Today we have a guest post from the lovely team at Surf excel. One of their core values is to unleash human potential. They believe in encouraging parents to share experiences and exchange information on public platforms. Today they speak about a very relevant issue faced by mothers every where, the timeless battle between disposable and fabric diapers for kids.
Return of the Reusable Diaper: Disposables vs. Fabric
‘Reusable diapers?
What a horrible idea!’ Or at least that’s the line that’s being sold to us by
companies like Huggies, Pampers, Dri Fit, Snuggy Dry, and the like. But do your
research and you’ll find there’s more than meets the eye in the disposables vs.
cloth debate. Weighing up the pros and cons is a complex matter for any busy
mom, who will have lots of questions – will disposables make my baby sweat?
Don’t cloth diapers leak? Are disposable or cloth diapers cheaper? Here we’ve
taken some time to summarize the facts so you can make an informed decision.
How will they affect my baby’s skin?
In India, one of our
main concerns when choosing the right diaper for our babies is the climate. We
worry that our babies will sweat too much, will be in contact with irritants,
and will end up with diaper rash. Since delicate skin should never be in
prolonged contact with water (a strong argument for leaving our babies diaper-less),
the choice of diaper will directly impact the frequency at which we must change
our babies and the number of diapers we will need to have available – and
therefore the cost.
Disposables are
considerably better than they used to be in terms of breathability, and are
often designed to draw large amounts of moisture away from a baby’s skin. They
can, however, be full of chemicals as a result – ‘green’, chemical-free
disposables are unfortunately harder to come by, and are less absorbent and
more expensive.
In India, the cloth
diapers that we’ve traditionally used (langots) have a dreadful reputation for
low-absorbency. And for a long time, the newer, adaptable fabric diaper systems
were either difficult to buy here or incredibly expensive. These days, there
are a large number of affordable cloth options available in India that are
designed to be absorbent – with or without inserts – and cater to even the
most sensitive of skin. With fabric diapers, though, it’s also important to
think about your choice of washing detergent in order to limit potential sources of
irritation.
How convenient are cloth or
disposable diapers?
Disposables are widely
available, leaking is rarely an issue, and when one’s dirty, you just throw it
away and grab another. When it comes to potty-training though, critics say
disposables can actually prolong the process, as toddlers are so used to
feeling dry they are less likely to be in tune with their body’s signs that
they need to go to the toilet.
As for fabric diapers
– well, potty training may well be easier to deal with, but when you’re out and
about you’ll still have to find a way to discretely collect used diapers to
take home later. You’ll also need to find space in your bathroom for soaking
buckets, and a way to deal with the never-ending pile of washing. If you choose
fabric diapers, you’ll definitely need to be organized.
How do I weigh up the monetary cost?
The average child has
their diaper changed 6000 times until they are potty-trained. With disposables,
you’ll purchase approximately this many individual diapers. The cost will be
spread fairly consistently over the first two years of life (maybe longer) and
will vary according to brand. In general, cheap disposable diapers tend to be
less absorbent (so you use more), and ‘greener’ diapers are more expensive.
The cost of the
initial purchase of fabric diapers (approx 15-20) depends on the system you
choose, and whether you plan on using inserts. With langots the initial cost
can be very low, but adding inserts to make them more absorbent will mean a
weekly outlay too. More modern, efficient fabric diaper systems, like the
BumGenius brand, have a higher initial cost that might not be attractive for
lower income families, and inserts will take away from the weekly budget too.
It’s also important not to forget the cost of washing in your calculations:
increased water, electricity and detergent bills. And unless you are in a
situation where you can outsource your washing or line-dry the diapers at home
– even in monsoon weather – you’re going to need a buy a tumble dryer and
soaking buckets at the very least. On the upside, diaper systems can be
purchased second-hand, and used for multiple children too.
Which is better for the environment?
On the face of it,
this should be an easy question, but there are a surprisingly large number of
non-environmentally friendly factors on both sides. Disposable diapers are
generally made from nonrenewable resources, represent an enormous amount of
landfill waste globally – something like 27 million tons per year in the US,
for example – and they can take hundreds of years to breakdown. But in a
country like India, where water and energy is something we should be aiming to
conserve, fabric diapers also come at a price. They are at their most
environmentally friendly when these conditions are met: they are bought
second-hand; washed in large loads in energy-efficient machines, with detergent
that is gentle to the environment; line-dried; and used for more than one
child.
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