Want to be eco friendly new mum

[strawberrysundayss]

Hi, I'm pregnant with my first child and am looking for any tips on how to be as eco friendly as possible. I'm a recent convert to to all this and trying to make positive changes in all areas of my life including impending motherhood.

I'm planning on using reusable nappies at least 80% of the time, aiming to limit single use items and buying non plastic items where possible. I'd really appreciate any tips from any mums out there who are doing this and how they found it.

A bit more about my situation, I'm self employed so will be back at work 2.5 days a week at 4 months and plan on sending DS to a childminder for those 2.5 days, so wondering how this will work with nappies etc.

I'm also looking into things like wooden toys/ furnishing, biodegradable wipes or plain old cloth and water. Anyways tips to make all these things realistic as a first time mum would be appreciated. All my friends think I'm crazy so would love to hear some success stories.

Thanks in advance!

Also just looked up cheeky wipes! Looks great, not a fan of essential oils so will probably swap out as well. Thanks so much for all this. Any other tips still welcome.

You can just use plain water with the wipes if you don't fancy oils. In terms of reusable fear- as others have said, they are so much better than disposable wipes. My washing machine broke down recently and I was reminded how much I dislike baby wipes. The reusable ones are like nice thick face cloths-grippy and thick so you are further away from poop! If you are doing cloth nappies anyway you just shove them all in the wash together. I spent 20 quid on about 40 which have been on the go for about 16 months now (not cheeky wipes, nappy lady sets).

Cheeky wipes are amazing! I have an eight week old little boy and have been using them at home since birth. So easy to use and very effective at managing poop.

With regards to reusable nappies our birth to potty ones have just started to fit at eight weeks old and once you have a big enough stash of them it’s so easy. If your not sure or want advice the nappy lady has a really useful questionnaire and if your not looking for new a Facebook selling page too for pre loved nappies.

We didnt bother with the branded cheeky wipes. Just got several packs of brightly coloured microfibre cloths (£1 for 5 in B&M) Been going strong for over a year. I wash as normal, dry then soak 5 at a time in an air tight tub.

In the nappy bag i use biodegrsdable wipes ( never flush them though). I used both cloth nappies and regular depending on the circumstance ( and didnt feel guilty) but always made sure i used mio bambino swim nappies as felt awful throwing a nappy after only 30mins of use!! Rarely use nappy bags but most pet shops do biodegradable dog poo bags which are fab.

I also switched to a non bio clothes detergent in a cardboard box so i wasnt using the plastic bottles and switched temporarily to asda baby soap bar to reduce the shampoo/bubble bath bottles ( gave up as left a slime on bath,but perhaps worth a go)

Dont buy any plastic toys new but feel happy to buy from a charity shop and re gift when we r done with them. Also given the huge ecological inpact of the cotton trade i try buy all clothes 2nd hand and not from shops like primark!

Mam also do a glass baby bottle,so if you are considering expressing or formula feeding this is an option. When you get to weaning... we made most from scratch but if out and about then cow and gate come in glass jars rather than all the foil pouches!!

I love reading my son stories, but to avoid buying more I've got him a library card so we can keep going back for new books. It's free and means less waste/clutter in your house when he outgrows baby books

Biodegradable wipes are a massive con as they come in plastic packaging and are still an unnecessary single use product. We love cheeky wipes and they've saved us so much money.

Making your own baby food instead of buying pouches saves on waste too.

We don't use any lotions or anything on ds, just coconut oil that comes in a glass jar and a tiny bit of my shampoo which comes in a refillable bottle.

Breastfeeding is good for the environment if you can manage to get feeding established. Saves on waste and no carbon footprint (I've obviously got nothing against FF before I get flamed, I'm just pointing out that it's not as environmentally friendly as BF which is what the op asked about!). Boots do some good reusable breast pads.

Can't think of anything else right now.

I used reusable nappies for all three of mine from the moment they were born. I think if you start with disposable it's hard to switch. If you get properly set up with washable wipes, bucket, and nappies/wraps then you will be used to it from the start. Washable wipes are just like a damp flannel so similar to having a proper wash. And literally no extra work when you're washing nappies anyway. You can keep damp ones in a zip lock bag when out or have dry ones and a little bottle of water or lotion to use with them.

