Using cloth diapers takes a commitment and you have to have a reason that is important to you for using them. Sorry if we sound a little harsh on some of this but it's food for thought.
If you are or have used disposables on one or more children already some of this might offend you. We get it that the disposable diaper companies with enormous advertising budgets have worked really hard to brain wash us into thinking disposables are the only option.
#1 Cloth is Healthier
Disposable diapers have been linked to male infertility and testicular cancer and this has been attributed too much higher scrotal temperatures when wearing disposables compared to cloth. It is the same idea as men being urged to not use laptop computers on their laps. Recent medical studies on mice have shown disposable diapers to also increase the incidence of Asthma and this is attributed to the harmful dioxins used in production. Once these dioxins have been used on the materials in production there is no way of getting them out of the diapers. Since disposable diapers have taken over we have seen a 70% increase in diaper rash and this can be as mild as a red bum and as severe as a painful red rash sometimes accompanied by bleeding around the perineum.
#2 Cloth Is More Comfortable For Your Baby
Have you ever noticed how the very clever marketing departments for the disposable diaper companies like to compare the feel of their products to cotton? Maybe because cotton is the softest most comfortable thing you can put on your baby's bottom? Their skin is very thin and sensitive and that super absorbent gel they use in disposables actually pulls the moisture they need to protect their skin away along with the urine. Don't be fooled just because the baby feels dry does not mean they are clean and those disposable scented, soapy wipes they are selling you are only going to dry out your baby's bottom more and leave them more likely to develop a painful diaper rash.
#3 Cloth Saves You Money
If you decide to go the disposable route you are likely to spend somewhere around $2,800 on disposable diapers and another $500 on disposable wipes. Our cloth diapering system will save you approximately $2,000 on diapers which takes into account all laundering costs and will save you an additional $500 on disposable wipes. I can think of a lot better ways to spend $2,500 than to give it to the disposable diaper companies.
#4 Cloth Diapers Help The Baby
Potty Train Much Earlier
For some reason it doesn't seem to bother parents today if their three year old is still in diapers. Have you ever changed a three year olds diaper? At that age they are eating what we eat so imagine your poop in a diaper just on a smaller scale. Hope you have a strong gag reflex. For some reason the majority of parents think that it is impossible to potty train a child before 36-42 months. If you believe this you are seriously underestimating your child's intelligence and possibly doing damage to their self esteem, development, competence, confidence and sense of self. Today only about 4% of children are trained by age two and approximately 12% are still in diapers between three and a half to four years. The billion dollar multinational disposable diaper corporations have done a very good job of making their diapers so absorbent that children don't even know when they pee and make them so dry and cushy when full of pee that there isn't much reason for the child to want out of those diapers. They have also done a very good job at making the parents believe potty training at a younger age is not possible and now with the launch of a size six diaper plan to keep your kids wearing their diapers even longer. In 1957 92% of children were potty trained by 18 months of age, it might be worth mentioning at this time there were no disposable diapers and no paediatricians appearing in disposable diaper ads telling parents to wait for their child to initiate potty training.
#5 Cloth Diapers Are A Lot Easier On Our Landfills
Every day over 4 million disposable diapers are discarded in Canada. That's 1.6 billion every year. Each baby diapered in disposables will contribute approximately 2 tonnes to our landfills. It is unknown how long they will take to decompose but is estimated to be between 250 - 500 years. When you add a diaper genie to mummify these diapers this already long process will take even longer.
#6 Using Cloth Diapers Can Increase Your Chances Of Successfully Breastfeeding
So now you probably think we are grasping at straws but this is an extremely valid reason to choose cloth. One of the most common concerns/anxieties among new breastfeeding mothers is that their baby is not getting enough food. One really easy way to tell is how many times they urinate daily and of course the number of bowel movements. Bowel movements are easy to see in any diaper but in super absorbent disposables urine is not easy at all. You may think five little newborn pees are only one. Why do you think they use cloth diapers for the newborns first pee in the hospital? "If a disposable were used you would never be able to tell that they had their first pee."
#7 Cloth Diapering Is Easy
Maybe using cloth isn't as easy as disposables but they are not that much more work. You will never have to run to the store in the middle of the night because you ran out of diapers and you will have a lot less trash to take out as those used disposables pile up quicker than you think. You won't have to bring home a huge pack of diapers with your groceries all the time. Cloth is a lot easier today than it was in your grandmother or great grandmother's day. I'm sure our grandmothers would have considered shaped diapers with no need for pins a breeze. Not to mention we have washing machines and dryers where they had to wash them by hand and hang them out to dry even in the dead of winter. Maybe the path of least resistance isn't always the best.
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