To wonder why more people don't use reusable nappies?

[GinGeum]

I know this will be controversial and I know there will always be some circumstances when they are not suitable, but since becoming a parent, I've not come across a single other parent using reusable nappies.

Everyone I know has also said they were never mentioned to them at all by antenatal classes/midwife/anyone. In the hospital, none of the staff we encountered had any idea what our baby was wearing.

Surely now we are all thinking about reducing plastic, disposable nappies should be fairly high on the list of things to cut down on? Programmes like the war on plastic on BBC barely mentioned disposable nappies. Even switching to reusable wipes would make a huge difference.

AIBU to wonder why reusable nappies aren't promoted more?

Bloody love cloth nappies. The ones we use (motherease, totsbots, bumgenius) literally never leak. We only have leaks when we use disposables. Less nappy rash. I think disposables smell weird.

Chucking a mesh bag in the washing machine and hanging out clean nappies takes all of 5 mins.

Baby does poo. Turn nappy (and fleece liner) upside down over loo. Poo falls in toilet. Flush. No drama.

We did find they leaked when she was v small (less than 9lbs). For our next we’d hire reusable newborn nappies from the Nappy Lady for the early days.

Also none of the nurseries we used or childminders had any issues using washable nappies. I work FT so this is definitely not some weird trend reserved for mums who can stay at home.

They were very popular when eldest was born in 2006, used them for all 3 of mine and found they were far more legal proof than disposables. Two part nappies are a lot better than the all in ones. Disposables leak all the time so you will be washing Popeyes clothes at some point, sick covered clothes etc so as long as washed properly there is no issue.

I never understood how to deal with poo when it was at that interim stage. Breastfeeding poo I used to rinse in the sink
Interim poo was horrific. Semi solid with bits of food in so not suitable for washing machine but would stick to fleece liner when you tried to shake into toilet.
Sausage type poo would be easy but DD never ate much until 2yr so it was hideous.

I think dd wants to use reusable nappies as she is very much into the environmental issues.

I am sceptical but I admire her stance. Disposable nappies are so convenient but I think in the current political climate there is pressure not to use them. We will see.

Please never put nappy liners down the toilet. Like sanitary products they should under no circumstances be put down the toilets. By doing so causes all sorts of problems.
By all means empty the contents down the loo if that is your thing.
I think it is choice and people should do what is right for them.
Meanwhile prince Harry' preaches eco whilst taking several private flights in a short period.. very eco.!

I used them for my first ds - at least for his first year - and will use for my second, but recognise that they’re not for everyone. A few reasons:

1. They need changing more often - and can cause worse nappy rash. My ds had terrible rashes and still has marks on his bum 2 years later. Our GP told us to switch to disposables until it cleared up and this did the trick.
2. The ‘biodegradable’ liners that you use to flush poo are in fact not particularly biodegradable and can block pipes etc.
3. A lot of nurseries won’t accept kids in reusables - ours didn’t.
4. They can be mega bulky - I found we had to go up a size for ds clothing, but only on his bottom half if you see what I mean.
5. Cost - certainly weren’t any grants in our area!

I still preferred using them as opposed to creating landfill, but I can definitely see why some are put off.

Because I don’t want poo in my washing machine.

" But you wash your underwear in the washing machine. "

I don't wet myself let alone shite myself 😉🤦🏻‍♀️

I had little lamb and totsbots with motherease wraps - they leaked every time we tried them? It could have been user error.

I don’t get being judgmental on other people’s choices. It does have a wider implication to use disposables, I get that. I mean colour me lazy. We were already on one wash a day (our stuff plus so many muslins, at least two outfits with all the sicking up from reflux). What do you get in winter with a heated drying rack banging out wet air, even with windows open? Condensation and mould.

And to the person who doesn’t understand how you can’t even find the time to shower: my baby only slept in the sling or in his buggy. To shower, I had to drag his bouncy seat into the tiny bathroom and he would scream whilst I took a 5 min shower, and continue whilst I got on clothes.

It boils down to, I did not have capacity and I picked my battles. I would not judge people who ended up bottle feeding, despite exclusively breastfeeding my son. But there’s always folk on these threads who seem to think it’s acceptable to judge other women for making a... shock horror... decision that was most appropriate to their circumstances.

Oh and back in the day? My mum thinks disposables are pretty impressive - although she also likes the new cloth nappies. She used terry towelling because that was the option available.

The thing is it’s hard to go backwards isn’t it? We’ve benefited from convenience products and our lifestyles are built around them now. In the 70s there was only Terry nappies but by the 80s my parents used disposables on my younger sibling and who can blame them?
By the way I totally agree that disposables are rank and wonder if biodegradable would be better. I also should’ve potty trained earlier.

Due to breast feeding and washable nappies, we had very little expense for the first few years. Because we hardly went out for the 1st year and no drinking from me and so hardly any from DH, I think we saved money during my maternity!!

For those questioning why would you use cloth nappies, when life is busy enough with babies, honestly, the washer was always on anyway in them days so a few nappies made no difference whatsoever and with my lack of work clothes and going out clothes, I was washing no more than I do now. They didn't leak. They were comfy on his bottom and he didn't get any rashes/sores. They were easy to clean, what with the liner and saved a bomb. I did do a lot of research tho to get the right brand and I wish I could remember what they were, but I've had so many sleeps since then!!

