Thrifty Thoughts and Common Cents

If you are pregnant, or a new mom, one of the things that may be on your mind right now is the choice of diapers for your little one. You may be thinking about brand name vs. generic, or which diapers are on sale this week, but let me remind you of the age-old choice…cloth diapers. You may think, “Nobody uses those things anymore!” however, cloth diapers remain a viable and popular alternative among today’s parents. Read on for some of the top reasons why modern parents choose cloth.

Environmental Impact: You may have noticed that more and more of today’s parents thrive on “convenience” and “disposable” items. You may have seen the disposable washcloths and even baby bibs, and placemats on the market today. While these things may make life just a little bit easier short term, it seems like many parents are not thinking about the long-term impact of today’s “conveniences.”

The main offender in this disposable society is disposable diapers. While no one knows for sure how long it takes for one disposable diaper to decompose, it is estimated that it takes between 250-500 years. So long after your baby, and their babies, and their babies are gone, the diapers you use on your child will still be taking up space on our already overcrowded planet.

According to the Real Diaper Association, disposable diapers are the third most populous consumer item in landfills today. In a home with a baby, disposable diapers represent about 50% of all household waste! Waste, of course, being the operative word here. Disposable diapers also take many times more raw materials to produce, and generate much more solid waste than cloth diapers.

Health Concerns: Cloth diapers remain a much better alternative to disposables. They are by far a healthier choice as well. The main cause of diaper rash in babies is excess moisture against the skin. Disposable diapers are so super-absorbent, it is often hard to tell when the baby is wet, which results in less diaper changes, and higher probability of diaper rash.

On the other hand, cloth diapers wick the moisture away from baby’s tender bottom, and it is more apparent when your little one needs to be changed. My son has not had one diaper rash in his twenty months of life!

Disposable diapers also contain many chemicals, including dioxin, which is a carcinogen, banned in many countries, but not the United States. ^. Disposables also have a chemical, sodium polyacrylate, to make them super-absorbent. This chemical used to be used in tampons for women, until it was linked to Toxic Shock Syndrome, according to Wired.com.

Just think of how recently disposable diapers have come into widespread use. Has it been long enough to determine the safety of having all of those chemicals so close to a baby’s reproductive organs?

Economic Factors: Let’s face it, diapers are expensive!! Given how they’re just thrown away, that’s a lot of money to spend on trash, is it not?

For example, a jumbo pack of Pampers, size three, runs about $12 in stores. You get 35 diapers, at a cost of approximately 0.34¢ per diaper. A baby should be changed every 3-4 hours, so you’re using about 6-8 diapers per day, or a little over one package per week. So you may be spending about $60 per month for disposable diapers, or $720 per year. If your baby toilet trains at two and a half, you’ll have spent about $1800 on what is essentially garbage.

In opposition, you can easily get a generous assortment of prefold diapers and covers for around $300, which could be used for at least two children. It is estimated that washing the diapers, every three days will cost the home-launderer around $1.60 per week , or $208 over a 2.5 year diapering “career”. Of course, there are more costly options for the cloth diaper parent, like organic cotton fitted diapers and wool covers, but let’s assume the basics. You can spend $508 for cloth diapers, or $1800 for disposables. Which would you choose?

As you can see, cloth diapers offer a superior choice over disposables, for many reasons. In addition to the above-stated reasons, cloth diapered babies often toilet train earlier than their disposable diapered counterparts. Cloth diapers are often fun, cute, and can even be a great expression of personal style! Of course, the end decision is a matter of personal preference, but all parents should be aware of the short term, and long term benefits to cloth diapering their baby.

Tags: cloth diapers, frugal baby care