Venturing into the world of cloth nappies was a completely new thing for me and actually not as scary or hard as I first thought it might be. I now also think why did I let people’s thoughts and opinions put me off the first time round! Unless you have experienced something first hand it is very hard to know how something will pan out and if you will enjoy or actually achieve anything from a new challenge. We are now 8 weeks into using cloth nappies during the day and disposables at night time and I’m really enjoying it. Baby Jackson is our last baby so we are having fun trying out new things at home and in years from now I can look back and say ‘I’m so glad we did that’ instead of ‘ I really wish I’d done that’.

Firstly it pays to do your research and with today’s social media, the internet etc it’s so simple to do. I decided to join some Cloth nappy groups on Facebook and find out more about them, such as cost, different nappy types, washing and drying tips and routines etc. All of which was a great help before deciding to go full, part time cloth or not at all.

Some days I can’t quite believe some of the comments, looks of awe and surprise I get from friends, family and the public when they see me using cloth nappies. Its quite unique but very normal & actually much more popular than you may realise to cloth nappy a child! Just the fact alone that some style of nappies can be used from birth to potty training is very appealing in itself! I now just let any negative comments go over my head to be honest and focus on all the positives as a family we are experiencing from using cloth. I am still very much ‘learning’ about cloth nappies so I wouldn’t expect anyone to know all the right answers and things have changed A LOT since the years gone by, of babies being in terry cloth nappies (there wasn’t anything else) and mum’s & dad’s around the world boiling nappies on the stove or soaking dirty ones in a smelly bucket of water and hanging them on the line.

I read up on some of the Pros & cons of using cloth vs disposables, and ‘myths’ if you like surrounding cloth nappies some of which can be read below HERE:

https://www.thenappylady.co.uk/news/cloth-nappies.html 

http://www.totnesnappies.wordpress.com/common-misconceptions-about-cloth-nappies/

We have chosen to do Cloth part time and at the beginning I bought various newborn and birth to potty size nappies to try out. I also cut my own fleece liners at home (I’m a seamstress) so it seemed daft not to! I even had a large Angelcare nappy bin that we’d kept from our first born, so I decided to use that with a mesh drawstring bag liner (washable) to store the dirty nappies in. Next I needed to get a washable smaller nappy bag for at home to put the dirties in around the house or when going out. These were in-expensive items and easy to get hold of from Amazon, Ebay. The nappies were pre-loved and new, purchased in bundles from a Facebook cloth nappy page. Although you can also do a ‘Nappy Trial’ relatively cheap with your local Nappy Library and some local councils also offer free nappies and incentives to use cloth! Sadly the Isle of Wight Council does not offer anything where we live BUT you can find your nearest nappy library HERE http://www.uknappynetwork.org/find-a-library.html

So far things have gone well after working out which nappy type fits and suits my baby at a young age of just 4 weeks! We have tried LittleLambs, Close Pop Ins, Bambooty, Bambino Mio and Lollipop, Tots Bots, Little Blooms to start with. I must admit I was drawn in by some pretty prints at first, but now all the matters is that it’s a good comfortable fit, keeps my baby dry & clean for a good amount of time, isn’t too bulky and is simple to use! We now have a mix of plain and some prettier nappies which is fab and honestly a nice nappy can really brighten your day … WELL something has to when doing all those nappy changes several times a day!

Baby Jackson has really grown so fast and now at 12 weeks old we have recently had to replace some of the newborn nappies with more larger or birth to potty ones. However it made sense to actually do a nappy trial and take the opportunity to try out various brands at a minimum cost before splashing out buying any more new nappies only to find out they aren’t suitable.

I contacted our Local Nappy Library rep Nicola Broadsmith and she was fantastic at putting together a ‘kit’ for us after discussing what our needs were and what we like etc. I wish I’d done a nappy trial from the start looking back as it’s a great way to suss out which style, brands of nappy suit your baby without a big set up cost of getting a nappy stash together. If you would like to get in touch with Nicola you can contact her here via the Isle of Wight Real Nappy Network page. You are almost guaranteed to get it right from the start doing it this way! She is also great for sharing tips and advice and will share any nappy offers, discounts that may be of interest to you via e-mail. Click HERE for more info  https://www.facebook.com/IWRealNappyNetwork/?pnref=lhc   

Cloth Nappy Gallery plus video!

I have made a little gallery to show you just some of the nappies we have been using, how they fit, look etc. Of course over these last 12 weeks of Jackson being in our lives there have been some nappies we bought ourselves, or hired in the nappy trial that we liked and some we didn’t so much. Cloth nappies are very much trial and error but doing a Nappy trial is something I highly recommend and it was fantastic for us.

I’ve also made a useful demo video of how to use a Bambooty One Size nappy. See the gallery and links below:

https://www.bambootyrealnappies.co.uk/nappies/easy-one-size-all-in-one-osfm-cloth-nappy

https://www.bambooty.com.au/media/wysiwyg/Product/Welcome-to-the-world-of-easy-one-size-nappies-by-bambooty.pdf

To summarise the main benefits of using cloth for us are:

  • No nappy rash so far (Cloth is much softer, kinder to delicate skin)
  • little expense other than initial set up cost (It can be as cheap or expensive as you make it)
  • part time cloth means convenience and other family members don’t feel overwhelmed with changing & can still use the odd disposable nappy. We also prefer using disposables at night for now. One day we may go full time with cloth who knows
  • saving money! NOT having to buy so many packets of disposables is great!
  • they look so cute, unique
  • nappies can be thrown in with other laundry after a pre-wash first, which I’m doing more regularly now with a newborn in the house & a 5 year old at school with uniforms etc to wash! So there is no extra washing hassle
  • less black sacks being put in landfill, not to mention our ‘Small’ black wheelie bin being overfilled with stinky nappies!

I hope you have enjoyed reading my little story about our cloth nappy journey and who knows I may have caught your curiosity about using cloth or helped you become interested in trying it out for yourself!

Love Katrina – TOTAL CLOTH NAPPY CONVERT! x

Mothersons