Best for Your Baby
First and most importantly, cloth diapers are good for your baby. Cloth diapers naturally breathe and allow air circulation around your baby's delicate skin, and there are no irritating chemicals or plastics. Women who have worn a disposable menstrual pad have probably experienced the irritation and discomfort that can occur when plastic and chemicals are close to the sensitive skin of the genital area. Now imagine wearing something similar for 24 hours a day for 3 years! Also, studies are indicating that the use of disposable diapers can lead to an increased risk of infertility in males.
Best for the Environment
Cloth diapers are good for the environment, as they are reusable and so keep garbage out of the landfills, and are made from a renewable resource. It takes approximately 500 years for a disposable diaper to break down, and that is assuming it is exposed to light and air. Organic cloth diapers are even better for the environment, as they help reduce the amount of pesticides in use globally. You might ask, "But don't cloth diapers consume water and energy in washing?" They do, but the production of disposable diapers uses water and energy as well, over and above the harmful waste products and chemicals involved in the production of the materials. Washing cloth diapers actually uses no more water than an adult does flushing the toilet.
Best for Your Wallet
It may come as a surprise, but cloth diapering will actually save you money! Lots of money! We've used the least expensive brand of disposables in our calculations, so if you use Pampers or Huggies it could cost up to twice as much for disposables. Here's the math:
Cost of Disposable Diapers:
- Newborn (to 14 lbs) 84/pack Teddy's Choice: $12.49 = $0.14/diaper
- Baby (16 to 28 lbs) 160/pack Teddy's Choice: $24.99 = $0.16/diaper
- Toddler (22 to 37 lbs) 116/pack Teddy's Choice: $24.99 = $0.22/diaper
- Diapers per child per day: 8 - 12
- Number of years one child is in diapers: 3
Total = $0.14/diaper x 12 diapers/day x 60 days + $0.16/diaper x 10 diapers/day x 365 days + $0.22/diaper x 8 diapers/day x 670 days = $100.80 + $584 + $1179.20
= $1864.00 per child
Cost of Cloth Diapers:
- Cloth Diapering System for baby 0-3 yrs: $560 - $750 (30 Baby Kangas including inserts or 72 fitted diapers with 24 each in sizes small, medium, and large with 18 covers)
- Nature Clean Laundry Detergent 50 Loads: $9.99
- Loads of Laundry per month: 15
- Energy Cost per Load for Washer and Dryer: most efficient $0.44/load, least efficient $0.78/load
- Number of years one child is in diapers: 3 years (although cloth diapering may lead to earlier potty training)
Total (upper limit): $750 cloth diaper system + $3/month laundry detergent x 36 months + $0.78/load x 15 loads/month x 36 months = $750 + $108 + $421.20
= $1,279.20 (over $500 in savings even with just one child)
Total (lower limit): $560 cloth diaper system + $3/month laundry detergent x 36 months + $0.44/load x 15 loads/month x 36 months = $560 + $108 + $237.60
= $905.60 (over $800 in savings even with just one child)
Even with the most expensive diapers and the least efficient washer and dryer, you still save over $500 dollars! And if you have a more efficient washer and dryer and choose less expensive diapers, you could save over $800 dollars! And that's just for one child. If you use your cloth diaper system on more than one child, you will save significantly more money.
And Easy Too!
You may still have one burning question: is cloth diapering difficult? As the parents of a child in cloth diapers, we can tell you it's not as hard as it might seem! We don't buy disposable clothing, so why disposable diapers? And while the thought of handling dirty diapers might seem gross, in actual fact very little needs to be done with cloth diapers that you wouldn't already be doing with disposables. Dirty diapers come off the baby and go into the diaper pail (or wet bag), with no rinsing required if your baby is breastfed. They go out of the diaper pail directly into the washing machine, and they come out clean! As easy as 1-2-3. And with today's cloth diapers, you can choose a diaper that is as easy to put on and take off as a disposable, such as the Baby Kangas, Mother Ease or BerryPlush diapers. You don't need a PhD in origami to use these diapers!