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Cloth Diapers? They Still Make THOSE?

by Christa Sakowski, Owner of Baby Bean Boutique

Cloth Diapers?  They still make THOSE?  That is the response that I normally get from gals when they stop at my booth at the Carlsbad Farmer’s Market.  It is usually followed by a wrinkle of the nose.  While part of me feels a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, another part of me leaps with joy that I have the opportunity to educate someone about modern cloth diapering.  I am passionate about the benefits of cloth diapering and I must admit that cloth diapers have come a long way since your mother or your mother’s mother used them.  Also, they are far superior to the disposables, or "sposies" as those in the cloth diapering world call them.  Let’s take a look at why:

Cost - If you are using sposies, then you are in for some great savings compared to using cloth diapers...  During the course of diapering, you will spend roughly $2000 per child on disposable diapers, while the average cost of cloth diapering is about $800.  Just like cars, you can purchase the top of the line for far more or the "old dependable" for far less.  A second or third child will cost less, since the diapers can be reused.

Environment - Your baby has to live in this world and I pray that it's not full of piles dirty disposable diapers, roughly 1-2 tons or 8,000 sposies per child! Occasionally you hear that the environmental effects of cloth and disposables even out.  That just is not true, as I will tell you who pays for the studies that produce that kind of information: Can anyone say disposable diaper manufacturers?  Information like this is usually found in venues that depend on disposable diaper companies for revenue.  This information usually will not include any information about dioxins and other wastes created by the production of disposables or the water used during the manufacture of disposables.  Cloth diaper businesses comprised of mostly work-at-home moms just don't have the capital behind them to fund competing studies, so we just have to use common sense.  It just doesn't make good sense that disposables are as harmless to the environment as cloth!  Are Styrofoam cups or disposable underwear an environmental improvement over coffee mugs and cotton briefs?  Water used to wash diapers compares to an additional family member in the household flushing the toilet.

No chemicals! - The chemical that provides the super absorbency in traditional diapers, sodium polyacrylate, was banned from use in tampons.  If the diaper is torn, it can be dangerous to children.  Yes, this is what makes up the little "gel balls" that you find on your baby's bottom.  Ewww...gross.  Also, dyes and perfumes found in disposable diapers can cause allergic reactions and rashes.

Comfort - What are you wearing on your bottom right now?  Paper, plastic, or cloth? Cloth diapers are soft, comfy, and stay cool.  Disposable diapers can't do that.  Rashes are rare with cloth diapers, because they allow free air flow to your baby's skin.

Potty Training - It's easier and quicker!  On average, cloth diapered children potty train 6 months earlier than disposable diapered children.  This doesn’t mean than your young infant is soggy in cloth!  Fleece inner layers draw moisture away from the skin and into the absorbent part of the diaper.

Easy - Modern cloth diapers are fitted and have Velcro tabs or snaps.  They work just like sposies, unless you opt for the most cost effective option, prefolds.  Even prefolds are easy to use once you get past the learning curve of 5-7 days.  You never have to run to the store because you've run out of diapers.  You don't have to look for diaper sales or clip coupons for diapers.

No "blow outs" - I often hear Moms who use disposable diapers complain about "blow outs" (when large runny poops escape the diaper and go up baby's back or out the legs).  This virtually never happens with cloth unless you have a diaper on that is much too large or if you have not secured it properly.  All the poop...runny or otherwise stays where it belongs - in the diaper.

Cute - A disposable diaper can't hold a candle to the "awww factor" of a cloth diaper.  So many colors and prints!  Pirates, butterflies, frogs, flowers, turtles, baseballs... you name it, it’s out there!  They even make lacie diapers for little girls to wear with dresses.

Glamorous - Many celebs are fans of cloth diapers!  Dave Matthews, Naomi Watts, Brooke Shields, Melissa Joan Heart, Heidi Klum, Katie Holmes, Sheryl Crow, Ming Na, Ali Landry, Marcia Cross and Brad Pitt all have been said to use cloth diapers for their little ones!  Who knew cloth diapering could be so trendy?

