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..

Bibidiki/starkadder, It's not a case of only changing the nappy when it's too full to take any more surely? They cost about 22p each fgs.

Look guys, give me a break here - I have very little experience with disposable nappies in the day time and that's WHY I was asking...! For what it's worth, I was also a bit "ew" about leaving it for 12 hrs in the day but then thought - is there a logical reason for that? Since I leave him in the same nappy overnight - what's the difference? And to those who said that since he doesn't drink in the night, he pees less - actually, weirdly, this doesn't seem to be the case. For my DS at least, the morning nappy is very bulgy and gel filled, whereas a disposable nappy at lunch time still seems pretty dry and thin. Disposable nappy after a full day is pretty bulgy but not much more than the night time one. So, I'm still left thinking - if it is so disgusting to leave one nappy all day - do some of you wake your children up to change their night time nappies? And if not, why not?

FWIW, I do think that changing a nappy every single time your child pees (which seems to be what anniebeansmum is suggesting) is excessive and a little wasteful.

Anyway, I'm interested in everyone's opinions and thank you all for your advice.

My plan from here is to use disposables in the morning, check it at nap time and if not too "bulgy", leave till after nap and then use cloth in the afternoon (when we tend to be at home so it's easier to deal with changing them etc. Also afternoons I am at work and DH is on child duty, haha ).

Thanks again.

The thing with the night time nappy is that they wake up and do their big wee in the morning, so most of the night, they are in a mostly dry nappy as most babies don't wee much in the night. So for almost all of the night, they are in a clean dry nappy. Then they wake up, wee and you change them.

I don't think anyone actually thinks that you change them every time that they wee, after all, who actually knows when they do it? When DD is in a disposable, if she hasn't pooed after a couple of hours, max 3 then I will check and if it seems wet enough to change, I change it. It's not a case of changing to a strict routine.

If it is genuinly the case that your child does not wee enough to need changing, all day every day, then I think you should see the doctor, or try to up his fluids. I mean, at 21 months, he must have some form of bladder control and be weeing at regular intervals, rather than loads of tiny wees, so where is it if it's not in his nappy? Is he drinking enough?

Assuming no poos I would do the following on a typical day - (for DD of course, your nap times may be different)

Wake and change night nappy
change before morning nap at 9.30
change after lunch at 12-12.30
mid afternoon change 3ish
then change for night at about 6.

You asked about changing from reusables because they were getting too wet, we simply pointed out that the reason for that was that you were not changing them regularly. People got a little het up, but then that's because it's vile to leave a child in a nappy for that long.

thats all i can say

i have occasionally left my toddler in a nappy for 6 hours (by accident, rushing around getting things done) but not 12 !

I can't believe you leave a nappy on your DS all day. Disposable or not, nappies should be changed every few hours (or as often as child wees/poos). I don't know anyone who would think that 12 hours during the day is acceptable. Shocked.

I agree with not leaving a nappy on all day, but I think those of you who change nappies every 3 hours is a bit pointless. At one point I had 3 kids in nappies (toddler and twin babes) and was filling my own landfill site. Personally would always change a poo immediately, but would change wet ones when full. Too often is just a waste of money.

That's why I use cloth, ponygirl

Well I used to change DD's disposables every 3/4 hours until it got to the point where I was throwing away a nappy that looked like it had hardly been used and I don't think that's very eco friendly.

My DD must be a bit of a weirdy because she pees loads at night and not a lot in the day. She does drink a lot of water in the day but doesn't seem to pee it out until night!

She's never had nappy rash, and certainly not a nappy hanging down to her knees!

Personally, as he's saving it all up in one go, first of all I'd try to catch some wees eg bath time, first nappy of the mrning - and see if he is amenable to potty training. No reason why he can't do it (read a 1960s Dr Spock and the average age is 18m!), and will certainly save you the hassle/cost of disposables.

I definitely didn't mean that I change the nappy after every wee. It's common sense - if my dd wees and she suddenly has plumber's butt, then she needs to be changed. FWIW, my daughter has BIG wees so usually one wee is enough to fill the nappy.

I go through between 6 and 7 nappies in a day (unless she is a pooping demon which is quite often).