Convincing DH to use cloth nappies - any tips?

[HolidaysQueen]

Hello all -

I'm 20 weeks pregnant (first baby) and about 90% convinced that I want to use cloth nappies. The remaining 10% depends on DH not being completely averse to them so I need to convince him that they are a good idea.

He isn't looking forward to dealing with poo, or anything that requires too much dexterity, so thinks that disposables will be easiest to deal with as you just fasten the tabs and then throw the nappy away afterwards. He does understand the eco-issues and would be more than happy to go for Moltex or Nature or some other more eco-friendly disposables, so it's just a matter of convincing him that cloth nappies won't be much more difficult and are actually even more eco-friendly. Also he wants to be quite 'out and about' with our baby so he thinks disposables will be better for that - need a good argument why we can still use real nappies when on the move.

Anyone got any tips from convincing their DH? Do you think a demo of a nappy would be a good idea and that I should maybe show him pictures of all the cool wraps available on the internet, or do you think it better if I just buy the nappies and then leave him to deal with it once the baby is here?

Thanks!

HQ xx

I wouldn't even go there till the baby arrives - - - good luck.

money? is undeniably cheaper. cool wraps won't sway a man imho.

first off he will have to get over his poo phobia if he ia going to seriously pull his weight. This is true whatever kind of nappies you use.

but some points

1. newborn baby poo is actually not that stinky. It only smells when combined with the stuff they put in disposibles
2. most nappies are just as easy to put on as disposibles on a non crawling baby. There is an issue around 1 when pull ups suddenly become easier but this is a long way away for you
3. the on the move thing is tricky. Some babys only poo once or twice a day and then it really is not difficult to carry some wet nappys around. Some breastfed babys do poo upwards of 10 times a day though and you might want to mix and match when you go out if that is the case

Demo would be ideal - he can see all the different types of nappies out there, feel the difference (I had one couple sat feeling a disposable then a cloth - their choice not mine - and saying how much they would prefer to wear the soft one)

What about pocket nappies? They go on just like disposables - particularly if you pick velcro fastening ones... If you use flushable liners in them as well that will catch a lot of the poo...

Lol Flame I was going to say ask him which one he would rather wear!

Def cost, and poo will have to be dealt with whatever, in fact IME cloth contains it way better than disposible, in that it tends to stay just ont he nappy so you rinse that rather than all the way up the baby's back so you have to wash poo off the baby

Out and about, much of the time you don't end up changing in a proper changing area, more on the floor whever you happen to be, and not all chaging facilities have nappy bins so you end up carrying the dirty nappies round anyway.

As for learing how to use them, dp is terrible at amnything involving dexterity and even he can fold a good nappy.

If you want a quote from a dad - I asked DH the other day to change DS and we had both cloth and disposable in the house... he asked which he should use and I said whichever was easiest for him.

His reply "They're both the same" and put on cloth

I agree with flame that a demo would help - my dh was a bit put of at first but then i got some fuzzis and heinys delivered and before i knew it he was showing any visitors our 'cool nappies'!! obviously now we have had over kill with my enthusiasm, lol! I will take on board your little hold a disposable and hold cloth tip though flame and use that on my next one!

Thanks all! Demo it is then - and definitely with the nastiest disposable I can find as a side by side comparison

I'll give him the demo so he has been 'involved' in the decision but then go ahead and just buy lots of soft, cuddly nappies myself and as nevermore says not go there anymore until after the baby arrives and he just has to deal with it!

Good luck! I use cloth nappies on my DD but DH just refuses to have anything to do with them. I even got some all in ones especially for him to use (no faffing around with seperate nappy and wrap) but he still wont go there, so its disposables when Dads on duty!

with dh I'm afraid I simply let him not deal with the poo - i.e. he changes the nappy, and then leaves any pooey ones at the top of the bucket for me to rinse out. it's not that big a deal (I seem to mnind the smell much less than him).

terries are just as easy to use when out and about though - just slightly more bulky. I always feel I should take away any pooey disposable nappies from eg cafes anyway. if he's that bothered you could use disps only when out, but that's not going to be a large percentage of the time is it?

terry nappies are ace though. it's not just the environment or even the money (though those are good reasons to use terries), but that you have fewer possible reasons for an emergency late night dash to the supermarket!

DS is 2 and still in cloth, he has started at a local nursery each afternoon and they are happy to change cloth nappies. DH doesn't get on with them so I usually have a few disposables just in case.

When I have people round to look at nappies I allways let them feel the difference between cloth and disposable. I also show them how easy modern cloth nappies are.

Two words: poo explosions.

Common in disposables (poo shoots straight up back and you then have to find a way to remove a wriggling baby from a shit covered vest without daubing it over everything in the manner of Jackson Pollock's later era) but nearly unheard of in a nice snugly fitting washable nappy.

gizmo - that is the best reason i've heard yet. DH hates poo (which is part of his issue with real nappies!) so he would really really hate dealing with a whole explosion of the stuff!

I agree with gizmo. It settled it for dh - to the point of taking all the cloth nappies on holiday with us when dd was 4 months old. Much better to deal with a pooey nappy than an entire pooey outfit, a poo-covered baby and poo that has got through to your clothes too.

Secondly, who does the shopping? Not buying disposables works quite nicely.

Hi everyone -

I had a brief talk with DH about reusables this weekend and gave him a very brief demo of a Motherease which I picked up in Waitrose. I'd spent the few days prior saying things about how even eco-disposables didn't really biodegrade in landfill etc. so that he was primed... Anyway, he was surprisingly unfazed by it although when I explained wraps and liners he said it sounded all a bit confusing and more work than a disposable.

So I agreed with him that I'll try and buy nappies and wraps with velcro rather than poppers to make it as much like a disposable as possible (I think I convinced him that 4 bits of velcro rather than 2 bits of plastic tape was not much extra effort really), and that we'll use disposable liners (at least when he's doing the changes) so that it is nice and simple for him.

He even started thinking logically about the best place to put the nappy bucket which was more than I had done - we're having a utility room and downstairs loo built so he suggested it all go there so it's right next to loo and washing machine.

So I think he has been convinced!!! gizmo - mention of poo explosions did seem to help

Thanks for your help guys - I really appreciate it!!!

Hurrah!