Cloth nappies restricting my baby's movement?

[Lapochka]

Hi. My dd is 8 months and I've been using Tots Bots since she was 6 weeks. On the whole I've been really happy with the nappies - they've never once leaked - but I've always been a bit concerned about how big they are. I have the correct size for her weight, but she can't touch her knees together when she's wearing them. At the moment she's desperate to start crawling, and I'm concerned that the cloth nappies are holding her back and making her more frustrated. Is this true? She certainly seems to be able to do more when she's wearing disposables. Other friends have voiced concern that such big nappies are not good for her general development either - that they'll make her bow-legged or something. I had been concerned about her wearing them at night because I wasn't sure her spine was straight when she was lying on her back, so I generally put her in a disposable at night. I don't really want to switch to disposables during the day too as I still believe cloth nappies are better for the environment. Any advice?

They won't make her bow legged, and TB's don't interfere with crawling IME - ds wears them and crawled at 7 months.

Remember that wearing a bulky nappy is actually a cure for certain conditions (clicky hip in particular but i think there are others). Both of mine wore TBs - ds still does - and neither has any problem whatsoever with posture etc.

As for sleeping on her back - does she still do that at 8 months? blimey. ds and dd always slept bum in the air at that age. But anyway there is no particular advantage in sleeping with your back dead flat - my physio advised me always to sleep with something under my knees if sleeping on my back to avoid too much straightness. I know it's better for babs to be on a cot (i.e. flatish) than in a car seat but I've never heard of there being a problem with nappies etc for that reason - if there was you'd have to get her undressed for every nap surely?

Nappies don't affect development or the age of crawling/walking would have been reduced in the last 20 years when disposable use has increased. And most of us on here wore terries and I would imagine that most of us are not bow legged!

My LO crawled at 10 months and walked at 16 months. I gave her quite a lot of nappy free time and didn't notice much difference in her mobility.

I think most children are desperate to crawl just before they actually do it-the desperation is part of the process!

Here, here, my ds crawled at 5 months and walked at 10, he's been in cotton nappies since 3 months. There's just more padding on the way down!

Yup, definitely cloth nappies restrict their movement. That's why my (in cloth nappy) kids walked at 9, 10 & 11 months. That's why I walked at 9 months, too.

Unlike my dad & his twin who (supposedly) walked at 7 months!

Thank goodness for cloth nappies slowing them down, eh?

(OOh, darn, I forget, Dad was born in 1942 so he was in cloth nappies too. Oh well, there goes that theory....)

Don't fret Lapochka. Your dd will crawl in her own good time and your friends are probably voicing these "concerns" because they know you're doing the right thing by using cloth!

No they won't slow her down at all. She will be grateful for the extra padding when she starts trying to walk too. Like someone else mentioned we would all be bow legged and have developmental problems if that were that case as disposables haven't been around that long. Stick with it and don't let your friends put you off. They are trying to make themselves feel better for not using cloth if you ask me .

all babies walk with their legs apart initially, it makes them more stable.

My dd slept in her Tots from about 4 weeks of age, and her spine is perfect.

If you're really keen on protecting the environment, I'd ditch the night disposables too. Which would you rather have next to your skin for a 12-hour stretch?

THe thing that prompts them to learn each new skill is the desperation. The ones that aren't desperate just lie there and watch the world go by for another few months!

Cloth nappies are great when they start walking - you know how they sit down by taking their feet off the ground? Lots of padding there!

I'd rather have a late mover with a bit more life experience and common sense, whatever nappy it was in. I also appreciate the extra face-to-face time I get with my clothie baby at changing time (despite having had 2 in cloth earlier this year.)

my ds is 7 months and has been crawling for just over 2 weeks
he is now starting to pull himself up on furniture and wuill walk if i hold his hands

he has been wearing cloth nappies since birth! night time too... and no probs

if cloth nappuies held babies back, and were bad for development... then wouldn't we all have problems? i think MOST people on here would have been in cloth as children