Why I Cloth Diaper

Why I Cloth Diaper

I decided early on in my pregnancy that I would use cloth diapers on my baby but I needed to find an alternative to the old ways of using cloth diapers (i.e. lampin). So, I turned to the internet for help. I Googled endlessly about cloth diapers and found out that there is a new way of cloth diapering. Well, there are a lot anyway. I talked about the various systems in this post.

I wanted to do cloth diapering because: 

1. I wanted to be Earth friendly, 

Disposable diapers leave a trail of waste and pollution. Some disposable diaper packaging instructs to dump solid waste into the toilet and flush it away, but most parents aren't aware of that. That means that waste is going into our landfills where it can leach into groundwater and possibly spread disease. Cloth diapers release solid waste where it belongs - into the sewage system where it is treated with other household waste water. Cloth diapers can also be reused on succeeding children as well.

2. I was conscious about the health risks of using disposables on my baby,

Disposable diapers have dyes, sodium polyacrylate (the super absorbent gel), and dioxin, which is a by-product of bleaching paper. Sodium polyacrylate has been linked in the past to toxic shock syndrome, allergic reactions and is very harmful and potentially lethal to pets. Some dyes and dioxin according to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is known to cause damage to the central nervous system, kidneys, and liver. I don’t think I want any of that near my baby.

3. I wanted to save money. 

If I were to use disposable on may baby, he/she would use an average of 10 diapers a day at about P6 per diaper, that’s P1,800 a month. A child wears diapers up until about 2 years of age so that’s about P43,200. 

Initially, cloth diapering could be quite expensive, but I look at it more as an investment and still not as expensive as disposables. I could use my CD stash on future children as well.

 I’m still looking for the best system to use that’ll be both economical and convenient for me and my baby. So far I’ve purchased pocket diapers and diaper covers with flats and prefolds. Next on my list would be AI2 or hybrids.