You can get cloth nappies to use from birth, I only got one to see how I got on but ultimately decided that the newborn nappies fit for such a short space of time it wasn't something I wanted to invest in. Obviously depends on the size of your baby too, but I've found the nappies one size fits most nappies I got are better now when my LG has made it past the 10lb mark.

I have bought a couple of second hand washable nappies on fb, but dh wasn't keen on that and as I'm hoping to use them on all my kids, I don't mind buying new. I'm not full time with washable nappies as I'm buying them bit by bit - just keep telling myself every time I use one at least it's one less disposable!

Inspired by this thread I've order the cheeky wipes starter kit!

Not a baby tip, but I use those 'water only' cloths or washable face wipes that I got on etsy rather than make up wipes. It's cut down on the amount of plastic I'm buying too as I use less products now.

Can't remember if I've said this but I use glass baby bottles (my milk never came in to bf). They're more expensive but I love them, and they're really sturdy too - I've dropped mine off the kitchen top and they've just bounced.

I used reusable nappies for all three of mine from the moment they were born. I think if you start with disposable it's hard to switch. If you get properly set up with washable wipes, bucket, and nappies/wraps then you will be used to it from the start.

This.

I used washable nappies on both of mine from the start. Mine were at nursery and they were happy to use them as long as I sent enough for the day, plus a bag to store the dirty ones in. DS has just turned 16 so we're talking quite a long time ago now. I'd be surprised if nurseries and childminders were put off using them now.

Breastfeeding is the number one eco step you can try to take. No packaging, no food miles, no power or water needed to make it! You will need a few more calories (cake is perfect) and some bras (available second hand) and plenty of support but if you can do it it’s great environmentally and financially. Otherwise wait until the baby has arrived before buying loads, and then try to get it second hand (apart from car seat, obvs) once you know what you really need.

Cloth nappies are great, you can get natural fibre ones that don’t shed microplastics (cotton or bamboo).
Cosleeping saves the need for a cot (still haven’t put ours together and my baby is 18 months!).

Hand me downs and eBay/Facebook marketplace for clothes. Sell on when you’re done with them.

Find baby groups to walk to.

You really don’t need much ‘stuff’. Like weddings, pregnancy is a marketer’s dream!

Can I ask what you use to put pooey wipes and nappies in while you’re waiting to wash them? So they don’t stink. Do you just use a bin with a lid then tip it all in washing machine once you’ve got a load?

If you do buy clothes, new or otherwise, think longevity- DD2 is in clothes that have gone through 4 or 5 kids whereas cheap stuff ends up falling to bits.

Ask family for experiences, not stuff- as baby gets older eg membership to local farm park, theatre tickets. I have bought quite a few people vouchers to local coffee shops or cafes as baby gifts so once they're feeling up to it they can get out- beats more plastic rubbish.

Can I ask what you use to put pooey wipes and nappies in while you’re waiting to wash them? So they don’t stink. Do you just use a bin with a lid then tip it all in washing machine once you’ve got a load?

That's what I did and the bin is still in use 10 years later in the kitchen except now I dump teatowels and floorcloths in it not nappies. (Many of the floorcloths are terry nappies that were used on all of my three kids.)

Second hand is the way to go with everything but a car seat.

And a lot of stuff labelled 'compostable / biodegradable' will not degrade in landfill which is deliberately managed these days so things DON'T degrade in them (so reducing methane and polluting runoff).

Can I ask what you use to put pooey wipes and nappies in while you’re waiting to wash them? So they don’t stink. Do you just use a bin with a lid then tip it all in washing machine once you’ve got a load?
Yep pretty much. If you get a proper nappy bin with a tight fitting lid then they dont smell, or at least not any more than a nappy bin of disposables. Pooey and wet nappies washed together so it doesn't take long to have enough for a whole load.

