Why did you pick to use disposable/cloth nappies?

[ll80]

The main reason I switched to cloth with DD2 was the nasty chemicals found in sposies.
I didn't want anything next to my bubs skin which has been linked to toxic shock syndrome, possible infertility and many other horrible things.
Once I educated myself about what was actually in them there was no way in good conscious I could use them.
I just wouldn't take that risk, no matter how small, when there is a valid alternative.

I had alot of issues with DD1 and sposies, almost constant nappy rash which would bleed and break her skin. I am kicking myself now that I didn't educate myself sooner, I could have saved her alot of pain. I have not had one serious bout of nappy rash with DD2, except some redness when she must have pooped over night and I didn't notice.

As an added bonus they are cheaper and better for the environment, but they were not my main incentives. '

[~clover~]

Well, honestly at 18 when DD1 was born, I just couldn't be bothered with Cloth. Mum said I should get terry's for JIC moments, nappy free time, spew rags, etc, etc. I was young & niave & decided I'd be fine.

I did use terry's when the girls were born, coz the hossy provided them. But that was it with mine. Used on others kids baby sitting plenty of times.

I never considered them full time coz I thought that once I bought all that washing powder, plus nappy san, plus the power etc it was pointless. I thought the price all up wouldn't be much different.
I knew sposies weren't good for the environment & babies bot, but I thought they'd gotten better over the years & they weren't the plastic crap they used to be.

But then I found BB. I discovered the whole new world of MCN's. I never even knew there was an alternitive to terry's!
I was always curious, but only dreamt of them & their fluffiness! Then Ruddy handed out some money. That was the perfect opportunity. Ordered some MCN's & bought a pack of terry's. Haven't used a sposie since.
Money was really tight & I was so over wasting & 20 a week on nappies. So I stopped. He has not had a sposie on his butt since the day I bought the terry's & now even DD2 is using an MCN for bed.
Its not as time consuming or dificult as I thought. No soaking, cold water, sunlight. Even the sensitive skin powder we need is only $6 a box & since I only use it for nappies that one box will last at least a month or 2!
I'm washing every day atm, til I get more, but its still been easy so far! Even in the rain, lol (only coz I have a dryer!)

Oh & the extra paddedness on his cutsie little bot....Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm to die for!!!

[sazzafrazz]

I decided early in my pregnancy that I wanted to use cloth. I had no friends who did but my SIL had years earlier with her three.

I discussed it with another SIL and she pretty much poopooed the idea. She told me that the electricity, detergent and water used for laundering made cloth just as bad as sposies. She can be very dominating in conversation and I started to doubt my decision. (later I decided she was just alleviating her own concience having used them on one child and about to do it for her second). So she changed my mind and I was going to do disposables.

Then I had a think and did a lot of research online because I was sure they would be better and I really wanted to do the best thing for my bub, my purse and the environment. I found some amazing nappy sites and researched, researched, researched. I was re-converted back to cloth and I bought a dozen BBH hemp onesize and a few BG onesize pockets. I was so excited about them when they arrived! My DH thought I was crazy spending so much time reading about nappies! I was obsessed.

ETA: I was also buying gender neutral clothing but did venture into buying ONE pink nappy. My little extragance. I figured I could put it under clothes for a boy!

The clinchers for me was when I saw the studies that showed the harm of the chemicals in disposables on babies. Also the study that claimed the same quantity of water and electricity goes into producing ONE single-use nappy as washing a cloth 200 times!!!

I did use disposables till DD was 4weeks as I had bought one box and been given a few packets as presents. I was glad to though as I had a C sect. and hanging out the washing was dificult inthe first weeks. Also, she was just too small for the cloth I had, even terry squares were so bulky she couldnt lie down nicely. But after the first 4weeks the only sposies she has had were on a 5day holiday. Even staying at my parents recently for 5days I just used the washer twice. Easy peasy and no nasty rubbish bin for them.

