Well, some might think that, but what about the person who likes their baby's butt against something pure, soft, and chemical free? What about someone who loves to save money? What about someone who cares about the environment and wants to live a little less wasteful? Oh yeah, now it is starting to make sense, right? There are a ton of reasons I love cloth diapers, but these are the main ones.
Here are some health reasons to choose cloth diapers:
Conventional disposables contain traces of Dioxin, a carcinogenic chemical, listed by the EPA as the most toxic of all cancer linked chemicals! Yikes!! It is banned in most countries, but not in the US. That is so sad...
Conventional disposables contain Trubutyl-tin(TBT) a toxic pollutant known to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals.
Chemicals and fragrances in some disposables can cause asthma.
Studies have shown there is less diaper rash with cloth than with disposables.
There are even more Environmental reasons to use cloth diapers:
Disposable diapers use 2 times as much water to manufacture as cloth.
Disposables use 3 times more energy than cloth.
Disposables use 20 times more raw materials than cloth.
Disposables generate 60 times more waste than cloth.
Disposables are the 3rd largest single consumer item in landfills. Oh my!!
No one knows how long it takes for a disposable diaper to decompose, but it is estimated to be about 250-500 years.
Now, granted, you do have to take a little more time to care for cloth diapers, but the benefits far outweigh the stink and extra work. If the reasons I listed above aren't enough to think about switching or at least using some cloth diapers, think of all the money you will save, you frugal parents!!
By the way, there are a heck of a lot of HILARIOUS cloth diapering stories out there. If anyone has one they want to share, I could always go for a good laugh.
My 2.5 year old and 5 month old are both in cloth! Even my husband likes cloth diapers. That is, when they are clean, stuffed and in the drawer. If I haven't finished the laundry, and he changes them, you bet there's a pampers on that baby butt SO fast. :-) My older daughter is fighting potty training like crazy. She holds it forever then floods the dipe, so I have to double stuff her cloths. I makes her look like she has the biggest booty on earth. Thanks for sharing some info about cloth diapering! Can I ask where you got your statistics? Some of them are familiar to me, and some aren't.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your story, Erin. My husband was a little apprehensive at first, but now he actually cleans the poopy diapers. :-) So, there is hope!
ReplyDeleteI got my stats from various websites - just search cloth diaper stats to get started.