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CLOTH BABY DIAPERS

If you are going to have a baby, you are most probably confronting choices at every step of the preparation.

One of the latest ones is, 'What kind of diapers?' The usual disposable ones or the reusable cloth baby diapers?

The choice is yours, but it should be a knowledgeable one.

The disposable diapers have been around for quite some time but now the cloth baby diapers are staging a dramatic come back. They are no more what they used to be. Cloth baby diapers now have double or triplelayers and a fiber filled removable strip making them more absorbent and convenient than the older style. Velcro strips have eliminated the need for safety pins and if you are reluctant to launder them at home, diaper services are available.

At the same time the disposable ones are also available in the newest high tech styles filled with absorbent gel and covered with soft, colorful plastic and they are elastic legged with a 100 % 'accident proof' guarantee.

The choice is difficult. Here are some considerations in order of priority.

• Baby's Skin care and Health
• Cost
• Environment
• Convenience

Baby's Skin Care and Health:

Baby's skin should remain dry, healthy and free from diaper rash. If cloth baby diapers are used, they need to be changed every time the baby wets them. Great care must be taken in washing and drying. All soap and detergent must be removed and the diapers must be dry and free from microbes.

Disposable diapers cause much concern because according to Pediatric Journal 54% one month old babies using disposable diapers have diaper rashes. Chemicals and dyes used in them cause damage to the cental nervous system, kidneys and liver.

Cost:

Cost of disposable diapers runs $50 to $80 per month. Using a diaper service for cloth baby diapers also costs $50 to $80 per month but laundering at home will cost $25 to $60 per month.

If you buy the best of each, in the long run the cost of the cloth baby diapers, if you wash them at home will be much less than that of the disposable ones.

Environment:

It takes 80,000 pounds of plastic and over 200,000 trees to maufacture the disposable diapers for American babies alone. Although, some disposables are claimed to be biodegenerable, it will take them hundreds of years for decomposition and the plastic in them will never decompose.

Secondly, the use of untreated disposables for landfills is a possible danger to contaminate ground water.

Baby cloth diapers are certainly more environment friendly.

Convenience:

Latest styles of cloth baby diapers are almost as convenient as the disposable diapers. They have multiple layers, velcro fastenings, removable and flushable liners to let you flush the poop down the toilet. If the liners are not flushable they may be just removable and discarded or if not removabbe, the solid can be washed down the toilet. The laundry will add just 2 extra loads every week.

Maintaining the Cloth Baby Diapers:

Dirty diapers can be collected in a dry diaper pail. If there is solid on them, it should be removed by shaking it into the toilet. Some cloth baby diapers come with an absorbent disposable and removable strip that can be removed and discarded. Wash them every day. If there isn't enough machine load of laundry, you may soak them in water and detergent in your wasing machine and wash them once in two days. Do not keep longer.

You may dry them in machine for 60 minutes or hang them on a clothesline in sunshine in the back yard. It is the most beautiful sight. Sunshine removes stains and sterilizes them.

Use a Combination:

Wise mothers use a combination of cloth baby diapers and disposable diapers.

It is best to use cloth baby diapers during the day when you are awake and free to change them frequently. Use disposable diapers to keep the baby clean and dry for a longer time - at night and when you are away from home or when you are travelling with the baby.

It is best to use cloth baby diapers for the newborns. They soil their diapers more often and it makes no sense throwing away a 10 cent diaper every time the baby soils it. The cloth diapers are more economical. As the babies grow older they are out of the frequent 'soiling' age but they still urinate often. One can switch on to disposable diapers as babies grow older.

New Uses of the Old:

When your baby has graduated to no diaper stage, the cloth baby diapers can still be of use

• Sell them at yard sales or consignment stores
• Pass along to relatives or friends
• Use them as cleaning cloth and for dusting furniture and windows

Taking into consideration the health hazards and the severe impact on environment the cloth baby diapers do deserve much thought.*****

Article Published: Friday 29th June 2007