I just love my cloth even though we dont have anything too fancy. I have 20 terry flats, a dozen BBH, a few pockets for out and about and my new FAVE: night nappies. No way would she ever wake up dripping with them. I just hated all the leaking we had with dispos. in the early weeks. Practically every breastfeed I would have to change my clothes or hers at least. Never had to again once in cloth!!! I love her chunky bum and showing off her cute covers with her little summer dresses. I ENJOY washing, hanging and folding them. Call me crazy and a full 13months of use with washing every day to start with and now every second day, they are all in almost new condition still! Dont think the sposies would be LOL.

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

I picked cloth.

Because I just didn't like the thought of handing over all that money to Pampers and various other throwaway nappy people! And the nappies in the landfill...

And we were short of cash. That was the angle I fed DH because that was his major concern.

Oh yes, I remember when I went from "I want to try cloth" to "cloth all the way!" and that was when my mum insisted on buying a huge pack of disposables and telling me I was stupid for wanting cloth. I didn't want terries, I wanted funky modern cloth that I'd been doing a bit of research on!

Nursery use sposies and I don't mind that, although DS does NOT get nappy rash with cloth and does occasionally with sposies. His toilet training is about 99% ready (DS knows EXACTLY what to do and how to do it, has done it of his own accord, just doesn't want to again until he's 100%) and I put that down to cloth.

I'm also lazy and didn't want to have to remember to buy nappies every week. Same reason I breastfed - if I can forget food for ME then I'm willing to bet I'd forget formula at least once!

[Je$$_84]

Being 20 and my 1st baby having older mothers influence i started using flats... But i didnt like the plastic pants they all said were just fab and the smell when i took them off... Blerk... So i went to sposies and also cos of people mainly telling me it was easier etc etc.

With DD i didnt think bout it and went straight back to flats as i had so many leakage issues with sposies. plus i decided was more environmentally friendly and also DD has sensitive skin and gets alot of ezcema. Once i started looking round for alternatives i didnt realise what a wide world of cloth there was...Still learning all there is to know from all the BB ladies... Get a bit lost with their abbreviations and their clothie lingo but were making progress and i just love how i'm not wasteing money. I have tried to switch my friends to no avail yet... Next bubs will be 100% cloth. I have brought few MCN's and so excited and cant wait to recieve my Maz-a-licious night Nap that i was so lucky to score.

BB has taught me so much and has made me a better mum for it. Just wish i had of known bout all the new cloth stuff sooner.

[Kazbah]

We wanted to use cloth before Pip was born, DH was looking into a cloth nappy service for terry flats.

Somehow we never managed to do that, and the hospital put us in sposies so we used them to around 6 months, but I didn't like the smell of the bin or the cost or the environmental impact.

We moved to bamboo sposies etc but they are very expensive ... then we wanted to go swimming. I had heard of "swim nappies" and saw that Kimbaz had a special on "swim nappies" in her signature. Contacted her and bought 1 swim nappy, and then also 2 monkey doodlez.

Well, that was the start of an obsession! My DH is not supportive of my MCN fetish, but he just rolls his eyes now. I won't buy sposies for him to use on Pip but I will buy disposable wipes to use. I shudder to think how many MCN I actually have!

Before I got into MCN, I used to toss everything into the bin - poo & all. Now DH will put poo in the loo so our bin does smell better ... I find it interesting that hospitals & MCHN services don't push the "put poo in the loo cause its illegal to bin it" information. It's only written in small print on the packs of nappies!

I like that I have gorgeous cloth bum to pat, and he looks funky, I've always hated the sight of a kid running around in a sposie, but MCN are more like designer clothing!
I have people in CC, mothers' group and work converted to MCN now - I have my little MCN keyring which encourages a lot of conversation which is brilliant!

[Macca79]

With DS we started on Terry Flats and used sposies at night till he was 8 weeks, then just stuck with flats. I then got onto MCN's and now have a real mixed bag of pea pods, BBH, Green Kids, Mico's and a stack I have made myself. This new bub will be in the ones I have made.

