Diapering: Why We Use Cloth

For thousands of years women have diapered their babies using natural ingredients from the earth. It may have been grass stuffed in a rabbit skin. It may have been moss, linens, and leaves. Often times babies were simply naked so mothers used Elimination Communication with their infants. Only in the past 30-40 years have parents used disposable man-made materials on their children's bums (disposable diapers where technically in use beginning in the 1950s, but they were considered a rare novelty and only used during special occasions by parents that could afford them). Growing up as a child I didn't really consider that there was an option other than disposables. They were so popular that I can honestly say I don't ever remember seeing a cloth diaper during my teens or twenties. Slowly, though, the truth began to seep out. And as I began thinking about starting my own family, I started to pay attention.

Environmental Impact. It started out with acknowledging the huge environmental implications of using disposable diapers. In the United States alone, 27.4 BILLION diapers are used each year ... resulting in 3.4 MILLION tons of used diapers ending up in landfills every year. The more I studied the environmental impact of disposable versus cloth diapers, the more convinced I was that I would use the latter. Cloth diapering does not come without environmental impacts, however. Washing, drying (if using a machine), even growing cotton to make the cloth diapers, all impacts the environment. However, with a little education and proper care, cloth diapering can be the more environmentally responsible choice. Some things to consider: 1) wait to wash a full load of diapers, 2) hang diapers to dry in the sun whenever possible, 3) buy 100% organic cotton, hemp or bamboo cloth diapers rather than regular cotton (cotton crops are notorious for using lots of chemicals), and 4) re-use cloth diapers for more than one child.

Did you know that on the package of disposable diapers it clearly states that "when disposing of soiled diapers, empty contents into toilet." First of all, nobody I know of does this. Second, why is this? Because dumps and landfills are not allowed to store human waste. Only sewage systems and septic tanks are made to dispose of human waste. Yet each year millions of towns of human waste are placed in landfills via disposable diapers.

Chemicals. Exactly what is in a disposable diaper remains a mystery. Why? Because the diaper companies won't tell you, and legally, they don't have to. Here is a list of a few ingredients that is known about what is in a disposable diaper: paper pulp, polyethylene (and other plastics), glues, dyes, synthetic perfumes, and sodium polyacrulate (a super absorbent material that absorbs urine in a type of "gel"). And here is why I care. In 1999, a study was published in The Archives of Environmental Health that found that mice exposed to various brands of disposable diapers suffered increased eye, throat, and nose irritation - including bronchoconstriction similar to that of an asthma attack. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America states that "the prevalence of asthma has been increasing since the 1980s." Of course other environmental factors need to be looked at as well, but with disposable diaper use hitting an all time high in the late 70s and early 80s - it causes one to stop and wonder.

Our skin is like a sponge. It soaks up whatever is on it. That is why we can use patches for medications like birth control, nicotine, and fentanyl (for pain). Why would be want chemicals sitting against our baby's bum all day? The skin WILL absorb them.

Diaper Rash & Fertility. The incidence of diaper rash has increased from 7% in the 1970s to 60% by the mid-1990s ... which happens to coincide with the increase in disposable diaper usage. Wearing disposable diapers make infants feel dry - even when they are wet. Wearing disposable diapers actually cause an increase in skin wetness and pH - which in turn can cause diaper rash. Visit this website for more on diaper rashes. Using cloth diapers alerts an infant immediately when they have soiled. Little Bear cries immediately upon wetting or pooping, notifying me that it is time to change her! Very rarely will she allow me to let her sit longer than several minutes in a soiled diaper! As of yet, we have had no diaper rashes.

Additionally, in October 2000, the Archives of Disease in Childhood speculated that disposable diapers may be partially responsible for the increase in male infertility over the past 25 years. Disposable, plastic-lined diapers keep the testicles hotter than core body temperature - 1.8 degrees hotter that cloth diapers! An increase in testicle temperature for extended periods of time can cause reduction in sperm production and possible long-term infertility. Think about it ... all male babies that wear disposable diapers the first 2-3 years of their life are constantly exposing their testicles to higher than normal temperatures!

