About Baby Care

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With all the decisions new parents have to make you wouldn’t think diapers would be such a tough one, yet it is one that parents routinely struggle with: cloth or disposable diapers? This article lays out the pros and cons of both to help you make the right decision for you and your family.

Disposable Diaper Pros

• Disposable diapers are extremely convenient, no doubt about it. It makes changing your infant a quick and easy process. When you’re shopping and you have to change a messy cloth diaper, you don’t get to just drop it in the garbage, you have to haul it around with you.

• - Disposable diapers seem to fit better. The adjustable adhesive fasteners make it easy to fit any size or shape baby. This is not always so with a cloth diaper which always seems to stretch out once you have it on your child and certainly more so once it’s been soiled.

Disposable Diaper Cons

• - Disposable diapers are petroleum-based products, which means they’re just downright awful for the environment. Carbon emissions are created in the manufacturing of disposable diapers, fuel is used in the transportation from manufacturer to store and diapers don’t biodegrade but sit in landfills for decades.

• - Disposable diapers also contain a number of chemicals, which may harm an infant’s sensitive skin.

• - Disposable diapers are more expensive than cloth diapers even if you have a diaper service.

Cloth Diaper Pros

• - Cloth diapers can be environmentally sound, particularly if you purchase organic cotton diapers. And while cloth diapers have to be laundered, which does contaminate the water supply and use water, they can be washed with biodegradable detergent. This makes them more environmentally friendly than disposable. However, if you have a diaper service then you’ll also have to weigh in the fact that delivery is contributing to greenhouse gases.

• - Cloth diapers, if they’re organic cloth diapers, don’t have harmful chemicals which means they’re not going to be as likely to irritate your baby’s skin.

• - Cloth diapers don’t fill landfills since they’re reusable.

• - Cloth diapers are generally less expensive than disposable.

Cloth Diaper Cons

• - They’re inconvenient, particularly for moms on the go.

• - They don’t necessarily fit as well, though some cloth diapers being manufactured today do have a better fit and fastening system than the old rectangle and diaper pin method.

• - If cloth diapers are not organic, then the cotton used to make them is grown and harvested with pesticides, chemical fertilizers and other environmentally harmful chemicals.

Disposable diapers are more convenient, though more expensive but they are generally an environmentally unfriendly practice. There are some more natural disposable diapers but for many they leave a lot to be desired. Cloth diapers, if they’re organic, are the most environmentally sound practice. The downside is they’re inconvenient. Ultimately, the decision to buy disposable or cloth must meet your personal beliefs as well as your lifestyle and family needs.

Baby slings and baby-wearing have universally adopted and prominence over the past several years. Slings appear like the trouble-free solution for busy parents who need to take their babies with them wherever they travel. Baby slings have been promoted by baby care experts as a way to calm fussy babies or for nursing moms who can breast-feed their little ones in the sling. Baby slings are also promoted by persons who believe in attachment parenting since it increases encourage the bonding between the parent and the baby.

Guidelines On using Baby Sling

• Inspect your baby sling on regular basis to ensure it is safe & sound. Check the fabric, seams, and every buckle or other fastening. Don’t use a carrier unless it is structurally sound & safe for your baby.
• Never permit a baby to be carried, held, or placed in such a way that his chin is curled against his chest. This rule applies to babies being held in arms, in baby slings, in infant car seats, or in other kind of seat or situation. This position can restrict the baby’s ability to normal breathe. Babies lack the muscle control to open their airways.
• Never allow a baby’s head and face to be covered with sling. Covering a baby’s head and face can cause his/her to exhale the same air, which is a dangerous situation. Always make sure your baby has plenty of airflow in baby sling.
• Avoid jogging, running, jumping on a trampoline, or do whichever other activity that subjects your baby to similar shaking or bouncing motion. The motion can do damage to the baby’s neck, spine and/or brain.
• Avoid baby sling when riding in a car, soft baby sling provide none of the protection that car seats can provide to your baby.
• While wearing a baby sling, put on the baby sling up high.
• Don’t let your baby’s legs hang down from the baby sling.
• Place your baby close to your body while carrying in baby sling.
• Don’t let the baby sling get bunched up or wrinkled.
• Wrap the baby tightly in baby sling to ensure the proper support of his / her body posture.
• Do not face your baby outward the baby sling.
• Make an effort to practice for baby sling in front of a mirror.
• Do not bend over while your baby is in the sling, as baby could fall out from the sling.
• If baby refuse to go along with the sling, gently take baby out of the sling and try again later.
• Do not wear the baby sling near open flames, including stoves. In general, never carry your baby while cooking or while carrying a hot beverage.