AIBU to wonder why more people don’t use reusable nappies?

[KatyClaire]

I have a fairly new baby and I’m a little surprised at how few people I’ve encountered are using reusable nappies. I haven’t met anyone using them in my antenatal group / baby classes / local parents group etc. There has been such an explosion in the use of reusable products (sanitary products, straws, cups, make up wipes etc) that I had assumed it would have crossed into nappies as well.

I don’t know whether it’s a perception issue (people thinking they’re messy and hard to clean), the upfront cost, confusing information etc?

My dd wanted to try them and I could remember how to fold for.girls kite and boys triangle with large wodge of nappy at front. Just got a change I think I impressed her. She used them with both dgs. She used a Pamper at night though as was worried about nappy rash. The nursery she chose agreed to use them too.

Because, with 3 DC in 15 months, fuck that.

I was pretty right-on with our first and really wanted to do cloth nappies but didn't in the end. The up front cost is a LOT, especially given how many people find one brand doesn't work and have to try lots. I could have pissed £300 down the drain very easily. Also, birth to potty is a LIE so you then have to buy MORE cloth nappies in newborn sizes and bigger sizes, or do disposables to start with.

If you've not got a good setup for washing and drying, you end up with nappies hung up all over the place and never a dry one to be found. In our old house, the washing machine was in a concrete outhouse so I had to go out the back door into this spidery hut thing to do a wash. And I had nowhere to dry them indoors when it was raining.

And, to be honest, having a baby was such a total mindfuck that when I couldn't cope, cloth nappies was so totally optional (unlike, say, feeding the baby) that it was the absolute first thing that fell off the list.

We've since done cloth nappies with our second (since 4m, now 1yo) and in a different house with my husband studying from home and not being smacked in the face with the horror of a firstborn, it's been pretty easy. Loads of space to dry them, we change her right by the utility room (we have a utility room!!! indoors!!!). We still do a disposable overnight because sleep is more important than polar bears. We're also home all the time with #2 (cuz lockdown) so very rarely have to lug all the stuff around.

And they are confusing when you start researching. All the different types, all the different brands, everyone saying X was brilliant and they just put a Y booster in and doubled with with a Z cover... You don't know which way is up by the end, and you certainly don't know which to buy!

Honestly, I think the biggest reason is that it's optional and having a baby is hard enough and expensive enough (or at least all the convenience food we bought ourselves was!) that you're not about to do hours of research, spend a lot of money on something that might not work, and give yourself extra compulsory chores unless you're REALLY committed. Other reusable products don't come into your life at the very moment at which you have the least capacity to deal with both thinking something through and physically doing it.

If we had all the money in the world, I might have used a reusable nappy service with both. They do all the work, I can switch kinds of nappy around to try them out/with changing needs without further spending, best of both worlds for me.

What I never found to be true was that disposables means you don't have to deal with wee and poo as much. Either way, you have to scrape poo off a bottom. Cloth nappies are much less smelly when they're hanging around, as most of the poo goes into the loo and a wet bag gets a better seal than a bin bag. Then the washing machine just magics it away.

Couldn’t get on with them at all. Very bulky, baby cried more in them and didn’t seem as mobile. Plus the drying of them was horrendous. I was really fed up as I hadn’t planned on using disposable.

I can't be arsed to read the whole thread. I looked into it, but I bulked at the up front costs as I wasn't sure if they would be suitable and we were off our faces with sleep deprivation when the baby/babies arrived. No bloody way was I dealing that that extra shit (literally). I compensate now with reusable sanitary towels....

@PerspicaciousGreen. The cloth wipes I probably given ago if had known. I used to use cotton balls, water and drop of baby bath, I had tiny sealable pot & small flannel to pat arse dry for when I went out.

I did get offered wipes many times, one person did actual say after they thought my method was because I was poor!

My method resulted in less poo smearing and wrestling with trying to get blooding wipe out the packet. My multi tasking abilities was crap

Like some others, we started out with a well-known brand of cloth nappy and they were fine for a while, while our son was relatively small. But then he got to a certain size and they just leaked all the time, no matter what we did (possibly when he started crawling and getting more active?) So we switched to disposables. We tried biodegradable ones and they were rubbish too!

Using the cloth ones was no issue at all while they worked - I didn't mind them - though I did feel guilty about the amount of energy we were using washing them etc. The machine was permanently on.