[Astrid]

Disposable user here.

When I was pregnant with DD1 I did look into MCN, but was not sure and knew I would have a bit of trouble convincing DH. We bought disposables and signed up to a nappy recycling service. Yes, extra money, but at least the nappies were not going into landfill.

Probably when DD1 was about 6 months I decided to go across to MCN. I bought a lot of different makes, to see what would work with DD. I got right into the whole fluffy mail thing. Anyway, it just did not work out. A number of the nappies I bought were not great, yes I did do my research, but there was only positive stuff out there. Not sure what it is like now, but back then anyone who said anything bad was shot down. I understand that the WAHM puts a lot of effort and care into making the nappies, but if they don't work, then I should be allowed to say that without someone coming onto BB and creating havoc. So all that put a real sour taste in my mouth, along with some of the cloth using attitude towards disposable users. Even though I was using MCN, I really did not care what other people used and I did not think they needed bad thing said about them (was not on this forum, but another). MCN was just not working for me, it did my head in worrying about the elastic, how much powder etc The novelty of the colours, prints etc wore off really quickly. DD1 was getting rashes and ended up with a really bad one, which I later worked out was connected to the commercial wipes solution I was using. (both girls also are prone to rashes when I do not use a cream) I also had concerns about how environmental it all was, all that patterned flannie bought from Spotlight and posted around Aus a few times could not be that wonderful. I still kick myself that I just did not do what I first thought of which was just buying a fulltime set of BBH and not concerning myself with other brands.

With DD2 I am using disposables, have toyed with pulling out the cloth again, but like Trillian I am on tank water and have had to truck in water twice since coming here (the gutters are stuffed and we had a long period without rain). I lent the BBH's to another mum for awhile, so they have had some use. Waiting to find a local mum who would appreciate them.

[[M]umma[M]ia]

We use sposies here. I didnt want to use cloth. Its full on enough trying to keep up with everything when u have poo to wash off nappies, wash them, dry them etc etc. I didnt want to focus on that, i wanted to give my girl all my attention. Even at 5.5 months i couldnt imagine using cloth and i think my water bill is high enough without them.
My sisters used cloth, which i guess in a way turned me off them even more. I would go an visit and all they were doing was washing, drying and folding. Day in and day out.
So yes.. that is why i chose sposies.

Btw... i have 20 flats here... great for spew cloths. lol

[Olive]

holly do you realise just how much water it takes to make just one sposie????? that and crude oil!!!

[Astrid]

holly do you realise just how much water it takes to make just one sposie????? that and crude oil!!!

I thought this thread was about the reasons for people's choices, not to challenge their reasons.

[maz]

I want to thank everyone for being so open about their choices....sposies or cloth...its doesn't matter does it.

It make's me humble to see that we all have the biggest thing in common

Doing what is best for our situation and our children.

[Olive]

not challenging just asking!!

[maz]

I thought this thread was about the reasons for people's choices, not to challenge their reasons.

It is hon...I wanted people to be able to post their reasons to help others understand why others have done what they have, without being questioned.

I dont want to make this a nappy war.....its about showing that even though we have different roads in our mothering journey's we all have the same motivation behind our choices and decissions.

[Je$$_84]

Hollye- I completly understand why u prefer sposies. When u have a chucker there is already so much washing.

Everyone asks me that i noticed... OMG all that washing... I dont see it as "all that washing" (JMO) I dont find it any more washing then normal ... I just wash the terry flats like towels minus the softner and extra washing powder. Its not hard for me but i can see it is for others. I should mention that i use sposies at night (well until i get my Maz nite nap... (need a 2nd... Hint Hint... LOL) i have been trying to pick up other MCN's but it seems lots of u MCN users are very quick and have a quick click... LOL. Need more fluff...

[Pretty Butterfly]

To be honest, I think nappy wars start because of mis- truths and wording of posts!!!

