to think that people who use cloth nappies act superior to those who use disposables?

[DearJohnLoveSavannah]

I think I've just noticed this more because apparently it's National Nappy Week right now.

I have a friend of a friend who is always putting up photos on FaceBook about cloth nappies - such as the birth to potty ratio of how many disposable nappies one baby goes through, or the latest cloth nappy she has just bought.

When she was at the same children's birthday party she gave people a demonstration on how to use them too.

I think it is fine to educate people and promote being more eco friendly, but she does it with such superiority that I feel if I got a disposable nappy out I would be extremely judged.

I have another friend who is like this, but less extreme.

Very willing to be told AIBU - because I'm just basing this one two people.

(Also sorry for posting in AIBU twice in one day)

In my experience babies in reusables smell. Not really bad but just very slightly of baby wee. Put me off totally.

Are you kidding? The awful stench of a wet disposable is a key reason many switch to cloth

Well I only use cloth nappies part time, so I must be only partly superior :-)

I think that anyone who takes what is seen to be a more virtuous path is seen as feeling superior whereas it is in the eye of the beholder - as in it is you and your issue that you have not chosen the virtuous path as opposed to them feeling that they are superior

Errrrr no the stench of guilt is the reason people switch to cloth. The stench of the damp cloth is why people hastily hand back the big bottomed babies to their owners

My dc did get rashes with washables unless I used cream but never,ever with Eco disposables and they don't leak or smell(sorry but babies in washables do smell).We had the newer type not terries.Then there was the cost of liners to flush poo away and Ecover (even though I love it) wasn't enough without soaking.All that levering drippy,smelly nappies into the washing machine for practically no financial or environmental benefit.

It was a total no brainer for me.

YADDDDDNBU

it annoys me too.

(Although we do use biodegradable eco nappies)

What used to get me was the way the washable mums would often do nappy changes in bloody public on the floor of wherever they used to be veeeeeeery slowly.One used to even let her baby lie there and air dry sans cloth.It was as if they wanted the world to know they were washable mamas.

Some people are like this it's a competitive thing some mums need to prove how good they are, as a mum there is no one reviewing your performance and giving you a promotion to show the world how great they are so instead they make everyone else feed useless to prove that they are the best mum. If it's not nappys it's the evils of formula or they managed to get to 8mo without weaning or they or even how they never ever get angry and just float through motherhood while the rest of us go round the bend.

I feel sorry for them setting these high standards for themselves they have pretty far to fall when it all goes wrong.

Some cloth nappy users are evangelical and superior about it, and they give the rest of you a bad name.

I remember being preached at by a complete stranger in the changing room at soft play about the evils of disposables, and how if I insisted on using disposables I should use those horrible plasticky biodegradable ones.

Another time I had a woman in the John Lewis changing room show me har range of cloth nappies and try to get me to go round to the nappy section and buy some.

IMO, if they are that bothered about the environment that they need to go around annoying strangers, they probably shouldn't have given the world more people to deal with.

I have no issue with whatever people do,

I do however have a chuckle at the evangelical ones who act as though I put dd in sandpaper instead of 'a lovely soft nappy that is so gentle on their little delicate bum'

Most people at not like this however, and some of the cloth designs are pretty funky

I find it laughable when people buy 60 nappies of all different colours and varieties. It almost becomes a fashion statement rather than a method of catching baby shit. Some of the designer cloth nappies are so expensive, it defeats the pupose. Is it really that eco friendly to get nappy addiction?

I think the OP is unreasonable. Lots of people quietly use nappiescloth without a song and dance about it. We used terries with a motherease wrap and nappi nipper for dd.

I did once meet an evangelical cloth mum who was trying to persaude of the benefits of cloth to which I replied "she's potty trained both day and night!"

I used them and I felt very superior indeed. It did wonders for my self esteem.

No landfill guilt here - rubbish from our county goes to an incinerator (debate the environmental impact of that if you like, but power from rubbish doesn't seem like a totally awful exchange to me)

To each their own. I tried cloth, but DS found the volume restrictive, and would go through more than dozen changes a day - soaked or soiled (which due to cold wash available only I had to bleach or they stayed stained and slightly stinky), so I'm happy with my disposable choice and will be sticking with it for the next one.

Plus, I remember the old disposables my mum used to use, and they are a totally different creature to today's ones.

YABU. I've used cloth nappies with both of mine and plan to with DC3.
I suspect very few people I know are aware that I do. I don't spend loads of money on an exciting cloth nappy stash, I've used the same ones I got when DS1 was born 5 years ago.
Some people feel superior about all sorts of things. Some don't.

Why is there no campaign to ban non biodegradable nappies and force manufactures to only produce biodegradable 'sposies?

Because biodegradable nappies don't actually biodegrade in landfill and are arguably worse for the environment than regular disposables due to the materials they are made of and the bulkiness (more fuel to transport)

The problem with evangelical cloth people are these are the ones you notice. Most people don't talk about it so you don't know and it makes it look like 100% of cloth users are annoying.

Chunky ours used to get incinerated too,some I used were compost able.

I have only ever spoken about cloth nappies with one other Mum who saw me using them and asked. Its not something I really discuss with others never mind being evangelical.

I do admit as time has gone on the thought of people wrapping up shit in plastic and throwing it in the bin makes me heave, though I have only expressed that view on MN

YABU. Cloth nappies are much, much better for the environment, so people who use them probably do get the right to a moment of smugness.

I don't have an axe to grind - DD used cloth nappies, and they were easy to use and fantastic. With DS, he was in disposables by the time he was a few months old as cloth gave him a rash. I did find that cloth was a lot less likely to lead to have poo leakage, and was less smelly than disposables.

I'm a bit suspicious of whether they are much better for the environment (although I do hate that I am contributing to land fill) given that most people don't have terribly energy efficient washing machines. I also don't quite get the practicalities of washing them and drying them, and if you on;y do a wash every couple of days, do you then have a bucket full of dirty nappies somewhere in your house?

I do think they look adorable, and I do like all the patterns you can get etc. But... I don't wash shit. A piece of clothing has to be very very cute/sentimental for me to keep it if it gets shit on it. I just don't have the stomach for washing poo off clothes or nappies. We use disposable and a nappy disposal system so there's no smell.

I've never met anyone who was evangelical about it. I've had a few 'it's not as much work as you would think' comments, but never in a negative way iyswim?