Yes, stylish.
Gone are the days of prefolds, diaper pins and plastic covers.
Cloth diapers now are made of trendy patterns and material, come in every color imaginable and are as simple to put on as a disposable – except they will save you hundreds of dollars (or thousands if you use them for multiple children.)
Amy Carr, owner of Clearwater’s Cottontail Baby, said parents are amazed at how attractive modern cloth diapering is. The parents are so interested, in fact, that she opened a brick and mortar store in Clearwater in January.
“I had a large number of local customers visiting my home to see the products in person so I felt if there were enough people wanting to come see the products then there was a need in our community,” said Carr, who turned to cloth diapers initially to help with her daughter’s persistent diaper rash.
Cloth diapers are appealing to many, Carr said, because of their cost savings.
“Cloth diapers are definitely cheaper; however, with the new trend in one-size diapers, they can actually be even cheaper than they were before,” Carr said. “It is possible for a family to diaper a child for $350-$450 and that would include wipes, a pail liner and other accessories.”
One-size diapers fit most children from birth to potty training.
Estimates from advocacy group Real Diaper Association show the average family will spend approximately $1,600 for two years of disposable diapers.
The real savings, however, come when diapers are used on future children, said Carr, who has owned the business for two years.
“I like the fact that cloth diapers can be reused for multiple children and can also be cut up and used for rags later insuring that we get full use of the fabrics before disposing of them,” she said. “I like that, except in the most extreme situations, you do not need to use bleach to wash them.”
Disposable diapers, on the other hand, are the third largest single consumer item in landfills, representing approximately 4 percent of solid waste, according to the Real Diaper Association (RDA). And although nobody knows exactly how long it takes for a disposable diaper to decompose, the RDA estimates that a disposable diaper used today still won’t be decomposed long after that child’s great-great-
Making disposable diapers also consumes a large amount of energy, according to the RDA – it takes more than 2.3 times the amount of water used with cloth to manufacture and use disposable diapers, as well as 20 times the amount of raw materials.
Cottontail Baby began as an e-commerce site in January 2005. Carr’s business offers multiple cloth diapering options including: all-in-one diapers (just put on the baby similarly to a disposable), pockets (place an insert inside the diaper and put the diaper on similarly to a disposable), fitteds (which have elastic in the legs and require a cover) and prefolds (which are the diapers generations past used but instead of diaper pins, parents can use a plastic Snappi to hold it together.) And Cottontail Baby offers multiple types of covers, including wool and fleece, cloth training pants and cloth swimming diapers.
Although the store focuses on cloth diapers, it also carries baby carriers, wooden toys that aren’t made in China, organic baby bedding, nursing necklaces, shoes and more.
For more information, contact Carr at (727) 657- 0167 or e-mail her at amy@cottontailbaby.com
http://www.cottontailbaby.com/