To those squirming at the idea of scraping poo: you're meant to put solid poo from disposables from 6 months too. Because the toilet is the best place for poo.

Why would you waste a toilet flush's worth of water like that?

We used fleece liners (cut up blanket from Ikea) which stopped the need for paper liners.
Pockets nappies with a microfibre inner meant that they were the same shape as a disposable nappy and our nursery/childminder used them.
The microfibre inner also meant that they could dry on a radiator rack while the heat was on.
www.totsbots.com/why-cloth/cloth-nappy-videos
They rocked.
We did use disposables at night though. I could not find a cloth nappy that could hold all the night pee.

Why would you waste a toilet flush's worth of water like that?

Why would you wrap sewage up in something that won’t biodegrade for centuries, and send it to fester at landfill..... when you can send it (sewage) to the sewers? If you must, do a wee at the same time to not ‘waste’ the flush!

We used them, but there are big barriers.

If you don’t have a washer and possibly a dryer, it would be very difficult.

The truly convenient ones are expensive. They are worth the money in the long run, but there is always a risk the kind you pick just won’t fit well on your child at some point in their growth. With disposables, there is lower consequence from an ill fitting selection.

Reputation: the cloth diapers that my mother had to use on me were truly awful. Poor absorbency and big pins. Non-breathing rubber covers. She was horrified at our choice until she saw our actual modern cloth.

Deception: at least in the Us, there is a product marketed that looks just like a pre-fold, but has stuffing inside like what you would find in a toy. The purpose of these is for putting over your shoulder to catch spit up, but many people say, well, let’s give it a try, not realizing that these cloths that look like diapers are not in fact diapers.

Education: poop that can plop is supposed to get flushed, not folded up in a diaper and sent to a landfill. Many people using disposables don’t realize this so they think the reusables come with an extra, onerous step.

They have also never heard of a diaper sprayer which is an ingenious device that will get the non-ploppable poop into the toilet in a matter of seconds, thus keeping it out of your washing machine.

Maybe everyone else's toddler's poos is a lot less squidgy than mine, but I'm going to be disposing of some poo with a disposable nappy whatever I do.

I'm not at all against reusable nappies - I feel a lot of guilt for not using them, and it does just come down to convenience - but I do think the idea of scraping poo off a disposable is ridiculous

Used for both mine (born 2006/2008). Pretty much everyone thought I was a weirdo for doing so . HV medics other mums and my own family all commented how odd we were. Was normal for us though as did from the start had toilet paper liners so bulk of poo in the loo. Feel pleased neither dd has nappies still languishing in landfill. Just donated my old nappies to a nappy bank for ultimate smugness . And I use a mooncup.

Also both potty trained early am sure due to
reusables

Incidentally we do use reusable wipes, because we found baby wipes really irritated his skin, and we do find that a considerable extra hassle so I just don't buy the 'it's no extra effort' line. The main problem, as I see it, is the organisation to make sure you don't run out of clean ones - we're sodding well always having to do emergency wipe washes.

I used cloth 11 years ago, a few family members thought it was a bit odd, my mum thought it was awesome and friends were mixed. Some used them too.

I was so fortunate and managed to get a load of good quality free white ones. Then I just added to it with a few pretty ones. I adore the white, to be honest. They can have white or patterned wraps though anyway.

Child number three now, I'm still using the same second hand nappies. When out for the day I'll take disposables with me, I have a wet bag for one washable but that's the most I'm willing to take around with me!

@Purpleartichoke I've never heard of a sprayer for nappies!

We use cloth nappies and wipes. A far superior product, in my view, to disposables, particularly the wipes. Cloth wipes just do a better job. We have never had any leaks (we don't have any microfibre ones which seem to be problematic for many, though!) and means little one doesn't get nappy rash anymore. No real hassle (and I say this as someone who often works long hours) and you never have to go to the shops because you've run out. Must be saving loads of money too.

So how many bits do you actually need?

I’m looking here: littlelambnappies.com/

And I don’t understand what a booster or fleecy liner is.

I mean, how many nappies do you actually need (DD is 12 weeks)? And what’s a booster for?

Credit to this thread, might be away to change my ways...

Boosters are extra inserts for when you need extra absorbency, so overnight or if you're in a situation where you might not be able to change a nappy as frequently. For example
I use a bamboo booster in DD's nappies overnight so she can go 12 hours without leaking. During day I don't bother to use extra boosters unless we are going out and will be on a long journey.

Fleece liners don't go in the pockets, they sit on top to collect solids. You can also use disposable liners that do the same thing.

In terms of number, it can depend on the age of your child. DD is 6mo and with around 20 nappies we do a nappy wash every three days or so, which ensures we always have some in stock. She is weaning though and currently enjoying pooping four times a day 😬

I was given 6 reusable nappies, so used them for DC1 on days where we would be home all day (so maybe once a week), between the ages of around 3 months and 1 year.

I didn't use them more, as I didn't want to have to carry home dirty nappies, and I didn't want to do a nappy wash for 1 or 2 nappies if I didn't use them for the full day.

With DC2, I didn't use them at all. It just seemed like too much hassle.