Cloth Diaper Update Part 1 - Why Cloth

Things have finally settled down since baby's arrival and we've had a bit of time to build up a routine through trial and error that I can now report back on.

To make the post somewhat more digestible I'll split into 3 parts:

1. Why cloth

2. What we bought

3. How we clean

So why choose cloth diapers?

Main points are:

1. environment

2. cost

3. better for baby

This article goes into more detail on the pros and cons of each. I'm responding to some of the cons for cloth below.

It outlines that in a full lifecycle analysis, environmental impacts are about the same in terms of CO2 when you take the operational costs of laundering nappies into account however that only looks at CO2. Disposables output methane once in landfill which is thought to be among the worst greenhouse gases contributing to global warming (21 times that of CO2). Another study estimates that by 2019 the global disposables market will be worth 84 billion US dollars - that's a lot of methane going into our one shared atmosphere. Also, disposable nappy manufacturers advise users to wash feces out before putting into the bin but very few actually do this. This means that viruses in the babies’ poo (scientists think there are up to 300) end up in landfill sites. From there these viruses could possibly get into water supplies. All that said, as neither solution is perfect we are also doing elimination communication or EC (going without nappies all together) which I will also be writing a post on.

The comparison also only looks at cloth nappies being used for one child which will not be the case as I plan to sell mine on afterwards. Using for a second child reduces impact by almost 40% (and hopefully third and fourth if they continue in the second hand market).

In terms of cloth costs quoted, I've found a cheaper solution than the costs they have estimated (more details in the second post) that enables quick line drying (no dryer needed) and I use an energy efficient washing machine. As mentioned above I also plan on selling the nappies afterwards so will be cheaper again once that is taken into account. At a high level, I estimate that using cloth, re-usable wipes and doing elimination communication will save 1,774€ and that's not including the resale of the nappies once we are finished. Details in next post.

There is also the pay by weight waste removal now in Ireland, I couldn't find any information on the weight of nappies and what this might result in for costs so there would be those savings as well whatever they may be.

Lastly there is the indirect cost of taxes that need to cover the cost of disposing nappies. The UK has about 3 billion nappies disposed of per year! One article estimates that the city of Bristol alone spends half a million pounds per year disposing of nappies - this cost comes out of taxpayer money.

The other benefit they do no go into is benefit to the baby in terms of less chemicals and more natural materials against baby's sensitive bum. According to this article "Most disposables are bleached with Dioxin, which, in animal studies, caused nerve damage, birth defects, increased rates of miscarriages and changes to the immune system. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified dioxins as a probable human carcinogen. Next up is Sodium Polyacrylate, the super absorbent gelling material, or AGM, that allows your baby to go long periods in one diaper. Sodium Polyacrylate has been linked in the past to toxic shock syndrome, as well as allergic reactions, and it’s is potentially lethal to pets. AGMs are also linked to an increase in childhood asthma and a decrease in sperm count among boys. Now, big diaper manufacturers point out that these chemicals exist in very small doses in the diapers, and so don’t post a risk. And, sure, more studies need to be done. But Mama Natural says, why risk it? Also, some moms find disposables cause more diaper rash."

Lastly the silver lining to offset the added laundry effort is fewer poo explosions - I used disposables for the first few days until the meconium had passed and we had many poo leaks, since using cloth we have only had pee leaks. I'm informed from other cloth users that poo explosions do still happen but so far for me they are better for containment.

In terms of added effort - yes you have to keep on top of the laundry but you don't need to run to the shop if you run out and now that we are doing elimination communication we have less to wash and mainly only pee in the diapers so should be able to reduce the frequency, temperature, spin and duration of the washes. More on that in part 3.