Why do you use real nappies?

[FlipFantasia]

Hi ladies

I've just found out that Real Nappies for London needs a bit of help. They want to find out why people choose real nappies - is it to save money? cut down on waste? better for baby? fashion? Please visit their website and click on your top reasons.

They need this because Defra is calling for
evidence for their review of waste policies, dead line 7th October. So this will be
a way of showing the government how many people out there care and why.

thanks in advance!

Hi Flip
I clicked on the links but can't see where I would leave my responses or do you want us to leave feedback here and you will pass it onto RNL ?

Cheap (especially as I got mine 2nd hand)
Less waste (our local authority has run out of landfill space so incinerates or exports all waste they can't recycle. I don't really want to be part of that)
Convinient - much easier to put in machine than remember to buy more disposables and schelp back from shops with them.
No nappy rash

Hiya Smac

Oh gosh, sorry meant to explain that! They can analyse web traffic, so clicking on the links is useful for them. I guess it gives them some stats they can add to the report...

...but I'm sure they'd appreciate any responses here too. It's always interesting to here why people choose real nappies (I guess like qualitative over quantitative).

xx

thanks bikerunski - hope you clicked through too!

We used real nappies for a couple of reasons, one was a cost issue, we went for the plain cotton, cheap nappies with wraps and they were inexpensive, we also bought 2nd hand ones. Over the course of 2 children we spent approx £150-200 as opposed to £1642 on disposables (not allowing for washable wipes instead of baby wipes However, also not taking into account laundery costs)

we both felt uncomfortable about putting nappies and raw sewerage into land fill sites.

ah I understand now
My main reason with DD1 was that the council switched from weekly refuse collection to fortnightly collections. They don't do wheelie bins here we just have to put out black bags and the smell was bad. That prompted me to try cloth again (after giving up with the crap trial pack that the council gave us - bambino mio wraps and prefolds). I bought pocket nappies second hand and then bought a few new ones to experiment with.
DD2 has been in real nappies since she was a week old with occasional disposable use but when we were on holiday and she wore disposables for 3 weeks solid she had terrible nappy rash so she is now in cloth full time and we use reusable wipes so I suppose my original reasoning still stands but sensitive skin has made me more committed.

Definately cost was the starting point - I had 3 dc in cloth nappies and had bought most of the 2nd hand in the first place!

Despite being a family of 6 we've never had problems with an overflowing bin

Also the chemicals that are in nappies are not permitted in tampons which made me and if I'd have had a son I would have worried about his fertility.

My main reason for using cloth was that i didnt want my baby sitting in plastic and chemicals all day. After doing some research i found some really nasty things in disposables especially one common brand. I also felt a bit uneasy putting something into landfill that still wont be broken down when my grandchildren have children lol. Cost wasnt so much of a reason but it certainly helps when you have 3 children and are on a tight budget :)

Health and Money as well as environment! I so don't want nasty chemicals against my baby's delicate skin! Those chemicals can be really bad, and bleached paper is linked to cancer. A Babies skin is way more absorbant than ours! No way would I risk something so precious with hideous chemicals!

Sorry, seem to have got carried away there.

Really interesting to hear what motivates others.

My motivation was definitely environmental/ethical - the thought of all that waste made me feel horrible, as well as the chemicals/plastics against my baby's skin all day and night. I use a moon cup because I hate the san-pro industry so using disposables would have felt quite hypocritcal (I also use washable wipes because of the chemicals in disposable wipes)...having said that, I did use disposables for the first weeks (nature babycare and sainsburys eco ones) as I had quite a traumatic birth and needed time to recover from the section before I could even contemplate any extra laundry!

Please keep clicking through to the Real Nappies for London website btw - all clicks are good clicks

Have clicked through to the site.

Our primary reason was avoiding sending rubbish to landfill. I hate waste! I really hate using something once and throwing it out.

Cost was also a big consideration, as was having nice soft cotton next to DS's skin, rather than plastic.

However, we do use disposables at night as we never found a reusable that would last all night.

Reducing waste and saving money long term.

Have clicked on links

Thanks for all the reasons and clicking!

And bumping for anyone else who wants to help Real Nappies for London - click through to their site and click on your top reasons for using real nappies.