Diaper Information & Research

3. The Environment. A baby will use either 7,000 disposable diapers or 80 cotton diapers. A disposable diaper is used for 2 hours - a cloth diaper is used for 3 years. Think of all the resources used to produce a product that will last for only 2 hours and then be thrown away. Think about where all the billions of throw-away diapers are going to end up.

4. Less Diaper Rash. Studies have shown there is less diaper rash with the use of cotton diapers than with disposable diapers.

5. Cloth costs Less-a lot Less. You will save about $2000 if you use cloth over disposables. While disposables are priced very cheaply for the newborn sizes, as your baby grows the diapers start costing a lot more.

6. Cloth Diapers are Easy To Use. In your mom's day you needed pins, rubber pants, and time to fold a long flat cloth into a diaper. Now with cotton prefold diapers and Diaperaps diaper covers, it is quick and easy to change your baby.

7. Babies Potty Train Earlier when they use cotton because they can feel the wetness.

8. It takes a cup full of crude oil to produce the plastic for one disposable diaper.

9. Babies learn by imitation. You can teach them by example the responsible way of dealing with waste. You don't just wrap it up and throw it away.

10. Medical and News Reports from Germany and England now suggest there is a link between the use of disposable diapers and infertility in boys (due to lower sperm count).

Top Ten Environmental Reasons For Choosing Cloth Diapers

1. Disposable diapers use 2x as much water as cotton diapers.

2. Disposable diapers use 3x as much energy as cotton diapers.

3. Disposable diapers generate 60x more solid waste than cotton diapers.

4. Disposable diapers use 20x as much raw materials as cotton diapers

5. One billion trees per year are destroyed to make disposable diapers---approximately 4.5 for each baby who uses them

6. It takes between 200-500 years for a disposable diaper to decompose.

7. Disposable diapers are the third largest single consumer item in landfills, and represent 30% of non-biodegradable waste

8. 1 ton of garbage is created for each baby who uses disposable diapers

9. 1 cup of crude oil is used for the plastic in 1 disposable diaper

10. 18 billion disposable diapers are used in the U.S. each year ­ enough to stretch to the moon and back 9 times

The sources for the facts listed above are the following: Sierra Club, Californians Against Waste, Rhode Island Solid Waste Management Agency, Lehrberguer Report on the Impact of Diapers on the Environment, Greenpeace, Environmental Defense Fund, Center for Policy Alternatives.

MORE RESEARCH ON CLOTH DIAPERS

Visit these great sites and see more detailed information and research on cloth and disposable diapers.

http://www.diaperaps.com/home/dp1/myth.html

http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/diapers/joy-of-cloth.html

http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/diapers/diaper-asthma.html

FINANCIAL BENEFITS

USE CLOTH DIAPERS AND SAVE! On average, you will spend between $2,600 and $3,000 on disposable diapers per child. That is per child! Compare that figure to $700 (including laundering expenses) for the highest quality cloth diapers with all the bells and whistles. Now here is the best part, if you decide to use cloth for your next child/children, you may not have to spend any more money on diapers! Simply reuse all the cloth diapers and accessories you already purchased with your first cloth diapered baby! That’s right the potential to pay ZERO for your next child’s diapers! However, if you chose to use disposable for both those children your cost would be over $6,000! Your potential savings would be over $5,000! Amazing!

Your initial investment for cloth diapers will be between $200 and $500 depending on the style and accessories chosen. For easy budgeting and lower initial costs, you can purchase just covers and diapers in the sized needed. When your baby starts to grow out of one size, just purchase the next size. Or, you could purchase all the diapers and covers need up to size medium. After that, you will have no monthly diapering expenses. When compared to disposable diapers, you will re-coup the initial start-up cost of a quality cloth system in less than one year! That is an outstanding investment, just compare:

Cloth vs. Disposable and Diaper Service Table

*Amounts for Cloth are maximum investment amounts illustrating the top of the line in diapers and accessories (i.e.: an AIO package with accessories) while allowing for the purchase of additional covers in each size as your child grows. Depending on the package chosen your cost may be significantly less. The “Everything” Package includes an additional cost in the third year allowing for the purchase of Large size covers. Some children are potty trained before they reach a Large size diaper.

