chemical-based disposable diapers in landfills across the country, there are things that you can do to minimize the impact of cloth diapers. You can choose to use phosphate-free, baby-friendly detergents in cold water. You can even make your own soaps and use vinegar in the rinse. Many already have replaced their old washing machines with low-water-use front loaders. You can hang your diapers on the line where they will not only save the cost and energy of the dryer but also will also be sanitized and whitened by the sun.
Convenience and Effectiveness
We live in a throwaway culture. Many of us are waking up to the fact that there really is no magical “away” that makes our waste simply disappear. While it may be true that it always feels much easier to simply toss and go when it comes to diapers, there are also things you should know about the effectiveness of cloth diapers and the time saving measures you can take if you choose to use them.
Cloth diapers often generate images from the 1950s of yucky leaks hopefully caught in plastic pants. You may worry about your manual dexterity as you envision big pins and diaper-folding that requires the skill of an origami master. Some even seem to conjure up the thought of pots of boiling water on the stove with diapers stewing in them. Cast these images away. Instead of using pins and plastic pants, today’s cloth diapers are sized for your baby’s weight and age. When you use them, they are placed in a re-usable waterproof barrier, then wrapped around the baby and held on with strips of Velcro. The poop can be rolled off the diaper into the toilet or captured with a flushable diaper liner that lies in the diaper.
When using a diaper service the convenience is even greater, as the service will provide the diapers and supplies, and exchange your soiled diapers with clean ones on a weekly basis. If you want to make sure that the eco-values of your choice to use cloth diapers are preserved by your service, you should feel free to inquire about the method of washing and drying it uses.
As your baby moves into the potty training years, you will discover another advantage to cloth diapers. Parents using cloth diapers often report that their children learn more quickly to use the potty. This is because children who use cloth diapers are more aware of their wetness than those who use paper diapers. Because they experience this discomfort, they opt out of the world of diapers and into the world of the bathroom much more willingly.
Deciding What’s Best for Your Family
Balancing convenience, comfort, health, and environmental impact requires a calculus that might not yield the same answer for every family. Nor does it mean that every family must choose solely to use one form of diapering or the other. Some families choose to do both, using disposables for when they are out with baby and cloth diapers when they are at home. Some daycares allow cloth diapers and some day cares don’t. Some may have no policy at all. What is important is that you keep an open mind, consider all of the alternatives, and strike the balance that works best for you, your baby, and your lifestyle.