We have a stack of cloth nappies in all kinds of beautiful patterns if anyone wants them, haha.

We still do a disposable overnight because sleep is more important than polar bears.

I have to say this point actually made me laugh aloud. It's so true. Anything that might even possibly have a detrimental impact upon sleep should be avoid at all costs, it's absolutely not worth the risk.

I tended to use reusable if I would be at home all day, and would generate a washing load. I always used disposable on days that we were going out any distance, as I didn't want to be carrying dirty nappies around.

They're inconvenient when you've got a gang of kids and 2 or more in nappies.

Why make life harder for yourself? Babies are hard enough work as it is. That time spent washing nappies could be so much better spent.

And disposables draw moisture (piss) away from the skin and lock it away - reusables, they are just sitting in a soggy bit of cloth that you have to put a non breathable plastic cover over to hold it all in.
Pour a pint of water into a disposable vs a reusable - then pour another one into the disposable, you'll be amazed at how much they can absorb.

Not everything in the olden days was better.

Probably because they are really hard work and tie up the washing machine for ages doing cold rinses before and after the main wash. They take up lots of space hanging, drying them and storing them.

@LadyOfLittleLeisure

I used reusables for a while with my eldest, then my youngest came along 14 months later. We don't have a dryer (which would negate the environmental benefits anyway) so the laundry with two babies and their nappies was unsustainable. Also, even though the wet bags are really good, you're still carrying around a bag of human poop when out and about, times that by multiple children and I was starting to smell like a portaloo! They are bulky (to carry and wear) and leak slightly more, they need changing more often. I never found a cloth nappy that worked overnight (a common problem) so we were using disposables for night as well. Didn't have time for all that s* (pun intended 😉). If it works for you great, but not for everyone :)

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Because if you actually research it it’s not ‘better’. Less landfill, yes. But what about the amounts of water needed to wash them? The energy needed to heat this water & run the washing machine? Are they going in the dryer, too?
What’s ‘better’ is potty training your child a bit earlier - say 2, rather than 3, and have a year less of waste.

What’s ‘better’ is potty training your child a bit earlier - say 2, rather than 3, and have a year less of waste.

children in reusables tend to potty train earlier than children in disposables, so that may happen yet!

@edgeware

Because if you actually research it it’s not ‘better’. Less landfill, yes. But what about the amounts of water needed to wash them? The energy needed to heat this water & run the washing machine? Are they going in the dryer, too? What’s ‘better’ is potty training your child a bit earlier - say 2, rather than 3, and have a year less of waste.

I think if you research them the amount of energy used to make disposable nappies does outweigh the consumption needed for washable nappies. But I've not checked the figures in a while. Washable nappies also help with early potty training in theory. All my children were nappy free around 2yrs old. Of course I can't prove it wouldn't have been the same with disposable nappies but it seems likely that it helped.

@user1471447863

Why make life harder for yourself? Babies are hard enough work as it is. That time spent washing nappies could be so much better spent.

And disposables draw moisture (piss) away from the skin and lock it away - reusables, they are just sitting in a soggy bit of cloth that you have to put a non breathable plastic cover over to hold it all in.
Pour a pint of water into a disposable vs a reusable - then pour another one into the disposable, you'll be amazed at how much they can absorb.

Not everything in the olden days was better.

What is 'work' is subjective. For me 'work/hassle' is to remember to buy dispo nappies. Shoving a bucket of nappies along with other stuff for wash every few days is no hassle. And the nappies dry on a line I hung in the utility. As for the moisture issue - funnily enough none of my kids ever had nappy rash in washable whereas they had them in disposable nappies. I also think that side of things helps with potty training.

There is a misconception that washable nappies is 'old fashioned'. It isn't really. My washable nappies have got very little in common with what my grandmother or my MIL (India) used. They are washable yes but other than that they are much more practical than they once were.

I don't find that my children needed changing more often, quite the contrary almost and I've managed to find suitable night nappies lasting all night. It really depends on the child, the family set up and the nappies used I think.

What is 'work' is subjective. For me 'work/hassle' is to remember to buy dispo nappies. Shoving a bucket of nappies along with other stuff for wash every few days is no hassle. And the nappies dry on a line I hung in the utility.

