I’m going to approach this question from two angles – Reasons to use cloth, and reasons not to use disposables. If, after reading this article, you'd like to try using cloth nappies for your child then why not visit the THM Shop or email sales@treehuggermums.co.uk for advice.

Why use cloth nappies?
A quick straw poll among some of my clothie friends showed that the main reasons for using cloth were the environmental and financial benefits, with a number of additional benefits being an added bonus.

• Cloth is better for the environment – even allowing for the environmental impact of washing cloth nappies. A comparison between the different nappying systems was carried out by Best Foot Forward1. They concluded that disposables have 1.8 times the environmental impact of home-laundered nappies, and 2.6 times the impact of nappy service-laundered nappies. No nappy system can claim to be totally environmentally friendly. However there is significantly less impact from reusable nappies. You can also further influence the impact on the environment by your choice of washing and storage methods (see Care Tips for more information).
• Cloth can save you money – how much it saves you is very much under your own control. Estimates on the amount range from £400 to £900 dependent upon what nappies you are using, how you wash and dry them, even whether you use paper liners or fleece. Of course, if your main reason for using cloth is to save money, then it is important to make sure you get the right nappies first time - see How to Choose for more information on this.
• Cloth is more reliable – a well fitting nappy will contain a breastfed baby’s poo better than a disposable. They are a better fit, and unless you are using an all-in-one, there are two points at which a leak can be stopped – the nappy, and the wrap.
• Cloth is better for your baby’s health – no-one can get away from the fact that disposable nappies contain chemicals. While the effects of these chemicals remain unproven, or at best unknown, surely it is better for your baby to be in cloth? We know that many chemicals can be absorbed into the body through the skin, and as a baby’s skin is so much thinner and more delicate, many parents are uncomfortable with the thoughts of putting chemicals so close to their skins. This may be of particular concern to you if you have a family history of asthma, eczema or allergies. The other point of concern is that disposable nappies increase the temperature around a baby boy’s genitals – this may potentially be enough to affect their future fertility as the male reproductive system develops during the first two years.
• Cloth is more comfortable – this one is less easy to prove, but many cloth users with older babies/toddlers will tell you that their children prefer cloth nappies to the feel of a disposable. Ask yourself – did you enjoy the feel of the disposable knickers you wore after the birth of your baby? You put cloth on yourself, why not on your baby?
• Cloth may help with toilet training – this is based upon anecdotal evidence, but toddlers in cloth nappies appear to be toilet trained earlier than those wearing disposable nappies. This may be because they become aware of when they have wet, as the moisture is not whisked away as quickly as by a disposable nappy.
• Cloth is Cute!!! – Cloth nappies are soft and snugly, and look adorable. Its hard to get excited about a packet of disposable nappies, but cloth nappies are a fashion accessory! The downside to this is that addiction to cloth nappies is not unheard of… and can result in your credit card taking a bit of a hit…

Having looked at the benefits of using cloth nappies – let’s now look at the flip side

What are the disadvantages of disposables?
This can be summed up as: financial cost; health cost; environmental cost

The financial cost has been covered in part in the first section of this article. When you use a disposable nappy, that’s it – it has to be thrown away (and disposed of – costing the taxpayer 10p for every £1 spent on disposable nappies). That can be a little annoying if your darling baby decides to do a poo in a nappy that hasn’t been on more than five minutes. With a cloth nappy, it’s just a case of changing one more nappy, and whether that happens six or eight times a day, there is no extra cost involved.
Of course the earlier you start using cloth, the more money you save. If you reuse your nappies for another baby, you save even more. And nappies retain up to 80% of value – there is a thriving second-hand market for cloth nappies, which mean if you don’t reuse them, you can recoup a significant part of your outlay. None of this is possible with disposables.

There are potential health implications linked with using disposable nappies – see above. And there is further research being carried out into this issue – until there is conclusive proof, it is better not to scaremonger about this issue. Until a generation of disposable wearers has grown up and started reproducing, we probably won’t know the exact impact of these chemicals.

Many people believe that it is better to avoid chemicals wherever possible. We make sure that we buy gentle toiletries so as not to irritate our babies’ skin; many parents buy organic baby food to avoid the pesticides used to grow many crops – why not take the same care over the nappies you put on your baby as well?

Consider also the fact that human faeces is classified as clinical waste, and as such should be incinerated. For some reason, packs of disposable nappies no longer carry the warning that solid waste should be disposed of down the toilet. Disposing of dirty nappies in household rubbish carries the risk that viruses and bacteria can leak out and end up in rivers – disposing of the solid waste in the toilet will ensure that the viruses and bacteria are managed safely.

The final disadvantage to using disposable nappies, and for many people the most important consideration, is the cost to the environment. Here are some figures to consider.

• It takes one full cup of crude oil to make the plastic for each disposable nappy.
• It takes 4.5 trees to make the pulp used in the nappies for one baby over two and a half years.
• Disposables may take 200 to 500 years to fully decompose in the ground, and even longer than that if they are wrapped in a nappy bag.
• Approximately 8 million disposable nappies are thrown away each day in Britain alone.
• Disposable nappies use 3.5 times more energy, 8 times more non-renewable raw materials, 90 times more renewable materials than washable nappies¹.
• Disposable nappies produce 2.3 times more waste water (at the production stage) and 60 times more solid waste than washable nappies¹.
• And of course, every time you use a cloth nappy, that is one cup less of crude oil that is being used, one less disposable in a landfill site. Every little bit most definitely does make a difference in this instance.

Reference: 1 - Best Foot Forward Tel:01865 250818 Email: mail@bestfootforward.com  Web: www.bestfootforward.com