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Original poster

Real Nappies aren't worth the hassle??

228 replies

Magscat · 19/05/2005 07:13

This was on the BBC news this morning.

As a cotton nappy devotee I can't believe they are saying that disposables are not much worse than cotton - just doesn't make sense.

Any other thoughts

OP posts:
throckenholt · 19/05/2005 09:01

one thing I like about cloth is a nice soft landing for a toddler when they fall over. Mine always looked shocked if they fall over when they are in disposables.

Ameriscot2005 · 19/05/2005 09:03

200 is a reasonable sample, statistically speaking.

Original poster
Magscat · 19/05/2005 09:13

I think they said though that they interviewed 2000 disposable users compared with 200 cloth users and they didn't interview all 200 about every aspect so some issues were only discussed with a few people.

OP posts:
throckenholt · 19/05/2005 09:20

I think although the interviewed 200 cloth users - they only used a small subset of them in the final analysis.

They did say they were going to extend the research about cloth nappies to cover more "modern" nappies (at least that's what they said on the Radio 4 interview)

Ameriscot2005 · 19/05/2005 09:20

Do you have access to the report and questionnaire, Magscat, or are you just going by the BBC Breakfast interviews?

I think we should be able to trust the methodology of the test, given the scrutiny it will receive.

morningpaper · 19/05/2005 09:26

I agree with throckenholt that you are comparing apples and pears - landfill vs. energy use. When I was using disposables I was chucking out an extra binliner a week - made me feel dreadful knowing that it's only going to be buried into the ground, happily leaching chemicals for another 100 years.

IMO I also agree that cloth nappies make for quicker potty training - partly because the child is more aware of being wet/dirty and partly because the parents are more motivated! I'm sure the latter reason is why people used to potty train much earlier.

Mine was p/t night and day by 22 months - most of my friends still have bothered starting potty training a year or so later. That's a lot of nappies!

morningpaper · 19/05/2005 09:28

"Tracy Stewart, director general of trade body the Absorbent Hygiene Products Manufactures Association (AHPMA), said she was delighted by the findings."

Well there's a surprise.

MrsDoolittle · 19/05/2005 09:29

Also the point was made that nappies were washed at 90 degrees! Mine aren't! My beautiful coloured nappies I usually wash at 40 and now and again I will wash them at 60 and some oxyclean. And how long did they say they were tumble dried??
The sample was really small and apparently in some replies to the survey only 2 questions were answered!!
Well, I'm sorry but as a researcher there are some serious flaws in the methodology here.
Absolutely rubbish IMHO!! Think about it, it's not rocket science and anyone who uses reuable nappies knows this. It's just a shame not everyone else does and this does nothing to help the situation!!

MrsDoolittle · 19/05/2005 09:29

Maybe she paid for it morningpaper!!!!

MrsDoolittle · 19/05/2005 09:31

And I'm sorry Ameriscot. 200 is a reasonable sample???? I don't think so.

morningpaper · 19/05/2005 09:31

(I beat my nappies out against a rock in the local stream - do you think that will be okay?)

MrsDoolittle · 19/05/2005 09:33

Ahhh but what soap do you use?

teeavee · 19/05/2005 09:33

a word about nappy bags - why do people think they are so necessary?
I've never felt the need to wrap my disposables in even more plastic - I (am being made to)feel guilty enough as it is!

Ameriscot2005 · 19/05/2005 09:33

Oh come on, Mrs Doolittle, if all you are going on is what was said on the BBC then how can you possibly draw conclusions about the methodology?

Why would a government body design a test to be statistically insignificant? That would be madness and a total waste of funding.

Let's drop the conspiracy theories, eh?

misdee · 19/05/2005 09:34

i think nappy bags smell horrible.

teeavee · 19/05/2005 09:35

a government body 'fixing' research? no never!
(remember the irak dossier???)

Ameriscot2005 · 19/05/2005 09:36

But what would be their motivation?

tarantula · 19/05/2005 09:37

oooo saw this in the paper on the way into work and thougth bet theres a good debate on MN about this . I use cloth for a huge no. Of reasons, cost being a main one but impact to the envirnoment being another. I (or rather dp) does one nappy wash every two days @ 60 and its generally a full wash and we line dry as we dont have a tumble drier. I really dont think that this research is comparing like wit like because it truly depends on the methods of washing/drying etc that are being used.

Have to say tho that after having bought my MEOS I saw almost identical nappies made of hemp and wish I had bought those instead due to the environmental impact of producing cotton. Why do I always see these things too late

MrsDoolittle · 19/05/2005 09:38

They didn't design it to be statistically insignificant. Infact you wouldn't know until whether it was statistically insignificant until all the replies were in. By which time they has probably spent that much money they were going to publish the data whatever.
I work very closely with a department does research for the government. I'm pretty sure if I had the paper I could rip it to pieces!!

teeavee · 19/05/2005 09:39

lobbying from the disposables industry?

MrsDoolittle · 19/05/2005 09:40

Err sorry, rubbish post - must preview

MrsDoolittle · 19/05/2005 09:42

EDIT
They didn't design it to be statistically insignificant. Infact you wouldn't know until afterwards if it was statistically insignificant. By which time they had probably spent so much money they were going to publish the data whatever the results.
I work very closely with a department that does research for the government. I'm pretty sure if I had the paper I could rip it to pieces!!

Ameriscot2005 · 19/05/2005 09:47

Eh?

Ameriscot2005 · 19/05/2005 09:49

'k...they would have a null hypothesis saying that the environmental impact is the same, and they would then do their very best to reject the null hypothesis...

I don't see any motivations for a government dept to design wishy-washy research, when you would think that given the prevailing opinions about cloth and concerns about landfill volumes.

throckenholt · 19/05/2005 09:52

has anyone got a link to the original paper ? I couldn't find one on the bbc article.

As an environmental researcher myself (and cloth user) I would like to be able to read the original - because there seemed to be a lot of questions raised about original data in the interview I heard this morning.