Nurtured Family – Your source for organic cloth diapers, baby slings, nursing bras and more

Becoming a parent is an exciting time.  There is so much to learn and experience with your new baby.  However, learning everything that there is to learn is not always easy.  In fact, there is a great deal of pressure on new parents because naturally you want to make all of the right choices for your child’s upbringing.  One of the biggest decisions that you must make is whether you are going to use disposable diapers or organic cloth diapers.  While both options have their pros and cons, there has been a dramatic increase in parents using cloth diapers on their children.

And here’s what these parents are saying about using reusable organic cloth diapers:

Rocker dad, Dave Matthews of the Dave Matthews Band:

“We use cloth diapers for our new baby because I think diapers might be the number three piece of garbage in terms of environmental damage. So, if you have a little cloth diaper service nearby, that’s good.” [Source: People Magazine]

Shawn Bean, executive director of Babytalk Magazine:

“Diapers are one of, if not the largest, component to modern parenting.…I think every household between birth and potty training will go through thousands… If you did a cross section of all the landfills in America, I think what you’re going to see is disposable diapers and non-biodegradable plastic toys. I think parents and families have one of the largest rolls in reducing the amount of waste we create.” [Source: TimesUnion]

Ashlee Phelan, a mom and a cloth diaper advocate turned owner of Green Horizon Diaper Service:

…started cloth diapering her own child because she heard it might help her daughter avoid frequent diaper rashes, which it did. And reusable cloth diapers can be much cheaper than disposables if washed at home (about $300 depending on brand, and those diapers can be reused with future children). Although a diaper service costs an average of $25 a week, it’s still comparable to buying brand-name disposables. [Source: TimesUnion]

Ashley Lukens, owner of the Baby aWEARness store at Manoa Marketplace:

Infants in organic cloth diapers experience fewer instances of diaper rash and are not exposed to the harsh chemicals used to bleach disposable diapers and enhance their absorbency. [Source: StarAdvertiser]

What are you waiting for? Start using organic cloth diapers for your baby now!

Read more about the Fuzzi Bunz diaper…

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You are going to have a baby! It is an exciting time in your life. Nothing will ever be the same, and that is kind of amazing. However, that also means that you are in the midst of learning how to do many new things. One of those things is to think about every detail that surrounds your baby’s life. One detail that many parents decide on is that if they are going to use organic cloth diaper instead of disposable diaper. This decision can be made for a variety of reasons, but one of the most important reasons is that organic cloth diapers are significantly better for your child’s skin. That being said, not all cloth diapers are as good as they could be for your child’s skin. For example, organic cotton diapers are truly a far superior choice for your child’s comfort and health.

People do not realize that most baby clothes and cloth diapers are made of cotton. Most of this cotton is conventionally grown, but what people really do not know is that this conventionally grown cotton can be a hot bed of toxin. This cotton can carry poisons, pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides. In addition to this, cotton is processed and is exposed to a very harsh chlorine-based bleach. All of this can be exposed to your baby’s skin when your child wears these garments, and each one of those toxins have been identified as possible carcinogens. (A carcinogen is a cancer causing substance)

What does that mean for you? That means that you are unknowingly placing this on your baby’s skin and exposing it to these dangerous chemicals. A baby’s skin is more sensitive than an adult’s, which means that your child could be at a significantly higher risk than you are.

Thankfully, there are organic cotton garments available for babies. These are especially valuable when they come in the form of organic cloth diaper. These cotton garments are just as soft and breathable as the garments that you are used to, but they do not harbor the risk. Organic cotton is not exposed to those dangerous chemicals or processes. All in all, organic cotton diapers are also better for the environment. Since they are more pure and unadulterated, the area that they are grown in is not affected by negative chemical exposure.

Additionally, the availability of organic cloth diaper and organic cotton clothing for your baby has dramatically increased in the last several years. Today, you can find wonderful organic diapers in your favorite retailers along with diaper covers that are made from organic cotton, bamboo, wool, and hemp. This means that your child’s clothing needs can be met completely with safe and clear organic cotton.

As a parent you want to take care of your child the best that you can. By paying attention to what you are exposing your child’s skin to, you can do a better job of caring for them. Additionally, knowing that you are taking good care of the environment for your child’s future is an extra bonus that you can feel good about using organic cloth diaper.

Click here to check out the best organic cloth diaper brands.

New parents will have questions about organic cloth diapers for their newborns especially as these are not as commonly used now as the disposable diapers. You should purchase newborn-sized organic cloth diapers to prevent leaks from happening, not to mention that your infant baby will virtually be dwarfed by regular-sized organic cloth diapers.

