What sort of eco-friendly products can greenies get when it comes to their babies? Well, how about cloth diapers, baby carriers and glass bottles?Cloth diapers come in various colours and cute designs today. Gone are the days of the ordinary thin white cloth. Today, cloth diapers look just like disposable diapers and they come in a variety of colours and designs. They're kept in place with snap buttons or velcro.
What's the big deal about cloth diapers?For one, you can use cloth nappy inserts so that you don't have to keep washing 10 cloth diapers every day.Secondly, they're so much more attractive than disposable diapers because of the various colours and designs.Thirdly, they're reusable and thus environmentally friendly. Plus, there's a resale value. So, instead of throwing your money out with each disposable diaper, you can sell the cloth diapers and get some of your money back.
Li Chan, proprietor of Tiny Tapir, says it's all good and in the long run cloth diapers cost less than disposable ones.“You might think that it's expensive to cloth diaper but actually it's more expensive to use disposable diapers over the long run,” she says.But, isn't it a lot of work and a lot of washing and how about having to wash an icky cloth diaper?“Actually it is not a lot of work if you take into consideration the time you need for disposable diapers like the time that goes into buying the diapers and throwing them away and dealing with diaper rash.
“Another misconception is that with cloth diapers you have to clean up more. But actually with disposable diapers you have to clean up more because especially with newborn babies when they poo it's very explosive and it can mess up the whole crib because disposable diapers don't have elastic at the back. It's just a piece of plastic that doesn't stretch. So the poo shoots up the back because there's nothing stopping it from coming out the back. So in the end you may have poo all over your baby's crib.“With cloth diapers it's totally different; you don't get that at all because there's an elastic at the back,” says Li.
According to her, many Malaysians are not aware that they're not supposed to throw away the disposable diaper with the waste inside.“It's very toxic. It's printed very clearly on all disposable diapers that you are not supposed to throw the diaper away with the poo inside. You are supposed to take the poo diaper to your toilet and wash off the poo before throwing the diaper away.“This is because when the poo is contained inside this plastic casing and you put it in a landfill it doesn't biodegrade because there's no air. So what you get is a lot of little toxic packets of poo all over your landfill.“There are actually countries which fine you if you throw away a diaper with poo inside it. It's a very high environmental cost to pay just for convenience. Most parents don't even realise it because who reads the packaging, right?”
There is a way to wash the cloth diapers so that you don't have to deal with anything smelly and sticky. First you wash off the poo or throw it into the toilet. Then, put the cloth diaper into a dry pail with either baking soda or a deodorant disc to control the odour. Every second or third day you just put the diapers into your washing machine.“People always ask me but how can you put it in the washing machine, it's so dirty and then you wash your other clothes. There are women who have done studies on it in the United States. They took some bacteria samples from washing cloth diapers versus washing normal clothes and they found that there's no difference in the bacteria found in the washing machine,” says Li.
According to her studies have also found that cloth diaper babies potty train faster because the wet feeling makes them feel uncomfortable.
Li recommends that parents use a pre-fold diaper when diapering a newborn. The pre-fold is just like a normal piece of cloth. It's like a regular old fashioned cloth diaper but it's already all sewn together. So, you just have to pin it on for your baby. On top of that you can used one of the diaper covers.
While it might seem that all those layers makes it warmer for baby, Li says the opposite is true.
“Actually it's a misconception that if you wear a cloth diaper you feel warmer. Natural fibre allows your skin to breathe so a cloth diaper is actually more breathable than a disposable diaper.
“I know mothers whose kids used cloth diapers and when they were put in disposable diapers later, they complained that it was very warm,” she explains.
She explains that cloth diaper designs are very innovative now and you can use the same diapers from the time the child is newborn or two months until they potty learn. So if you want to you can use the one size design or you can buy the different sizes which might fit better.
“There are many reasons to cloth diaper. Environmental reasons are just one of them. The other reasons are the health of your baby and money,” says Li.
**Information courtesy from : ParenThots by BRIGITTE ROZARIO (20th April 2009)
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