Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Being eco-friendly

Robert and I have deiced to become more Eco friendly. We are currently using our appliances at night to save more energy during the day. But our biggest step we are doing is switching from disposable diapers to cloth. Know I know what you are thinking EWWW stinky! and Why would anyone want to do that? To tell you the truth they are really not that much more work then disposables. Things have really advanced since the old days of cloth diapering (at least the diapers have). There are the Prefolds and Flats (these are probly what you used if you were CDing or what your parents used), Contours and Fitted, Pockets, and All In Ones (AIO). These are the most common types you will find.

Prefolds and flats are the most economical way to go. You don't need to much with them except your covers. We have 3 dozen prefold diapers. 1 Dozen newborn (which I just put away sniff sniff shes getting so big!) and 2 dozen regular Gerber premium cloth diapers. We chose to go with the premium diapers because they are more absorbent then the regular Birdseye.

The next type are actually my favorite; Contours and Fitted diapers. The contours are shaped to fit your baby. They are structurally made like a prefold with the soaker in the middle but curved on the sides. The fitteds are contours that have elastic on the sides and the back. These are very convenient when you have blow out diapers or really watery poop.

The prefolds, flats, contours and fitteds all require covers made from a waterproof material. The most common material used for covers is PUL (Polyurethane Laminate). This is a soft, polyester knit fabric laminated with 1 or 2 mil polyurethane on the back. Another good choice for a cover is fleece but it must be high quality such as Michael Miller fabric. You can use fleece from walmart but you may have to double it. Allot of people use wool as well. I am not using it at this time so I don't know allot about the care of these types of covers.

Pockets are a Daddy favorite. They cost less then a the AIO but when stuffed are exactly the same. Pockets consist of a Waterproof barrier on one side and a soft lining on the other. The diaper is sewn together to have an elastic opening at the top back side of the diaper. This is where you "stuff" the diaper with a soaker. A Soaker can be made out of anything that is absorbent but the best thing to make them out of is mirco fiber because its super absorbent but is thin. Thust you get rid of the bubble butt problem.

AIO's are exactly like disposables but you don't throw them away. They have the pul, soaker, and soft inner liner all sewn together.

All of these types of diapers are great and easy to work with (Some require more work then others, duh!). They come in a variety of fabrics with the most popular being of the Organic variety. Prices range from $7-$30+. If you choose to cloth diaper your child you are making a great investment in their future buy keeping their bums and their world clean.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi, I’m Robert.. new to this space. Can someone help me finda site that offers natural/ eco-friendly baby products?

I’ve found a few sites but not all their products are organic or eco-friendly, and it’s hard to find a site that has cute stuff.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the rec, cool site… I love all of their products!

Unknown said...

me too!