It seems almost everyone has an opinion on whether to go with cloth diapers over disposable diapers. Let's face it, although convenient, disposable diapers have been a disaster to the environment. In fact, The EPA reports 50 million diapers going into landfills every day across America. What's worse is that each one can take up to 500 years to biodegrade.

If you choose disposable diapers, there are some more environmentally-friendly ones you can choose; disposable diapers that are biodegradable. However, if disposed of in a landfill, the rate at which it biodegrades can be very slow, and we're still left with landfills filled with diapers.

Another option is the flushable diaper, such as the gDiapers which are sold at Whole Foods. These diapers consist of a washable outer pant, and a super-absorbent flushable pad. Supposedly they have been tested on your average toilet and did very well, but, if you have sensitive plumbing, you may want to go with cloth. Do note, however, that it does take a huge amount of water and energy to clean cloth diapers, so you do have to take that into account when choosing cloth diapers.



Cloth Diaper - 7 Reasons To Choose Over Disposable Diaper
By Joseph Peterson

The first 2 plus years of a child's life are lived in diapers. Raising a baby has many wonderful rewards and some challenges. As parents we sometimes are just concerned with finding convenient ways to be a great parent. One thing that we don't always consider is the impact that the diapers we choose for our baby have on the health and comfort of our baby, the positive impact that we can choose to have on the environment, and the substantial savings available through the use of child diapers made from cloth.

Here are 7 Reasons to Choose Cloth Diapers over Disposable Diapers

1. Healthier for baby - disposable diapers are made with the super absorbent chemical, sodium polyacrylate, which absorbs and holds fluids in the diaper. This chemical has been linked to toxic shock syndrome. Another chemical concern is Dioxin. Traces of the carcinogen Dioxin have been found in disposable diapers. Dioxin causes liver disease, immune system suppression and genetic damage. It is a by-product of the paper-bleaching process used in the making of this type of diaper.



2. Reduces risk of diaper rash - baby rash is very rarely a problem when using cloth diapers - our boy Holden is over a year old and has never had a rash. Disposable diapers because of their super absorbent chemicals can fool parents into thinking that the baby is not wet, and as a result changing the baby will take place less often. Cloth diapered babies, on the other hand, are changed more often, as the diaper starts feeling damp after 4 hours or so. They are also more breathable - where disposables become much hotter allowing for rapid bacterial growth which can cause baby rash.



3. Comfort for baby - today's cloth baby diapers are made of several layers of 100% soft cotton flannelette. More and more parents are choosing 100% cotton for their baby's clothing as natural cotton fibres FEEL BETTER. Not only is 100% cotton known to be more comfortable, it's cooler and more natural to your skin, especially on sensitive body parts. Unlike disposable diapers, cloth child diapers stay cool even on the hottest summer day.



4. Save money - raising a baby is expensive and we all want to save money when we can. There have been numerous studies that compare the costs of purchasing disposables versus the cost of purchasing and washing cloth baby diapers at home. The results of the studies vary but they all agree that the cost of cloth, home laundered diapers, is considerably lower than buying disposables. Consider that over a 2 1/2 year period where there will be approximately 7,500 diaper changes, the savings of cloth over disposables is in the range of $1,000 to $2,000. This savings is even greater when you consider that the same diaper can be used for another baby. In our case - in Holden's first year we have saved over $800 by using cloth. Think of what you could do with the SAVINGS you earned from buying and laundering your own diapers!



5. Better for the environment - it is probably obvious that cloth diapers are better for the environment since they are reusable. Here are some more issues to consider. A good quality cloth diaper can be laundered at least 100 times. If you are having more than one baby they can be used for your second and third child. It does take energy to launder the baby diaper, but the energy used is a small fraction of what a disposable diaper does to the environment. It is estimated that a disposable will take 400 to 500 years to decompose in our landfills. The companies that make today's disposables will use over 1 million metric tons of wood pulp and 75,000 metric tons of plastic each year. What a cost to our environment.



6. Easy to change - today's modern cloth diapers have snap or Velcro closures, and adjust for the size of your baby. When using the all-in-one cloth diapers it is easy for anyone to change the baby. Even Holden's grandpa (JoPa) can make the diaper change without any complaints from baby or JoPa.



7. No outer diaper cover required - today's all in one diapers like the Ultra Kushies diaper have a built in waterproof outer cover meaning that there is no need for a diaper cover.

About the author:
Baby Travel Planet sells Kushies All In One Ultra Cloth Diapers to customers in Canada!

FREE ebook Baby Travel Advice and Tips

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Peterson
http://EzineArticles.com/?Cloth-Diaper---7-Reasons-To-Choose-Over-Disposable-Diaper&id=897574

Synonyms:  iapers, idapers, dapers, daipers, dipers, dipaers, diaers, diaeprs, diaprs, diapres, diapes, diapesr, diaapers, diappers, diapeers, diaperrs, and diaperss are typos for "diapers."