Man said disposable nappies should be banned

I just have to add that the whole 'have to go out to buy nappies' argument doesn't really stack up either. You just buy them when you are doing a grocery shop anyway.

And I didn't mention that much like cooking from scratch, using reusables is worth it IMO, but if I wasn't a SAHM, we would eat a lot more pre-prepared foods and definitely use dispo's

SaF.

I have always used disposables, I don't like the fact that I have put so much into landfill and I would probably do it differently if I had my first dc now I'm a SAHM. When I had my first we were both working and had a long commute. When we asked an honest reusable-using friend how much extra work it was she said 'Oh, only about 10 minutes a day' and our reaction was 'What, 10 whole minutes? '

I used both. Reusables at home and when popping out, disposable at night and when going out for longer than 4 hours. DS does 3-4 poos/day and they are disgusting. At home they just go down the loo, but when out and about I don't want to have to lug 3 pooey nappies with me. I chose reausables mainly form the cost savings (all though environmental impact carried some weight) and in a way they are easier cause we don't run out.

Until recently we had no drier either and it wasn't a problem except that we ended up with loads on the aired in the dinning room all the time (cause is hardly ever sunny enough in Nort Yorkshire for them to dry outside).

However, the suggestion that disposables should be banned is ridiculous. and could only come from someone who has no understanding of what life is like at home, responsible for a baby 24/7

droves - Minki do washable nappies for adults/older children, and will do custom ones if you ring them to talk to them about what you want

We use washables. DP does a share of the changing/washing, though I freely admit I do more of it. However, he chops considerably more of the wood that heats the water to wash them in, and maintains the rainwater collection system that provides the water, so I am happy that it works out fair in our household.

I know this is off-topic, but I just want to share this: there was an article in Yachting Monthly once about a family who sailed round the world with a small baby, and they used reusable nappies and used to wash them by trailing them behind the boat - no effort, no soaking, no smells - easy!

My older 3 were in terries and they got bunged in with the other washing. Ive never owned a tumbke dryer and its not been a problem. But with dd to be in nappies for life im buggered if im adding another chore. Hers are incinerated.

I think that the people doing vast numbers of loads have lots of children! With just the one it didn't add that much using washables - tbh dd's habit as a baby of sicking all the time on anything and everything (our clothes as well as hers) was much more of an issue.

We had old fashioned terry squares, though, which were easy to wash & dry as they're not as thick as the pre-made sort (definitely no tumble dryer!).

I used to bung them in with the normal washing so no dedicated loads to do. It was fine. We didn't smell of poo. We didn't have (don't have) a tumble drier. The world didn't end. And I bought most of the nappies secondhand so it wasn't that expensive.

But anyway, if you don't want to use them you shouldn't be coerced into doing so.

If some men aren't changing their fair share of nappies they should be coerced into doing so.

riveninside i tried to get reusables in big sizes for my dd too , they dont seem to make them anymore . She in disposables too...which are crap and give her awful rashes .
Shes asd and 5 , so she will get out of them eventually , but id rather have the choice of nice pocket nappies for her.

Not sure if theyre more eco or not , with all the washing /electric/detergent/napisan ect.

The more I think about it, the more I think we should be happy about men who want to talk about nappies. Surely the more that baby /child care becomes a normal activity/topic of conversation for men as well as women, the better?

I think, OP, I'd have been inclined not to bite my tongue, but just go for it - ask what he did with his dcs while travelling, what style of nappy he favoured, et al (and, of course, say why I thought that it wouldn't be helpful to ban disposables).

I (well, DH mainly) use reusables for DS2, and did for DS1 as well. They do smell (mainly of wee) in the (unlidded) bucket - I use tea tree oil to combat. We do have to scrape poo (DS2 is nearly 2 and still doesn't do nice solid poo - I'm sure DS1 did from much much earlier). And DS2 has excema, and gets nasty nappy rash if he poos secretly and sits in it for a while - in which case we stick to disposables until his skin clears up. We also use disposables at night, because his skin has reacted badly previously to being all night in a reusable, and I really don't want to test it again. (DS1 also got some horrible nappy rash from resuables, and we persevered trying different solutions for much longer than we really should have done.)

So I'm all for reusables - but I'm very glad to have easy access to disposables too.

i said I throw the liner, because I'm a single parent. If my baby's father were around, then he would be doing his fair share of everything (except breastfeeding... that would just be weird )

My husband wanted us to use cloth nappies. I didn't want to. He threw a massive paddy about it when I was pregnant, and couldn't see my objections to this (which started with a winter baby being born by cs, and ended with knowing I would end up responsible for most nappies for the rest of eternity). He swore blind he would deal with every nappy that needed changing while he was in the house.

In the end, we didn't use them and my suspicions were right - he hardly ever changed nappies.

He has also tried (unsuccessfully) in the past to tell me what type of sanitary protection I should be using

I totally agree with the comment about men not being asked to do their bit for the environment by using washable poo rags!

