are we supposed to flush poo from disposables down the loo?

[nomorechoc]

ok - my last question for now - ..even tho i have been changing nappies for over 3 yrs i am wondering if its ok to put dirty nappies in the bin or if i'm supposed to flush the poo down the loo..

I think the general mn consensus is yes, flush the poo down the toilet.

However I'm not sure how widely known/done this is because I use Tescos own nappies and on the packet it says to put the used nappy in a nappy sack and put into household waste.

I do flush poo that comes away from the nappy easily.

I always try to flush the poo down the loo - more hygienic, I always think, and cuts down on the smell in the bin

It is actually illegal to dispose of human faeces in landfill. But I don't know any disposable users who flush the poo - so well done to the posters above!

Yes, you should flush it, at the thought of all that poo, wrapped in plastic nappies, in plastic bags, here for all eternity.

Wonder how long before disposables are outlawed?

I have never put poo from disposables down the toilet. Nappies used at home arent classed as clinical waste and it is fine to dispose of them and their contents in your bin. Waste nappies generated by nurseries, etc are classed as clinical waste though so have to have a seperate collection.

I use washables except on the odd occasion that I use a disposable and always flush poo down the loo. I asked friends recently if you still do that when using disposables and they looked at me as if I were mad! If you are meant to do it, I don't think many people at all do.

I must say that I didn't flush poo from disposables in my early days of changing nappies when using disposables.
However, one of my reasons for using reusables most of the time was because of the smell and huge amount of rubbish - so for the past year or so I have always flushed poo.

Now we are potty training, it seems to have helped DD1 see that poo goes in the loo.

It's not illegal to put disposable nappies (complete with poo) into a domestic refuse bin. It is still classed as household waste. I can't find the exact Defra webpage at the moment, but it is part of the waste regulations/directives. As to good practise, yes, scrape it off by all means. But it is not illegal.

Found it!

www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/topics/clinical.htm

The key section is this "If the waste is non-hazardous, and as long as it is appropriately bagged and sealed, it is acceptable for the waste to be disposed of with household waste. This is usually the case with sanitary towels, nappies and incontinence pads (known collectively as sanpro waste) which are not considered to be hazardous when they originate from a healthy population."

I don't bag any nappies or sanitary towels. Is that wrong then? (Most of poo goes in toilet)

How do you flush the poo down the loo? Do you rip off the lining bit or something. I will be extremely if everyone else's children do firm sausage-type poos, mine do/did squidgey ones that spread fairly evenly over the entire nappy.

bran - my DS did squidgey poos that were hard to scrape, but my DD's are more sausagey . I wouldn't tear apart a disposable as they have nasty crystally bits in. Sometimes I use a bit of toilet paper over my hand and then use my hand to scrape.

Well some of DD's are so sticky that it takes 4 or 5 wipes just to detach the poo from her bum so I doubt a bit of loo roll on my hand would have much effect on the nappy. Even if I managed to remove say 60% of it, would it make that much difference? The nappies would still need to be sealed in a bag because I'd never get all or even nearly all of the poo off it.

I wonder if people have poo spatulas? That might work.

I think it means if it's bagged in a black bag, but then we have a wheelie bin which doesn't have a bag! We wrap most nappies back in on themselves so they're a sort of sealed parcel and just pop them staright in, but really manky ones we do bag. Sanpro I also wrap back up in it's own little wrap they come with.