When I was pregnant with my first child, my husband suggested that we use cloth diapers. At first I laughed at him. Of course, this seemed manageable to him as I would be staying home with the baby and would no doubt be the one washing and using most of the diapers. But the more I looked into them, the more I liked the idea. When we started telling others about our plans, we were met mostly with laughs and sarcastic comments. My mom said we were idealistic and that no doubt our cloth diapers would end up as hers did–dusting cloths! In fact, in my entire pregnancy, we only encountered one person that had anything positive to say about cloth diapering. But we persisted nonetheless and three years later I can say that we have saved an estimated 5440 disposable diapers from landfills and counting…
I’m going to discuss four reasons why more parents should consider using cloth diapers. First, because of the impact of disposables on the environment. Second, because of the money that can be saved with cloth diapers. Third, because of the health reasons. And lastly, because of multiple, smaller reasons that I have experienced in my years of cloth diapering (from fewer leaks to earlier potty training). Of course, when most people hear about cloth diapers, they think of the inconvenience of them, especially laundering them and the cost of extra water and energy to keep them clean. I will address those issues as well.
It always surprises me when people say that cloth diapers are no better for the environment than disposables. It seems counterintuitive to suggest that a reusable product causes more harm to the environment than a disposable one. Yes, it takes water and energy to wash the diapers. But it takes water and energy to wash dishes, and no one claims that using paper plates and silverware is more environmentally sound than using dishes. Most front load washers use only 10-15 gallons of water per load. A toilet installed before 1980 uses 5-7 gallons of water per flush, one installed between 1980 and 1993 uses 3.5 gallons, and the most recent toilets use just under 2 gallons. That means that washing my cloth diapers every 2-3 days uses no more water than my child will eventually use to flush the toilet after using it (washing diapers 3x/week = 45 gallons/week, flushing a newer toilet 5x/day = 60-70 gallons/week). Procter & Gamble did fund a study in 1990 suggesting that disposable diapers were no worse for the environment than cloth diapers, but what other kind of result do you expect a large manufacturer of disposable diapers to find? Besides, the Advertising Standards Authority in Great Britain deemed the study misleading and Procter & Gamble was prohibited from mentioning it in its advertising. What we do know is that diapers are the third largest contributer to landfills, that 18+ billion diapers are thrown away each year, that disposable diapers take hundreds of years to decompose in airtight landfills, that it takes 82,000 tons of plastic and more than 250,000 trees each year to produce the diapers used in the U.S. alone1, that chlorine bleach is used to whiten diapers and produces the carcinogen dioxin, that the water used to make disposable diapers, unlike the treated waste water from your washing machine, contains dioxins, sludge, solvents, and heavy metals, that diapers containing human feces leak bacteria/viruses/microbes into the soil and are a serious risk for groundwater contamination, and that disposable diapers not only take energy and fuel in production but also when they are transported to your local grocery store. In the end, hopefully most people can see that the environmental impact of producing and washing a mere 2-4 dozen cloth diapers is less than manufacturing and transporting an estimated 5-8,000 disposable diapers over a child’s diapering years.
In addition to being better for the environment, cloth diapers cost less than disposable diapers, at least if you purchase your own instead of using a diapering service. There are dozens of types of cloth diapers, costing anywhere for a few bucks to $25 per diaper. This makes cost comparisons tricky, but by almost every estimate, you can save money using cloth–the question is how much. We personally have spent $700 on cloth diapers. We used pocket diapers, one of the most expensive types, and when we bought them in 2005, we spent $15 per diaper. We bought 22 small diapers for the newborn stage, 18 medium diapers (which my 2.5 year old son still fits into!), and 8 large/toddler diapers. This totals $720 and we did not pay tax or shipping/handling or even a penny on gas to get to the store to buy them. If we had spent 25 cents per diaper on 5440 diapers, we would have spent $1360, meaning we saved $640 with our first child. If we use these diapers for our second child, which we are already doing, we will save 2k. Of course this doesn’t include the cost of washing the diapers, but with each load using only 1 oz of detergent and 15 gallons of water (we line dry the diapers most of the time), the cost of caring for our diapers is really negligible.
Many cloth diaper advocates claim that cloth diapers are better for baby’s health. This mainly is in reference to diaper rash and the chemicals used to make disposable diapers, or that are a byproduct of diaper production. Disposable diapers are usually bleached white with chlorine and in the process, dioxin is produced. Dioxin is a carcinogen and many studies have found it causes damage to lab animals. Disposables also contain a sodium polyacrylate gel to make them more absorbent–a gel that was removed from tampons in the 80s because it was found to increase the risk of toxic shock syndrome. Diapers also contain tributyl tin (TBT), a plastics stabilizer, which is a toxic, environmental pollutant that disrupts the endocrine (hormone) and immune systems2. These chemicals may or may not contribute to diaper rash, a phenomenon that really only appeared with the invention of disposables. More likely, the rash seen with disposables is caused by lack of air circulation, higher temperatures retained by the plastic diapers, and children being changed less often because of the high absorbency of disposables. A study published in the Journal of Pediatrics found that 54% of one month olds wearing disposable diapers had diaper rash3. I do not think cloth diapered children are immune to diaper rash. In fact, in the summer months, my son definitely had more redness, no doubt due to the diaper retaining heat on the skin. But my son only had a few small incidences of diaper rash, none of which lasted for more than a few days. And we hardly needed any diaper rash cream. I will end by saying that my pediatrician, one of the most popular in our city, told me that while he sees plenty of diaper rash in children wearing disposables, he rarely sees it in cloth diapered kids.
