Saturday, June 9, 2007

Would you buy cloth diapers?

This article was written by Julia Clark the owner of earthangels diaperco
This article also runs in three different Newspapers in USA.

And I want to share this articles to all of you to share more awareness about cloth diapering

Thanks , Julie , to let me u
se your article and use your gorgeous photo of your twins in Drybees green retro flowers and Blue polka dot! :D


Would you buy cloth diapers?

Diaper rationale: Cloth may be safer for baby, Mother Earth

BY CHRIS KRIDLER
FLORIDA TODAY 7th May 2007

Diapers may not seem much of a topic for conversation, until you're changing 10 or more a day. Then you start thinking about them. You start thinking about chemicals and landfills and how much money they cost. And then, if you're Julia Clark, you discover a new old solution, in colorful prints, microfiber and Velcro.

These are not your mama's cloth diapers.

"I had never used cloth diapers before, and whenever anybody would mention them, like back when I had my daughter, I imagined them to be like they were back in the '70s," says Clark, 29, who lives in Palm Bay and has 7-month-old twin boys. "I imagined them having to wear little plastic itchy pants overtop."

The old-style diapers were supposed to be rinsed in the toilet and laundered. They sounded like too much trouble.

Then the twins came along, and she and her firefighter husband, Matthew, were given about five months' worth of disposables at the baby shower.

"I told my husband, 'You know, we're getting ready to run out, and we haven't had to spend any money on diapers so far,' " Clark says. "Wonder what it's going to cost to put diapers on twins?"

She came up with a number: about $150 a month. Cloth diapers seemed like a reasonable alternative.

"When I realized how cute they were and comfortable and practical and absorbent, and really not that inconvenient, then I just was like, 'Oh my gosh, I want to open my own business, and we're going to use cloth diapers.' "

Politics of poo

Disposable diapers have been absorbing controversy for a long time, as environmental groups point out their nonrecyclable content and their tendency to accumulate in landfills.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there was almost no diaper waste generated in 1960. By 1970, there were 350,000 tons. In 2005, the number had risen to 3.6 million tons annually, with no significant recycling.

While those numbers speak for themselves, a British study suggested all the washing and drying of cloth diapers meant their environmental impact was about equal to that of disposables.

Environmentalists have criticized the study. One green argument is the combination of chemicals in the diapers and their baby waste make for an unhealthy contribution to landfills and potentially ground water. Poo isn't supposed to go into the landfill.

"One thing that I didn't realize is that, if you read the fine print on the disposable packaging, it actually says that you're not supposed to throw away fecal matter, " Clark says, "and nobody knows that."

That's right. Disposable-diaper users are supposed to flush the poo.

Other studies raised more issues. An article in Archives of Disease in Childhood posited that increased warmth from disposable diapers may contribute to male infertility, since "scrotal hypothermia" or cool temperatures are important for reproductive health.

According to the abstract, "This study shows that scrotal temperature, which closely reflects testicular temperature, is increased in boys wearing disposable plastic lined nappies."

Another study, in the Archives of Environmental Health, subjected mice to air blown over three brands of disposable diapers. Their eyes, nose and throats were irritated, and they had decreased airflow, reminiscent of an asthma attack. The disposables, unlike cloth diapers, emitted chemicals "toxic" to the respiratory tract.

Whether these studies can be connected directly to babies' health is unclear, but they make some parents wonder.

Michele Hobbs of Indian Harbour Beach says one reason she uses cloth diapers on her 6-month-old son is for the environment. The other is "the chemicals inside diapers, the gels and the chlorine and all the other nasty chemicals."

Naturally fun

Hobbs likes knowing natural cloth is next to her child's skin. The super-absorbency of some disposable diapers means parents leave them on longer, she says, and she doesn't like the implication for babies.

"They're constantly urinating in the same diaper, so it's like they're wearing a toilet," she says.

Hobbs also subscribes to the idea of "elimination communication" -- if a child sometimes wears no diapers, or cloth diapers that let him feel when he's wet, he learns to let mom know when he has to go. This method has allowed her to get her kids out of diapers sooner, she says.

