| Is buying disposable diapers burning a hole in your | | | | Cloth diapering is making a comeback. The more you |
| pocket? Well consider this, cloth diapers cost $1500 | | | | have the less often you need to wash. A good |
| lessthan disposables over the diaper life of one child. | | | | starting point is 24 diapers and 6 covers, once you |
| Consumers Reports recently stated that disposable | | | | know what works for your baby you can add to your |
| diapers for one child will cost anywhere from $1500 to | | | | stash. No more diaper pins, the new cloth diapers |
| $2000 by the time the child leaves diapers behind. A | | | | secure with soft Velcro and Aplix closures or snaps. |
| newborn uses approximately 12 diapers per day. An | | | | Consumers today can choose from an array of |
| initial investment of around $100 would provide enough | | | | fabrics, colors and closure styles. There is an All-in-one |
| diapers to last until the child is weaned. Cloth diapers | | | | design that's as easy to use as a disposable, other |
| make financial sense and are differently better for the | | | | choices are prefolds, fitted, doublers, liners, contoured |
| environment. | | | | and diaper covers. Just wash, dry and wear! Cloth |
| Disposable diapers go straight to the landfills. The Real | | | | wipes are also better for your baby and the |
| Diaper Association, an advocacy group founded in | | | | environment. Mix in a spray bottle, 1/4 cup Baby Oil, 1/4 |
| 2004, estimates that 27.4 billion disposable diapers are | | | | cup Baby Shampoo, 1 1/4 cups Water, 8 drops |
| used each year in the U.S. (according to the EPA, that | | | | Lavender Oil and 5 drops Tea Tree Oil. Spray on cloth |
| translates into more than 3.4 million tons of waste | | | | and wipe. |
| dumped into landfills) and that producing those diapers | | | | Diapers made from cloth are soft against your baby's |
| also consumes huge amounts of petroleum, chlorine, | | | | skin. Cloth diapers are also free of the many chemicals |
| wood pulp and water. No one knows how long it takes | | | | contained in disposable diapers. Chemicals including |
| for a disposable diaper to decompose, but it is | | | | ethylbenzene, styrene, and toluene, which have all been |
| estimated to be about 250-500 years, long after your | | | | linked to respiratory toxicity. Chemicals and fragrances |
| children, grandchildren and great, great, great | | | | in some disposables can cause asthma. Cloth diaper |
| grandchildren will be gone. Cloth diapers, you can wash | | | | babies actually rarely get rashes, because many cloth |
| them and reuse them on your baby, but you can also | | | | diapers pull the moisture away from baby's skin and let |
| use them on your next baby, and then as household | | | | the skin breathe. Cloth Diapers and wipes is one of the |
| rags. This slows the pileup of our already | | | | best things you can do for your baby's bottom, the |
| overburdened landfills. | | | | environment and your budget. |