Economics (saving money!). Over time, cloth diapering costs less. Here is a great website that looks at the costs associated with each option. Cloth diapering saves you roughly $1000/year ... if not more. This savings jumps even higher if you use the same cloth diapers on baby number two and three!

Potty Training. Children that wear cloth diapers potty train faster and earlier than children that wear disposables. It is assumed that because a child knows immediately when he or she has wet or soiled a cloth diaper that potty training is made easier for them, as opposed to disposable diapers that wick moisture away and cause the child to feel dry - even when they are not. Cloth diapering also, I am sure, makes Elimination Communication (early use of the potty with infants) easier for both mother and baby, as well. Because a baby wearing cloth diapers lets someone know immediately when they have wet their diaper, parents can more easily learn their child's potty cues and potty schedules. This way, a parent can more easily anticipate when their child might need to use the potty - even from a very young age.

I'm sure there are many more reasons to choose cloth over disposable. Feel free to list your reasons in the comments below! And the best part: once you get a routine down with your cloth diapers, they really are just as convenient and easy to use as disposables. Really. So I encourage everyone out there to at least do a little more homework and consider the option of switching from disposable to cloth ... whether it is for the health of your baby, to save money, to assist in potty training, or to help out the environment. It's a choice you won't regret. I promise.

Elimination Communication: Little Bear Goes on Strike

I read that sometime in the later months of EC-training (especially during teething), babies will often "go on strike" with the potty. In other words, they won't use it. The words of advice I gathered from the articles and chapters I read on EC suggest that you simply keep putting baby on the toilet and they will eventually resume where they left off. In some cases, they will even show a big improvement!

For about 6 days now Little Bear has been "on strike." She simply refuses to pee in her potty most of the time. Today we have had zero pees. Yesterday I think we had one, perhaps two. At the same time, we have been catching almost all of her poops! She only goes every few days now and waits until I give her the "shhhhhhhh" cue to push it out. Makes cleaning up messy diapers much easier!

Little Bear IS teething right now (she turns 6 months on January 24th). We also recently moved, so we have all been under more stress than usual. So I'm not sure if it is the move or the teething that has caused the current pee-strike. Either way, we continue to put Little Bear on her potty and I'm positive that we'll be back on track in no time!

PS - As I am finishing this post, Dad just hollered from the other room that Little Bear just peed in her potty. So the count for today stands at one.

Elimination Communication: Little Bear's Story

As mentioned in the previous post on Elimination Communication (EC), I started working with Little Bear when she was about 6 weeks old. Everything I read said you can start right from birth, but I was so overwhelmed with becoming a new mother I didn't feel ready to add EC to the mix. So right around 1 1/2 months we decided to get serious. I had noticed that upon waking I would go to check her diaper - only to have her actually begin peeing with the diaper open. As soon as I would see her begin to pee, I would begin to make a pssssssss sound close to her ear. I noticed a very similar pattern after eating. Usually within 10 minutes of breast-feeding, Little Bear would fuss due to a wet diaper. Then another 10 minutes would go by, and another wet diaper would appear!

This is the beginning of EC training: learning your baby's patterns and cues. To make it easier for me, I actually undiapered Little Bear for several days, simply laying her on a cloth diaper (cloth diapering is a MUST if using EC as it alerts the baby immediately when they have wetted). This helped me to better learn the subtle cues she would give off right before peeing. It wasn't always an easy process. We had (and still have) a lot of "misses" (wet diapers). But slowly, over a period of days and weeks, I noticed progress. Immediately upon awakening I would hold Little Bear over her potty (she was so small at that point that I would simply hold her legs in a squatting position over the Baby Bjorn). I would make a psssssss sound and, more often that not, she would pee! Similarly, about 10 minutes after eating I would offer her the potty as well. Sometimes it would take 30-60 seconds of holding Little Bear over the potty for her to finally go. At first I could count the number of successes each day: "We had 4 pees in the potty today!" Most days now, I count the number of misses!

