One of the pain problems new parents face when looking after the health of their newborn is DIAPER RASH!!!!! Those evil red bumps that seem to attack your baby’s sensitive skin and make diaper changes seem like torture. One way that a lot of mothers and fathers have found of eliminating this problem is simply switching to cloth diapers.

The problem with disposables and diaper rash is that they don’t breathe as well! Most cloth diapers are made from wool or cotton and therefore breathe a lot better. Even if you’re using PUL (poly-urethane lined) fabric, the fabric still breaths a lot better than the polyethylene film used to waterproof disposable diapers. When the baby’s skin is exposed to the moisture of their own urine for long periods of time without having air circulation, the skin becomes irritated.

And that’s just one of the problems caused by modern disposable diapers. Many parents find that their children are allergic to the chemical and materials used in disposable diapers. My brother and sister-in-law spent three months trying to find a disposable diaper that wouldn’t cause and allergic reaction in my niece. This made for a lot of unused diapers and a lot of wasted money. When they switched to cloth diapers, it was no longer a problem.

When you add to that the increased chances for toxic shock syndrome (yes the same thing you can get from wearing a tampon too long), disposable diapers just aren’t worth it. In addition, some dyes used in disposable diapers have been linked to damage of the central nervous system. And the SAP may contain small amounts of dioxin which has been linked to liver damage and immune system suppression.