I am not starting this thread to start a slinging match..so please take your boxing gloves of at the fornt door
After reading and rereading a thread recently its got me thinking...
What made you decided to use dispoable/cloth nappies?
Did you research before hand or did you use jump in cause you thought it was what everyone else was doing?
I have been on both sides of the ball. I used terry squares until my eldest 2 were 3 months old and to big for them to funciton (in my brain) correctly for us..so we used sposies (until my second eldest was 4 1/2)
before I had Vyolett I decided to do some research to see what was out there and it wasnt until i had had her and my besty introduced me to MCN that I knew it was the road we would take. I decided on the enviromental factor mainly...I didnt want to leave my footprints behind or endanger the world any further.
Im also very thankful now that i have choosen this path and its helped Mateauz medically. He has cerbal Palsey and his hip placement isnt so good...I remember at his 3 month check up the Nuro surgeon and Ped down at the Royal Childrens saying it was the best thing I could have done due to the support cloth gives to the area rather then the flexibility or disposables....and now we have seen a difference in his hips too.
So please....I want this to be a thread were we can bounce of each other and help others in making the right choices for themselves in the regards of disposables / cloth nappies without making them feel terrible for the path they are going down.
i've made the choice to use cloth when Gremlin arrives partially from reading a lot on BB about the advantages, partly from a financial perspective (i HATE throwing stuff away when it's only been used once - i am a recycler all the way - and you can't do that with sposies!), from an environmental perspective - and, cos i'm a slack ass that seems to forget things when i go shopping and the nearest place to get sposies is a 40k round trip, not open 24/7, and i know it would be just my luck i'd run out in the middle of the night!
my mum used to do FDC and i hated the waste from the sposies - it reeked!
plus, sposies are ugly and boring - MCN's are so purddy! and DH is supporting me in using cloth, i've converted mum from a "if gremlin is here, she'll use sposies" stance to a "i can see why you'll use cloth, i'll just get you to make sure we have the same powder so i can wash them for you" stance, in a matter of months just by sharing info on the benefits of cloth vs disposables (and by showing her our nappy stash - or some of!)
i'm not saying i'll never use disposables - there may be times where we have no choice - but i'm doing my best to have a stash and all the associated bits and bobs so that this isn't necessary. i know in myself that if things seem too hard that i'll fold and go the convenience option so we've got more nappies than we ultimately "need" but it means if i'm home alone and having a bad day, i don't HAVE to wash that day - i can take a day off and still be able to get everything washed and dried without running out...
Typing one handed with an unhappy boy in my lap so I may have to finish this later.
We use sposies and planned to do so, at least in the first few months.
We used to live in a two storey house where doing the washing involved trudging downstairs to put a load om, coming back upstairs to wait for it to finish, then going back down to hang it out... I'd often hang the washing on airers inside or sinply chuck it in the dryer because being in pain was so exhausting I often couldn't get it hung out.
I have bad arthritis and often the stairs just get too much. We planned to use sposies at the start to reduce some of the washing load that I'd face with a new baby - at least until we'd figured out how the arthritis was going to go after birth.
It became WAY worse than I ever could have imagined it getting.
We've moved now, and I don't have the stairs, but I'm still generally too exhausted to keep on top of the washing enough to make sure we all have clean clothes. Things are improving slowly with new medication, but I'm still a long way off being able to contemplate switching to cloth.
I'd love to be able to switch to MCN... but my health makes it impossible for us for now.
We use disposables,and for pretty much the same reason as everyone esle who does- convenience.
Before Bub was born I had wanted to use cloth,but I read quite a few articles that said studies on environmental impact hadnt found either better than the other, to farm cotton for cloth nappies and the amount of energy and water used has a huge impact on the environment and then plus the water and energy to wash them after every use...
then you have the amount of landfill with disposables, so they both affect the environment but in different ways.
Last edited by Peach*; April 1st, 2009 at 11:57 AM.
: poor grammar!
I use both - Sposies for FDC and going out. I do this as FDC insists on sposies, and I find it easier to go out with sposies.
I use Cloth for weekends. I make my own prefolds, pockets and fitteds, based on info I have picked up along the way. I prefer prefolds and covers, and I bought good covers for the prefolds (and fitteds). I like them as they dry quite quickly and working full time it gets hard to wash.