I forgot to mention washable breast pads. I found disposables really itchy and didnt stay in place. I used little lamb bamboo breast pads and they were very soft and lovely.

Logic would say that a closed lidded container would be best to contain smells but Clean Cloth Nappies (check out their website and Facebook page for fantastic washing advice) recommend a really open airy laundry basket to dry pail nappies. I was a bit sceptical but it really works. Anything more offensive than breastfed poo you'll want to scrape off and perhaps rinse before washing so you're not going to have stinky poos just sitting in the basket anyway but I have the basket sat in the nursery with days worth of nappies and can't smell a thing :)

Ladies this has been so amazing and will hopefully totally revolutionalise my motherhood experience! I'm still trying to get DH fully on board but he's will to give it a go which is great to start with.

Can I ask if you have any recommendations for reusable nappies from birth? I've been looking at a few but what do you guys use/ have used? What about terry cloths versus inserts?

To be honest at the moment my decisions are based on which looks the cutest but I realise this is not a reliable way to make decisions

We used a lidded bucket for dirty nappies (never soaked them) but washed most days anyway so they weren't sitting around for long.

We used Bimble nappies from Easy Peasy for our newborns. They do grow out of them relatively soon I guess (maybe 3 or 4 months) but ours were used for three babies so still cheaper than 3x 3months of disposables. We then moved onto Bumble nappies which lasted through to potty training.

Washable wipes are far more effective than disposables!

Maybe look into elimination communication too. We started holding D's over a potty early on, and by nine months he was doing all poos on the potty, and was mostly dry. It saved a LOT of washing!!

Bf is plastic free and very environmentally friendly. Getting some good breastfeeding support before and after the birth is so important if you want to breastfeed.

@bonbonours can't believe it never occurred to me that I could use the newborn cloth nappies with subsequent babies! Definitely something to think about next time round.

Does anyone else feel a bit overwhelmed when they start thinking about things like this? I find there's so much I could change but the thought of doing it all sends me into a panic! I suppose bit by bit is better than not at all.

Has anyone any experience with eco-friendly dummies? I found all rubber ones but they're quite dear and I wondered if they're worth the cost, or if I might as well stick to the ones we have and only give them when really needed.

OP one thing that's bothered me are bottle brushes - I'm on my second already and it seems so wasteful. Googled eco-friendly bottle brush and got a good list of options!

@bonbonours where did you buy your bimble nappies from? Their website isn't great and it's difficult to see clearly what the nappies are like.

With the lidded bucket did you have any water in it or just dry?

@Ibloodylovewomen wait pooing in toilet by 9months??? What sort of magic trick did you perform. I definitely need to look into this that's amazing!

2nd hand nappies are really great because different nappies suit different shapes babies (same with disposables). Plus newborn sizes are often like new!

Most reliable nappies are ones that use nappi nippas with desperate wraps like mother ease air flow, popolini popper wraps. Utterly bomb proof.

I found easy peasy bumbles amazing (had 3 DC in washables including a super wetter huge for age child, and a super skinny child) and managed to use them as birth to potty with extra boosting.

In many countries nappies aren't used, so parents notice their babies cues (their sounds, the way their body moves) that communicate that they need to pee or poo.

I mainly focused on the cues for poos, and it was very easy to sit DS on a potty when I could tell he needed to go. The alternative was just watch him poo in his nappy, and then have to go through the faff of cleaning him up! He was much happier for needing less nappy changes, and it saved lots of laundry.

By 12 months he would sign to tell me he needed the potty, and was clean/dry most of the time as I usually spotted his cues even if he didn't sign. Completely nappy free by 16 months. It was very chilled, and we didn't have any potty 'training' stress.

I've got friends who did EC from when their babies were born, and so they hardly used nappies at all!

www.mamanatural.com/baby-elimination-communication/

@strawberrysundayss My kids are 13, 11 and 9 so my info is a bit out of date, I did buy them online but obviously a long time ago! I know they have velcro ones and ones you use with a nippa. Bumbles are birth to potty and Bimbles come in different sizes, we had size 0 for newborns. Both need wraps obviously.