Diaper use significantly increases in winter in small children due to increased frequency of urination.
Diaper has many advantages:
1. Comfort for the child: no wet feel, plays uninhibited, no need to cry on urination.
2. Comfort for the parents: no need to change nappy at every urination; no worry of spoiling clothes/bedding.
3. Comfort for the grandparents; no need to constantly check baby in absence of parents; can hold baby without worry of grandson/daughter spoiling their clothes.
So it is a win win situation for all but as rightly said - excessive use of anything is harmful; so is the case with diaper.
Disadvantages:
1. Discomfort in summer season: diaper are made of thick absorbing foam and on soaking becomes more heavy thus causing strain on lower half of body of baby. Just imagine if we adults would have to wear diaper in summer season at 45 degree centigrade!
2. Affordability: Any good diaper costs an average of 10 INR per piece (Jan 2020) and is not affordable to everyone in the community.
3. Skin irritation (or Irritant dermatitis) is one of the main medical problem from inefficient or excessive use of diaper. It usually presents as blisters or redness in genital and buttock protuberances and is a cause of irritable crying child. there are many chemicals in urine like urea which disrupts the integrity of baby sensitive skin thus causing secondary fungal and bacterial infection too.
4. Environmental hazard: Most of the diapers used regularly are using a lots of materials which are non biodegradable and cannot be recycled efficiently. We should be looking for diapers with environmental friendly materials.
5. Difficulty in toilet training: Once in a while, making the baby sit on the Potty chair is a very good initiative for toilet training otherwise prolonged use of only diaper shall make potty training very difficult in the years to come.
A judicious use of diaper may be good for yours pocket as well as baby's health. It is advisable to use gentle skin cleanser and moisturising cream after every change!