Cloth nappy obsessives - what do they do when their kids toilet train?

[Moomin8]

I use cloth for my 5 month old baby. I love the pretty prints as much as the next person, I will admit but my main concern is finding something that suits my baby. If I can't get the print I wanted I just find something else.

However, at the beginning of lockdown I was invited to join a particular cloth nappy group on FB where there are people crying because they can't get a specific blueberry print nappy. Also, there are people selling nappies with slack elastics for £30+ because they are a limited edition print.

I think people get really whipped up with it all. There is no way I'd buy a nappy that someone else's kids have been pooping in for years for double the price that it was, new.

I guess it's like a hobby for some people.

What are they going to do when their kids potty train?

I've very recently switched over to cloth after moving very rurally and struggling to get nappies (and there haven't been any delivery slots for weeks, and I don't drive and won't risk getting a bus atm).

It cost me £600 total for everything including a load of boosters, and it was all brand new. I'm loving it so far and it's been lovely to stop worrying about finding nappies.

But I also ran into some of these groups and they freak me out! Like yes, DS has some lovely prints on his nappies but actually I deliberately got mostly plain white ones so they don't show through his white vests and sleepsuits! And as PP have said, he means far more to me than a nappy. His toys are still all plastic tat, his clothes are chosen for comfort and easiness of washing and I don't really care about what his nappy has on, as long as he has one on.

I don't think it is rich people tbh well some maybe but I've seen people admit that they go without clothes and food to fund this.

I had a drawer of newborn Baba & Boo nappies that my dd grew out of and they were cluttering up my house so I thought. 'I really ought to get around to selling those' but felt that probably it would be impossible especially with Covid 19 & all.

They were all sold in about 2 minutes - I was very surprised. Maybe some of the prints have been discontinued?

Yes, of course it's normal for the initial outlay to be £600 but not to be spending that much week on week!

@BabyLlamaZen You got the nail on the head there! I'm poor as poor can be and felt like it cost me so much money but DS will still be in nappies for a long time. But these people have kids ready to potty train and are still buying more! Because patterns!

There is a lot of consumerism creeping into the reusables/zero waste area. It is quite depressing really.

@Winterwoollies if it's illogical and stupid to become obsessed with the patterns (and yep I'm with you on that).... then it logically follows that it's equally stupid to NOT use them 'because of the patterns'...

Congrats on your baby. Ask a friend if you can try some of their nappies out, maybe. You don't have to subscribe to the 'fad', you can just be doing it for the benefit of your baby and the health of the planet.

Or, if you can't be arsed with the effort, at least have the decency to say so and not say it's the fault of what colour they are.

We used cloth and all away for number 3 now. Unpopular system of flat nappies you fold and wraps - but I love it. Cheap, effective and fast to dry. We have what we need, so I wouldn’t really buy any more but perhaps would if I saw one or a few that I really loved.
I think if you can afford a lot more than you need, why not? There’s worse things and if it brings you joy, may as well enjoy it for that short time they’re in nappies. We’re pretty essentialist with our nappies, however, I wouldn’t judge someone for having more than us.

I agree with you OP, I am a member of some cloth nappy groups and it amazes me how swept up people get. What blows me away is the 'stash' photos where they show off their collection of 70,80,200 or whatever nappies.

I'm not sure why they bother with cloth at all if they have no care for reducing their consumption or saving money! If they love fabric prints so much start a quilt or something!

You're describing them as obsessives for using cloth nappies. Maybe they think of you as a disposable nappy obsessive? Why do you care what they use? how does it affect your life? I'm guessing it doesn't so maybe you should worry about your own life rather than other people's?

18 years ago I only knew 2 other people using cloth nappies. I would never have had joined a group, why would I? I used them for environmental reasons.

They were plain white wrap cover things, (different coloured stitching for sizes) and thick layed cotton square you folded, and put in the nappy wrap thingy.

It cost £60 for a starter bundle, and we probably added about £30 worth. as I need to have plenty ready made up for Nursery.

£90 did my two DC from birth to potty trained.

The wraps where probably still useable but tatty, I think I threw them or "put them away" the cloths got used as cloths. probably still got one knocking about somewhere.

People are weird and I suppose it became super woke and trendy to use cloth nappies, and less about just quietly thinking of the environment.

@SeeWhoRustsFirst steady on! I would love to use cloth nappies, I actually have no issue with the products themselves, (same goes for reusable wipes) but due to various issues I’ve had during this pregnancy, I’ve decided to put minimal pressures on myself and start with disposables. I am formula feeding for the same reason.

I was merely commenting on my own recent experiences of people who use cloth ones and who have been extremely pushy with me and surprised I wasn’t totally enthralled by the patterns. Which I wasn’t. They’re lovely but they look a lot of work and money.

And frankly, I find fanaticism to the point of mania about any subject ‘bonkers’, not just nappies, but as that was the subject at hand I was just joining in the conversation.

