Not Your Grandma's Cloth Diapers
March 2008
I had never even considered cloth diapering to be an option for me. The idea of trying fold those flimsy white cloths around a squirming baby, then trying not to stab him with those giant, scary fastening pins sounded about as appealing as wearing high heels to my step aerobics class, and with the same amount of unnecessary discomfort.
Plus, then I would have to hire one of those diaper services to clean them, and weren’t they expensive? Not to mention the fact that those cloth diapers must be a leaky mess, and their bulky-ness would simply detract from the fabulous wardrobe my infant son had already amassed. No, cloth diapers were not for me.
Then I found out that I didn’t know poop about today’s cloth diapers. They have snaps and Velcro®! They are already structured to fit right onto baby! They are fashionable! You can wash them at home!
And I’m not the only mommy having this epiphany. Linda Byerline, CEO of Happy Heiny’s, a cloth diaper manufacturer, tells me that her business triples in size every year. The entire cloth diaper industry is hitting a growth spurt in sales- reported to be up 25- 50% in the last few years 1- as more and more women are finding that the new and improved products can be user-, wallet-, and eco-friendly.
Green Factor:According to cloth diaper manufacturer, Fuzzi Bunz, eighteen billion disposable diapers are thrown in landfills each year. It is estimated that it may take as many as 500 years for the plastic in these diapers to decompose. I couldn’t help but think, as I tossed each disposable diaper away, that I was adding to the environmental problems that my children, and even their children, will have to clean up some day.
There is speculation that cloth diapers are better for your little one, as well, because they don’t contain the chemicals that a disposable does. The chemical that raises the most concern among moms is sodium polyacrylate, which is what allows diapers to hold 100 times their weight in water. According to Lauren Feder, M.D., this is “the same chemical removed from tampons after it was linked to toxic shock syndrome and allergic reactions and shown to be lethal to animals.” 2 In addition, the effectiveness of this chemical is not necessarily a good thing- since diapers feel dry, they may not be changed as often, increasing the likelihood of diaper rash. For Laura, a mom in Northern Michigan, the switch to cloth diapers has made her feel more at ease about what her 13 month old daughter, Rebecca, is wearing. She explains, “I like knowing that my daughter doesn't have chemically made diapers in direct contact with her skin 24/7. The cloth diapers are also so soft and feel like they would be much more comfortable.”
Fab Factor: With bright, bold colors and patterns, many diapers are so cute you'll hate to cover them up. Most are surprisingly easy to use, too: simply remove the inner liner and wash the whole thing. And since many have snaps, rather than pins, putting a new one on can be so simple, asking a babysitter to do it is no sweat: "It's a lot than people think", says Dayspring, a mommy from Ohio, currently living in South Korea. She got hooked on bumGenius pocket diapers after her husband convinced her to give it a try for their now six-month-old son, Cormac. "You just throw them in the washer and then assemble them... it's not much more work than disposables."
The money saved by using cloth diapers can only be thought of as fab, too. A 2007 article from Consumer Reports states, "You can expect to spend $1500 to $2000 or more on disposables by the time your baby is out of them." A fully supply of cloth diapers will cost around $350 (depending on the brand and style that you choose). That's a $1650 savings! Not to mention the prespect of no having to buy a single diaper for future children.
The bottom line (excuse the pun), is that today's cloth diapers can work just for about anyone. As Linda Byerline of Happy Heiny's explains, "Six years ago our demographics were those who were environmentalists and those who were trying to save money. Today thought we have a little bit of everyone."
