Comfort & Health
A wise man once asked, “What kind of underwear should I wear today? Plastic or Cotton?” Ok, so not really, but who wouldn’t rather wear all natural cotton over chemical laden plastic filled with glues, dies, perfumes and heavily treated paper pulp?
Why is cotton healthier and more comfortable for my child?
1. Disposable diapers contain chemicals.
- SAP (Sodium Polyacrylate), a super absorbent polymer (the gel you see if you cut open a wet diaper) was banned from tampons in the 1980's because of a possible link to Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS). This polymer, which is in most diapers (even the chlorine free brands) can absorb up to 100 times its weight in water, which makes your baby feel dry, but is often mistaken for cleanliness.
- Dioxin is a by-product of the paper bleaching process and it has been found in disposable diapers. It can be found in various forms and has been shown to cause cancer, birth defects, liver damage and skin diseases (EPA, "Integrated Risk Assessment for Dioxins and Furans from Chlorine Bleaching in Pulp and Paper Mills.")
2. Cotton's a breathable fabric and that means less diaper rash!
- Prior to disposables, diaper rash afflicted less than 10% of children. Post disposables, that number increased significantly to 77% in children wearing single-use diapers.
- The lack of circulation in paper diapers has also been shown to increase the temperature of the testicles. Increased testicular temperature has been linked to male infertility.
3. Cotton allows a child to feel the moisture against his/her skin which leads to early potty training.
- With disposables, the motivation to potty train goes away if your child can't even feel when his/her diaper is wet. With cloth, potty training often occurs by 24 months. With disposables, the average potty training age is often 6-12 months longer. Please see our Why Cloth- Cost page to see how much money you can save.
