I think I'll break up the cloth diapers into three sections as to avoid a VERY long post. Part 1 will be benefits, part 2 I think we'll discuss types & costs and part 3 we'll go over caring for them. That seems pretty logical to me, so here we go.
Cloth diapering has saved us many late night runs to the store to get diapers or wipes (did I mention we also use cloth wipes?), has saved us money, saves space as we don't have a bunch of diaper packages & wipes boxes laying around and if you want to spend a little extra they can be fun to customize prints & patterns so they're super cute :). Aside from my reasonings let's get into the REAL benefits!
**Money Saving! http://www.comfybummy.com/cgi-bin/category/see_your_savings
ComfyBummy has an online calculator that you can imput all your totals & it tells you approximately how much you'll save. There are many other calculators out there but it's from a local store :).
Looking at diapers.com (http://www.diapers.com/product/subcategory.aspx?categoryid=3&categoryname=Diapering&subcategoryid=120&subcategoryname=Diapers&queryfrom=subcategory) the average pack of diapers cost $40-$50 a box & depending on the child that's 1/3-1/2 a months supply. So most people probably spend at least $100/mth just on diapers. That's not including overnight diapers & all the diaper products (diaper pail, bags for pail & travel, vasaline, diaper rash cream, powder etc.) that are not needed 1/2 as often with cloth diapers. We probably spent $300 up front for our cloth diaper stash and we're set for Lillian through potty training.
**Healthier! Children aren't exposed to all the chemicals in disposables...and neither are you! I've heard that 60%, 80%, 50% of whatever % is convenient at the moment, of products put on skin is absorbed. Now, that depends on what the product is designed for as far as I'm concerned. Skin does absorb things that get into out bodies, IE: why lotion sinks in and drys. Regardless of how much is absorbed I wouldn't want it touching my skin.
One group, which I will admit is privately funded discovered this: Environmental Working Group (EWG) detected 16 chemicals from 4 chemical families – phthalates, triclosan, parabens, and musks – in blood and urine samples from 20 teen girls aged 14-19. This study was conducted to see how many chemicals from cosmetics have already been absorbed by teenage girls. It is about 10 pages long and very detailed.http://www.ewg.org/reports/teens. There are similar, privately funded studies about cosmetics, lotions, etc that all reveal some sort of leaching into our blood & urine.
Disposable diapers contain many chemicals to wick away moisture, keep baby dry & make their pee/poop smell baby fresh. I'm sorry but floral scented poop is not the best smelling thing in the world to me & its not worth my kids health either.
Also, I haven't been able to access the full article yet, but in a 1999 article testing of cloth vs disposable apparently showed that emissions from one disposable diaper were high enough to produce asthma-like-symptoms in mice. (The Archives of Environmental Health, Acute Respiratory Effects of Diaper Emissions, Archives of Environmental Health, 54, October 1999). And that's just not cool with me.
**Reducing your carbon footprint!
Less trash in the home = less trash out. Your not contributing to the metric tons of wood pulp & platic needed every year to manufacture the diapers and you're not contributing to the estimated 10,000 tons of disposable diapers added to landfils every week!
**Children in cloth often potty train sooner
Why? Because they realize they're wet easier than diapers that wick moisture away to the 'absorbent core'. Some families also practice elimination communication which also facilitates early potty training. Moms who cloth diaper tend to know their childrens potty cues and can help them learn to go on the 'big boy/girl potty' easier and quicker. Plus, after 2 years of washing diapers that's the end goal, potty training!
**They're just as easy as disposables
With all the all-in-ones and pocket diapers they are just as easy to use and more convenient because there are no late night CVS runs for diapers. They're only a load of laundry away!
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