Cloth Diapering

Choosing Cloth

When choosing a diapering system, choosing what is best for your baby should be a top priority. You will want to consider comfort, health, convenience, cost, and the environment when making your decision.

Rashes
Gels and Residues
Retention of Body Heat
Potty Training
Environmental Considerations
Public Health
Managing Cloth
Limited Means Not Required
Ease of Purchase
They're Just Cute

Rashes

While many sources suggest that there is no discernable difference in incidences of diaper rash between infants who are diapered with cloth and those who aren't, some statistics suggest otherwise. Consider this: In the mid-1950, all infants in the United States wore cloth diapers and the percentage of those babies experiencing a rash was roughly 7%. During the early 1990, 90% of infants in the United States wore disposable diapers and 78% of all American babies experienced diaper rash.

Gels and Residues

Have you ever noticed the residual gel beads that can sometimes be found on or near baby genitals after wearing a disposable diaper? This chemical, sodium polyacrylate, is added to increase the diaper ability to absorb and hold urine. Sodium polyacrylate was voluntarily removed from tampons in the 1980 after a possible connection was established to Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS). It has been suggested that women wore highly absorbent tampons for too long during their menstrual cycles, possibly allowing a build up of the bacteria known to cause TSS.

Sodium polyacrylate generally allows for multiple voids before the diaper leaks. This may discourage prompt diaper changing, thereby encouraging the buildup of bacteria and ammonia near baby skin which will be trapped there by the diaper plastic shell.

While sodium polyacrylate is intentionally added to disposable diapers, a toxic chemical called Dioxin is an unwanted residue generated by the process of bleaching paper. Dioxin has been linked to cancer, liver damage, skin diseases, and possible birth defects.

Retention of Body Heat

Cotton diapers allow skin to breathe; plastic-encased paper diapers do not. The lack of ventilation in disposable diapers can create discomfort for baby or worse. A recent study indicated an increase in scrotal temperatures among boys wearing disposable diapers and suggested a possible correlation between disposable diaper use and decreasing male fertility.

Potty Training

Toddlers wearing cloth diapers may toilet train as much as one year earlier than their paper-diapered peers. Cloth diapered toddlers train on average between 18 and 24 months of age. For children in disposables, the average is 24 to 36 months of age.

Children wearing cloth recognize the effects of toilet activities because their diapers are free of absorbent gels. Disposable diaper manufacturers have begun to recognize this and are now marketing disposable training pants with less absorbent material to allow the child to feel some of the moisture following urination.

Quicker potty training not only means fewer diaper changes, it means less opportunity for developing diaper rash.

Environmental Considerations

Cloth diapers, often made from cotton or hemp, are the superior choice for the environment. Unlike disposables, which can only be used once, cloth diapers are used multiple times and can be used for more than one child. They can be used for years before wearing out.

The environmental effects of disposable diaper use occur before the diaper reaches the store. Deforestation is a major concern. Disposable diaper production in the United States alone requires 1.3 million tons of wood pulp, an amount equal to roughly 250,000 trees, each year.

Once the diaper is produce and used once, it is then sent off to a landfill. In United States and Canada, it is sent to a landfill along with approximately 20 billion other disposable diapers. They are not recyclable and, based on landfill conditions, decomposition may take as long as 500 years.

Further, the use of disposable diapers is not limited to infants and toddlers. As life expectancies increase, so do the numbers of elderly depending on paper diapers.

Public Health

Despite warnings on packaging, disposable diapers are thrown into the trash still containing untreated human excrement. This excrement may contain scores of viruses and/or harmful pathogens. In addition to groundwater contamination, small mammals, birds, and even insects can cause public exposure to these substances.

In a perfect world, cities and towns would provide pollution-free incineration facilities for disposable diapers. Unfortunately, this is simply not practical.

Managing Cloth

Cloth is an environmentally friendly means of diapering. Pathogen containing feces is flushed and the diapers are stored in a hamper until they are washed. An extra rinse with a little vinegar helps to eliminate bacteria. They can be dried in a dryer or on a line for extra environmental benefit.

Limited Means Not Required

You don't have to be poor, or perceived as poor, for cloth diapering to make sense. Cloth diapers are no longer limited to white, folded rectangles, pins, and plastic pants. They can now be found made from flannel, hemp, or fleece with convenient snaps or Velcro. Soft, fully breathable fleece covers serve the former function of plastic pants and diapers with built in covers (all-in-one or AIO) are available from a variety of makers.

Modern cloth diapers can be fashionable, functional, and cost-effective. Newer covers eliminate the need for pins, even when using the traditional rectangular diapers. After the diapers are purchased, the weekly cost of diapering is simply the cost of doing an additional load or two of laundry.

Ease of Purchase

The internet has helped to revolutionize cloth diapering. Mothers working from home (WAHM) design, test, and sell cloth diapers made from any combination of fabrics and patterns. Often, these entrepreneurs will hand craft custom orders to the specifications of customers with the means to pay for them.

The durability of cloth can benefit mothers who do not wish to pay for brand-new or custom diapers. Internet auction sites and cloth diapering message boards provide a means for the easy acquisition of previously used diapers at a reduced cost.

They're Just Cute

All other arguments aside, babies and toddlers just look and smell wonderful in a cloth diaper with a simple t-shirt.

Resources:EPA, "Positive steps towards waste reduction".Carl Lehrburger with Rachel Snyder, and "The disposal diaper myth" Nan Scott, "Nan Scott's Newsletter for parents. EPA, "Integrated Risk Assesment for dixoins and furans from chlorine bleaching in pulp and paper mill's". Mothering, "The diaper war", "The Ethics of diapering", "Diapering:a biased mother's view", "Diapers:the ecologial issue".

+ What experienced mom said about current Cloth Diaper: "Diapers, the Welfare of Tiny Tushies, and the Environment"