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| Cloth Diapers |
| There are many reasons for cloth diapering. One of them is it's earth friendly. Disposable diapers are (for the most part) not biodegradable, this means they sit around in landfills forever stinking and polluting our earth, air, and water. This is not good for our earth, and ultimately, our health. Another reason for cloth diapers is your baby's health. The chemcials used in many disposable dipers can be absorbed into a baby's sensative skin and can be harmful. Also, disposable diapers cause more diaper rashes and the like due to their harshness agianst a baby's delicate skin, cloth diapers allow the skin to breath better and instead of holding wetness in against the skin lets it dry if you don't get to it first. The cost of cloth diapering is also a good reason. While it's true cloth diapers are more expensive and are an investment, if you look at the prices of disposable diapers and you can see you'll easily make it up. You will only need to buy cloth diapers once, and they can last through more than one child, but you will be buying disposables every few days or so. You can buy cloth diapers from many places, online and off. It's good to ask for them for babygifts because many people do buy disposable diapers. Let people, ecspecially family and freinds who aren't having any more children, know that you are planning on using cloth diapers. Often they will give you some, or sell you some used diapers for less. Also, you can buy second quality for huge discounts from suppliers. Wheather you are using new or used diapers, wash them with soap at least 5 times before using. Even after these washings new ones may not absorb urine quickly, so be on the look out and don't give up, sometimes it takes awhile. These washings are to get the oils out of the cloth, it takes awhile but once it's done it's well worth it. Getting what you need at first can seem tricky. If you are making your own diapers just sew them from old towls, t-shirts, and old flannel recieving blankets. Sew the towls over the recieving blankets and voila, a diaper. In the case that you are buying they it's a good idea to get 18 newborn size because you probably won't use these for very long, ecspecially if you have a large baby. This will probably mean many loads of laundry and some extra washing the first week though. Birdseye cotton liners are also helpful in keeping your diapers stain-free and can quickly absorb wetness away from your baby. You will want more than 18 medium and large size diapers for when your baby gets bigger. They also sell lingers and rubber sheets for bed and the diapers. All-in-ones are good for overnight and outings. According to moms who used cloth diapers Bumpkins, Ecology Kids, MotherEase Cottontails, and Aristocrats are good brands but I have heard some mothers warn about Kooshies. It's been said that Kooshies wick up at the sides and get clumpy after a few washings which cannot be comfortable for a baby. If you are going to cloth diaper remember, it is an investment so do your reserach on the companies, talk to moms online and off who use cloth diapers and see what works best. When you are using cloth diapers you have to wash them. Some moms do not soak their dipaers before using them, some do. However, when washing them do not use any fabric softeners and be sure your detergent does not have a fabric softener in it. Fabric softeners and dryer sheets coat your diapers in chemicals and can make them less absorbant. If you use the dryer for diapers, which you may do, do not use dryer sheets with them. Some other tips for washing them are doing about three loads of diapers a week just to ensure you have enough, adding baking soda (about 2 scoops) and distilled vinegar to the water, and line drying stretched out on the grass outside whenever possiable. Once your baby starts eatting soild foods the bowel movements will become more hard and can be dropped into the toilet. Some women soak the diapers at this point, some do not, it is totally up to you. Ecspecially in the early weeks a diapering service can be helpful in cleaning up. Look into this and mention gift certificates to friends who are looking to get you a gift for the baby, with a newborn they can be a huge help. If you are using cloth diapers then you may want cloth wipes also. These are a good idea because not only do they save money but they too are eco and health friendly. Just be sure you get them clean. Some women soak their wipes proir to using them in warm water, some don't. I'd reccomend getting them wet before hand though, even if it's just running them under the facet. It's easy to make wipes, either from old diapers, t-shirts, washcloths, or old towls you just have to cut them into little squares and that's it. |