There are two points I must make on EC. First of all, we still have "good" and "bad" days. A lot of this, I believe, is simply related to whether or not I am really listening to Little Bear. Some days I am more focused on other things and less tuned in to her needs. She fusses, and I ignore her. Inevitably, she wets herself (I still use cloth diapers on her because of this). Other days, I am very focused on her and offer her the potty immediately when she fusses. Those days, she uses the potty. So having a "good" or "bad" day, I believe, is more related to how tuned in the caregiver is to their baby. Second, don't get overly attached to the outcomes! I found myself (a type-A personality to begin with) falling into this trap the first few weeks. I would get frustrated that sometimes an entire day would go by with only one (or zero!) successful pees. This only frustrates you as a parent, which your baby immediately picks up on. Some days Little Bear would scream and cry when I'd try to put her on the potty, but I was insistent and would keep at it. I'm not sure this was the best technique. Now I try to be more lenient with her. If I am pretty sure she has to go (first thing in the AM) but she arches her back and cries - I usually calmly talk to her and make her sit longer. If I'm just offering her the potty because I think it's time, I don't make her stay on it when she is upset. I'm trying to use my mother's intuition more and more.

With all that set, she is not as consistent as I thought she might be. Sometimes I will take her to the potty and she is sitting in a SOAKED diaper, with no complaints! When she is playing and laughing a lot, she won't bother to tell us that she had to pee, either.

We've also started giving a sign with our hands while she is peeing. Supposedly this will help her to communicate her need to use the potty when she is not yet verbal. We'll see!

All in all, I am VERY happy to be using EC with Little Bear. It is not for everyone. It is also more work in some ways. It is definitely more work than simply tossing away a disposable diaper several times a day. Yet it is SO rewarding to know that Little Bear and I are communicating. You can almost see the sigh of relief from Little Bear when I "get" her cue and take her directly to the potty. I feel like she is saying, "Thank you! I really didn't want to pee on myself!"

Elimination Communication: An Introduction

During my pregnancy a friend gifted me with a subscription to Mothering Magazine - a magazine dedicated to "natural family lifestyles." It is filled with a wealth of wonderful information and ideas about pregnancy, birth, and parenting children of all ages. It was there, in Mothering Magazine, that I first learned about Elimination Communication (EC). I was fascinated. Here was an article stating that over half the world's population to not diaper their babies! That from day one, mothers learn the cues of their infant son or daughter. Just like a newborn cries when she is hungry, a newborn will also alert a parent to when she needs to pee or poop! I was disbelieved. As a nurse, I had learned that babies were unaware of their elimination needs. Yet the article gave story after story of mothers using EC with their infant children. It stated that it is only after diapering a baby (specifically, diapering with disposable products that absorb urine so that the baby feels dry despite sitting in a wet diaper), that a baby loses this ability to recognize when she needs to pee or poop (roughly around 6 months of age). They must then relearn this ability while toilet training.

Everything I've read on EC states that most children raised using this method are exclusively using the toilet for peeing and pooping by 14-16 months. Before this time a baby is aware of his need to eliminate, but lacks the ability to "hold it" for any length of time. It is like they are aware of the sensation that they have to go, they give the cue (fussing or squirming seems to be the most common cue), and then it is up to the parent to quickly get them on the potty. Otherwise, they will eliminate wherever they are at. However, by age 14-16 months (according to the research I've done), children appear to have more control over their bladder and bowels. They can, at this point, clearly communicate a need to go potty, as well as hold it for a period of time.

I liked the idea of EC because: 1) it reduces the amount of laundry each week since we exclusively use cloth diapers on Little Bear, 2) when most parents are beginning the process of potty training, we will be completely finished with it, 3) it fosters a deeper level of communication between Little Bear and myself, and 4) once I realized that Little Bear was trying to tell me she was uncomfortable and wanted to pee ... how could a stand ignoring her needs!

Little Bear and I have been using EC since she was 6 weeks old. I will write a separate post on our personal methods and experiences. Below is a list of several websites I used when researching Elimination Communication:

Excerpt from "Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering" by Sarah J Buckley, MD

Youtube video

Babies Today

Discovery Health