When I first heard about about cloth diaper (during the last trimester of my pregnancy), I have to admit that I was quite skeptical and thought nothing of it. After my confinement, I was somehow driven to find out further about it. I am curious about what is all this buzz about cloth diapers? Later, a one week research (mostly through browsing here and there...) has ended me up with buying 5pcs of my very first cloth diapers (brand Coolababy). Now... 4 months later, I am happy to say that I am (almost 99.9%) cloth diapering my little girl. That 0.1% is actually when I had to skip doing the laundry (due to unavoidable reason).. and the diapers didn't manage dry up before my inventory run out. I've tried few brands namely Coolababy, BumGenius, Baby Kanga, FuzziBunz, Happy Heinys, EcoMoon & Mommys Touch.
I know that most 1st time users out there are looking for information or reviews on some of the cloth diaper brands so that they can minimised investing in the wrong kind for their babies. I will try to put out some reviews on the brands that I've personally used and perhaps this information may come in handy to someone out there.
So, why does someone wants to use cloths diapers...
1) Harmful chemical on disposable diapers... among others.. it contains Carcinogenic Dioxin & Tributyl Tin that may effect our little ones. The reaction between the urine and these chemical would introduce rashes and some other skin problems. and Also, I've read somewhere that a German study found that disposable diapers may have an effect on the fertility of boys. So, be safe and use washable cloth diapers.
2) Cost saving.
Disposable diapers cost:
1 day (50sen x 6 times changing) = RM3
1 month (RM3 x 30days) = RM90
1 year (RM90 x 12 months) = RM1,080
Cloth diapers cost:
Depending on the brand & type that you choose, you can calculate your ROI
Plus, you can still use it for the next baby....
3) Reduce the garbage that we're dumping to our environment.
Imagine with 6 soiled diapers/day (maybe about 1kg)... you'll be dumping about 365kg garbage per year. Before we know it, we'll run out of dumping space and it would take few hundred years for it to be disintegrated into out mother nature.
4) Colourful, funky prints and attractive cloth diapers are simply adorable to put on your cute little ones.. Try it and you'll know the feeling...
5) Reduce the probability of getting diaper rash... or perhaps in some cases, cloth diapers are able to reduce the existing diaper rash developed while using disposable diapers.
6) Easy peasy to use and wash... Rinse it and dump it into your washing machine. I'll do some posting on how to wash and care of your cloth diaper later on.
For me, using cloth diapers is like going back to the way it was before, that is using lampin kain (plain white cotton nappies) ... but with a twist of modernisation (no need to change on every wetting, instead able to last for 3~4 hours).
So, to those disposable diapers users out there, switch to cloth diapers and make a difference to you and your adorable little ones life.
