Tag Archives: myths

Cloth nappies are gross! Aren’t they?

Posted in Reusable Nappies by

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A common word used by many a parent (and non parent) when they hear that a baby is wearing a cloth nappy – euwww! Is it often followed by a question or remark about poo. Some common ones include ‘you put poo in your washing machine? Gross’ and ‘yuck, I would hate to deal with the poo’. I am therefore making it my mission this week to dispel the ‘cloth nappy means more poo dealings’ myth.

Myth No. 2 – cloth nappies are gross

Have you ever had to deal with a ‘poonami’? You know, the one when no amount of baby wipes in the world would clean up the mess and you find yourself running with baby at arms length to rinse them under the shower! We have had a few of them. In fact the first time it happened Mr K ended up cutting baby boy’s vest off rather than deal with pulling it off him. I have to admit that I found it hilarious. The truth however is that baby boy was wearing a disposable nappy every time there was a ‘poonami’ incident. I can honestly say that I have never had to deal with one when he has been wearing a cloth nappy. The containment in my opinion is far superior and so straight away I would say that for this reason alone you are dealing with less and not more poo with cloth nappies.

Now, when changing a disposable nappy the nappy is just rolled up, put in a bag and thrown away. A cloth nappy is obviously different in the fact that it needs to be washed. This is where I say (very loudly) that I do not just put the dirty nappy straight into my washing machine! I use liners in the nappies. When I change a nappy, the dirty liner is flushed down the toilet and the nappy is put in the bucket ready to be washed. See, no poo in the washing machine! Of course some gets in but it is a washing machine – it is designed to clean. I refer back to the ‘poonami’ incidents here. If your child’s clothes get a leak on them do you just throw them away or wash them? Most of us wash them of course which is exactly the same as washing the dirty nappies.

There is no touching the nappies once they have gone into the bucket either. The bucket is lined with a mesh bag (no more wet pailing nowadays) and so when you are ready to put a nappy wash on you just take the bag out of the bucket and pop in straight into the machine. Simple!

Cloth nappies are gross? Quite simply no! I could preach about disposable nappies sitting in a bin for 2 weeks but as many of you already know we do still use the odd disposable when the need arises and so that would be hypocritical. I do feel though that once you have seen cloth in action you could never think that cloth nappies are gross. A little bit of education goes a long way and if people knew how easy cloth nappies are maybe more people would give them a go.

Have you noticed a difference between the reliability of cloth over disposable nappies?

Image credit – http://community.babycenter.com/post/a49325923/how_do_you_respond_to_the_thats_disgusting_comments

Reusable nappies – some myths dispelled

Posted in Reusable Nappies by

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I have just put a load of nappies in the washing machine and I was reminded of a comment that someone said to me when I first started using cloth nappies on baby boy. “I haven’t got time to use reusable nappies” she said, rolling her eyes, “far too much washing involved”. At the time I nodded and said something along the lines of I hoped that I would be able to keep on top of it all. 9 months down the line we are still using them and I have realised that the ‘no time to use them’ comment was just plain wrong. I have decided therefore to try to dispel some of the myths surrounding reusable nappies. Over the course of the next few weeks I will try to give my opinion on why some of the wide held opinions on reusable nappies are outdated.

Myth No. 1 – reusable nappies are time consuming

Once you have a baby a vast majority of your time is taken up with changing either wet or poopy nappies. It is a fact! Babies can produce an unbelievable amount of poop. It doesn’t matter if they have already filled 3 nappies that day, they can still produce more. Therefore whether you are using disposable or reusable nappies you are still spending a significant amount of time changing nappies. In my opinion modern cloth nappies are just as quick to put on as a disposable nappy. Or in the case of baby boy, both types take just as long to put on once the wriggling, flipping over, crawling away, being brought back resulting in a tantrum is all over! His night nappies may take a tiny bit longer to put on but not a significant amount longer I have to say.

I know that some people worry about the time it takes to wash and dry reusable nappies. Well I don’t stand at the sink hand washing them let me tell you and the days of boil washing are over. I use an amazing contraption called a washing machine! In all seriousness though the nappies just go into the washing machine with a cold rinse at the beginning, a wash and then an extra rinse at the end. I usually put them in over night so I can just put them on the line or the clothes maid (depending on the season and the weather) in the morning. I usually wash a load every other night, sometimes every 3 nights depending on how many nappies have been used. It really doesn’t take up much time at all. I promise!

I do worry that people think that using cloth nappies will take too much time. It would be a real shame for people not to try them just for this reason. Modern cloth nappies are simple and with the excellent washing machines we have today they really are no extra work than a disposable.

Do you use cloth nappies? Do you find them time consuming?

Image credit – http://www.pinterest.com