Baby Diapers: Disposable vs. Cloth
Disposable diapers are a relatively recent development stemming from back in the 1940s when women began to enter the workforce in greater numbers than ever before. Naturally, with many of the men off to war and the women working, there simply wasn’t the time and resources available to the family anymore so many convenience products began to be seen on store shelves. Disposable diapers were one of those conveniences although the early versions were not as good as the ones available today.
The first versions of disposable diapers were all the same size. Since babies are most definitely not all the same size, this didn’t work out very well for obvious reasons. They often leaked worse than cloth diapers. They were also quite expensive so most ordinary families couldn’t afford to buy the new-fangled diapers. By the 1970s, the costs of materials to manufacture disposable diapers had dropped to the point that they had become an affordable option for anyone and their popularity grew by leaps and bounds with busy two-income families.
Over the years, many improvements have been made to the original disposable diaper design. They are now much better fitting, more absorbent and lighter weight than they used to be. You can purchase them plain or with child-pleasing designs these days and they even come in gender specific versions. They remain a convenient and inexpensive option for many busy families.
Unfotunately, with the rising awareness of environmental responsibility, disposable diapers have become one of the villains of our rapidly filling landfills. Most disposables are made with plastic coverings which do not biodegrade. Research has shown that disposable diapers will remain intact for hundreds of years. Concerns are not just for the landfill problems but the worry about waste and bacteria that leaches back into the soil from the dirty diapers. These wastes filter down and end up contaminating ground water supplies.
This concern is a major factor to the swing back to cloth diapers which we can see happening. Proponents claim that cloth diapers are more natural and better for the baby. The traditional cotton diaper is a natural, organic material however keep in mind that today’s cloth diapers are treated to be softer and easier to launder. This means that cloth diapers aren’t quite as natural as they were fifty years ago. They are easier to use, though, as fasteners such as velcro and buttons have made it possible to eliminate the dangers of using pins.
Cloth diapers are often less irritating to a baby’s sensitive skin so they can be a good option if your baby has any type of skin problem like eczema. A baby diapered in cloth will feel the wetness faster than one in disposables so they will need more frequent changes but this same feature tends to have them potty train earlier. To eliminate the need for handling the waste in the cloth diapers, they make diaper liners now that you can lift out the mess and toss it in the trash before laundering the cloth diapers. This does cut down on some of the environmental benefit but is still putting less trash in the landfill than disposable diapers.
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