Sposies do use more water to make just one, than washing a mcn for its life span... so the water thing just is not true.. (except for those ones having to buy tank fulls... thats awlful! I couldn't even imagine not just having water all the time, I def wouldn't be using mcn in that case!...)

They are made with crude oil and chemicals and are hideously bad for the enviro..

But they are easy!!! I used them myself for years....

Sposie users can be proud and just say "its easy," rather than slander mcn users for wasting water or not spending enough time with their babies because of washing, neither of which is true. And mcn users dont need to slander sposie users for killing the enviro, we all do in our own way... (I'm not saying it has been refered to like that here, just whats out there in general!)

This thread has gone well, when so many like it dont!!!

[sloane]

well, i'm still in the planning process but i'm planning to use cloth. i've bought 3 cushie tushies so far & 6 small itti bittis (i keep taking the tiny itti bittis out of the cupboard to look at them - they're so teeny & cute! ).

What made you decide to use dispoable/cloth nappies?
my mum has always been a big supporter of cloth so i guess i grew up with that. i will admit to being hesitant to use terry flats because they seemed a little complicated/time consuming but then i started doing research & found out about mcn. so i guess i could see the combination of convenience of a sposie balanced with the cost efficient & enviromentally friendly aspects of cloth.

Did you research before hand or did you use jump in cause you thought it was what everyone else was doing?
i did a bit of research - some of it was about the environment & chemicals used in sposies but i guess, selfishly, the bulk of my research was around the time involved with using cloth. i was always keen on the idea of cloth but wanted to make sure that it wasn't something i'd stop using because it became 'too hard' i may end up using sposies for the first couple of weeks but i'm not going to beat myself up if i need/choose to do that.

[Arimeh]

Not getting involved in the discussion about the pro's and con's so just sticking my reasons in here...

What made you decided to use disposable/cloth nappies?

I used disposable until DS was around 14 months - just cos I was under the impression that it was too freakin hard using cloth - all the extra washing, soaking - god just the thought of it did my head in. Then one day I noticed how bad I felt when I chucked a sposie in the bin - I felt awful for what I was doing (and I wasn't aware that it was illegal to put poo in the bin too) so then I hunted around the cloth threads for a bit, and decided to google what a bumgenius was. OMG. A new love was born. I realised it looked just like a disposable, and nothing at all what I had in mind. From then on - it was cloth all the way and I didn't feel guilty for using them anymore. I was worried about the extra time it would take, since I was back at work and pregnant with DD, but really, it takes hardly any extra time to chuck a load in the washing machine, walk away, and then hang it out. I get DH to help me stuff the pockets too at night, so that gives us time to sit and chat about stuff, and do this at the same time (yup, teaching a MALE how to multi-task!!) so we get our "couple" time and do housework at the same time. Perhaps thats why it doesn't feel like a big deal even though we have two in cloth full time? Dunno.

Did you research before hand or did you use jump in cause you thought it was what everyone else was doing?

I researched, researched, researched. I researched the pros and cons. I researched how much work went into it. I found that my initial "nah too hard" issues were wrong. I researched how easy it was, and how beautiful they are!!!!

So yup - cloth user all the way.

I don't care that people use sposies - cos I did it! I don't particularly like some reasons that are given to not using cloth when their reasons are uneducated and misguided - much like my own were!! But I didn't turn to cloth because someone told me to - or told me it was better - I probably would have turned a colourful phrase back at them if they did. Nobody likes to be told that their way is wrong after all

Each to their own - stand up and be proud - cloth OR sposie users!!! (oh and the EC girls as well - take my hat off to you for that one!!!)



ETA - thought I should come back and mention that when I said about about the reasons for not using cloth being uneducated and misguided - I am not directing that towards anyone on here in particular - more so my sister who thinks I am TOTALLY STUPID for using cloth nappies because she thinks I am soaking, scrubbing and damn well polishing the nappies before the next use