A moment of genius
Sometimes, sleepless nights spent breastfeeding your baby can turn into moments of genius. For Tina de Guzman, breastfeeding her baby late into the night led to the inspiration that would soon revolutionize the local cloth diapering community.
Tina is the owner and maker of Fluffy Pwets (FP), a cloth diaper brand in the Philippines. She is also a lawyer at the American Bar Association, a non-government organization working for judicial reforms.
"My son was cloth diapered from the very beginning. We started with the traditional lampin, and then the pocket cloth diapers. I found it hard to dry the diapers, especially when it rained, so I was obsessed with building a stash,” Tina said in an interview with theAsianparent.
Her search for cute cloth diaper designs to add to her growing stash soon turned into a feverish research into technologies that would create more breathable diapers. Not long after, Tina and her husband came up with the initial prototypes of the very first "hybrid fitted cloth diapers” in the country.
So what are hybrid fitted diapers and what makes them so special?
"Most cloth diapers here have laminated cloth linings. It’s what makes them water resistant. Fluffy Pwets diapers, which are hybrid fitted diapers, are made with water resistant fleece, making them more breathable and water resistant,” Tina explained, adding that FP diapers are the gentlest cloth diapers produced locally.
Advantages of cloth diapering
Savings
Though cloth diapers are pricey, costing between PhP 500 to PhP 1,500 per diaper, they are reusable. This means that you save more money in the long run.
According to Tina, some PhP 150,000 is spent on disposable diapers per baby over a period of three years. This compared to PhP 30,000 to PhP 50,000 spent on cloth diapers over the same period of time.
Cloth diapers also come in one-size-fits-most (OSFM) designs that have rows of snap buttons you can choose from as your child grows. They are designed to fit babies from birth to potty training.
Health
Disposable diapers are made from plastic. They contain bleach, drying agents, dye, fragrances, and other harmful chemicals.
According to Awesome Beginnings 4 Children disposable diapers contain cancer-causing dioxins and polyacrylate. Both chemicals have also been linked to reproductive & infertility problems, asthma & respiratory distress, hormonal problems, developmental & cognitive problems, suppressed immune system, diabetes, endometriosis, allergic reactions, chemical burns, and Toxic Shock Syndrome (in the use of tampons).
Cloth diapers, on the other hand, are made of natural fibers like cotton and hemp, bamboo fabrics, and in the case of FP, a combination of bamboo and fleece. Perhaps this is why FP customers have reported less occurrences of rashes, urinary tract infections, and other infections in the genital area.
Environment-friendly
According to Real Diapers, disposable diapers are the "third largest single consumer item in landfills, and represent about 4% of solid waste. In a house with a child in diapers, disposables make up 50% of household waste.”
In addition, Real Diapers explains, disposable diapers produce sixty times more solid waste. To manufacture them, a lot of raw materials are used, such as crude oil and wood pulp.
"Over 300 pounds of wood, 50 pounds of petroleum feedstocks and 20 pounds of chlorine are used to produce disposable diapers for one baby each year,” Real Diaper adds.
In the Philippines, some 35 million diapers are used each year.
Branching out
Recently, Fluffy Pwets collaborated with five influential parents from various fields of expertise to co-design diapers, bags, and shirts.
To see the awesome collaboration designs by Amanda Griffin-Jacob, Dimples Romana, Martine de Luna, and John Arcilla, click on the gallery below.
*Photos from fluffypwets.com
