Any of you considering going cloth nappy over disposable?
It's our first bubba and we have been talking about going for cloth. I do have a friend who has just had her first and laughed at me ( or just about) when I said we were considering it, basically saying stuff like "sweetie you won't have time and better things to worry about..think about all the washing and "who wants to clean nappies really". I know that it may be easier to use disposable if we go out, and am fine with that, but anyway, would be keen on opinions pro's and cons.
Hey Moose, congratulations hun, I think you've made a fine decision. Have a look at the cloth nappy threads a bit further down the page - there's heaps of info.
I don't use disposable at all and I don't find it too much trouble (just for the record working full time). THey're just as easy - and I never run out in the middle of the night.
Hiya,
We use the old fashioned flat terry cloth nappies, both at home and when out, and I have to say I have no worries with them, and they don't take any time at all. I just chuck them in a nappy bucket in the bathroom (no soaking solution) and then every 1-2 days, I stick a load in the machine on a 60c wash and they come up lovely. Every so often I might throw in some napisan with the detergent, but not on a regular basis. The biggest issue I have is getting them dry in the wet weather. I always have a pack of disposables in and a couple in the change bag, jic, but i much prefer the cloth nappies.
I use PUL covers from Baby beehinds and find they're great. Have a look in the nappy forum for other people's preferences - there's a huge world of cloth nappies now.
Even when my DD was a newborn, I didn't find them a struggle.
Thanks girls, the whole cloth nappy forum is a bit daunting in size hence why I asked in here. Just wanting to get an idea from mum's who use them about pro's and cons before investigating further...if that makes sense
Hey there, there's a whole lot of info further down the forum on cloth and disposable nappies!
I am definitely going cloth, for a variety of reasons. They are so much more functional than the old square terry towelling ones. Not that there's anything wrong with those ones though!
I also have a friend who sells them and she'd be devastated if I stuck my first bub in disposables
But its a very personal choice!
Last edited by OceanPrincess; September 16th, 2008 at 05:04 PM.
: Adding more info
I switched to cloth when DS was around 14-15 months and have used about 2/3 of a box of disposables with DD so far - she's pretty much been in cloth for about a month now.
It is extra work with two - but when it was just DS - it was fine. Just an extra load of washing every two days - I used to do it at night, and then hang the nappies up on the clothes horse inside.
I don't use flats very often - I use different types for both kids - DD is more in fitted nappies and covers - DS is more in pockets - but I use fitted, covers and AIO's and AI2's with him too.
I have no regrets changing - and I much prefer using cloth - makes me feel better to know I'm not contributing to the world's waste.
I got the same reaction when I said we were going with the Modern Cloth Nappies for bub #1. I actually found using cloth easier than disposables (I use sposies when we travel etc). They require no soaking and are just dry bucketed, then thrown in the wash.
The pros are
- they are no more difficult than disposables
- you don't have to always find somewhere to bin them
- your bin doesn't get overloaded and STINKY!
- the poo goes in the loo where it should be and not in the rubbish tip (eeeewwww)
- they are GROOVY looking and bubs can wear a nappy and singlet and look funky
- they work out to be sooooo much cheaper (especially now that #2 is on the way and we are running a really tight budget).
Cons
- they cost more upfront but I got mine for my baby shower so that didn't really affect me
- sometimes you run out if you aren't organised enough
- can't think of any more
Cloth full-time from 11 days old! Took me that long because my mother wanted to stay and help me and didn't want me to use cloth so bought disposable, and the hospital stay. (Sposies for hospital stay definately, or better yet have a homebirth so cloth full time from birth.)
I used flats only for over 4 months. Easy. Baby sleeps in the day so you can put the washing on then, it's not too much harder to wash nappies than it is to drag yourself to the shops in the pouring rain and they're a mile away and you have no car and you and bub get splashed and they're out of nappies your size... (OK, organising sposies was my biggest fear). At least if you realise you're down to your last clothie you can wash and use the tumble dryer quickly!
I've even used cloth on holidays - OK so take a binbag for the bucket on the way home because you need that airtight in a car.
