For today’s eco-conscious moms, their family’s impact on the environment can be a huge cause for concern. This is why many people think about cloth diapers when they are having a baby.
The truth is that the average baby goes through thousands of diapers a year. While disposable diapers are great protection against leaks and can be tossed out when they are soiled, that is a large number of diapers to throw out each year. Basically, that is a lot of trash that can be avoided if you choose to use cloth diapers.
Why Choose Cloth?
Here are some of the reasons why you may want to choose cloth diapers.
1. They can be cleaned and reused. When the diaper is dirty, you can just rinse it off and throw it in the wash. Each diaper can be used many times before it can’t be used any longer as a diaper. Then it can be used for other purposes, such as cleaning.
2. You can toss them in your diaper pail to control odors. If you use a pail to hold the diapers until you are ready to wash a full load, it can keep the smells out of your home. This means you won’t have to wash clothes every day or each time you have to change a diaper.
3. They are made of natural materials. Cloth diapers are made out of cotton, and many brands are made of organic cotton, so you know there are no weird substances or chemicals touching your child’s body when they are wearing cloth diapers.
4. They are biodegradable. Even though they aren’t designed to be thrown away, when they can’t be used anymore and are tossed, they can biodegrade because they are made out of cotton, which is a natural plant.
5. There are diapers cleaning services. If you can’t stomach washing the cloth diapers on your own, you can check to see if there is a service that handles them in your neighborhood. These services will pick up your dirty diapers at regular intervals and bring you clean ones to use.
What You Need
When purchasing cloth diapers, there a few supplies you also need to buy. For instance, you need around 2 dozen diapers to start with, depending on how often you are changing your baby a day. This amount can get you through a couple of days without having to wash. There is more than one type of cloth diapers, but the traditional ones are called pre-fold. They are designed to fit your baby’s shape and they are a rectangular design to make them easy to fold up. Try this type first before considering any other type of cloth diaper, since they are the easiest to change and clean.
Other types of diapers include ones with a removable insert and others that work exactly like disposable diapers, with special closures.
Besides that, you can purchase diaper covers. These go over cloth diapers to make sure that the baby has a bit of extra protection to keep the diaper in place. Think of them as underwear that is worn over a diaper.
You will also need a diaper pail, especially if you don’t do laundry each day, and a mild detergent that can wash the diapers, but not harm the baby or add any harmful chemicals.