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?

@Hardbackwriter I ended up lending out some of my cloth nappies to friends in March and April as they couldn't get nappies due to the pandemic and panic buying. One friend decided to stick with them so I gave her the nappies she had borrowed.

One of the reason for us using cloth nappies was as it meant avoiding having to go to the shops every week to pick them up as I genuinely hate supermarkets it's massively helped in the pandemic as well. We mostly have deliveries from local suppliers for a lot of things so only go to the supermarket every 3/4weeks

[quote Piglet89]@callistography “used correctly”.

With disposables, there isn’t any bloody nuanced magic (all of which takes time to work out and get used to, several outfit changes later - more laundry) to getting them to work properly. I put them on my son’s arse and they work every single time.

The cloth nappy offer is just is not as effective as modern disposables. Why do so many put their kids in disposables at night while thinking reusable are ok for the daytime? Because they’re more effective absorbing the urine produced at night. They’re better at what they’re supposed to do![/quote]
I completely disagree. Terries/cloth nappies work very very well as long as you don't add pressure on them with tight trousers/leggings. By doing your research ahead of having a baby/using these kind of nappies you'd be aware of this and plan buying of baby clothes accordingly.

Disposables are revolting things (I've used them too - I'm not perfect). They are full of chemicals, don't biodegrade and are a huge huge environmental disaster. And we keep adding to the problem by being lazy. It's really that simple.

Most people who get on with reusable nappies are self selected that they have the time and space to use them. They feel the effort is worth it to avoid single use nappies.
We had reusable nappies, they were fine but I was a FT SAHM and a bit obsessive about organic everything. (😄 teenagers have knocked it out of me since).
Babies are only in nappies a few years, there are plenty of other ways to be green, and to be fair, amassing a huge collection of designer nappies isn’t very good for the planet either. The best thing is to re use them for as many children as possible. Maybe in a generation we will have to pay per kilo for household rubbish and it will be a different decision. That needs to include lots of other waste streams and not only ones that have made women’s lives cleaner and easier like Sanpro and nappies.

OP, I remember feeling like you when I had my first DC. Used reusables but actually I wasn't as pleased as I thought I'd be with them. I used the bamboo ones and they were quite slow drying. Don't agree with using the tumble dryer on a regular basis for environmental reasons, that would have undone the good. I also didn't like carrying around a bag that did, frankly, smell of wee. Leaked at night, even with boosters, so I used disposables for DC"s comfort and to save wet sheets. By the time DC2 came round two years later I didn't bother, and DC3 there was no way I even considered it.

Because it's a grim prospect to have shitty nappies whizzing around my washing machine

We used them with ours. The toddler stage was actually pretty gross tbh and I'm glad we aren't doing it any more. So, no, I'm not surprised more people don't use them. I used them, but it was not the easiest thing in the world tbh. Maybe I'd have found disposables just as bad though 🤷‍♀️.

I went somewhere once that did have a bin to recycle nappies. Never seen it anywhere else. Think they said the materials were broken down and waste products removed and then materials reused. I always wondered why note weren’t recycled if it’s possible to recycle them.

I planned to use reusables with my second child but gave up when I started really struggling with everyday managing of the newborn and toddler. Would have probably managed ok with my first but I didn’t really consider them as an option, if I had another I would def consider it seeing what is now available.

@Ilovemaisie Ohh I feel your pain, also in the same situation now, first time ever without a garden, some think I am spoilt when I say that, and I think not at all, as I lived in a shared house when I had a garden and that was no holiday camp, tough times, I had my DS whilst there, and had no immediate way out as my abusive ex had no plans of us sorting something out and getting away from there.
But it was very handy during the time we was there, to have all that space for washing. I am now looking at options within my flat, washing machine provided was huge but in disrepair so they had to change it, and because of where it stands they bought a Beko compact one 🙄 great in some ways but not in others.

Liked the idea of reusable nappies, but when it came down to it, it just wouldn't of worked for us at the time because of accommodation.

I'll be honest, I didn't really consider it with dd1. I didn't know anyone who used them and can't remember discussing it with friends. We used pampers from day 1 and they were brilliant- no leaking and never had to change her that often. No poonamis or night changes. Never any soreness or nappy rash, didn't need to use the Sudocrem I'd dutifully bought. Dd1 has ASD so by the time dd2 was born, 2 years later, I was really struggling to cope anyway. I had over a year with both of them in nappies but it was very easy with disposables. Again I can't remember genuinely considering it but i was drowning as it was and would have stuck to the easy option.

Could it be the pricey initial layout? And generational memories of terry-toweling, bucket soaking nightmares? But mostly the cost.

With DS1 (nine years ago now) we didn't necessarily have the money for the big initial outlay and lived in a flat with one shared washing line between four households and I wouldn't have felt ok with all the washing it would have needed. And it seemed like a lot of faff.

With DS2 I considered it but tbh we'd never had any issue with disposables like some people have and again I couldn't be bothered with the extra washing and work it entailed on top of everything else. We just used the own brand of nappies from whichever supermarket we'd been to and they were all fine with the exception of Co-Op ones which I found we struggled with leaks with.

Oh and I went back to work full time when they were both 9mo. No way was I factoring the extra faff in to all that.

OP have you managed yet a winter with more than one child, working full time and using washables? I'm doing it now and honest to god, it's a pain in the arse, I'm just barely keeping going and that's with resorting to the tumble drier, having a utility room to dry laundry out of the way etc. I am lucky that DD is tiny and doesnt wee much so we can keep on top of it, if I had a heavy wetter I would have given up months ago.

It's another stick to beat women with.

Let's berate women for not breastfeeding, for not using cloth nappies, for staying at home with children, for going to work or any other number of choices that women make when they take on motherhood.
It's hard enough and sometimes using disposables is the best choice for some women - for lots of reasons. Fuel poor, damp house, no garden, several other children, balancing work, housework, trying to juggle everything and holding on to her mental health.

OP have you managed yet a winter with more than one child, working full time and using washables? I'm doing it now and honest to god, it's a pain in the arse, I'm just barely keeping going and that's with resorting to the tumble drier, having a utility room to dry laundry out of the way etc.

Said no man ever. Which is exactly my point.

I did use them for a time.

It was expensive and my daughter kept changing shape. First we used pop-ins (easy for nursery). Then she got really, really fat thighs and we switched to milovia. I had to sell all the pop-ins and buy new ones. I was working, with three kids, doing two extra loads of laundry a week and faffing about with posting nappies. The Babi-pur buy and sell page is enough to reduce any busy woman to tears.

Then we had to stop using them in the nursery because the poo doesn't smell so much in the real nappies, so my daughter kept getting rashes because poo wasn't noticed until scheduled nappy changing time (every two hours, a reasonable schedule - and to be fair, she has VERY sensitive skin)

They are great if you are at home. I definitely did not save money.

Convenience

Someone has a profitable business if the initial cost is so much

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

OP have you managed yet a winter with more than one child, working full time and using washables? I'm doing it now and honest to god, it's a pain in the arse, I'm just barely keeping going and that's with resorting to the tumble drier, having a utility room to dry laundry out of the way etc. I am lucky that DD is tiny and doesnt wee much so we can keep on top of it, if I had a heavy wetter I would have given up months ago.

More than 1 child in nappies? If so not for me because my kids are 3yrs apart and potty trained around 2. But otherwise I have definitely gone through many winters with washable nappies for 1 child and other children around etc. I have 4 kids and started washable nappies with my first 9yrs ago. I don't have any issue with drying nappies - I use the pocket nappies (at least I think www.amazon.co.uk/Reusable-Exqline-Washable-Adjustable-Breathable/dp/B08D99Y8W4/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=pocket+nappies&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1612600307&sr=8-3 like those) and I just dry them on a line in the utility. It takes no time at all at least in my house

I also went back to work FT 6 months after my first one was born and around 9 months for the others. But that's neither here nor there as I didn't consider washable nappies a hassle. Also I'm not in sole charge of the house/

When ds was a baby it was space for us, we had no room for this, it was a tiny cottage and bad enough with the other baby stuff etc. I imagine lots of people are.in space limited homes and possibly time limited lives.

If I had another dc now, yes I would, we are in a bigger house now.

For me it's the extra work that put me off. I clothed DC1 till potty training and kept my stash for DC2. After a couple of months we ditched them as it was just too much extra work we didn't need to do (and I say that as someone who's DH does more than his share and also likes the cloth nappies). DC2 pees more and sleeps less meaning more changes, more laundry and more knackered parents. With also having DC1 (not in nappies), work, life and everything I just though fuck this. It's not worth it. I still have my cloth nappies and might give them another go but honestly, at the moment I just can't be arsed.

OP have you managed yet a winter with more than one child, working full time and using washables? I'm doing it now and honest to god, it's a pain in the arse, I'm just barely keeping going and that's with resorting to the tumble drier, having a utility room to dry laundry out of the way etc. I am lucky that DD is tiny and doesnt wee much so we can keep on top of it, if I had a heavy wetter I would have given up months ago

Not yet, this is my only baby. It is winter though!

We don’t tumble dry ours, they dry on an overhead pulley. My husband does all the laundry in our household. He’s back at work full time now but he WFH so keeps on top of it in his breaks.

Our baby has very bad reflux and is sick around 30 times a day, so between his clothing changes, my clothing changes when I’m vomited on, bed and pram sheet changes and the muslins we go through, our laundry burden is high. The reusable nappies are honestly a drop in the ocean compared to the reflux laundry.

I am really surprised at all the people arguing that disposables might be more eco friendly than reusables. That really is gobsmacking nonsense. If Shakespeare had shat in disposables nappies, they'd still be around today. Can you imagine the pile of fermenting (or, rather, not cleanly breaking down) nappies each of your children has created? The environment isn't just energy and carbon emissions, you know! You shouldn't be tumble drying most nappy components and one study I saw "comparing them" including the energy to IRON the cloth nappies! It takes energy to manufacture every single disposable, you know, not just to run the washing machine on an ordinary 60 degree intensive cycle (which we have found gets ours perfectly clean without prewashing or anything complicated).

I used 100% disposables with DS and we're using daytime cloth for DD at the moment, so I'm not some militant activist. I feel generally warmly towards cloth nappies these days, but they were also the first thing I gave up when newborn life got too much. It's fine for people to choose to use disposables for convenience. I did/do. But on no planet are disposables better for the environment than cloth nappies. Just no. You're not doing it because of an environmental choice and that's OK, but don't try to pretend to yourself that you are.

@KatyClaire My first was such a puker. I didn't change everything that he puked on immediately. I would have run out of clothes on day one! Mine and his! If I wasn't going anywhere and it was just a bit of spatter rather than a soaking, I just dabbed it off with a muslin and lived with the off-milk smell until bedtime.

@PerspicaciousGreen yeah, my standards for when he requires a clothing change have dropped considerably from his birth 🤣 now I only change him if he’s properly soaked his clothes (or mine). I’ve also become very adept at catching the sick with a muslin, which means we get through a lot of those but save a few clothing changes.