Cloth or Disposables-Making the Right Choice
Many big decisions
have to be made before and after our little ones come into this
world, but making the right decisions for our baby's health and
well-being are sometimes put on the back burner while our hectic and
busy lives take over. One of the big decisions we have to make is
whether to use cloth or disposables, and with all the different
cloth and disposable diapers out on the market, weighing the pro's
and con's can sometimes cause confusion.
If you're one of the
many thousands of mom's who work outside the home, the first type of
diaper that comes to mind, of course, is disposable. Why? Because
they're convenient and you just toss them in the garbage. No rinsing
out the mess and no stinky diaper pails sitting around. And it cuts
down on the laundry of course. But in our time of "green" is this
really the solution? Sure, disposables are handy but are they really
the best choice?
Disposable diapers are
taking their toll on our landfills and are having a huge effect on
our environment. Over 200,000 trees are cut down and 80,000 pounds
of plastic are used in one year to make disposable diapers in
America only. These diapers are sold, used and then tossed into our
landfills. It then takes from one hundred to five hundred years for
these diapers to decompose and with non-exposure to air and sun,
some of the plastic materials never decompose, therefore, the
dangers of contamination to our ground water is ten-fold.
We must also think
about our baby's comfort. Disposables are deemed to keep baby
"drier" but because of this, parents tend to change baby less,
therefore, baby is exposed to contaminated bacteria from the urine
for a longer period of time, causing diaper rash and irritation to
their tender skin. Also, the plastic used in disposables does not
breathe and the ammonia from the urine is unable to escape, which
can create skin irritations as well. The best way to prevent skin
irritations and diaper rashes is to change baby often, no matter
what type of diaper you use.
Cloth diapers have
come a long way in the past twenty years. Though one might say they
are not as convenient to use as disposables, they have many
advantages that far outweigh the advantages of convenience. They are
made with soft materials that are gentle on your baby's skin and can
be made to fit neatly and snuggly around your little one's bottom.
And there are so many different syles and colorful fabric patterns
for cloth diapers that it can be as much fun shopping for diapers as
shopping for those cute tiny baby clothes.
Though cloth diapers
have to be washed, which can add to the laundry pile-up, the
benefits are overwhelming. The more you wash them, the more
absorbent they become. As for convenience, most cloth diapers are
either snapped or velcro'd (hook and loop) for easy changing and
have multiple layers sewn into the soaker for dryness. Also, the
savings you'll experience with cloth compared to disposables is
astronomical. You can save anywhere from 2500.00 to 5000.00 by the
time your child is potty trained and cloth diapers can be used for
more than one child. But the most important part of a cloth diaper
is they are environmentally friendly and will keep our landfills
cleaner.
We all want to ensure
a safe and healthy future for our children, therefore, throwing a
little convenience aside for the welfare of our children is not a
lot to ask. Make the right choice. Our children deserve the best.
For more info on cloth diapers,
please visit my website at
http://www.dittidoclothdiapers.com.
By Terri Scott
has spent the last twenty years in the accounting field working for
a major newspaper company as well as assisting small businesses with
their accounting needs. Terri is really a 'soup to nuts' kind of
girl who loves to travel, read, write, decorate, renovate and
generally enjoy life. She also has an ecommerce store selling unique
baby diapers that she and her sister designed in 2007, called Ditti-do's.
|
