Cloth Diapering for Infant and Toddlers

Why Cloth?

The Little Green Tree House has approximately 100 children using diapers at full capacity. That is 429 diaper changes a day or around 2,145 diapers a week, 109,395 a year! Those diapers cost our parents over $1,000 to buy. That is a lot of money to spend on plastic, tree pulp, and chemicals that are used once and then sent to a landfill.

Environment

Disposable diapers are the third largest source of domestic waste found in landfills, they virtually never biodegrade, and their fecal matter can release bacteria and live viruses into the surrounding environment. Trees, plastic, chlorine bleach, perfumes, and absorbent gels-usually sodium polyarcylate (SAP)-are used when making disposable diapers resulting in old-growth forest depletion to the production of dioxin, a toxin. Disposable diapers use approximately 3.5 times as much energy, 8 times the non-regenerable raw materials, and 90 times the renewable material as cloth diapers.

Health

Cloth-diapered babies get fewer diaper rashes, don't have to use barrier creams, and tend to potty train earlier (up to a year earlier). Studies suggest disposable diapers release volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which have been linked to toxic health affects. The SAP used in disposable diapers absorbs all of the natural oils and moisture in a baby's developing skin and many diapers also contain perfumes or other chemicals hard on sensitive skin. Studies have found dioxin, a toxic byproduct of bleaching, in trace amounts in disposable diapers. Disposable diapers also make it harder to tell when baby is wet, making it more likely that the urine will have time to break down into ammonia and become a breeding ground for bacteria.

Cost

Families can save thousands of dollars using cloth diapers. Disposables will cost a family $800 or more a year (or $2400 for 3 years), cloth will cost about $400 to $1400 TOTAL (and can be reused for many years and with multiple kids). We haven't even added in the Wipes!

FOR INFANTS AND TODDLERS AT THE LITTLE GREEN TREE HOUSE:

You will never have to worry about bringing diapers or wipes to the center. We will provide all supplies for your child to be diapered properly everyday. While at the Little Green Tree House your child will be diapered in the finest, 100% cotton diapers. These diapers are provided and maintained by the Chicago-lands only cloth diaper service: Bottoms Up Diaper Service. This service will provide pre-folds in two sizes, & state of the art cleaning.

At the beginning of your child's stay you will only have to provide Diaper covers and diaper cover maintenance. Washable cloth diaper bag for transporting diaper covers to and from daycare. Optional: Snappi diaper fastener, bio-soft liners, diaper cream. Parents can also provide some disposable diapers to be used just for transporting to and from the center.

For Parents