Entering the Diaper Debate
by
Sallie and Claudia
Dy-Dee Diaper Service
We would like to add our two cents to the "Diaper Drama" and say a bit more on the price of disposables versus cloth. When you are figuring out the total cost of diapering a child there are two things you might want to take into account.
Cloth diapers, either home wash or a diaper service, is cheaper than disposables especially if you consider that children wearing cloth diapers tend to toilet train earlier than toddlers in disposables. This is because they can feel when they are wet or soiled and therefore have more incentive to use the potty and are not artificially removed from the process.
The other is cost to the earth. Everything we do costs the earth something, but disposable diapers not only fill landfills but the thing that never seems to be discussed is that very few people take the fecal matter out with the lining from the disposable to throw in the toilet. The fecal matter then ends up in the landfill with the disposable. If it leaks it can leach into the water table and spread disease.
We also read with great interest the charge that the Parents article titled: "The Cloth vs. Disposable Debate" makes that "The chemicals that diaper services use to launder them are often very harsh, which can be bad for both Mother Earth and your child. And don't forget that fossil fuels are used to operate those washing machines (and for that matter, the delivery trucks that run the diapers to and from your home).
Our Diaper Service does not rely harsh chemicals to wash diapers. The very nature of our business is a commitment to environmentally safer practices. In fact, one of the benefits of a diaper service over home wash is that we use really hot water to clean and sanitize the wash. Hotter than you can get at home so it cleans and rinses better. The better rinse also helps in the rash department.
And, because we do try not to cost the earth too much, our trucks run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). We think the trucks that deliver disposables still run on fossil fuel.
© 2002, Sallie and Claudia. May not be reprinted without permission.
About the Author:
Sallie and Claudia at Dy-Dee Diaper Service.
"Knowing they have wet diapers is the first step in toilet training."
Toilet Training for Toddlers
Guide F-109
Diana S. DelCampo
Extension Child Development and Family Life Specialist
College of Agriculture and Home Economics
New Mexico State University
"Environmentally conscientious parents who have used cloth diapers may have it easier, as wetness is felt in cloth, whereas a paper diaper can seem to hold quarts of urine and still feel comfortable."
Excerpt from Child Care for Diapered Children by Bette Simons ISBN 0-800409-187-2
"If you use disposable diapers, consider using cloth diapers as your child approaches the age of toilet training. Cloth diapers help a child learn the difference between wet and dry."
Excerpt from Mommy! I Have to go Potty! ISBN 0-9650477-0-9
"Another possible reason for the delay in toilet training is the change in the type of diapers used. Today's disposables keep the children so dry that they may not even realize when they go. Compared with the feeling of dampness and discomfort that the infants in the old cloth diapers had, there is not much incentive to toilet train.
Additionally, for the parents, since changing disposables is so much easier than changing cloth diapers, and they don't need to be changed anywhere near as often, there is also less incentive for them to get the kids to train. Therefore, the "liberal" training practices that the authors refer to, may partly be due to convenience as well."
A comment by the Optimal Wellness Center website -http://www.mercola.com/2000/aug/27/toilet_training.htm - on the a Belgium study (British Journal of Urology International August, 2000; 86: 248-252) concerned that children start toilet training too late and adversely affecting their continence control.
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