This post is written for the Real Diaper Week Carnival with the theme "Real Simple. Real Diapers." We aim to educate and advocate the use of cloth diapers in the Philippines. Please scroll below to read the other carnival posts about cloth diaper styles, how to's or must haves.
Why Cloth?
I'd never given cloth diapering a second thought until I took hiatus from full-time work. I started reading and learned really interesting things. Modern cloth diapers aren't anything like the "lampins" we grew up with. Now we have modern fabric that is soft, do not crack or keep odour, breathable, water-resistant and super absorbent! Polyurethane laminate fabrics hold up well in the washing machine and dryer too! Good quality cloths are gentle on baby's skin so no worries about getting the irksome diaper rash.
Did you know that having a child on disposable for 3 years means adding over six thousand more diapers to the landfill? And that it takes over 300 years before a disposable fully decomposes?
Oh, poor Mother Earth.
Oh, poor Mother Earth.
Of course the economical aspect of cloth appealed to me more. Building a stash of modern cloth diapers is an investment that will save you money in the long run. As an example: my stash of 15 pocket cloth diapers ~PHP 1,000 (S$30) each = PHP 15,000 (S$450), plus maybe a few extra inserts a pre-folds, hybrids. Mind you, this stash will last me till the end of my diapering days and I can keep them for my future children's use too! Disposable on the other hand (based on Singapore SRP), 6 pieces per day x S$0.30/diaper x 365 days = S$ 657/year (~22,000 PHP). Not to mention the costly nappy rash creams and anti-fungal creams that we've to use in case of a rash. Do the rest of the math and see how much savings you'll incur!