I mean, this is disingenuous unless you otherwise live off the land and so have no need of shops. If you think reusables are worth the work then that's totally reasonable, but let's not pretend that they could possibly be less work than adding one extra item onto your weekly shop.

@Hardbackwriter

What is 'work' is subjective. For me 'work/hassle' is to remember to buy dispo nappies. Shoving a bucket of nappies along with other stuff for wash every few days is no hassle. And the nappies dry on a line I hung in the utility.

I mean, this is disingenuous unless you otherwise live off the land and so have no need of shops. If you think reusables are worth the work then that's totally reasonable, but let's not pretend that they could possibly be less work than adding one extra item onto your weekly shop.

Ok I'll be more precise - I find dispo nappies more hassle because I wouldn't know which size or which brand to get hold off, my daughter used to have rash in dispo nappies and I just couldn't be bothered. I genuinely found washable nappies easier. When it comes to kids I tend to choose whatever makes my life easier and washable nappies was part of that, for me anyway. It was easier than worrying about running out of nappies for instance. At the time when I had my first child we didn't actually go to the supermarket very often at all actually as it was only DH and me (and baby).

@Hardbackwriter totally agree.

Forgetting to put the item on your shopping list does not indicate you’re reluctant to do extra work; it’s just being disorganised. Perhaps because you’re exhausted from all the cloth nappy drudgery, to be fair.

Haha well if you think it's drudgery and assuming you're given it a shot then fair enough :) but 4 kids on and I consider clothes nappies extremely easy and always have. I don't even rly care if its better for the environment, it's better for me.

Used them for both mine throughout. Lots of people thought I was mental though. I just never started with disposables so it was just normal to me. No drama. Not like you have to take them to the river to wash is it?

Love reusable san pro. Love my menstrual cup. Could never get on with cloth nappies. Wanted to love them, tried with both DC1 and 2 (10 years apart as well) - hate them.

Can't stand the having to do a separate wash - I want to chuck them in with my normal wash like I do for san pro. But they get really stinky because of the volume of wee they absorb, so you end up having to do special washes in the end anyway. Also don't like them hanging around fermenting while waiting to have enough for a full load of just nappies.

Don't like having to be organised enough to be on top of the washing, I sometimes am, but often am not. We also don't have a tumble drier, so in order to replenish the nappy stocks if you're down to the last one involves finding all the nappies, putting a wash on (maybe taking the current wash out and hanging it up, if there's one already in), waiting for it to finish, hanging it up, waiting for it to dry until you have a clean, usable nappy. This kind of string of tasks is quite hard for me as I have ADHD. Whereas we have disposable nappies in packs, so it's easy to see when we're running low, and just add some to the supermarket shop or amazon delivery. I buy own brand nappies and they work fine and aren't expensive. If we do end up down to the last one or two, no worries, because there's normally a couple kicking around in the nappy bag or under a sofa cushion or in the car that can keep us going for a day or two. Or I can even go to the shop with DS in the last nappy, which is immediate and doesn't require me to remember or gather energy later to finish something I've started. Much less tricky for me.

Hate the bulk of them. I don't want to buy special overpriced clothes. I like getting clothes in second hand bundles and at bargain prices without having to worry about whether they're cut for a massive bum. It does look cute in a sleepsuit, but it also looks really uncomfortable, especially for tiny babies who can only lie around with their bum suspended on this massive bulk of nappy. I know some are worse than others for this, but I've never found anything as slim as a disposable and I just think they allow the DC to move easier.

I also don't find they last as long as a disposable and I find people who think they do change disposables way more frequently than I do. We tend to do one nappy overnight, change first thing in the morning, change at nap time and then of course if there are any poos change immediately. So go through 2 or 3 nappies per daytime, I find they are absolutely fine after 4-6 hours. If you leave a reusable one on that long it ends up soaking and uncomfortable and probably leaking. It's enough trying to persuade/wrestle a busy toddler to change once a day let alone every 3 hours!

Also don't like dealing with poo - so much less disgusting to be able to wrap the whole load of awfulness, wipes and everything up into a little ball and dispose of it ASAP. Even for a wee nappy, gathering up the wipes inside the nappy is convenient.

I do really like the patterns and the softness and (when I can get the washing right) nice laundry smell. Also lack of guilt about creating waste. But it just isn't enough to outweigh the downsides for me.