How to use Cloth Diapers

Cloth diapers is good for baby in this artical we are telling how to use cloth diapers and also telling cloth diapers advantages and how cloth diapers Convenience for baby.

Parents worried about the inability of disposable diapers to decompose in landfills and about the types of materials used in the production of disposable diapers turn to cloth diapers.  The sophistication of cloth diapers has come a long way since the days of our grandmothers and everyday they more and more resemble the convenience of disposable diapers.

Cloth Diapers

Also read:

• Best Baby Diapers
• How to treat diaper rash
• Disposeble Diapers: best for babies

Why Choose Cloth Diapers?

The average baby wears 5,000 diapers before being potty trained.  This can get expensive.  Using cloth diapers is a much cheaper option than using disposable diapers.  It is estimated that parents will spend approximately $2,400 on disposable diapers before their baby is potty trained.  Cloth diapers cost half that amount coming in at a cost of approximately $1,200 (without the use of a laundering service).  This is at least a $1,000 dollars savings.  And most parents say they only have an extra two laundries a week washing their cloth diapers.  This doesn’t add to the cost greatly, especially if you have an energy efficient machine (and if you choose to air-dry your diapers).
Another advantage of cloth diapers over disposable diapers is the decreased instances of diaper rash in babies.  Around 54% of babies who wear disposable diapers develop a diaper rash at some time or another.    This occurs because parents who diaper their babies in disposable diapers tend to change their babies less often than do parents who diaper their babies in cloth diapers.  This is due to the high absorbency of disposable diapers which allows them to be used for more hours than their cloth counter-parts.  However, you should never leave a baby in a diaper for more than four hours because it will increase the risk for diaper rash.  Many doctors even prescribe cloth diapers to parents who use disposable diapers as a cure for diaper rash.
In addition, disposable diapers have been found to increase the scrotum temperature in male babies.  Increased scrotum temperatures lowers sperm count (although it is unknown if this causes any long term effects of if everything is back to normal after your baby stops wearing diapers).  Cloth diapers provide more air to the lower areas keeping the temperature down. 

Cloth Diaper Convenience?

Many cloth diapers today resemble disposable diapers in their ability to absorb and in their ease with which they can be put on and taken off.  Gone are the days of folding clothes and securing them with safety pins. Many cloth diapers now have Velcro or snap fastenings and multilayer absorption.  You can now also purchase disposable liners for your cloth diapers that will catch all of the mess, negating the need for presoaking your cloth diaper before washing.  You can either throw away the liner or flush it down the toilet (depending on the liner).  The whole process is now easier than ever.

Are Cloth Diapers Better For The Environment?

The debate is still raging about whether cloth diapers are better for the environment than disposable diapers.  Disposable diapers, even the biodegradable kind, take 250-500 years to decompose in an airtight landfill.  With approximately 27.4 billion disposable diapers used in the United States alone, this takes up a lot of landfill space.  However, cloth diapers consume a lot of water, a precious natural resource.  Growing the cotton used in cloth diapers takes large quantities of water and also a lot of pesticides.  (Organic cotton diapers cuts down on the use of pesticides and bamboo diapers cuts down on both the use of pesticides and the use of water used to produce the diapers).  Also, laundering the diapers consumes a large amount of water.  If you live in an area where water is scare or that suffers from droughts, cloth diapers may not be the best option.  You will have to weigh the choice between a biodegradable product and water preservation.  If only we didn’t have to choose.  Someday, someone will invent the perfect diaper.