I wish I had the money to buy more professional ones... but I have just as much fun picking fabrics for the pockets.
We originally wanted to use cloth so used terry flats from the time DS came home from hospital.. Didn't last long for me. I was hopeless at folding them, found it hard to keep up with the washing, found it hard to get them on a wriggly baby etc. So I started using disposable. DH really persisted with the cloth. He liked the idea of using it - and had the knack for folding them! Whenever I put a disposable on DS, he would mention cloth. At this stage I didn't even know MCN exsisted, until one day I saw a girl at a mums and bubs movie session changing her baby. Got home and jumped straight on BB!
We then graduated to part time cloth - cloth at home and disposables for nighttime and going out. I think I initally wasn't confident in leaving the house in cloth - not sure why. We also pretty much stuck to the one brand also. Then I was given a recommendation for a brand of nappies (Itti's) from a girl in my Baby Buddies group, and once I tried them I was hooked!
DH is pretty supportive of me buying cloth (I don't think he actually realises how much I have!) so we have tried a few different brands and built up a good stash. We mainly only use a disposable at night - haven't gotten into night nappies yet.
If we have a second bub, I would love to do full time cloth and try out more brands. I am kind of at the end of my MCN buying for DS (although I did buy another Itti in the sale last night, thanks to a 'quick get on Itti' text from a friend.. CrystalBoo looking at you!) because he has so many.
I like the idea of using cloth - I wash at night and hang them out in the morning, so not alot of extra work. I LOVE not having to go outside to the bin so many times a day. I love having either a line full of cloth, or lovely fresh folded cloth waiting to be used. And I love getting fluffy mail! DS also doesn't seem to get nappy rash anymore,and at one stage we had problems with thrush so I think the cloth has really helped in both aspects. I don't really have an issues with using disposables, they are so convient for many people. I think my cloth journey has been made so much easier by having a supportive DH - who was just explaining to a friend of his the other night all about cloth. So cute
I'm using cloth... there was never any question for me really, primarily because my sister uses MCN nappies on my niece and I have seen how easy they are to use. I like the environmental benefits, mainly the reduction in my rubbish.
I live in an area where the council has a three-bin system - green for garden waste, yellow for recyclables and dark green for everything else. The dark green bin is TINY (much smaller than the other two) and only emptied fortnightly. I couldn't stand the thought of 2 weeks' work of disposables building up in there... ewww.
The other reason is that a good friend of mine runs a MCN business and would have excommunicated me if I used sposies...
Having said that, DD was in terry flats at hossy for the first day or so (their policy, so they can more accurately monitor urine output), then she was in sposies until we came home.
There was finallya small study done on MCN v's sposies on the enviro.. all previous studies were done on terry flats, cottons, chemicals and water and didn't take into account the "new" way of cloth, no chemicals, renewable bamboo plantations, less water... I'll see if I can dig it up.... But it did finally show that a mcn was much better than sposie's these days for the evironment...it still takes a massive amount of water and chemicals to make 1 sposie, and then its thrown away, whereas a little water, no chemicals and sunshine keeps a mcn for years and years... I'm not very good at links and such so bear with me here.....
I am not starting a fight on the enviro points of nappies please, just stating studies ladies....
British report reveals reusable nappies offer substantial enviro benefits.
The Environment Agency, UK, has revealed that using reusable nappies, as opposed to disposable ones, can save families, carers and the environment 40% in carbon emissions.
The 'Updated Lifecycle Assessment Study for Disposable and Reusable Nappies', published on Friday in the UK, was the largest and most comprehensive study of its type ever to be undertaken examining the environmental impacts of the two nappy systems.
Lucy Westerman, Director of the Australian Nappy Network is delighted with the findings, saying that, "This report represents a dramatic step forward in propelling community education, amongst parents and carers, and confirms exactly what we have known for many years - that reusable nappies really are much better for the environment than disposables."
The quantity of disposable nappies currently being sent to landfill, in Australia alone, is reaching dramatic proportions. Recent research shows that Australians are throwing away one billion disposable nappies every single year, with each of these taking up to 300 years to fully decomposei.
