10 Reasons to Switch to Cloth Diapers
There are so many benefits to switching from disposables to reusables, from money savings to reducing your carbon footprint, from reducing landfill waste to using natural materials on your baby’s bottom and avoiding chemicals.
The motivation to choose to reuse and switch away from single use items is different for all. First you should ask why you wish to make such a switch. Or maybe this is the first step on the journey for you!
Are you worried about the expense of disposable diapers? Are you worried about the environmental state of the world today and wondering how you can be a better steward of the planet and leave it in a better place for your children? Did your paediatrician advise you to consider the switch to cloth diapers to improve your baby’s comfort and clear up a skin condition?
Regardless of why you are considering, we want to show you some of the benefits of cloth diapering. This guide will show you the many common reasons you should think about switching to cloth diapers. By the time you’ve finished reading through this, it is our hope that you’ll have some of the information you need to decide which route is best for you.
Why should I consider a switch in the first place?
In today’s fast-paced world, many of us love things that are easy and love things that are instant. Fast food. Plastic cutlery. Plastic wrap. But we living through a societal and generational reckoning as so many young people realize that change must be made now; convenience comes at a great price, and this is a price we can no longer afford. Perhaps we’re learning something previous generations knew - easier isn’t always better.
As parents we understand the allure of disposable diapers. It’s less work for you and there is very little cleanup. You simply toss it in your garbage and forget about it. But is it actually that simple? And will you always be able to reach for a disposable diaper?
Nearly 9 in every 10 (90%) of American babies use disposable diapers exclusively. This equates to nearly 40 billion disposable diapers that end up in landfills each year. This is a number so large it is practically impossible to comprehend however it is a figure that should concern you, whether your’re a parent, expectant parent, or not.
We have also realised of late another statistic about disposable diapers; just how many parents and families are struggling to afford them. We recognise there are cheaper cloth diaper options on the market today than Bayrli, but then again we believe you get exactly what you pay for. However, to exclusively use Bayrli diapers in place of disposable diapers on your child is on average just 25% the cost of these disposable diapers. And if you use cloth diapers, you will have them for another kid, and we will honour our warranty for you as well. The sad reality about disposable diapers from a financial standpoint is that families are literally tossing their money in the garbage and accepting it is the cost to having a baby. But it needn’t be this way.
Reason 1: Save Money
While a parent will spend thousands of dollars to diaper one baby until they are potty trained if they use disposable diapers, these same parents will only would spend a fraction of that on cloth diapers and laundering them during that time. The savings are even greater if that parent has more than one child because cloth diapers can be reused for the next baby.
When you choose Bayrli, you will need a maximum of 30-36 diapers from birth to potty training. And because we carefully design and manufacture our products, and we include a lifetime warranty, you can be confident of reusing our products with another baby or pass them onto a family member or friend. Bayrli is built to last. As all reusable brands should be.
Our birth to potty diapers are considerably less expensive than using disposable diapers. When you purchase Bayrli, the only recurring cost you will have is laundry. And you get to directly choose how often you do this. It is a conservative estimate that reusable diapers will cost you $500 over 3 years, and disposables will cost over $2500 for the same period. But remember, disposables cannot be passed on unlike our Bayrli range, and disposables come with no warranty.
Also consider if a brand offers you buy now, pay later options at 0% interest like we do. This way you can invest in reusables for less than the monthly cost of disposables.
Reason 2: Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
In Europe and North America, there are roughly 28 million babies using diapers. Each of these babies who use disposable diapers use on average 70 diapers every week. Diapers typically use 35% of non-biodegradable waste in landfills.
We live in the midst of a growing global crisis unparalleled in comparison. We must act now to ensure an hospitable planet for our little ones and their children. When you support Bayrli, you are supporting a company who does as they say. We give a minimum of 1% of our revenues to climate causes as a proud member of 1% for the Planet. Furthermore, we are Climate Neutral Certified, meaning we offset our entire carbon footprint plus 20%. For us, this is a cost of doing business, and unlike our competitors, every single decision we make has considered our environmental impact.
Disposables, as we have covered in previous posts, have a dirtier and more wasteful manufacturing process than reusables do, regardless of what any brand may say. Even the disposable diaper brands who claim to be green and ‘eco-friendly’ generally use polymer crystals inside their single-use diapers to soak up your baby’s urine. Whilst they typically have a poor and unreliable fit, this construction provides an absorbency that parents have come to love. And ultimately it is your choice as a parent if you’re comfortable having those synthetic materials next to your baby’s genital area all day long.
Reusable diapers simply require fewer resources to produce compared to disposables. And at Bayrli we always opt for recycled materials where we can. We simply consider this our moral obligation to minimise our footprint in any way we can, and we even have an industry leading pre-order option to further reduce waste.
