Cloth Diapers

Many of you who know us know that we used cloth diapers almost exclusively with Mason until we moved this past Sept. Once we moved, our living expenses increased and the cost of our diaper service went up as well. The rising cost of energy caused them to have to raise their prices. With these factors in place, we switched over to the Seventh Generation disposables. We chose those diapers because they are bleach free and chlorine free, which are a little better for their skin than typical disposables. However, after 6 months of using the disposables we found that we were spending A LOT of money of diapers and Mason was getting a substantial amount of diaper rashes and his first ever yeast infection. So when a friend of ours decided to sell her cloth diapers, we began looking at the possibility of switching back to cloth. Since our washer and dryer cost about half of what they did at our old building, we were more willing to buy some "wash 'em yourself" cloth diapers. After much research and talking with others, we decided on Fuzzi Bunz pocket diapers. We have been using the Fuzzi Bunz with Mason for 2 weeks now and have loved having him back in cloth. He has not had a single rash since we have switched back. Now, I know many people chose not to use the cloth because it is not as convenient or easy as a disposable. However, we have to consider the bigger picture when we make choices even as simple as what kinds of diaper to put our children in. With landfills filling up, energy costs increasing and environmental issues at the forefront of societal debates, we can't ignore the impact of disposable diapers on the environment. Cloth diapers may take a little more effort, but they save in the long run. They save money, energy, skin and the environment. There are several websites that discuss the benefits of cloth diapers so I won't go into all the details here. I will just mention a few of the big reasons why cloth are beneficial and then refer you some websites for more information.

Some of the biggest benefits of cloth diapers are their minimal impact of the environment because they are reusable and have a long shelf life so to speak. Because of their reusable nature, they are much cheaper than buying disposables. You pay more upfront to purchase them, but in the long run the cost of washing and maintaining them is much cheaper than disposables. You can also use them with more than one child. Additionally, cloth diapers are much gentler on babies and toddlers sensitive skin. Because they are usually made of high quality cotton, they breath and wick away moisture naturally as opposed to chemically. So children are less likely to get diaper rash or other skin irritations. Additionally, who knows the long term effects of all those gels and chemicals in disposable diapers on our children's long term health. These are just a few benefits of using cloth. We certainly have found them to be accurate and are hoping that using them will also help with potty training. We urge you to look into it for yourself. Here are a few websites that may help:

www.eartheasy.com
www.dy-dee.com
www.realdiaperassociation.org

Obviously, people have opinions on both sides of the issue. As usual, we simply ask people to look into the debate for themselves and make their own educated decision. We made our choice based on what we felt was best for our family and based on our convictions.