The Great Diaper Debate

» Back to Caring for Baby Tips & Advice
 

Cloth diapering has come a long way, baby! The advances in cloth diapering have decreased the work and the mess of this diapering option, resulting in benefits for all—baby, mom, and the environment.

Benefit 1: Good for Baby
The great debate between using cloth or disposable (single-use) diapers has raged since Proctor & Gamble introduced the latter in 1961.

Although the single-use variety was touted as the convenient choice for moms, this handy alternative quietly ignored what was best for baby. The plastic and polyester that make a disposable diaper waterproof and air-proof are the very elements that cause painful diaper rash on baby’s bottom.

Cotton cloth diapers allow fresh air to circulate naturally, keeping baby cooler, drier, and virtually rash-free.

Benefit 2: Easy on the Pocketbook
The debate continues when comparing the cost of disposable diapers to that for cloth. In this argument, it’s a matter of dollars and sense. Diaper changing will be at its highest during the baby’s first year. Diapers should be changed every two to three hours, equating to 70 diapers a week, or 3,640 diapers a year. 

~ The cost of a disposable diaper averages $.30.
That’s $21 per week, or $1,092 for baby’s first year.

~ The cost for cloth diapering is $5 for a 12-pack of diapers plus laundering costs, which total just $40.56 per year.
That’s $45.56 for baby’s first year.

Using these conservative measures, cloth diapering saves at least $1,000 a year. The National Association of Diaper Services indicates that single-use diapers will, over the course of two years, cost more than $4,100, while using a cloth diaper service for the same amount of time will cost only $1,800.

Benefit 3: Kind to the Environment
The Reduce-Reuse-Recycle mantra has made cloth diapering mainstream and eco-friendly chic. Moms are becoming quite passionate about protecting the environment for generations to come, and cloth diapering is an easy change that will have immediate and long-term benefits. 

According to Mothering Magazine, about 18 billion disposable diapers are thrown in landfills each year, taking as many as 500 years to decompose—the long-term burden greatly outweighs the momentary convenience.

That’s why cloth diapers are an eco-friendly alternative to disposable diapers—they are machine washable and are reusable. With proper care, cloth diapers will be usable well beyond your child’s need for them, recycled for housecleaning, packing breakables, dish drying, and car washing.