I am feeling very discouraged about cloth nappies at the moment and could really use some encouragement.
DH is working nights so even though full time cloth is only usually 2 extra loads of laundry a week it is feeling like a lot of work. The boys haven't been sleeping well at night so it has been a long haul while DH does this contract and I'm glad it will be finished in another 2-3 weeks (it started mid January)!!
DS has just had his first bleeding nappy rash (I suspect he is teething).
A lot of my nappies I bought/was given second hand and a whole bunch of them are just starting to fall apart (elastic giving up, etc) and I'm just generally frustrated.
Also, AIO's don't seem to work for DS (they did for my first child) so I'm also left with fitteds and covers which is not a huge drama - just another frustration.
So, at the moment I could very easily give up on cloth all together and just go full time disposables but the fact that I'm not committing to that decisions means I know I don't feel 100% comfortable with that option!
Any thoughts, comments, advice, support anyone can offer would be SO greatly appreciated right now!!
a couple of things that might encourage you - we've recently been on holidays interstate and it wasn't convenient to take my stash and do washing while there so we used sposies.
It was sooooooo expensive! I had forgotten how much sposies cost - it was terrible handing over a bunch of cash for something I knew was going in the bin
also - afer a week and a half I was sooooo over that 'plastic' feeling and longing for my fluff. So while sposies can be convenient sometimes - I think cloth is worth the extra effort
hang in there!!
I reached that point too and I decided that the best option for me was a bit of both. Disposables for convenience when out & about and cloth bum at home (although DD is in sposies overnight full time) It was just enough of a break that I didn't feel like a martyr to the cloth and still enough fluff to make me feel good.
Do what works for you, even if you do have a break, you can always go back to cloth when you're ready.
I am totally with Winter on this one. If it all gets a bit much i sometimes use sposies for a while. Soon enough i am really to go back to cloth full time.
I feel bad putting the chemicals on DD's bum every time i put a sposie on, so i find i am soon reaching for the cloth again.
I agree with Winter too. No reason you can't just get a packet of sposies and see how you feel. TBH i think we've all felt like that at some point.
Do you remember why you started to use cloth?
Over the last few months we've done quite a few trips away and had to buy sposies....gees I hate forking out for them and I hate the way they feel under my hand - let alone that beautiful little bum! Even though sometimes I feel blergh towards the cloth, this has made me remember why I started.
I'd second (or fourth) what Winter said. I've been using sposies on and off since I got pregnant (the morning sickness/nappy bucket combination was just too much), and since going back to cloth we've had a plumbing leak which until it gets fixed, it's preferable to use sposies than have the water leaking whilst the machine is on the really long cycle I need to use for nappies (we've got very frugal with water and turn it on only for showers and dishes LOL. We even fill up the toilet cistern from a bucket). As it looks like the wet season has hit us, it won't be fixed until the ground dries a bit, so we'll probably have a few more weeks of it.
Normally we use sposies at night because DS wees through almost everything else and destroys bamboo - it's cheaper than replacing shredded night nappies every few months.
I use the nature babycare stuff - so if you do think of going down a part-time sposie road, perhaps consider an eco-friendly brand if you can afford it (apart from the environmental benefits they are also much more gentle on DS' skin).
Good luck with whatever you decide sweets, anyone managing cloth with more than one kid and a hubby working nights deserves a medal for even trying!
I've managed to not buy a single sposie for DD (though we have been given a bunch here and there, no whole packs of anything) and have been using a combination of flannel flats (till last week), terry flats (on the weekend started those), pocket nappies and elimination communication. DD is 4 months old and we're not using night nappies at all - easy on the washing duties!!
So, I hear you on the pain associated with the thought of buying sposies.
Here's some encouragement - EC is a matter of persevering through missed signs and wet legs (mine!) and I've just been bloody minded about it, reminding myself of the long-term goal. With DS teh long term goal was to have a heavily reduced carbon footprint by using cloths (used sposies overnight for a long time till I reverted to pockets for a short time before deciding to try out some EC principles for night continence - that gave me the confidence to do EC from early with DD!!).
Anyhow, for the nappy rash make sure it's not thrush. Whether it's thrush or not, get some nappy free time in for the bottom's sake.
HTH
We did full time cloth from when DD was 3mths old but the last 4mths I've gotten a bit lazy for night times and put a sposie on her bum.... also that means i dont have to change her in the middle of the night (we dont have night nappies here). But I do feel guilty using sposies.... they are so $$ too. Soon we are going to go back to cloth full time. Reason we did go to sposie at night was also a few less nappies to wash each week! (and pure laziness lol)
Why don't you just do cloth during the day when you are at home and when out and about and at night time use sposies???? you don't have to buy the most expensive brands like huggies. quite often the cheaper brands work just as well i've found.
But I am a cloth fan all the way here.... hardly use sposies! They're gross!
Don't feel bad hun, just do what you can. Even if you use 1 or 2 cloth nappies every day, or even just every now and again, that's still got a bunch of benefits.
It is hard though, after a while when your nappies get all tatty, loose elastic and get stinky..I've got a bunch that have had such a big thrashing (used about a billion times) they are probably almost worth ditching
Dont feel bad. If you use a few sposies here and there to make things easier for you it wont be the end of the world. Iv gone back to full time sposies at the moment, the whole morning sickness and cloth nappies combo is just not working for me at the moment and id rather not deal with the smell when i spend most of the day wanting to spew anyway. Ill go back to it when im feeling better. Being a mummy is hard work and you need to do what you need to do.
Need some encouragement to keep going...
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