Thinking about ditching cloth at 21 mths

[starkadder]

Hi all

I've just posted this in AIBU but then thought here might be a good place too - hope that's OK! Any advice gratefully received.

We've used cloth since he was born (apart from disposables at night and when on holiday). Always worked really well and I have been very happy.

The thing is - now he's 21 mths - cloth nappies (unless I really bulk them out - we use pocket nappies) are soaked through in 3-4 hrs. One disposable can last all day, unless there's a poo of course - but he's really a one poo a day boy these days.

So, cloth nappies are now a LOT more trouble than disposables - it means changing him 4 times as often, plus washing, hanging to dry, putting away etc etc all the cloth nappies. Not sure if the washing of 4 or 5 nappies a day is that much more eco friendly than the use of 1 disposable either. PLUS clothes he's grown out of wearing cloth still fit him in the disposables.

BUT am I being unreasonable on two counts -

1. is it unreasonable to only change a disposable after a poo or should I change it every few hours anyway?? My reasoning has been that he wears one for 12 hours overnight anyway, so what's the difference? He's never had nappy rash.

2. Is it unreasonable to give up on cloth nappies now - should I see them through till we attempt potty training (at some point in the next year)?

Genuinely seeking honest answers..thanks in advance..

I think you should change nappies at a max of 3-4 hours whatever is on baby's bottom - nothing worse than a baby with a minging nappy hanging round its knees It saddens me that parents think that is acceptable.

I hate disps - they are gross - I cringe when I have to use one as they truly are the worst invention of the last 50 years.

I think you can grasp my take on it!

YABU by the way

I don't use disposables very often (cases of severe washing machine emergency/travelling without access to washing machine only!), but there's no way I could make one last all day. I last used them when DS was about 14 months and the longest I could make a standard eco-disposable last was about 5 hours. I'm guessing that a pampers-chemical-gel effort might last as much as half as long again, if your DC has robust skin and isn't prone to nappy rash (my DS rarely gets rash, so I have some idea of pushing the boundaries of nappies!). But 10-12 hours in one nappy sounds far too long.

So no, you're not being unreasonable to give up cloth if the misery is outweighing the eco benefits for you, but whatever you use, I think more than one nappy change a day would be a Good Thing

Actually no. Four hours. I just worked it out (in terms of when I change in relation to when he was napping).

Keep with the cloth nappies. He'll know when he's wet and dirty in cloth nappies whereas in disposibles they stay so dry he won't have a clue that he's wee'ed. Especially if you only change one nappy a day.

At 21 months he may be coming up to being ready for potty training anyway, and it's my experience that children in cloth nappies are potty trained sooner then children in disposibles.

Agree with Octo. ds2 started out weeing his pockets at this age too - I ended up buying some size three tots which were better. He potty trained around 6 weeks later - it is the beginning of the end .

Private nurseries change them every 3 hours or so, too (and that's disp or cloth).
I guess it's up to you, OP. I don't mind the changes every 3-4 hours, but only you can say if it's too much hassle for you.

I hate pocket naps, by the way, I know they work great for some, but I always found them rubbish!

I agree with what everyone else has said - leaving your son in his nappy for 10-12 hours is completely unreasonable and probably not too comfortable either. My dd was a cloth-bottom until our washer packed in and we had to start going to the laundrette (about 6 months ago). She's now in eco-disposables (oxymoron?? ) but I still change her as soon as she wees. It's obvious when she does as the nappy suddenly converts to a "low rise nappy".

Whatever you decided to do in terms of nappy choice, please do not leave him in a sodden nappy. He should really be changed every 2 or 3 hours, if not more.

Both my girls stopped wearing day time nappies at 21 months, we sat them on the potty once a day from the age of 7 months or so, and the just progressed naturally to being totally potty trained by that age.

You may find he'll be ready to potty train soon, perhaps start asking him if he's wee'd every now and then, suggest he can wee in the potty etc.

But irrespective of what nappy you use, please change him more than morning and bedtime, leaving him in one disp all day is revolting!!

Like the others have said.

I don't care what type of nappy you use, but change the things.

In reuseables you have to change 4 times a day, so he is weeing at least that many times a day. In a disposible you leave him with that much wee to walk round in all day. YABU.
Changing a nappy every 3-4 hours is normal whatever nappies you use.

starkadder - is your DS drinking enough in the day because his urine output in the day sounds very low if one disposable can do all that time in the day?

I also have a 21 month old and if I left a nappy on that long, it would fall down with the weight of wee in the day.

Personally, I'd switch to disposables. I'd never leave a disposable on longer than 4 hrs in the day anyway.

OK, so pretty much everyone is agreed that all day in one disposable is a nono! In my defence, I'd like to add here that I've never done this on purpose ..! He's in cloth at home but over Christmas we were travelling all over the place and using disposables - including a few all day in the car/plane type situations - and realised at the end of the day that we had not changed him since breakfast time..!

dinoroar - yes, he drinks loads! as can be seen from the fact that cloth are soaked through in 4 hrs. Disposables are Pampers, I think (different brand name here - Dodot) and they are freakishly absorbent.

cloth are meant to be soaked through in 4 hours

ALL DAY!!!?

Seriously?

Am a bit shocked that you are surprised that a cloth nappy would be soaked through in 3-4 hours! What else do you expect? Would you like to sit in a wet nappy for 4 hours or more?

am not in the least surprised that cloth soaked through. Was v surprised that disposables not. No need to get so annoyed with me; that's what I was asking, after all...

I think you guys are being mean to OP for wanting to leave disps on long periods. When I do use disps, I leave them on as long as possible. That might mean all day if I'm lucky, and I'd be extremely surprised if most disp users weren't the same. This thread is not representative on this point, because most ppl who think like me will be too scared to post!

Would be different if the child were prone to rash, but OP has said that isn't a problem.

thank you bidibidi! I was feeling a bit upset that people had jumped on me so much.

I don't think anyone has jumped on you they have pointed out that as parents it is our duty to fufil the needs of our little ones and by not changing a nappy for 12 hours that is obviously not meeting that childs needs.

But... why 4andnotout? I mean, some tots really don't fill up a disp in a 12 hour period. And their skin doesn't suffer for wearing a disp that long, either.
I think maybe meeting children's needs is more individual than using simple rules of thumb.

Every disp user I know has a story about the time they left a disp on too long, it got over-full and the crystals spilled out. It must be pretty common practice.

I'm sorry but there is no excuse for leaving a child in a sodden nappy. If the child has wet the nappy, change it - don't see if you can squeeze a couple more hours out of it. Do you also see if you can squeeze a couple more hours out of your sanitary towel? [shudder]

I don't believe that most disposable users try to get as long as possible out of them, to the point of using them all day if they can. I am the only reusable user I know (and we are these days using disposables half the time) and I have never come across anyone leaving one on for that long. And before you say that they might be afraid to admit it, I find this is not the case, that most parents are often quite brave in admitting the things that they have done that contravene most guidelines, like a badge of honour or something.

It's just disgusting.

bidibidi so would you like to sit in a urine filled nappy for 12 hours? Nappy changing is a basic need.