There are far bigger lifestyle issues than nappies (although much respect to those who do use them) that need resolving, I do feel it is used as a bit of a stick to beat women with. Can't make DH see that though.

How does women's liberation come into this? We used cloth nappies for DS and disposables when away. With DD we used cloth nappies for the first year and then slowly switched to disposables because she kept drinking lots and leaking a lot, and also, I have to admit I we got lazier.

However, it would be great if all disposables were bio-degradable.

Like to see the banners find washeables for. 7 yo or a 16 yo or an adult. And deal with them on top of the 24 hoir cari g.

Dd was in washeables for 3 years then i thought 'fuck it' as she will always be in nappies.

10 loads a week with 4 kids sounds perfectly reasonable to me, I have 3 and do about 6 loads a week but all mine are small so you can fit an awful lot of their clothes in one load of washing.

Swallowedafly I use 1 dishcloth per day and 1 teatowel per day so that is only 4 items extra in the wash. I sometimes wash with hand/bath towels as well.
My washing might seem excessive but I have 4 kids so generally do 10 loads a week + bedding washes.
Tumbler dryer has gone on the blink this week and with the weather it is making drying of anything difficult but not impossible.

DD tends to be changed every 2 hours as she poos a lot, usually lots of little poos over the day then a big one then a day without pooing. She is a strange little one. DD2 could easily go for 3-4 hours in her reusable and I wouldn't keep either of them any longer in a disposable except night. DS in his incontinence pads only lasts 3 hours and guidelines sugest changing young babies every 2 hours. I don't go by the clock, I change when wet but with washables I don't have to eke out a pack until shopping day.

I don't have to 'scrape' poo either just change the liner and flush it. yes bits get stuck to the rest of the nappy but a wash gets rid of it and the sun bleaches whats left.
The nappies that are stored for incinerating stink much worse especially in summer and even in one of these sani store tommee tippee things.

Takver - "FWIW most of the washable nappy users I know are far more likely to leap on their bicycle & pedal off to the allotment towing their children in a bike trailer."

Quite right too. I don't really have anything for or against people who choose reusable or disposable. Its a choice people make.

Just gets my goat that some of the most vociferous and pontificating environmentalists and global warmists have lifestyles that frankly are hideously bad for the environment. Swanning off to a conference in Rio to talkabout global warming while leaving a trail of CO2 from 4 huge jet engines in their wake. One particulalrly vociferous global warmist I know lives alone in a 6 bed house and drives a 4 x 4 (both bought recently with money earned from advising Govt on climate change) but dares to berate me about CO2 emisisions and building windmills.

I think the issue of it being a minefield is key. I did try using reusables, but the ones I had inherited were very leaky, and I simply couldn't get my head round figuring out which of the many resuables on the market might work for me.

I know lots of people do do the research, and figure out a good solution, but I wonder how many of them are men? Is this just another thing that we are loading on women, and in the process turning them into full time domestic workers? I knew I was going back to work when DD was 9 months old, and didn't want to factor in the nappy issue in an already fraught situation of finding suitable childcare.

Of course it is brilliant - and undeniably better for the environment - if people get on with reusables, and are happy to put in the time and effort. But I think we should remember that the extra work IS borne mostly by women. Even the posters on this thread are mostly saying I put the liner in the bin and I put an extra wash on.

On the environmental side of things, flying is by far the most environmentally damaging thing any of us do. So unless somebody has given up flying (I haven't, btw) I am not inclined to take their remarks about banning disposibles/getting rid of their car/growing their own veg very seriously. One short haul flight is probably far more damaging that using disposibles for a year.

I don't at all think disposables should be banned, agree that they're enormously helpful for travelling etc.

But, Morebeta, & others, I think you're being very unreasonable to assume that anyone (male or female) who uses washable nappies is going to 'jump in a big car'. FWIW most of the washable nappy users I know are far more likely to leap on their bicycle & pedal off to the allotment towing their children in a bike trailer .

Also, while I would disagree with the OP's friend, its quite possible that he does all/most of the nappy changing & washing in his household and - like some of the people above - is a real nappy evangelist simply because he doesn't find them problematic. TBH I'd be quite surprised if anyone who didn't do a lot of baby changing had any particular opinion on nappies either way . . .

fwiw, i think that part of reason people don't try reusables or stick with is because it's a bit of a minefield trying to sort it out and get the right nappies and system. once you've got it nailed, it's very, very easy.

in the MN census I asked for a reusuable nappies advice and talk area for MN, so that the kinds of questions/complaints etc being raised here could be put into an area on site to help parents who want to use them.

sounds like you're making it very hard work for yourself rainbow

I use disposable biodegradables at night - no leaks and one nappy only. Then approx 4-6 reusables throughout the day.

If the loo is occupied, put it in a bag and then flush down the loo when it's available. That's not hard at all.

and how often does your washing machine break down? surely, in that very rare situation you buy a few disposables to tide you over for a couple of days.