WHY NATURAL FIBERS

There are many fiber choices within any cloth diapering system. I am committed to providing a variety natural fibers for cloth diapering and mom and baby care items. Natural fiber products such as those made from unbleached cotton, organic cotton, and hemp are superior in their quality, durability and environmental impact. These fibers are more absorbent, last significantly longer and use less or no chemicals during their growth and manufacture when compared to conventional cotton. In fact, the cultivation of organic cotton and hemp actually improve the quality of our soils, our water and our wildlife. It is the natural choice.

I am searching for a natural fiber diaper cover that doesn’t leak and will certainly add that once found. In the meantime, synthetic fibers provide the most effective waterproof layer between you and a wet diaper!

Here’s a run down of the different cloth diaper fibers available. I carry each fiber in a variety of products including Prefolds, Doublers, Wipes, Nursing Pads, Clothing, and Toys.

UNBLEACHED COTTON

Unbleached cotton has not been treated bleach. The color is an off-white or natural color. Standard cloth diaper fabrics are bleached with chlorine. Chlorine is made from dioxin, which is the most dangerous chemical, known to man. Exposure to dioxin has been linked to cancer.

ORGANIC COTTON

Organic cotton has not been treated with any chemical pesticides or herbicides. The ground in which the plants are grown have been certified organic and the process used to create the product does not utilize chemicals. When you chose organic (cloth diapers, clothing, food, household products, etc.) you and your baby will not be exposed to dangerous chemicals! The following excerpt is from the definition of "organic" that the National Organic Standards Board adopted in April 1995: "Organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony." Sounds good to me!

MORE RESEARCH ON ORGANIC COTTON

htt p://www.sustainablecotton.org/html/resources/articles03.html

http://www.sustainablecotton.org/html/resources/bibliography.html

http://www.theorganicreport.com/pages/14_q_a_organic.cfm

HEMP

Hemp is a remarkable plant and fiber with a million uses. Hemp has been in use as a textile for hundreds of years. Anything from socks, and clothing can be made from hemp to rope and canvass. “Hemp is nature’s longest fiber, which means longer garment life as opposed to other plants’ shorter fibers. Hemp is naturally resistant to mold and UV light. And hemp becomes softer with every wash as the fibers relax…Hemp suppresses weeds and leaves the soil rich in nitrogen deposits, increasing yields on rotational crops such as soybeans and corn. Using virtually no pesticides, hemp produces 250% more fiber than cotton.” (from http://www.abouthemp.com/)

MORE RESEARCH ON HEMP

http://www.abouthemp.com/

http://www.globalhemp.com/Archives/Magazines/coming_to_america.html

http://www.naihc.org/

CHOOSING A SYSTEM

 Make an informed decision about your cloth diapering choice. First think of which system would be the most appropriate for your lifestyle, for you and your family. Then consider the accessories that would fit into your lifestyle.

All-in-One System: The All-in-One system works extremely well for the family on the go. They work really well:

Cloth and Cover System: The separate cloth diaper and cover system is always the most affordable and the best choice:

Combination System: Are these two systems equally appealing?

Then combine the two! See our Combo Package in the Diaper Packages section.

HOW MANY DIAPERS?

All-in-One System . To start your AIO System, for each size, you will need about 24 AIO’s for daytime and 3 - 6 cloth diapers with 3 covers for nighttime. This amount will work well if you launder every over day or every third day.

Cloth Diaper and Cover System . For this system, I recommend 24 – 36 infant diapers and 24 – 36 regular diapers. The infant diapers will make the first months of diapering so much easier. Infant diapers are cut smaller to fit a newborn better therefore there is less folding down of the diaper to fit into the cover. The regular diapers tend to be too bulky for an infant and can create a diaper that is twice the size of your baby. For covers, 5 is the minimum number recommended. I prefer to have 7 covers in each size. This keeps my baby covered when laundering every other day or every third day.

In addition to the above, I recommend the following for either system: