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?

@Godimabitch

We will be using reuseable nappies. But it was a minefield trying to find which ones to buy and plan a wash routine and work out how many we needed. It took alot of research and asking different people what they do. With disposables, you buy one brand, they dont work, you've lost 9 quid. Plus I am dreading the amount of washing I'll be doing, and planning holidays, we'll probably use disposables for holidays tbh. I don't judge anyone for not wanting to do all.

The disposables I buy don't cost £9!!

I've had three babies, used the cheapest supermarket own brands I could find and I've never had a brand of disposable that didn't work.

@Piglet89

I do get it, but women have been doing it for years and its worked.

Women. Women do it. Women spend their time doing this bloody extra drudge work when caring for a small baby is enough work.

If men had to do it, cloth nappies wouldn’t even be an option.

See also elective C section versus labour and vaginal birth.

Lol. Not the case. My DH was happy to use cloth nappies as well. He even had shoulder surgery with one DC as a newborn and became adept at doing a nappy change with only one arm and hand.

[quote PlanDeRaccordement]We had those biodegradable liners for our nappies so you could just peel them off cloth nappy if a poo and flush down the toilet. They still make them even though this was, god the youngest is 16 so ages ago.

www.cocooncenter.co.uk/bum-diapers-biodegradable-cloth-diaper-liners-roll-of-100/52790.html[/quote]
Sadly just like flushable wipes these are problematic when flushed down the toilet.

If men had to do it, cloth nappies wouldn’t even be an option.

Probably in the minority, but my DH loved the cloth nappies and still recommends them to anyone.

@PlanDeRaccordement your husband is an exception. This (literal) shit is usually women’s work.

My husband changes cloth nappies.

@PlanDeRaccordement

YANBU at all. We used cloth nappies on our four. Helped the environment and saved us money in long run. There should be more support for mothers who want to try this. Right now you get disposable ones pushed on you and you really have to want to go cloth to be able to find them and use them correctly.

Who pushes disposable nappies on you? I've never had anyone try to push disposable nappies on me. Nobody has ever mentioned it to me either so is it really a thing?

I loved them, and used them with my now 2 year old until a few months ago. I'm sad we've stopped but wrestling her into any kind of nappy is an absolute nightmare now so we've gone to pull ups. Justifying it to myself in that we are to try and toilet train her soon.

I get why people don't use them though - they have to be changed more frequently, not as convenient to carry about and it does take a lot of research at first. They contain poo FAR better than a disposable though

God. There are always the anecdotal tales.

For every 3 women on MN (not a representative sample) there are 10000000 men not changing cloth nappies, not wanting to - and most definitely NOT being associated with the extra laundry and minging soaking bucket and god knows what else associated with them.

No thanks.

We're due our first and I'm keen to use reusable but:
a) I feel so overwhelmed by the options and amount of information at a time when we're also preparing for a tiny human
b) I know it's trial and error but the thought of forking out £30 for a leaky nappy that doesn't fit/leaks seems counter-productive
c) We don't have a dryer (or space for one) or a garden to line dry when it's warm
d) My partner thinks they look like hassle

A good compromise would be compostable nappies if this country had the services/infrastructure to actually compost them. Right now they just go to landfill, where of course they won't decompose.

I don't think it's a perception issue. It's because we're living in the 21st century and most people have no desire to deal with washing shitty nappies when there's an alternative.

The whole 'women have been doing it for years' argument doesn't always work. Back in 'the olden days' many a wet nappy would get just quickly sloshed in some water and hung by the fire to dry. Sometimes though the wee might not even be rinsed off and the nappy would get re used when dry - but not clean.

Are there more men not changing cloth nappies than not changing disposable nappies? That also sounds completely anecdotal to me.

I mentioned this to my DH when we first TTC and considered reusable vs disposable but thinking about how many you would need in just one day would cost a fortune and then having to wash them....every day...doesn't sound very environmentally friendly.

Also thinking about how busy life will be with a new baby...already enough to worry about without thinking "oh crap, forgot to wash the nappies!"

@Fuckadoodledoooo
Sorry, my point was, when you use disposables, if the brand doesn't work, you've lost a minimal amount of money, you try a different brand next time.
With disposables, I've spend somewhere between 1-2 hundred, I cant just try a different brand if these dont work. I'm committed to the nappies I've chosen. Whereas disposable users aren't tied to a brand.

Because you can always smell it when you enter the home of a 'cloth nappy family'.
It stinks. And you probably can't smell it because you're used to it.

Many of my friends use cloth and there is a general not very nice aroma. I don't want that for myself!!

@Godimabitch sorry - got a 5 month old who doesn't like sleep. It's fucking with my comprehension skills!

Because its just like everything else you might find difficult to understand - convenience. Not everyone wants to be faffing around with the inconvenience that it is. just out of interest op, do you use reusable toilet wipe for yourself? It is the same concept after all.

I'm a single parent loving in an upstairs flat with no central heating and no tumble dryer. Much as I like the idea of cloth nappies, it's not workable for me.

Because reusable nappies are disgusting. Especially past weaning. You have to flick and scrape poo into the toilet, then wash it. Sometimes theres lingering stains or smells. So much more washing.

I use them! But have also used disposables. Disposables are much easier. You have to be very motivated to do it.

What a naive question. The initial outlay is too expensive for a lot of families. The fact that it save money in the long run is irrelevant if you don't have the money to get started in the first place.

I have to say you do get money back Preloved with reuseables. I bout a few hundred pounds worth of nappies for both DC and have got more money back selling them on again, but that's not guaranteed.

I've never had a disposable leak, any brand. I think one out of five reuseable changes would leak.

Because you can always smell it when you enter the home of a 'cloth nappy family'.
It stinks. And you probably can't smell it because you're used to it.

Exactly this too!! And the child always has that slight pee smell lingering around them. My friends ds was like this. She was obviously used to it, but you just knew when he was around.

As several people have said above a big problem for many babies is the tendancy to nappy rash.

I was in some very hippiecircles where even contemplating that cloth nappies (and slings etc) werent perfect wasnt really the thing. Kind of like if you admit their babies have more rashes that would destroy their belief system.

2 babies had red raw skin but the parents were still saying how wonderful they were for using cloth and wouldn't try a disposable just while they heal at all.

I (being in that circle) tried cloth and was v keen but once mine got nappy rash quite badly we switched to disposable and didn't have a problem again.

The story from the nursery above is the same. And several others on the thread. Obviously all babies are different but often those quite evangelical about cloth have a set of beliefs that cant be challenged and wont try a disposable. With my first looking back I was similar about using a pushchair and didn't want to even when away as we were sling people.... sigh. I was more balanced with my second, but I do see the knots people get caught up in in those circles. ("Its no extra work" "love looking at cloth bums" "feel sorry for those in 'sposies"....)

I was disabled and both my children are too.
I wasn't happy about the eco impact but it was the only bearable option.