Reason 3: Kind on Your Baby
Your baby will wear a diaper for at least two years, and in many cases three years. When you choose to use cloth diapers, you choose to wrap your baby in cushioned, organic, and natural materials that are naturally anti microbial. When you choose Bayrli, you also choose to use a leak-proof and blowout-proof diaper. When you opt for cloth diapers on your baby’s delicate skin, you choose to stay away from irritating chemicals, plastics, and sodium polyacrylate chemicals, therefore minimising the risk of skin outbreaks such as diaper rash.
Another attractive argument for using reusable diapers is a very well known fact that babies in reusable diapers potty train faster than those in disposable diapers - up to an entire year faster. We offer diapers that are carefully designed to function without using an artificial moisture wicking materials, thus your baby will correlate the sensation of needing to go with the feeling of a wet diaper.
Reason 4: Easier to Potty Train
We all want our babies to stay babies. However, as sad as parents can get about seeing their baby grow up, there’s one milestone we’re all thrilled to say goodbye to - having to change your baby. Ditching diapers saves families money and we don’t have to take out the garbage as frequently.
Our cloth diapers are designed to prompt your child to try potty training at an earlier age because they don’t have that same dry feeling as your child would feel when they use disposables diapers.
With disposables, even when children pee they still feel dry because of those synthetic absorbent polymers we mentioned above. These layers wick the moisture away from your child’s bottom immediately when they pee, therefore giving them a feeling of being dry. This is the opposite of what you want when you begin to focus on potty training.
Reason 5: A Reduction in Diaper Rash
Nearly all parents will be greeted at some stage to the signs of diaper rash, and most will have had no idea it was coming. Roughly 55% of babies will suffer from diaper rash more than once.
Babies can get diaper rash for a number of reasons:
- Too much moisture in their genital area.
- Diapers aren’t changed frequently enough.
- Skin allergies and skin conditions.
- A reaction to the chemicals in disposable diapers or in wet wipes.
- Food allergies.
- Yeast infections.
There are several reasons why cloth diapers cause fewer breakouts on your baby’s bottom:
- Cloth diapers are moisture wicking.
- Bayrli diapers are made from natural materials and not chemicals.
- Our cloth diapers don’t use the same chemical components as disposables thus reducing the chance of irritation.
- Bayrli cloth diapers are designed to allow the skin to breathe which means air can circulate and keep your baby’s skin drier.
- Natural fibers used in our cloth diapers are softer than the plastics used in disposables, meaning your baby should have less irritating chafing which can lead to rashes.
Reason 7: Comfort
Babies can be very difficult to read. They can’t communicate to you when they have a minor discomfort. You’ll just have to try to imagine how your baby might be feeling. You’ll have to watch them closely, and put yourself in their shoes.
When it comes to comfort, consider what a cloth diaper offers your baby:
- All of our cloth diapers are remarkably lightweight.
- The materials we use are breathable compared to airtight disposables.
- Our diapers are engineered for comfort.
- Our cloth diapers use natural materials.
- Bayrli reusable diapers are leak-proof and blow-out proof.
- Our diapers are quick drying and can be dried in a dryer.
- Our diapers are designed to snap quickly and firmly, giving you peace of mind.
- No more grocery store trips for diapers, especially if you choose to use our Organic Wipes as well.
Reason 8: Reduce Water Consumption
Doesn’t the extra washing mean they’re not much better for the environment? Don’t cloth diapers use massive amounts of water to clean?
This is a common accusation, especially by disposable diaper manufacturers. Disposable diapers are made of pulp and plastics. Making pulp is an incredibly dirty industrial process that uses a vast amount of water. To manufacture enough disposable diapers to last a week uses about 2,000 liters of water. Washing cloth diapers each week uses about 100 liters of water.
That is an astounding difference of 1900 liters per week. Those mathematics are incredibly simple and incredibly eye opening.
Despite having to wash and dry cloth diapers each week, you will still reduce water consumption beginning at the manufacturing process to wearing and washing from birth to potty training than disposables in the same period.
Reason 9: No Smell
It is a given that your baby will have accidents in disposable diapers, but our carefully manufactured Bayrli diapers are leak-proof and blowout-proof. When the cloth diaper fits snugly on your little one, you will also notice a complete absence of smells, from wearing to laundry. A lot of this is simply due to the natural materials we use on the reusable diapers. We use double gussets and flexible elastics to ensure what happens in the diaper stays in the diaper. Parents are always stunned at the sheer difference when cloth diapers are used.
Reason 10: Childcare Providers are Cloth Positive!
For a lot of parents who use cloth diapers on their children, the idea of their childcare provider using cloth diapers too can cause unnecessary worry. However, with a growing understanding that reusables are the way forward, and with reusable alternatives becoming much more commonplace in all settings, most nurseries and childcare providers are extremely happy to jump on board with cloth diapers!
They may need a little prompting and advice from you, but in our experience they will all be willing to give it a go. We have asked many of our users and they say the same thing! A little patience and a little guidance is all it takes. Our complete guide is here for you.
