Cloth diapers: worth the hassle

I’m about out of my diapering days now, but I wanted to share a little about why I love cloth diapers and how that came to be.
When I had my daughter in my early twenties, being the earth mother that I was (and am), I told my mother that I wanted to use cloth diapers. She pointed out that I was living in a trailer seven miles from the nearest Laundromat (this is true, I swear) and, as such, using cloth would be too much work.

So, I yielded and used disposables for the next seven months until we moved, then I switched to cloth for the majority of the time and haven’t looked back.

Why cloth diaper? Here are three reasons:

1. Environment: disposables equate to a hefty amount of garbage, usually more than half of the volume of trash a family produces. They require billions of gallons of oil annually to make, and no one alive today has seen disposables break down in landfills (it’s estimated to be 300-500 years).

2. Money: compared to the constant cost of purchasing disposables, cloth diapers are usually a one time investment since they can be used for years and multiple children, and then even be re-sold later.

3. Health: it’s better for babies. The majority of disposable diapers contain dioxin, which is a carcinogen. Many also contain fragrance (as do baby wipes) and super absorbent polymers that become gel-like when wet. What are the effects of these being next to a baby’s skin 24/7 for at least two years?

Curious about cloth? Local diaper company Toasty Baby (www.toastybaby.com or 863.0402) has an array of cute cloth diapering options and a diaper service. They’re offering 10% off your entire order through March 31, 2011. Just enter ToastyBaby10 at checkout. One use per customer.