To lessen your costs, it is better to buy pre-folds that can later be used for other purposes like burp rags and doublers. These pre-fold diapers can be fitted perfectly to suit the newborn’s body and into the cover for better coverage. You will also find the scooped front just perfect for protecting baby’s still-healing umbilical cord.

You can also purchase many fitted diapers since these nappies are better at containing urine and fecal leaks than other organic cloth diapers. You must, however, purchase separate waterproof covers to ensure that baby’s wastes stay inside the cloth nappy until such time that it can be removed with baby wipes.

Most parents also choose to combine the benefits of fitted and pre-fold cloth nappies for greater convenience for the adults and better comfort for the babies. Since these organic cloth diapers can be washed countless of times and yet still retain their quality, you can reuse these organic cloth diapers for succeeding children or recycle them into cleaning rags.

You also have the choice of fancier but pricier all-in-ones and pocket diapers, both of which also come in newborn sizes. These organic cloth diapers are very convenient for night use because of their extra absorbency although you can always use the pre-fold diapers in layers to achieve a similar effect.

So, how many organic cloth diapers will your newborn require?

Since newborns can go through 12 changes in a day, you should buy 1 dozen of fitted diapers and 2 dozens of pre-fold diapers. This way, your baby can pee and poo according to his normal cycle and yet still have spare organic cloth diapers in the drawer.

Many reasons are attributed to such a positive change of heart from the conventional disposable diapers, which have exacted more than its fair share of costs on Mother Earth and mothers. But of course, the reasons must be based on verifiable facts as discussed in this article.

The foremost reason for switching to organic cloth diapers is to protect the health of babies. Studies have shown that disposable diapers have tributyl-tin (TBT), dioxin and sodium polyacrylate, all of which have adverse side effects. Dioxin is banned in most countries because of its extremely toxic carcinogenic property while TBT causes hormonal problems and sodium polyacrylate increases the risk for toxic shock syndrome.

Infant boys are also at high risk for impaired spermatogenesis with the use of disposable diapers. This is because disposable diapers increase scrotal temperature with their prolonged use, thus, partially blunting or completely abolishing the physiological testicular cooling system present even in infants. It must be emphasized, however, that there is no clear connection between disposable diaper use and skin rashes and dryness.

Another reason for the organic cloth diaper switch is its environmental value. On one hand, disposable diapers require more natural resources to manufacture than organic cloth diapers. On the other hand, the disposal costs of disposable diapers exact significant toll on the environment considering that these are not recyclable and, thus, end up on the landfills to pollute the earth.

The financial costs of disposable diapers are greater than those required for organic cloth diapers. On average, approximately $1,500 worth of disposable diapers will be spent on a single baby for 2 years while cotton diapers will only cost one-tenth of the amount.

With these facts, you can make the decision to switch to organic cloth diapers.

You are doing yourself, your children and your environment a great favor by choosing organic cloth diapers.

So, you have chosen to use organic cotton or hemp cloth diapers on your baby. Your next question will center on the use of disposable and cloth baby wipes to clean up after your baby’s pee and especially poop.

Well, we say why stop with the cloth diapers when you can also use organic cloth baby wipes?

Just like with the switch from disposable diapers to cloth nappies, the decision to use cloth wipes is based on the many benefits of the latter. These benefits include:

• Lower financial costs since cloth wipes can be reused again and again after proper cleaning. Now, contrast that with buying cans and cans of disposable wipes that can make a big dent on the budget.
• Lesser inconveniences as cloth wipes are always available for use and it is not necessary to make a trip to the garbage can every so often.
• Disposable wipes are not as effective at cleaning pee and poop as cloth wipes. Plus, it can be messy since poop can penetrate through the thin material of disposable wipes.
• The environment will benefit more from organic cloth baby wipes since lesser number of disposable wipes is getting dumped on landfills and flushed down toilets.
• Baby’s skin is more protected since organic cloth baby wipes have little to no chemicals in them.

So, are organic cloth baby wipes a hassle?

The answer is definitely not considering all of the above -entioned benefits. Yes, your laundry load will be added with the cloth wipes but since these are small cloths, you will hardly notice the increase.

Organic cloth baby wipes may seem too expensive for many parents. It is better to use baby wash cloths instead since these are more affordable, easier to clean and friendlier on the conscience should you choose to throw them away after so many uses. But overall, organic cloth baby wipes are the best companion for organic cloth diapers.