cloth diapers versus disposable diapers

This post is part of the Real Diaper Facts carnival hosted by Real Diaper Events, the official blog of the Real Diaper Association. Participants were asked to write about diaper lies and real diaper facts. See the list at the bottom of this post to read the rest of the carnival entries.



So I never really "blog" - I might send in a "line item" from my cell phone, but Pampers has me up in arms! I have contacted my local news affiliates in Atlanta and have heard back from one and hopefully we will be meeting on May 25th with some other moms who cloth diaper!



So Pampers is retaliating about how bad cloth diapering is and how good disposable diapers are. Their myths and facts can be found here.

So here are my myths and facts that I have found in my cloth diapering adventure! This is what I have run across with my daughter. I also own a small cloth diaper service and nothing discussed is from any of my clients. It is all about my family.

These "myths" are directly off the Pampers website with my "truths"

Myth: Cloth diapers are better for my baby.
Truth: Cloth diapers are better for my baby because when she was 4 months old, she developed a "chemical burn" type diaper rash (3rd degree) and we tried 8 different brands of disposables with no relief. The only relief she got was when we put her in cloth diapers. The "burn" diaper rash took over 3 weeks to heal completely.

Myth: Cloth diapers are better for the environment than disposables.
Truth: Cloth diapers are better for the environment. There is a chemical in some disposable diapers that firemen use as a fire retardant. Here is a link to the article. The chemicals used in tampons that caused toxic shock syndrome (tss) have also been found in disposable diapers. Here is a link to an article. So not only are the chemicals in disposable diapers not good for the environment, do you really want these chemicals close to your baby's skin?

Myth: Developing countries prove that cloth diapers are better than disposable diapers.
Truth: This is truth - most developing countries don't have the money to throw away on disposable diapering. Our country knew this just 2 - 3 generations ago. I think that cloth diapers are better than disposables in an established country or a developing one. When you buy disposable diapers, just as my husband has said, you might as well just be throwing your money away. For $200 you can have all the cloth diapers you will actually need to diaper your baby from birth through potty training. And you can use these diapers again on a 2nd or 3rd baby. How much money will be gone after buying disposable diapers for 3 babies?

Myth: Disposable diapers are harmful to the environment.
Truth: As above, disposable diapers are harmful to the environment. Another article can be found here on the trash that disposable diapers cause.

Myth: The materials that make up Pampers diapers are depleting our forests.
Truth: You know, I don't know - and I don't care at this point - it is the chemicals that is making my blood boil and that Pampers is attacking cloth diapering because they were attacked by a group of concerned parents. It almost sounds like they are bullies. You remember the bully in your school? Once you attacked them, they just threw something back, it usually didn't make any sense, but they did it.

So, there is my list of "myths and truths" and I am proud to be a part of this blogging carnival on real sustainable diapers. I think everyone should cloth diaper - after all 50 years ago, that's all there was!



The End