Parents, how would you feel about your childminder wanting to use cloth nappies?

[katymac]

What sort of issues would you have?

I am thinking about it

I'd buy the nappies and arrange for them to be washed etc

I'd take the child with a disposable nappy - change them into a washable......then put them back into a disposable to go home.

The issues I think parents might have are
Q1) They cause nappy rash
A1) They don't - but I don't know why
Q2) They won't fit under my childs clothes
A2) They probably will but again I have no info
Q3) It will cost more
A3) Well it might - but I'm paying for it - I'd like to ask for a contribution equal to what they'd pay for their disposables (whilst at my house) - but I'm not sure if that's reasonable?
Q4) My childs clothes will get dirty/wet
A4) They won't if I change you child often enough (or will they?)

What else should I consider?

I'm thinking of doing a survey to ask them - what do you think?

hmmm... I think the paying for them bit might be tricky with some people using own brands and others a premium disposable. Would you charge them different amounts? How would you work it out?

won't that cost you money though .. most childminders make parents supply nappies and nappy laundering isn't cheap

I wasthinking more in the way of a donation of how much they would use while with me

ie a full day 5 nappies worth (what ever they buy)
a week's worth maybe 22?

I don't really know

I'd have no objection, but my main concern would be laundry: would you wash them well enough? would the powder cause my child problems? would they be sterile?

As for the cost, I would consider that paying less than the euqivalent in disposables would be attractive. After all, you would reuse these nappies for other clients, so would eventually recoup the cost + laundry, while the mum would feel like she's saving money, albeit pennies relative to your fee.

I would also suggest that the parent bring (or you keep) a few extra dispos, in case the child has wetted the one he arrived in.

Probably

However the bin men are going to stop taking the dirty nappies away

So I might be stuffed

why do you want to do it?

They don't cause nappy rash, especially if you use fleece liners

They probably WON'T fit under their ordinary clothes... particularly trousers, and particularly non-stretchy trousers!

CLothes shouldn't get wet at all

I woudn't have issues at all, as i already use cloth! lol... but i can see that some people might

Or don't describe the cost. Just work out how much you would want to charge for the nappy 'service' and include it in your fee. Then you can tell the parents that using washables is part of the service and that they will save money by not having to supply nappies. Presumably you would use washable wipes as well?

Right about having spare disposables etc
I think I'd put a clean one on at the end of each day rather than the morning one back

The council is talking about a subsidised laundry service - so washing should be OK

some people might feel weird about the nappies being used on other kids.

bear in mind that coucil laundry services are generally for either terry squares or cotton bottoms... both of which can be washed at very high heats which some other cloth nappies can't be

i don't know many people who have got on well with cotton bottoms tbh... and they are more fiddly than shaped or pocket nappies

PCandTT - that's great for new parents - but I have to persuade existing ones

Not sure about types - but the council (I understand) has a lady who visits with different sorts for you to look at (& play with)

I am worried about the "other children" thing - but I'm not sure there is a way round it

where are you? just wondering because our council does that too (sussex)

Norfolk

I did terries with DD but stopped when she went into a harness for clicky hips - which had to be kept clean

If the binmen do refuse my nappies (it's in consultation atm) as I'm a business I'd rather pay for cloth nappies than bin collection

And I guess the alternative is handing the dirty (smelly) disposables back to the parents at the end of each day

yeah... can see why you'd want to change.

why don't you... see who is interested? tell them the bin situation and say that it's either cloth, or they take the dirty ones home?

although there is still the clothes thing. for example, and jeans from Next or Boots, and anything from mothercare won't fit over cloth nappies.

To me it seems like I'm forcing them into it

I'm very undecided

best way forward is to talk to them i thinkj... see what the response is

I think you would spend all your time changing nappies! One of my mindees is in cloth nappies (Cotton Bottoms), and I have to just about set the clock to change him on the dot of 2 hourly (max!). Otherwise it's a whole dry outfit. Obviously not a problem for a mum with one (my own son was in terries), but a cm with several in nappies? I haven't heard anything about binmen refusing to take them here. Hope they don't . Good luck with your survey.