"The environmental impact of disposable nappies in Australia is immense," explains Ms Westerman. "Coupled with the landfill issue you also have to consider the impact of the materials, chemicals and resources that go into the manufacturing and packaging of disposables."
"The Report demonstrates that by simply washing reusable nappies in full loads, using an energy efficient washing machine, set under 60? Celsius, line-drying them and reusing them on other children provides over 40% reduction in carbon emissions, compared to the use of disposables."
"In Australia, obviously we have to be very conscious of using our water efficiently but we have the significant benefit of the climate, which enables most Australians to air-dry throughout the year," she continued.
Today's reusable nappies bridge the gap between the cloth of by gone eras and disposables. Reusables are increasingly produced with minimal impact from highly absorbent sustainable eco-friendly fabrics such as organic cotton, bamboo and hemp. Such fabrics are incredibly effective and soft for your baby to wear with the added convenience of being quick-drying, fitted like disposables or flat, with velcro, snappis or press-stud fasteners and no longer requiring soaking.
"Typically a baby will get through between 4000 and 6000 nappy changes before it is toilet trained, so when you consider the impact of this on the environment and the cost effectiveness of using reusables, it's a win-win situation, not only for the environment but for your pocket too."
"If you then go on to reuse these nappies on another child you create even greater savings and by adopting reusable nappies means that parents and carers are in control of the impact they have on the environment," concludes Ms Westerman.
When I had my first I was a terry flat girl all the way, but then I only had 1 child and there was no drought, so washing them wasn't an issue. Then by the time #2 was coming along, we were in a drought and being on tank water only, it made it hard to justify the extra water needed to wash them all. Mind you, MCN's weren't like they are now and what was available really didn't appeal to me so I switched to sposies fulltime (previously only used them when going out or travelling). 7 years later we are still in drought, I have only about half a tank of water left (we are really hoping it rains in the next week or so or otherwise we will have to cart water) and I don't care what anyone says about the benefits of dry pailing, it is still an extra load of washing to do when I already do more than enough and heck, life is too short to spend nearly half a day each day washing bloody clothes, linen and nappies. For us both ways are damning to the environment (cost of producing the fabrics and physically making the nappies and water used to wash them and the cost to the environment from firstly producing and then disposing of the nappy) but we had to consider the cost of transporting in extra water and all of the environmental implications of that so sposies won the battle. So yeah, I'm going to rape the environment for a little while longer till I no longer need to use them
I used the old terry flats years ago with my first two kids... less nappy rash, cheaper, and better for the enviro were my reasons then...
But as #3 and #4 came, I really couldn't be stuffed... Too tired and busy for soaking and washing....
Then had a looksee into the MCN world from seeing them around here on BB... and fell in love with cloth all over again!!!
Easy, healthy, cheaper, soooo much cuter, much better for eviro... I couldn't see a down side, I LOVE washing my nappies and putting them on the line... and all my kids have a passion for them too now..
The more I researched, the more my mind was made up, how could I not delve in..
I have just converted 2 cousins about to have babies, they are all in love too...
What made you decided to use dispoable/cloth nappies?
With DS, I planned to use cloth, but I never really had enough to give it a go full time, so figured that I would do it part time. In my case this was a bad idea, as I never had enough to do a full load, and DH freaked at the idea of putting the nappie in with any of the other washing. This combined with a very tumultuous breastfeeding experience led to me stopping using them, I couldnt get it together to wash our clothes let alone loads of nappies as well.
But i think if it had been full time, I could have figured it out as a load a day is easier than trying to figure out how the heck to wash 2-3 nappies.
I admit i was also worried about it affecting his sleeping, but in hindsight, he was sleeping 5 hours at a stretch form week 1, and i didnt have any proper night weight nappies.
Did you research before hand or did you use jump in cause you thought it was what everyone else was doing?
I did research, and was really disappointed that I couldnt make cloth work the first time around.
I found disposables convenient but the expense was just incredible, we would go through a box a week most weeks, as DS was not one of those bf bubs who poos once a week..more like twice a day. And the fact that the only ones that didnt leak were the most expensiove brand did not help much either.
Why did you pick to use disposable/cloth nappies?
Reply With Quote
.
Too tired and busy for soaking and washing....
Bookmarks