A Closer Look on Beilesen Cloth Diaper

We tried this brand just a few days ago, I was a little hesitant at first, it being a velcro/aplix type of closure. My little boy has learned how to undo this since he was 7 months old. Something about the sound makes him giddy. :)

Anyway, so here's a few pictures of Beilesen:

The outer covering is your usual PUL fabric (same as other china brands)

The aplix closure.

It comes with two inserts. The outermost layer is suede cloth that helps baby's bum feel dry. The diaper's lining is also of suede cloth. Personally, I like suede cloth diapers (we have Alva), coz I noticed that it's less prone to stains.

Here's a closer look on the microfiber/suede inserts.

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It has a flap that helps secure the insert in place. That's the nice thing about this diaper, at least for me. It works like a hybrid diaper. You can either put the inserts on top of the diaper cover (so that if the pee/poop doesn't reach the nappy cover, you can just replace the inserts and reuse the cover), or you can use it as a traditional pocket diaper and put the inserts inside.

I have to say, it takes a wee bit of an extra effort to stuff the inserts inside. :)

The Beilesen nappy on top of our Next9 diaper. You can already see how trim the crotch area is compared to other nappies. More comparison below:

On top of our Babywizard Nappy. 

On top of Alva.

We've been using it for days already, and I must say no leaks yet as of today. We love the trimness, we love the fit. Although since it's aplix closure, I can only use it with shorts on Nathan. So that takes away the cuteness factor of the diaper. Haha! But performance wise, we love it. 

How to Wash: Detergents

I think the most important thing you should know about cloth diapers is that they don't need the following:

• Bleach
• Fabric softeners - putting softeners on your cloth diaper will greatly affect its absorbency. 
• Other enzymes advertised on ordinary detergents.

So if you see these three on your laundry detergent, do yourself a favor and don't use it on your nappies. :) The good news is that there are available detergents that are cloth diaper friendly, such as:

• Cycles -  This was the first detergent that we tried with Nathan's diapers. I like it, no fuss and it does what it has to do -- clean the nappies. I like the smell too! I also use it when washing his clothes.
• Charlie's Soap - Bob had the shock of his life when I told him we have to buy a detergent that costs around 700 pesos for a tub. The real shocker is that if you do the math, it turns out that it's really cheaper than what we even use for our clothes. You need just a teeny tiny amount of Charlie's soap to clean a load of nappies.
• Smart Steps - this is available on most supermarkets. I say it's okay, but I'd still choose Cycles or Charlies over it. Some mommies said it's a bit harsh on the bum. 

So far, those three are the ones we've tried and had positive results. Just remember no bleach, no fabric softeners and you'll be good to go. :)

How harmful are disposable diapers to your baby and the environment?

A child needs 6000-10,000 disposable diapers prior to toilet training. Soiled diapers are usually tosses into household, hospital or roadside garbage.

In the US alone, 18 billion diapers end up in landfills every year, adding 5 million tones of untreated human waste to the soil.

Each diaper can take up to 500 years to decompose. Almost 30 percent of each diaper consists of non-biodegradable products such as absorbent vinyl layers, elastics, Velcro, absorbent gelling material in addition to plastic packaging.

As many as 100 viruses can survive in solid diapers for up to two weeks including live polio virus excreted by recent-vaccinated babies. The germs constitute a potential hazard to sanitation workers and garbage handlers.

A US environmental Protection Agency scientist concluded that rodents and vectors pose a health hazard if human waste is mixed with garbage.

The American Public Health Association and American Academy of Pediatrics have advised parents that 'faecal material and urine should not be allowed to be co-mingled and disposed of as regular trash and thereby contaminate ground water and spread disease.

There is no safe way to dispose of single-use diaper. Flushing them down the toilet cause 95 percent of clogged sewer lines in the US and create 43,000 tonnes of extra sludge per year.

Each baby in single-use diapers consumes 4.5 trees (for making paper used in diapers) and puts two tones of solid waste into our environment (based on 2 years in diapers).

Disposables pose safely concerns for babies, who can pull these diapers apart and choke on plastic and pieces of lining.

Many doctors claim there is a rise in infections, especially in baby girls, as parents tend to change single-use diapers much less often than cloth diapers.

Studies by a leading US manufacturer of disposables show the incidence of diaper rash increases from 7.1 percent to 61 percent with the increased use of their products. The reasons for more rashes include infrequent changes, allergies to chemicals, bacteria and ammonium form accumulated urine and faeces.

More than 60 percent babies 4-15 months old in the US get diaper rash at least twice in two months. In tropical countries such as India, the incidence of rash will be more.

Sodium polyacrylate is the chemical that makes disposables super-absorbent - it can absorb up to 100 times its weight in water. It can stick to baby's genitals, cause allergic reactions, and when injected into rats caused hemorrhage, cardiovascular failure and death! In the US, this chemical was removed from tampons in 1985 when it was linked to toxic shock syndrome.

Dioxin is a by-product of the paper-bleaching process used in manufacturing disposable diapers and is the most toxic of all cancer-linked chemicals. It causes effects like birth defects and liver disease in laboratory animals.



Source: http://www.greendiary.com/entry/how-harmful-are-disposable-diapers-to-your-baby-and-the-environment/

Why Choose Cloth Diapers?

I've known cloth diapers since Nathan was a month old. At that time, the only thing keeping me from buying it is that it costs 1,000 pesos for 3 pcs of cloth diaper. I thought it was too much to shell out for cloth diapers.

I was wrong.

On Nathan's 2nd month, he started getting really bad rashes on his bum. We tried brand after brand of disposables but nothing seemed to work for him. I wasn't sold on putting diaper rash cream every nappy change, so I researched on cloth diapers -- again.

I ordered my first three nappies from bamboodappy. It's made from bamboo and the absorbency was really good. I was ecstatic! It didn't seep from the diaper to the bedsheet, and we were more conscious of changing Nathan's diaper every 2-3 hours.

But of course, three cloth nappies are not enough. So I ordered new stocks, this time from Next9 and I was surprised at how good it worked for us. I ordered some more pairs from Alva and yes, perfect fit as well. We have a total of 18 cloth diapers by the second week. Uh-oh, I thought. How can I explain this to hubby?

The thing is, we were actually feeling the benefit of cloth diapers on our first month of using it that the price didn't really matter anymore. In fact, we didn't have the need to buy disposables anymore, and that's a huge monthly savings for us. Pre-cloth diaper, we would consume 2 big packs of diapers costing around 800 pesos at the minimum. 

Nathan's rashes were gone, I think it helped so much that the fabric is breathable PUL, and that there's no harmful chemicals touching his skin. I really won't dwell on it here but one search on google about "Harmful chemicals in disposable diapers" and I'm sure it will make you cringe too.

One thing I learned about cloth diapers is that it's not as hard as you think it is. Before, I thought -- what about the water consumption? The effort I need to exert to wash the nappies? How about poop? 

Amazingly though, our water bill didn't come up. It helped that we do a pre-rinse of the diaper and then wash it together with Nathan's clothes. The effort needed about washing nappies? Not a big deal either. Thank Samsung for washing machines. :) Poop? Surprisingly, not a problem at all! We just spray the pooped nappy with water and then flush the poop down the toilet. As easy as that!

I really suggest that you give it a try first before crossing it off your list. It can be a little intimidating at first but once you get the hang of it, it's really as easy as a-b-c.