More pro points are that if you take a (CLEAN) flat nappy with you in your bag, bubs has an instant playmat on floors you don't think are that great. All in one nappies are great for changes when you're out because they're no-fuss and don't need folding or more than one layer. And flats can be used as comforters. And no chemicals near the genitals - BIG thing with me. My DS doesn't like chemical nappies, if he has nappy rash it's gone within a week with cloth no problems, put a chemical nappy on a nearly-healed bum (2 days post nasty rash) and he got a fungal infection! But every baby is different and some don't like cloth nappies.
Um, I just love my cloth nappies! They look cool, they give DS extra padding (IMPORTANT in the case of car accidents and coffee burns, the cloth nappy meant no coffee got to his bum when he sat in a spilt hot drink), they are SO easy to use and even my DH prefers them to disposable ones, but we like different styles so that means we have a mix of nappies.
Also you're the mother, you get to pick what you do for your baby! Not your friends.
That's great feedback ladies, definately worth for me trying to look more into it. I guess, I will have to face the VERY daunting forum of Cloth Nappy, 144 threads! Yay!
AJP. are you for real??? really? I had no idea that it was the case and would dare say a LOT of peeps out there would be breaking the law...wow, I never knew that
It's our first bub too and we are planning on using disposables for first 1-2 weeks (so i can adjust to being a mum first and spend more time with bub than in the laundry) and then after that, we are going to cloth.
I've bought 2 weeks supply of disposables only and no more and have about 25 cloth nappies lined up ready to be used!!! They are gorgeous!!!
* Much better for babies butt
* Much better for our earth & pocket
I second what AJP said! Council By laws. And it is much easier to get poop off a cloth nappy under running water/ little squirt than it is a disposable!
We tried terry squares with DS and I admit we gave up after 6mths of going through 20+ nappies a day. This was before I knoew about the magic of modern cloth.
With DD we used terry squares with modern cloth covers (breathable and wrap around not like the pilchers from K-mart) then got into the pockets and AIO. We stared part-time with 5 mcn and 121 terries and I washed each night and put them in the dryer while she slept in disposables. By 4 mths we were fully cloth during the day and some nights and by 8-10mths fully cloth. I can count the number of disposables we have bought on one hand. Sometimes for travelling although we usually use cloth once we reach our destination and now we are using them at night as DD isn't the best sleeper and did seem to become uncomfortable with a wet bum at night but we are hoping to go back into night nappies once we are out of the habit of waking up at night.
I love our clothies, according to Australian Nappy Netwrk it takes 4mins extra a day to use cloth vrs disposables and generally doesn't use that much extra water as we wash DD nappies with her clothes (after a quick rinse). They are super cute and so much better for their skin and overall health.
Check out modern cloth dot org for some great info on why to use cloth and good luck with the rest of your pg
Moose, I'm slowly bringing MCN into our lives! At the moment I have 8 (3 AIOs and 5 fitted) and plan on going full time with Ben by the time I go on maternity leave in just over two months. I only started using them two weeks ago and I gotta say, I'm a big fan! My next purchase is going to be the little squirt so cleaning the poo off will be even easier, but I have to say that I'm really surprised at how easy it is to use cloth. Ben loves his bright orange nappies too Give 'em a go they're really not that much work at all.
-its cheaper than disposables
-we use cloth wipes as well that I made so that cost hardly anything (about $20 for 4-5 days worth plus enough in the nappy bag for 1-2days)
-you have to remove waste from disposables & its way easier to get it off cloth (we also has a little squirt which is fantastic)
-Its not that hard to do one extra load of washing every 2-3 days
-MCN is sooo cute
At the moment we use flats at home & MCN when we are out because flats we $12 for 6 at KMart which was a cheap option while starting in cloth and having no idea which brands would suit her
I eventually switched to cloth (MCN not terry flats) when DS2 was 1yo. My only regret is wasting money on disposables for so long. Definitely go cloth, and check out MCN (Modern Cloth Nappies). They look great and are really easy to care for. And work out SO much cheaper than disposables.
You don't need a little squirt if you have a moveable shower head next to the loo - we have 3 shower heads, one of which is right near the loo (and all can be used individually) so I just put that over the loo, turn the water on and rinse the nappy that way. Saves buying a little squirt device!
I don't need it all the time (usually the flush of the loo washes everything off) but when you do, it's great!
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Cloth VS Disposable
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