@Winterwoollies Bit of a thread derail but I never understand why people think FF is easier than BF... All that sterilizing and what have you. Waking up at all hours of the night was bad enough as it was.

Personally I really think a lot of pressure is self-creating. Maybe you don't need to decide all that stuff so rigidly before the baby is even here. Changing your mind at any point (in whichever direction) is totally OK. You don't have to get fanatical about anything.

Anyway, enjoy your LO. And maybe find some less mental friends!

You're describing them as obsessives for using cloth nappies. Maybe they think of you as a disposable nappy obsessive? Why do you care what they use? how does it affect your life? I'm guessing it doesn't so maybe you should worry about your own life rather than other people's?

1. I use cloth nappies.

1. This is a discussion forum & I didn't know I needed a permit to discuss certain topics so back at you

Did you venture into the Motherease groups OP? My god they terrified me such obsession and the venom of anyone sold on eBay was something else —but the were all obviously looking on eBay as they were seeing them—

£600 that's ridicules!
no wonder its difficult for people to swap to cloth.

I think this is the company I used, although they now do patterned wraps instead of plain white, and less sizes, and cloth is slightly different. But its £144 for birth to potty trained pack.

www.bambinomio.co.uk/collections/mioduo/products/mioduo-birth-to-potty-pack

We struggled to even scrape £90 together what with all the other expenses of buying for a new born, so we asked family if they would chip in.

No, I've not seen the Motherease groups luckily. It does annoy me when people obviously buy way more of something than they need when there's a delivery then auction it 2 hours later. Often because they're just bored. I find that the Stay dry Motherease is very helpful for my dc's sensitive skin. I don't care what print it is I just want the function.

Some poor folk unwittingly joking the groups, trying to buy second hand nappies because they can't afford new ones, to be confronted with the reality that people expect them to pay £30 for a greying nappy plus all the fees they themselves paid to get said print shipped to 3 different countries before it arrived in the U.K. !!

Hype over cloth nappies seems crazy to me but if it cheers a sleep deprived mum (or dad, but it's mostly mums) up to get a pretty print at 4am during a night waking while they're feeding their baby, then good for them.

I use cloth nappies, and I have some prints I really like, but it's the same as when she grows out of her baby clothes that I really like. I'll be a little bit sad I won't be using them again and then pass them on to someone else who can.

@SeeWhoRustsFirst Well, I'm not going to get into it here but there's a whole host of different reasons why I've chosen to FF and use disposables. It's been a very medicalised pregnancy, sadly. Nothing I've decided to do is 'rigid' but you do need to get certain provisions in place for all eventualities, be it BF, cloth nappies, FF or disposables. So I have.

Also, the woman who gave me a bit of a hard time about cloth nappies wasn't a friend, thankfully. Just someone who gave me lots of unsolicited opinions. She was a little bit -a lot- overbearing and frightening.

Who ever said cloth nappies are hard work...they really are not.
One extra load of washing every other day. Barely noticable when you have DC.

My baby has formula for various reasons. There is not one type of parent really. I started using cloth because my baby is allergic to most disposables and also because my black bin was filling up too quickly 🤷🏻‍♀️

What I find annoying is when people try to exploit others by encouraging them to buy unos or SBs or simplexs or whatever at inflated prices that they aren't worth. Once you acquire a used nappy you then have to go through the additional faff of stripping it back and sanitising it too.

It's easy to say that people will only pay what something is worth. And this is true to an extent but sometimes people get caught up.

And sometimes people sell 3rd or 4th hand nappies for inflated prices. Which happened the other day. When the angry recipient discovered the PUL had failed. And it turned out the person who sold it had bought it second hand and never used it herself.

There are some nice ethical people though who will contact you and say 'I've got new x, y or z and will sell it for what I paid'

I quite enjoyed the whole cloth nappy thing for a few years when my dds were young, but years later, I've forgotten about it all now. It amused me at the time! But I certainly wasn't what you would call an obsessive. My eldest was even in a video for one brand! Just with regard to selling them on, I think it's great that nappies can be used again, and actually the absorbency increases with more washes, so they tend to work better. Having said that, although I sold mine on (well, most of them!), I never bought any second hand.

i loved cloth nappies for my kids - was evangelical about them. But I was pleased when they potty trained and moved on pretty quickly.

Not all of us are lentil weaving, home educators you know! Although I did love a sling too.

Those fb groups are bananas. You should see the prices of some discontinued prints on eBay (>£90).

I think the obsessiveness stems from a sort of PND. It's not healthy.

In answer to your Q though, I'm going to have to have another child to justify the cost.

Move on to having the perfect scooter, best backpack, idea pencil case.

They move on to collecting ethical organic clothes. Scandi, Maxomorra, Duns, Frugi etc. Lots of highly sought after prints that go for loads on eBay.