if I use cloth nappies and want anyone who looks after DS to use them too?

[bohemianbint]

Just wondering really, no one else has ever really looked after DS but he's nearly 1 and I'm going back to work 2 days a week so he'll be going to a childminder. Is it unreasonable to expect them to use reusables as well? And what about if family members baby sit?

bohemianbint,

This might be a bit to much to ask. I don't know how common clothe diapers are in the UK, but in the US if you use clothe diapers you usually have a diaper service. They deliver clean diapers and pick up dirty ones.

your childminder should use them as you wish, as long as you provide a suitable bag to put dirty ones in, and explain to her how to use them.

As for babysitters - if they babysit regularly, then it's useful for them to use them, but I wouldn't force them to use them.

In Belgium a creche is obligied to use cloth nappies if asked. Don't know the situation in the UK, but cloth nappies seem to becoming more and more popular.

Maybe post this in the childminder's section?

As long as you don't expect anyone else to wash them I don't see a problem. They aren't very difficult to use when you know how.

My DS has cloth nappies and my CM is happy to use them. She just rinses off the poo in the toilet, then bags them up and I take them home and stick them in the washing machine. Most of the time she only has to rinse the cloth liner, anyway, as most of the poo sticks to that. If someone is sqeamish about poo then they shouldn't be a CM, IMO...

i only gave dispys to my MIL as she sometimes got in a muddle with the cloth and ended up with leaks.

dd2 went into private nursery with cloth, no problems, she was the only clothie there, i just made sure i put a messy bag in for the dirty ones.

you can use disposible liners in cloth nappies, and then they are less messy IME.

and expect a steep learning curve if they haven't used them before

eg they will put both nappy and wrap in the dirty bag the first few times rather than reusing the wrap, may need help with nippas and/or poppering poppers in the right holes etc

Might be helpful to have several changes 'made up' for the first few days ie with liners and boosters already in place

Leati, in my experience most cloth nappy users in the UK wash their own.

My nursery will use cloth nappies, they also wash with water unles wetwipes are provided.

I do not think it unreasonable. You are paying the CM to look after your child in your absence. I think it is acceptable to want your child to be cared for as close to how you would as possible. Have you discussed it with your CM before? Do you know how he/she feels about changing cloth nappies? If not you should broach the subject before you take DS to the CM, let him/her know what to do, give her bin/sacks/ etc.

Family members - god yes they should follow your wishes! If anyone in the world should do things as you want, as a parent, its your family. Even more so than a childminder!

MrsBadger,

Its not real common here to use clothe but the people who do use clothe usually have diaper service. They are supposed to sterlize the diapers and so on.

I have never seen them in a daycare setting. But there are vast differences and the UK is more environmental friendly.

Oooo to have had a cloth nappy service in this area. I would have used it if there was one!

Of course your CM should use the cloth nappies if that's what you use with your baby. They really are no more complicated than disposables. Don't see why people make such a fuss. Today's cloth nappies are a piece of p*ss to use (scuse the pun).

And surely the childminder would prefer handing the dirties back to you rather than having disposables festering in her bin until the rubbish is collected.

As for family members - don't get me started. My monster-in-law actually has the cheek to disapprove of my choice to use cloth nappies.

(Am going to have to calmly step away from the computer before I start ranting.)

My mum is a childminder and has one in disposables and one in cloth nappies, parents provide the nappies so she uses whichever they use.

I don't see why a childminder wouldn't use cloth nappies.

If I got a babysitter from an agency I would expect them to use whichever nappies I used, however if it was a family member and they wanted to use disposables then I would be fine with that.

Surely they are much easier to use than old fashioned terries?

Yes, a lot easier. I'm just not that good at origami so I love my ready shaped ones that you just popper on, with no dangerous pins.

DS's nursery (I'm in the UK) didn't have any problems with his cloth nappies. I just brought clean ones in every morning and took the whiffy ones home at night. I do have a pal, also in the UK, whose nursery washed her DS's nappies - but I think this is unusual.

Leati, I don't understand - "sterilise the diapers"? Eh??? Isn't that going a bit mad?

My DS2 is in cloth nappies. His nursery use them and send them home for me to wash. He's not the only one in them either.

Having said that, when my mum has the children for the weekend, she uses disposables (but I make her get biodegradable ones ). I figure it's easier for her, she's doing me a big favour having 2 children all weekend.

I suppose that's the difference with a nappy service - they'll have to be much more scrupulous about cleaning the nappies as they won't be necessarily going back to the same child (as I understand it). Which is one of the reasons why it's not a particularly environmentally friendly way to use cloth.

Obviously you don't have to sterilise nappies that only your baby uses.

I think it depends on the childminder/nanny/nursery. I've never had this problem because I've never considered using them. But, if I did, I would most certainly have them washed somewhere other than the machine where I wash my own clothes. Yuk! (but then I'm American so perhaps that explains it)

nurseries will do it but i opted to go for disposibles as
a) nurseries change nappies on a schedule rather than when nappy is v. wet or they smell a poo. This will mean ds will spend longer with a wet nappy. Disposibles feel dry so nappy rash less likely
b) there is plastic bag full of poo at the end of the day. Dealing with nappies one by one is okay but dealing with a pile of them?

I think if you do use cloth, it's best to give them something like fuzzi bunz or Bumgenius to useso they're as close as possible to disposables, less confusion with nappies/wraps etc!
LOL eleusis, the whole point of a washing machine is to wash the clothes! The nappies do actually come out clean, perfectly safe to put your own clothes in afterwards! If your child wet their bed or their underwear, wouldn't you put them in the washing machine?

It's totally fine to wash nappies in the same machine that you use for your clothes! Washing them at 60 degrees is enough to kill any lurking germs, you don't need to sterilise. Eleusis, have you never had to wash other stinky things...like sheets a child has thrown up over, for example? You wouldn't want another machine for that, surely??

And witchandchips - I deal with a pile of nappies at the end of the day all the time...they get a quick dip in the loo to get rid of huge poos, then they go in the bucket. When the bucket's full, I wash them. Certainly don't wash them individually!

you are a better woman than me. i could only face the scraping and the dipping of one nappy at a time.