I think you would spend all your time changing nappies! One of my mindees is in cloth nappies (Cotton Bottoms), and I have to just about set the clock to change him on the dot of 2 hourly (max!). Otherwise it's a whole dry outfit. Obviously not a problem for a mum with one (my own son was in terries), but a cm with several in nappies? I haven't heard anything about binmen refusing to take them here. Hope they don't . Good luck with your survey.

I think I will do a survey about the number of nappies each child uses

Then an estimate of how many children in each size (don't know sizes yet)

That should give me an idea how many I need to buy

Then I guess a survey to the parents to ask opinions

There are some nurseries which do cloth nappies as part of their service, but I don't know of any personally.

This isn;t really answering your question, but I use cloth nappies on my son (11 months) My c/minder keeps some at her house, and uses them on DS. She puts the ones he uses at her house into a bucket and she washes those, I never have to remember to take nappies, or wipes, she has it all..washable

But, OTOH this was MY decision, and I had been sending him to her in dispicables, and sending a pack for her to use.. one morning I sent him in cloth as I had no dispies at home, she loved them that much that she asked me to send him in them and give her a few to change and wash them.. I have said before.. she's an angel

Erm... you could give them some info on them, explain the advantages to the environment and your bin situation, tell them you will save their nappies for them to take home (poo!) I really can't see any of them disagreeing. I certainly wouldn't disagree... I'd be all for it! We need more childminders like you!!!

Of course - I could do all this work, get them all to agree and then not be able to afford to do it

I have a large stash of assorted clothies from when ds3 was little and I offer using them as a free service to all parent's of nappy users if they want me to. At the moment I have one parent who takes me up on this offer (the alternative is that I use her dd's own disposables and give them back to her at the end of the session to dispose of). I also have three sets of parents whose children already use clothies and are happy for me to use their own, and one older lad who has special needs who wears disposables as my nappies are nowhere near big enough.
As an extra optional service it works well but I think existing (in fact all) parents need to have a choice.

I have used the Cotton Bottoms laundry service. They use industrial-style laundry machines (the same sort that are used for hospital laundry to wash sheets and operating gowns and stuff) and the nappies come out effectively sterile. BUT they only wash the prefold, not the outer wrap. So you'd have to see if your local scheme washed those as well - they do get poo on from time to time and you would be washing them at home then (presumably) putting them on different mindees which I would not be happy about as a parent.

Would strongly agree that clothes (especially girls' boot cut trousers I find) don't fit over cloth nappies; there are brands that are slimmer cut but doubt the council will be letting you use those.

Note also with cloth it is all about how the nappy itself fits on the child. Disposables are highly elastic and as long as your child is in the right weight range, one size fits most if not all. Cloth is more tricky and most clothies experiment with different styles and brands to find what works for their offspring. So you may get mums signing up to this scheme but then find the council's chosen brand doesn't work for their child. Don't know what you do then.

Re: how often to change - erm, one of the reasons you generally get less nappy rash with cloth than with dispos is that you have to change moderately frequently. You can leave a child sitting in a dispo full of wee for hours. You can only do that with a cloth nappy if you pick a really absorbent one: again with a laundry service they will be one-size-fits-all so by the time they get to toddler age you will be changing cloth every 2 or maybe 3 hours depending on how much they wee.

Your other option is Eco disposables and find some way of getting rid. Allegedly Moltex Oko (you can buy them online, diff to get otherwise) are the best on the market atm and will compost in a wormery after 28 days. Though I have heard different views about how this fits with health and safety regs. If your council is being "green" they might take the composted nappies off you as garden waste? There would be an investment in the wormery and the nappies themselves cost a bit more than standard dispos.

Don't know if any of that helps at all.