Parents with babies really have no choice about it; they have to change diapers frequently. What parents do have a choice about is the type of diaper they will put on their baby. Basically, there are two choices, a diaper made from plastic and other synthetic materials (disposable diapers) or cloth diapers. So how do the two stack up against each other in different areas? Let's take a look.
Convenience
When it comes to convenience, disposables have cloth diapers beat hands down. You have to wash cloth diapers, which means storage and chores, whereas with disposables you wrap them tight, toss them in the garbage, and that is that. If you're living a very busy life, maybe you're running in and out of your home at various times selling homes in Brampton or spend hours commuting to work from Whitby real estate and could use the extra time. But, if you're on a less tight schedule, maybe you have time for another option.
Safety and Health
Ever opened up the diaper you put on your little one and been horrified at the bright red skin you witnessed? Disposable diapers are the culprit here; the synthetic materials hold a lot more water, which makes them more abrasive; in addition, these diapers are pretty abrasive in the first place. Cloth diapers are flexible, hold less water, and are less apt to hurt your baby's skin.
Moreover, disposable diapers contain some pretty strange ingredients. There is a kind of pebbled gel underneath the outer material; when the diaper gets too full this gel bursts and can end up everywhere - even in baby's mouth. No such surprises exist with straightforward cloth diapers. If you're someone who checks how everything from the bathroom vanities to the paint used to decorate the nursery in your Windsor home affects your baby's health, cloth diapers are probably for you.
The Environment
No matter what you may have heard, there is no doubt that cloth diapers are much better for the environment than disposables. Sure, they may take up water to wash them, but you're already doing laundry anyway. Factor in manufacturing damage done by producing disposables and the fact that they just don't decompose, and the winner is clear. Also, if you're living in an Oakville home your waste is probably regulated. This is easier to control with cloth.
Cost
Everything convenient is bound to have its cost, and disposables are no exception. The current price at my local Wal-Mart is $30 for a pack of 60 disposables; babies may go through about four a day when they're not sick. Cloth diapers are about $2 each and can be used over and over. You do the math. If you're looking at that dream Royal Lepage listing in Mississauga maybe the extra time is worth the extra money.
The only area in which disposable diapers are preferable to cloth is in convenience, but given the importance of the other areas we looked at you might agree that this has actually proven inconvenient. The ease of disposables has made us look over their many detriments, but it is time to give cloth a chance.