I’ve been using cloth nappies almost full time now for at least a month. I say almost...I haven’t had the courage to use them while we’re out yet. I’m sure I will when I get a little more confident with them.
For the first month of Molly’s life, I used disposable nappies exclusively. This was always the plan. I didn’t want to overwhelm myself too much after just giving birth to my first baby. I feel like this was the right thing to do at the time, however, looking back I think it made my transition to cloth nappies that little bit harder. I got used to the ease of taking a nappy out of a packet, putting it on, taking it off a few hours later and throwing it straight in the bin. Can’t get easier than that, can you?
Now I’ve gotten used to it, cloth nappies really don’t require much extra effort than disposables. I dry pail my nappies, which means that as soon as I take them off Molly, I dispose of the liner (compost) and put the whole nappy into a bucket lined with a mesh bag. Then, when the bucket is full I just place the mesh bag into the washing machine. No soaking, or prewashing, and I don’t have to touch any dirty nappies! They always come out clean and after a hang on the washing line, any stains or smells that were left behind completely disappear. The bucket has a lid so all smells are contained, however, a cloth with some lavender oil on it will keep the nappy bucket smelling fresh when opened until I’m ready to wash.
Cloth nappies and reusable wipes are amazing, I have no idea why everybody isn’t using them. It took a few tries to get it right, I’m not gonna lie. I’ve even shed tears over them. I had so many leaks and for a while, I completely regretted my decision to even buy them in the first place. I’m glad I stuck with them though. They contain poo wonderfully and we rarely have any leaks now, unless I forget to change her! Because I also use reusable wipes the majority of my nappy changes are waste free!
Since being young I’ve been aware of the impact that humans have on the earth and so cloth nappies was a no brainer for me. I have to admit, when we first switched over, I honestly thought ‘what the hell was I thinking?’ But that’s because I started with the quick and easy world of disposables. Yes, cloth nappies may take longer but the difference really isn’t that much. I’d say maybe an extra minute or two at changes. I came across the disturbing fact this week that disposable nappies can take up to 500 years to break down. That means that the first ever disposable nappy worn is still on this earth. 8 million disposable nappies are used in the UK every single day so, according to my maths, that is A LOT of nappies that we need to find a place for. Reducing this is totally worth the extra couple of minutes of my time to use a cloth nappy instead of a disposable.
I encourage you all to start using cloth nappies with me. They’re wonderful and the benefits are great. If I ever do this all again, I will be using them straight from birth and if you’re expecting a little one soon and are thinking of using cloth, I’d recommend the same. Give it a go, I’m confident you won’t regret it.