I know what you are thinking.  But what do I do with the poop?  You will NOT dunk your diapers in the toilet!  Newborn poop is water soluble and will rinse right off of the diapers in the wash.  It will not harm your washer or leave any residue.  After you start solids, the poop becomes stickier and thicker before it becomes formed.  During this time, some people choose to use flushable liners.  Then the poop along with the liner goes in the toilet, while the diaper goes in your pail.  Some people use a diaper sprayer (that attaches to the toilet plumbing) to squirt off the poop into the toilet.  This time is the most annoying in the diapering period, but it doesn't last very long.  The poop will become formed and then it is very easy to plop it off in the toilet and flush.  Some people always use liners and some people never do.  The take home point here is that if you have a horrible aversion to poop, you can use flushable liners during the entire diapering period and minimize your exposure to it!  Just a piece of information here: the package of disposable diapers reads (in so many words) that all poop should be plopped in the toilet before throwing the diaper in the trash.  No one does that, but you're supposed to.  Otherwise, fecal matter sits in our landfill and seeps into the ground water.  In my opinion, that is far more disgusting than dealing with your own child’s excrement.

A couple reasons that folks have for not using cloth diapers is that they fear that their house will smell like a barn and that they will spend tons more time doing laundary.  The reality is that if you let any diapers sit around long enough they will all stink, whether they are in a traditional diaper pail or a diaper contraption that individually wraps each diaper into a plastic diaper link, hence just adding more trash to the environment.  Some people sprinkle baking soda or essential oils in, but I just close the lid when I'm done a change and call it a day!  Also, if you wash your diapers every three days or more often and keep a lid on your pail, you will only smell diapers when you open the lid and when you put your dirty diapers in the wash.  Also, your diaper bag will not stink if you are carrying around a couple of dirty diapers in a specially designed wet bag.

As a mother, aren’t we all doing laundry constantly?  Sometimes as I lay in bed, I prioritize the next day’s loads of laundry.  The fact of the matter is that you hardly notice another 2-3 loads of laundry a week.  Back in the day when you had to haul your diapers down to the creek and beat them with a rock to get them clean, this was an excuse to use sposies.

As parents, we can no longer afford to increase our negative impact on our environment in the name of convenience.  This is the world that we are leaving our children and our children’s children.  What kind of place will it be?  Will there be clean drinking water?  Will the air be safe to breathe?  With over 6.6 billion people in the world, even small changes do make a difference.  Some changes are out of our reach financially, like solar panels or a new hybrid vehicle.  To switch to cloth all at once can be expensive initially.  Some start with night-time diapering, some start with daytime diapering, and some buy one diaper a pay check.  In the long run, you will save money.  You as an individual do make a difference and can improve your child’s future.  You can be confident that you did what you could and took steps to make this planet a better place for your children, for all children.

Christa Sakowski

Baby Bean Boutique

www.babybeanboutique.com

References

1. Disposable Diapers.  Consumer Reports.  August 1987, pp. 510-512.

2. Anderson RC, Anderson JH. Acute respiratory effects of diaper emissions.  Arch Environ Health.  1999 Sep-Oct; 54(5): 353-8.

3. Healing the Harm: Eliminating the Pollution from Health Care Practices, Health Care Without Harm Campaign Report, 1997.

4. Risk Characterization of Dioxin and Related Compounds, Draft Scientific Reassessment of Dioxin.  United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA).  Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Affairs, May 3, 1994.

5. DeVito, Michael et al. Comparisons of Estimated Human Body Burdens of Dioxin-like Chemicals and TCDD Body Burdens in Experimentally Exposed Animals, Economic Analysis of the Proposed California Water Quality Toxics Rule, U.S. EPA, 1997.  Pp. 820-831.

6. Martel, PH; Kovacs, TG; O'Connor, BI; Voss, RH.  Survey of pulp and paper mill effluents for their potential to induce mixed function oxidase enzyme activity in fish.  79th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Pulp and Paper Assn, Montreal, Que., Canada, 01/26-27/93; pp. A165-177, 1993