Diapers and baby's skin

Cloth diapers are made of 100 percent natural soft, absorbent cotton and are gentle on baby’s skin. Cotton is a breathable material, allowing fresh air to freely circulate, cooling and preventing diaper rash. Cotton is kinder and more comfortable to your baby’s skin than paper or stiff plastic and contains no irritating perfumes or chemicals. Washable stay-dry fleece liners keep moisture away from a baby’s skin.

The interior of single-use disposable diapers don't breathe well and therefore can be a much higher temperature. Because the gel in disposables is so absorbant parents tend to change single-use disposable diapers less often than cloth diapers, increasing the risk of diaper rash, since heat and moisture provide an excellent medium for bacterial growth. (Ever seen one blow up in the pool? The absorbent chemical in disposable diapers, sodium polyacrylate gel, absorbs 100 times its weight in liquid!) Babies diapered in disposable diapers are also exposed to far too many questionable chemicals contained in the disposable diapers. Newborn skin has an underdeveloped outer layer, and chemicals are more readily absorbed through the skin and into the fat cells than in adults. Studies have shown that when these chemicals become wet, they become even more absorbent and pull moisture from the baby’s body, thereby diminishing the normal defenses of the skin.

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Diapers and the Environment

Consider these numbers: 36 cloth diapers that are used over and over, possibly for more than one child -- or an average 7,349 single-use diapers per child. One-time use, throw-away diapers are the single largest nonrecyclable component of household garbage, creating one ton of garbage per year per child. It takes less than 30 lbs of cotton to manufacture a baby’s cloth diapers.

While growing and harvesting cotton can involve a large number of pesticides and chemicals that are harmful to the environment, organic, or “green” cotton is becoming more and more available. Bleaching cotton for diapers is also taxing on the environment, although unbleached diapers are widely available, quite often at the same price as the bleached variety. Even if you considered the production of non-organic, non-“green” cloth diapers a compromise to the environment, remember that one child only needs a few dozen of them, and these diapers can be used for more than one child.

Wraps and covers used with cloth diapers are made from a variety of materials, both natural and man-made. Some covers are made from wool, some from cotton. Most are made from synthetic fibers, such as nylon, vinyl, fleece, polyester and polyurethane. Fleece is made from recycled soda bottles, which is an environmentally friendly option. But some of the other synthetics are made using processes that produce chemical waste, some of which may be harmful to the environment. A baby will probably need a minimum of 16 wraps and covers over the course of their diapering period (in various sizes), many of which can be used on subsequent children. Again, there is a cost to the environment in producing these diaper covers, but one child needs only a few.

Washing cloth diapers does use a bit of water...roughly 260 loads of wash over a 2 1/2 year period...which is actually less water by volume than would be used by 2 adults each taking a 5 minute shower every day! With the use of nature friendly detergents, the environmental impact is much much less than what goes into producing single-use disposable diapers.

Disposable diapers are made of a waterproof polyethylene outer layer, with an inner layer of wood pulp and synthetic polyacrylate (a super-absorbent crystal), along with a water-repellant liner. Many brands also use fragrances and perfumes in their diapers.

Disposable diapers are not biodegradable and make up a significant amount of municipal waste. A landfill site does not provide the conditions necessary for the single-use diaper to biodegrade. The “Diaper Genie” and its like, effectively mummify single-use disposable diapers into our landfill sites for eternity. Consider the cost to operate additional landfill sites and the depletion of our natural forests.

To acquire the wood pulp for disposable diapers, one billion trees world-wide are cut down per year. Some people stop there and decide the cost of disposables on the environment is too much. But what is done to that wood is even more detrimental to us and our world. Disposables are so beautifully white because the wood pulp is bleached with chlorine gas, producing toxic chemicals known as organochlorines. The most notorious of organochlorines is dioxin, which is one of the most toxic substances ever made by humans. Dioxin is associated with birth defects, miscarriages, cancer, and genetic damage.

Both cloth and disposable diapers have an impact on our environment in the ways they are made, disposed of, and/or laundered. But cloth diapers pose a significantly less threat to the environment in the way they are made, the resources consumed, and most importantly, the small number needed to diaper a baby.

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	Diaper Size Number of layers Size Preshrunk (Shrunk) Serging stitch color Weight Limit Reccomended Uses Preemie 2X6X2 10inX13 1/2in (9inX11in) White About 8 lbs Fits small/preemie babies, use as a doubler later. Infant 4X8X4 12inX16in (11inX13 1/2in) Dark Green Up to 15 lbs Fits babies up to 4 mos., use as a doubler later. Regular 4X6X4 14inX21in (13inX16 1/2in) White Up to about 25-30lbs Fits all ages, can be used as a doubler for toddlers. Premium 4X8X4 14 1/2inX22in (13 1/2inX19 1/2in) Blue Up to about 25-30lbs Fits older babies and toddlers, overnight for babies over 15lbs. Toddler 4X8X4 18inX23in (16 1/2 inX21in) Light Green Fits from about 25 to 50lbs For extra heavy wetters, overnight, or babies over 30lbs.

 

 

 

On the left,a Cushie Tushie Tri-fold soaker and a Baby Kicks Joey Bunz ( http://www.babykicks.com/fuzzibunz.html ), on the right, a hemp fleece prefold.

 

 

 

 

Bumkin AIO's inside and out. available at

http://www.punkinbutt.com/bumkins_allinones.html 

http://www.chumbas.com/store/customer/home.php

 

 

 

A Happy Heiny pocket diaper, inside and out.  Available at http://www.happyheinys.com/store/ The inside shot shows where the 'pocket' is in a pocket diapers

Cloth Wipes

If you are going to use cloth diapers, why not cloth wipes?  It's easy!  I used scraps left over from various projects to make mine, which is why there is such an assortment...they are also every color of the rainbow, lol...I keep my wipes in a warmer. I use about 3, maybe 4 cups water mixed with 2T baby wash and baby oil., and a few drops each of Tea Tree oil and Lavender oil. If you want to make your own wipes, but don't want to use cloth, you can also use Brawny paper toweling cut in 1/2...just use about 1/2 the amount of solution for 1/2 a roll of paper towels.

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Make Your Own Deo Disks

">These little 'cakes' are great for absorbing any unpleasant odors!
You'll need:
A mold (a round soap mold works great, carried at most craft stores) Baking Soda Essential oils such as Lavender or citrus water
Mix Baking soda, a few drops of your chosen essential oil and just enough water to make a thick paste. Transfer the paste to your mold. Leave to set in a dry warm place. If you didn't add too much water, a day should be long enough to let the mold stand to dry. You can wrap them in aluminum foil or plastic wrap, and store in an airtight container to keep them ready for use. These are cheap and safe for the environment. and they smell good too!.