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?

I understand you. We should be using reusable diapers. Apparently my council even did something where you can trial different reusable diapers as it seems everyone's opinion that you should try a few different brands.

But it is a bigger commitment than the disposable diapers. And sometimes people's lives don't align with that. I really wanted to do it for my first and I had to give up. Really wanted to give it a try for my 3rd and couldn't at all......

@Sargass0 yes this is what went through my head. Surely you can work out why people don't want to use them yourself OP.

But I do know plenty of mums who do use cloth nappies, I would say about 3-5 out of a wider group of about 20 mums I know

I can’t speak for others but the reason I don’t use them are time. I take short maternity leaves. I’m due back with this baby when he is 10 weeks old. I don’t have time for extra washing.

I'm just wondering where you are that you've had antenatal groups and baby classes etc
There's been sod all here for almost a year.

Also, where do you live to be able to go to baby groups?

I'm pregnant now and looked into reusables. I'm probably not going to be going that route. Main reason for me is that if you tumble dry there's basically no environmental benefit and we don't have the space to be drying them (or the will to do that tbh). If we lived in an area with a full laundry service I'd happily suck up the extra cost but we don't.

Another concern though was the upfront cost of something that I could only purchase online, had too many options so generally very confusing, and where fit is likely to be an issue. If I could walk into a shop where someone could talk me through it and get personalised advice I'd probably be a lot more confident in choosing it.

There's SO much info about them, that it's all a bit overwhelming to understand. I bet nearly didn't bother, and probably wouldn't have but it's something that was important to OH. I'm glad we made that decision now ad they're great.

Only started when she was a couple of months though, no headspace for anything in the early weeks.

A lot of people simply don't have the upfront cost. Also it can feel like a bit of a weird club so can understand it might be a bit off putting!

Because we can't all possibly be as perfect as you are.

I was struggling to learn all the new things I needed to know to keep my new humans alive so I didn't have the time, inclination, energy or desire to add another chore to my already exhausting days.

You say you are new to this - give it time and you'll realise that we all do this differently, and you are on a shitty path if you are going to express mock alarm every time someone makes different parenting choices to you.

I used them for all of mine and loved them. I think they seemed really popular when I had my eldest 14 years ago. I knew loads of people using them. I think the nappies now all seem to be the very pretty all in ones and these don’t perform anywhere near as well as a two part nappy so people trying them find they don’t work.

They are generally used by smug middle classes who still fly, drive a car, use a dishwasher, have a tumble dryer and bleach their house to death a la Hinch. Stop trying to shame people who are trying their hardest to do their best whilst knackered with a new baby.

I’ve used both OP. I try to be environmentally friendly (all clothes I have bought for my son are second hand and I subscribe to Whirli, the toy subscription service). However, cloth nappies are totally inconvenient in comparison with disposables; there’s just no getting away from it.

Fuck that washing. Sleep deprived with a colicky velcro baby, it just dumped another load of work on us.

You think washing and tumble drying is better for the environment? Unless you're bashing them against a rock and hanging them in the trees to dry, they're no more eco friendly.

We've done other things, before DC and since, that are more environmentally sound, but nappies weren't one of them.

They leak.
They smell.
I dont want a bin soaking pooey nappies in my kitchen.
I don't want to scrape poo out of them into the toilets (wait until your baby is older and on solids)
I don't want the extra washing and drying.
They're expensive to keep trying different ones until one fits your baby properly. I tried some with DD and DS and gave up because they both had different fitting issues.

I would dearly love to be able to say I don't add to landfill with nappies but I can't. I try to compromise by being more eco friendly in other ways.

And I hate to say it, but this is such a typical thing for a first time parent to say. It's not your way or the wrong way, love.

I was perfectly aware they exist. It is entirely unnecessary and very unpleasant extra work at the time when you are already overwhelmed with all the extra laundry, sleep deprivation and generally looking after a new tiny person. If people are soo concerned about the environment they shouldn't have a baby in the first place as procreation is the worst thing you can do for the planet

I used the old fashioned Terry nappies with a nappy pin and a waterproof overnappy for my 7yo. They're cheaper and dry quicker and you can use different folds to fit.

My friend spent loads on a nice patterned set but her baby just leaked through them all the time! I do think you're much more likely to get leakage. You end up buying a new pair of leggings while you're out even if you remembered to bring a spare pair!

I have friends who always used reusables and wanted to make sure I used them too. However I found them a complete nightmare. No matter what I did my son ended up bright red with a nasty nappy rash, the cost was astronomical (I couldn’t believe the price of 3 nappies was more than I would pay for 3 big packs!) and they just didn’t work well for me.
I also hated having a bucked of pre soaking nappies everywhere, I hated constantly stinking of shit all the time (and dont give me that crap about “they don’t smell if you wrap them properly” because they bloody REEK!) frankly they’re seriously unhygienic and are grim.
Disposables have none of those negatives and are quick, cheap and easy to transition for potty training.

Because when you have a constantly crying, colicky, reflux, CMPA, non sleeping baby as well as trying to find your feet with a new born the last thing I wanted to worry about was making sure she had enough nappies washed and even now I don’t think I’ve spent even nearly £100 yet on nappies tbh. I could barely think right for the first 3 months and she’s only just started sleeping longer stretches at 7mo. I’m glad it works for others but tbh your post sounded quite judgmental. What works for some doesn’t work for others no 2 family’s are the same. There is enough pressure on new mums as it is to breastfeed/not to breastfeed, have pain relief/ don’t have pain relief, try your damn hardest to have a VG birth and not a section without this now being rammed down our throats as well.

I don't understand it either, I used cloth with mine 20 years ago, was fairly popular where I lived. That said it was a breastfeeding, bedsharing, attachment parenting kind of middle class area where mothers stayed home or had wfh businesses. But you meet others like you I suppose.

Reusable cups and straws are a bit different aren’t they? In that you don’t have to keep washing shit off them.

I have never had a baby, but I don’t find it in the slightest bit difficult to understand why so many prefer disposables. Are you really wondering about this?

@shouldistop @Susanthepig sadly (but understandably) nothing is happening in person. Both have been online, over zoom.

Because the work associated with them is very unpleasant. Shit is not a nice thing. Shit when on solids is really vile. It’s really why disposables came about in the first place. The shit factor and the time saved on soaking/washing/drying. People were happy to trade off the convenience of disposables against the expense. I can’t imagine this is head scratching stuff OP.

I tried to for a while, but we don't have a dryer. It's wet outside and I have nowhere to hang the laundry I have to do, let alone 6-8 nappies per day. It was unsustainable for me.

@shouldistop

I'm just wondering where you are that you've had antenatal groups and baby classes etc There's been sod all here for almost a year.

Haha I'm so glad someone else said this. It's literally all I could focus on from the OPs post.

As for why I didn't use reusable nappies. Honestly I had enough laundry to do with a refluxy child who went through about 15 outfits a day. Adding nappies to the laundry pile would have finished me off.