She argues cloth diapers actually take her less time, because she doesn't have to dash to the store when she's running out.

There are several kinds of cloth diapers available. There are old-fashioned prefolds, basically a square cloth, which require a cover. The nice thing about the soft new covers, for $8 to $20, is that with Velcro, they don't need pins, Clark says.

She likes the lined pocket diapers, which have inserts whose thickness can be customized to boy or girl, overnight or a long car trip. They sell for $12 to $17.

There are all-in-one diapers, too, that go into the wash in one piece.

Clark sells several kinds in her diaper business, online at www.earthangelsdiaper co.com.

It's hard to find cloth diapers in stores, she says, but through online vendors, people build their "stash," which they can use for the next little nipper, too.

The basic cloth diapers can save parents money. Or they can go for the luxury models.

"It's kind of becoming more of like a yuppie-type trend," Clark says. "Moms are buying velour, leopard, wool, all kinds of fancy embroidered, custom monograms. You know, I have twins. I can't afford to spend $50 per diaper. But some people are really into it."

Monday, June 4, 2007

Cloth wipes and beyond......

Since I was converted to Cloth, I saw all online store that carry cloth diaper sure will carry cloth wipes. As a newbie on CD-ing, the first thing that came in to my mind was : GROSS!! How to clean a gooey, slimy,jelly like,sticky baby poo with CLOTH??? You must be nuts! I guess I am now...nuts!
So what make me convert to cloth ...
After the discovery of the greatness of cloth diapering I'm hook and become addicted( as like you all don't know about this) :D. Then when come to poo poo time I found it that if I use wet wipes to clean , I got extra job to do, that is to separate the wet wipes from the CD. So it won't be wash together in the washing machine makes the fibers of the wet wipes stuck every where in the laundry and also wet wipes can't be flush it into toilet either.So it must be thrown into trash can . So here I am thinking maybe I should give Cloth wipes a try.

First I must make the solution to clean or to use with the wipes. I put water into a clean bottle and add 1 drop of tea tree oil and a drop of lavender oil (both are essential oil) and I got this solubilizer (ok it is not a machine...it is a drop of sticky oil that can mix oil and water into one,My sis gave me this from Australia) This is optional of course. Just water , tea tree and lavender will do just great. Or if you like you can use water and a few drop of your baby normal body wash liquid.

Then I got this normal flannel wipes or any baby towel which can be use as well and I found it is more CONVENIENT.
Since with wet wipes :
1. It can be dry if you don't close it properly
2.When you run out of that you will be freak out and must go to buy late at night to 24 hours store
3.Have you ever got your finger stuck in the plastic container!!! OUCH! I hate that. Even my hubby hates it!
4. With cloth wipes ,It make my job easier , I can just put the dirty wipes into dirty diaper and roll it and toss it into wetbag . No need to sort out the wet wipes

Me like many other moms love Wahmies wipes.They are made 1 layer of super soft cotton flannel print and one side of extremely soft cotton sherpa terry. The size is 8" by 8", just the perfect size to fold in half and store in a recycled disposable wipe container.
The Sherpa side is so soft and absorbent.

Cotton Sherpa is known for a very soft, very pretty, and excellent absorbency.Perfect for diapers and wipes.

I also use normal Flannel wipes, or any baby small towel will do.
The most asked questions: WILL IT STAIN? nope...like cloth diaper, you will be surprise that cloth wipes are easy to wash.

My gadget : wipes, bottle of water, tea tree oil, lavender oil, solubilizer
Some of my basic flannel wipes
Wahmies wipes on sherpa side , see it is still white and no stain even after lots of nasty poo cleaning up session :D

Here is what I do normally :
Pour water into wipe
Clean the bottom, if you got a big blown out of poo poo you will need two wipes or more. Keep bunch of wipes handy near you , specially if you got super wiggly baby like Maya
Wipe dry the bottom
Put the dirty wipes together with the dirty diaper
Rolled it
And just toss it into wetbag. DONE.....