Last but not least, I wanted to mention some of the less obvious reasons why I love cloth diapers. I have heard that cloth diapered children potty train sooner, and while there’s no way to know if this is really true, it certainly seemed to help our son potty train sooner than I would have expected. He actually started complaining about his diapers when they were wet so we gave potty training a try and it happened fairly easily. We also love how well cloth diapers worked for us. The elastic on the diapers meant very few leaks for us. When we traveled, we used disposables and we were always amazed by how many more leaks we experienced compared to our cloth diapers. I have had another cloth diapering friend confirm this observation. Last but not least, I think cloth diapers are cute. We’ve enjoyed buying different colors and patterns and my son likes requesting diapers of a certain color.Certainly cloth diapers are not as convenient as disposables. It does take some time and planning to wash the diapers and always have some ready to go. But we have not found the few extra loads of laundry each week to be so inconvenient that we couldn’t use cloth. Honestly, with a new child in the house, you will be doing more laundry whether or not you use cloth diapers. Babies blow out of diapers, spit up, and go through outfits at an alarming rate. We hardly noticed the extra loads of laundry we did for diapers. (If you’re interested in specific details about washing diapers and what we did for once our child was eating solids, feel free to comment and I’ll email you more). For our family, the pros of cloth far outweigh the cons. The benefits to the environment, our wallet, and my son’s skin were worth the inconvenience of a few extra loads of laundry.
I’m not the only one–here are the experiences of other cloth diapering moms…
Heather:I started to use cloth diapers because I hated spending $10 every week, or more, on something that I was throwing away. Prior to the birth of my daughter, I had considered cloth, but my mother told me I would not like dealing with rubber pants. Little did I know that cloth diapers are nothing like they were when I was growing up.Thanks to Sophia, we finally took the cloth diaper plunge when our daughter was four months old. I was pleasantly surprised and have not turned back. We first purchased Fuzzi Bunz pocket diapers and have since tried fitteds, all-in-ones and prefolds. Had I known how easy prefolds were to use, I would have started with them.Cloth diapers are easy to wash and I have not noticed a huge difference in our water bill. It was a bit tricky to find the right detergent and wash routine, but now that I know what I am doing, the diapers do not have build-up issues and my daughter has only had a diaper rash once in the last two and a half years.I feel good about using cloth and creating less environmental waste. My waste baskets stay empty longer and I like not having to buy diapers all of the time. Although, I must admit there are some really adorable cloth diapers that I have purchased out of want instead of necessity.Now that we have another child, I believe we’ve saved hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars by using cloth. Prefolds and covers are a cheap way to start and there are many great diaper patterns that crafty mamas can use to sew their own.
Lisa:Using cloth diapers was one of the best parenting decisions we have made since having our daughter in February 2007. I was encouraged to consider cloth by an environmentally conscious friend, and I’m so glad she recommended it because I’m not sure I would have seriously considered it on my own. We use a mixture of cheap and simple prefolds, Daddy-friendly fitteds and pockets for quick changes on-the-go. Besides all the environmental benefits, I love the fact that we will be diapering our daughter AND any future children for less than half the amount some families spend to diaper ONE baby. With the new fasteners and covers available, using prefolds is quick and easy, and so economical. Fancier types of diapers are even easier to use. Washing the diapers is simple – for our family, it’s just two extra loads of laundry per week.Functionally, I have had more leaks when we’ve used disposable diapers while on vacation than we’ve had using our cloth diapers full-time at home. My daughter also looks so cute in her decorative diapers, and I know she is much more comfortable in natural fibers than she would be wearing paper diapers.
Andrea:The changes in cloth diapering over the last several years made it possible for me to use cloth as a better choice for my daughter and still work a full time job. We used the Fuzzi Bunz pocket diaper and not only was it a better choice for my family because it reduced overall cost of diapering and waste compared to disposables, my daycare always commented on how EASY they were to use. My daughter is out of diapers now, but we were pleased with how easy cloth was and how much better it was for our family and environment.Sites worth visiting:
http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php http://www.diaperpin.com/clothdiapers/article_diaperdrama.asp http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/diapers/joy-of-cloth.html http://www.sustainabilityinstitute.org/dhm_archive/index.php?display_article=vn321diapersedhttp://www.thegreenguide.com/reports/product.mhtml?id=45
1. http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/diapers/joy-of-cloth.html, Accessed 11/18/07
2. http://www.diaperpin.com/clothdiapers/article_diaperdrama3.asp, Accessed 11/18/07.
3. Weiner, F. The relationship of diapers to diaper rashes in the one-month-old infant. The Journal of Pediatrics. 1979; 95: 422-424.
