A newborn baby is an amazing sight to behold. Perfect little fingers and toes added to such a sweet face. They squint in the light while wondering at everything around them.
They also cost over 400LE every month until they are about two years old! That’s over 9000LE in two years. Where does all this money go? You, as parents, throw it in the garbage roughly ten times a day. In Egypt, disposable diapers make up the majority of a baby’s diapering needs. Babies are changed ten times a day or more and it’s all thrown away. Poorer people seem to use less, but they actually change less often, causing health problems to the baby. There is a better, cleaner and safer option. You don’t have to conform to the throw-away society.
Cloth diapers have been around for centuries. Babies were clothed in cotton until disposables came along. Then the wet, laborious cloth diapers were put aside for ease and simplicity of disposables. These aren’t your grandma’s “kaffula”! Modern cloth diapers are super absorbent, don´t leak and can be as easy to put on as any disposable. Yet, why should anyone give up their beloved disposable diapers? What is so great about cloth?
First, let’s talk money. It makes the world go round and even if we don’t like it, it’s a necessity. In two years, roughly until potty training you will spend over 9000LE on disposable diapers. If you buy high end, name brand cloth diapers they would cost you about 200LE each. Yes, that is a lot of money for one diaper. You need about 24 diapers, so that you only wash every two days. Yet you will only spend about 5000LE and never again. Of course there are cheaper options or all natural options. You will never spend as much as you do on disposables. There is also a great option for only 750 LE. Also, if you have more than one child in diapers they can use the same ones as most are size adjustable. Financially, cloth diapers make sense.
Secondly, most people are concerned for the health of their baby. Are cloth diapers safe and hygienic? Disposable diapers seem cleaner, right? Wrong! There are a multitude of chemicals put into disposable diapers to create that stay dry feeling. Many of these are carcinogenic. One such chemical was removed from tampons as it was related to Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS). Yet, it is still in disposables. Cloth diapers are cotton, bamboo, hemp or microseude. That is all that is placed on your child. Even the waterproof covers don’t sit on your child’s skin. As far as clean, they are washed on hot, and sun dried. If done right, cloth diapers are the best option for babies.
Lastly, but not least in importance, is the environmental impact of disposable versus cloth diapers. A disposable diaper uses more wood, plastics and oil than any cloth diaper will ever use. The fact is there are so many chemicals used in the creation of one disposable diaper that it should be enough to make you think of alternatives, but, there is more; no one knows how long it takes a disposable to decompose! Research and testing show it could take over 200 years. All those diapers sitting in garbage dumps and landfills for that length of time! The smell from one disposable diaper is bad enough, imagine thousands.
Now that you are paying attention I will tell you some good news. Cloth diapers are easy. That’s right. There is a learning curve, but it’s not rocket science. You take off the dirty diaper and if there is any solid waste you use the handy hose that every Egyptian bathroom has. All dirty diapers go in a waterproof bag until wash day. Change your baby more often as there is no stay dry chemical and you will have no diaper rashes to deal with.
Now comes the part everyone thinks is too complicated or adds too much cost. You need to wash the dirty diapers. You shouldn’t wait more than two days. This way the ammonia smell will wash out.
First, put the diapers on a cold rinse without soap. Then, put them in for a super hot wash with only a quarter of your normal soap. Leave the diapers to wash and find something better to do! Hang them in the sun to dry and you are done.
Of course, there are some guidelines and specific care so your diapers absorb well, but in general they cost less, are great for our babies and don’t add mountains of garbage to our world. By cloth diapering one child until potty training, you keep over 7000 disposable diapers from sitting in our garbage areas. It’s time we realize Egypt is not a disposable country. We need to reduce, reuse and recycle all that we can so the future generations have an actual future.
For inquiries about cloth diapering e-mail: haynescharleen@gmail.com