Are you having budget issues when it comes to choosing disposable diapers? Are you worried about your baby suffering from rashes? Whatever reason is motivating you, there are multiple benefits of cloth diapering.
Washable and reusable diapers are its main components. The main absorbent material are chemical free and organic layers of cloth. The inner later can be made material such as micro-fleece/ cotton/ bamboo while the outer layer may be made of polyurethane laminate to prevent the leakage on the surface. Another component is the snap button which you can adjust the diaper based on the baby’s weight.
Then come in cloth diapers. Initially cloth diapers were made of folded square or rectangle and made of linen cloth, stockinette and cotton flannel which was fastened using safety pins. Cotton or other natural fibre cloth materials including wool, bamboo and hemp may be used.
Commonly used diaper materials are waterproof and absorbency layers. Taking about waterproof layers, they are commonly made of materials like polyurethane laminate and thermoplastic polyurethane. The waterproof layers perform important functions which most parents want to be able to do without.
While absorbency layers include bamboo, cotton, hemp, modal and polyester. Bamboo fiber is incredibly absorbent and is also natural resistant to bacterial growth. However due to its manufacturing procedure, the process can be complicated and full of harsh chemicals. Another commonly used plant fibre is cotton. Due to its popularity and uses, cotton production is a major industry. To check out whether cotton used is ecologically sound, you can check out for certification of the fabrics. Another natural fibre is hemp, as the fibre is naturally resistant to any bacterial growth.
Modal fabric is also similar to bamboo as it’s made from wood pulp and it can’t be correctly labelled as organic. However, it differs from bamboo in that its made from wood pulp of beech trees rather than bamboo. It is an absorbent material as well is loved for its silky feel and the ability to retain softness even after plenty of usage.
Now, let’s check out of the reasons to choose a cloth diaper
1. Save a ton of money
A cash outflow can be prevented and if you talk about how much money can be saved, well it will depend upon how many cloth diapers you want. Considering you want about 8 diapers to use per day, you may probably want to stash at-least 20 cloth diapers. You can get by certainly if you’re decimated about washing laundry regularly. And, in case you hate to do laundry you may keep a bigger stash. Many cloth diapers come with inserts, but if your diapers don’t have them you’ll need to replace them which may add some additional cost but it still pays to use them over disposable ones. While there may be some investment that additional cost will disappear over the next year where you want be spending additional money unless you may want to replace some worn out inserts.
If you have more children, the savings are greater because you’ll have to spend little on diapers for those additional children as they can be reused.
2. Reduce the carbon footprint
Ingredients found is disposables which parents may find harmful include dyes, fragrance, chlorine, oils, phthalates, and absorbent polymers. Even the ones viewed as disposables generally use polymer crystals inside the diaper to suck the baby’s pee.
Even with an issue such as landfill disposal, cloth diapers are simple to disposable. That appeals to the environmental friendly parents who look to contribute to the fighting.
3. Reduce the landfill waste
With landfills there are always problems of groundwater contamination which is a real threat. With all the disposable diapers being sent to landfills, the problem of too much garbage is likely to complicate environment issues.
4. Less of harmful chemicals
There are a slew of materials and chemicals which are used in disposable diapers that parents may not want for their babies bottoms. Many of them have been linked to negative health outcomes such as obesity, and endocrine disruption. Some of the harmful chemicals include sodium polyacrylate, phthalates, tributyl tin, dioxin that can cause developmental and reproductive issues.
5. Potty training becomes easier
This is a milestone they are glad to say hello to. Ditching the diapers saves the parents money and they don’t have to take out the garbage as frequently. Using cloth diapers may prompt the child to try potty training at an earlier age as they don’t have that same dry feeling as they do when they are using disposables. With disposables, even when the children pee they can still feel the dry due to those super absorbent polymers. They suck the moisture away from the child’s bottom immediately as they pee, keeping them dry. It’s good when it comes to cutting down on the irritation on their bottoms, but its not so great when it comes to potty training.
The comfort with cloth diapers
It may be hard to tell when your baby is uncomfortable. You just have to try and imagine how your baby might be feeling. As a parent, cloth diapers would feel more comfortable against the baby’s skin. They may be comfortable as cloth diapers are lightweight, they are breathable as compared to airtight disposables, and it’s hard to beat the natural filers against your skin.
Cloth diapers have improved dramatically with the design of the diapers being better, there are now fewer leaks, they use snaps or Velcro now and you don’t have to perform any greater efforts to do the folding.
It can be hard to break the mould and go against the grain when it comes to cloth diapering. Every parent who takes the first step should be aware of the difference between disposable and cloth diapers.
They are also a cuter option. While it shouldn’t be the sole reason to put your baby in cloth diapers, it’s something you can consider. Just as we put clothes, the diapers can also reflect the style and personality. While old-fashioned cloth diapers are tedious, the modern cloth diapers come in all sorts of colours, patterns and designs.
