- This topic has 120 replies, 43 voices, and was last updated 14 years ago by molgrips.
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Nappies, disposable or reusable?
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epicycloFull Member
If you want to be really eco, put the child outside naked and let nature take its course. No nappies needed.
Worked in Queensland. A few seconds with a garden hose fixed the rest 🙂
The only advantage of nappies is having a future supply of bike wiping rags.
SuperScale20Free MemberWe tried re-useable nappies and thought we were doing the right thing, after 2 months we actually realised how much energy we where wasting. We also believed it was far more comfortable for child and hygienic as they would have dirty nappies on for less time.
TinbredFree MemberInstructions for re-useables;
Remove previous disposable,
Place child on waterproof bit,
Remove child from waterproof bit and insert soaky up bit,
Remove child from soaky up bit and insert wicking liner.
Do up poppers,
Adjust poppers, (repeat until noise stops or good seal is obtained around all potential exits,)
Remove liner from used nappy and carry to toilet,
Retrieve used nappy from dog and place in bucket for washing later.
Wait half hour, child will indicate that nappy is saturated again,
Remove child from cot, place cot mattress protector, sheet and blanket in bucket for washing later.
Remove child's clothes and place in bucket for washing later,
Remove previous disposable,
Place child on previously assembled re-useable nappy
do up poppers, adjust poppers, (repeat until noise stops or good seal is obtained around all potential exits,)remove liner from used nappy and carry to toilet, retrieve used nappy from dog and place in bucket for washing later.Fill washing machine with contents of bucket, add eco-detergent and run quick eco cycle.
Remove child from cot, place cot mattress protector, sheet and blanket in bucket for washing later. Remove child's clothes and place in bucket for washing later,remove old nappy, place child on previously assembled re-useable nappy, do up poppers, adjust poppers, (repeat until noise stops or good seal is obtained around all potential exits,)remove liner from used nappy and carry to toilet,retrieve used nappy from dog and place in bucket for washing later.
Discover that nappies in washer still stink and re-run washer on boil with extra rinse, bleach and nappy sterilizer.
Attempt to hang on washing line.
Discover line is full and bung in tumble drier…..
Congratulate self on reduced impact on environment.
Instructions for Disposables,
Remove previous, wrap and biff in methane generating landfill that powers local hospital.
place child on nappy and do up velcro.
wait four hours during which time you may play with child, undertake beneficial cognitive development activities, go for a ride, leave child with spouse, etc.,
Child may indicate capacity is reached before this but unlikely.
Remove previous disposable, wrap and biff in methane generating landfill that powers local hospital boiler.
Place child on new disposable nappy and do up velcro.
Wait four hours, child may indicate capacity is reached before this but unlikely.
I am not saying that re-useables are all bad and have not written them off yet, just my experience so far.
Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition
Latest Singletrack VideosFresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...uplinkFree MemberDon't use any energy to dry ours – which is where that argument falls down as it has every other time it's come up (given it's only by assuming tumble drying that the numbers come anywhere near).
Dried outside is all well & good as long as we don't have weeks of rain
Also outside line dried nappies are going to be pretty rough compared to the softness of a tumble dried one or a disposablemastiles_fanylionFree MemberWe line dry baby clothes as much as possible. We haven't been able to since last autumn. I have no idea where you live but it must be much dryer and warmer than Yorkshire.
listerFull MemberHow about radiators and clothes airers inside? Hope that helps!
mastiles_fanylionFree MemberAnd just found this which backs up what I originally said – there are sound reasons to argue for either system – so just use what is best for you.
Of course, feel free to find contradictory research as I am sure there will be lots of it.
As and when I get my hands on the research my FIL has read, I will post it up.
stilltortoiseFree MemberAs I think you mentioned, a disposable liner makes life dead easy – just tip the solids/liner straight down the loo, then nappy in bucket. When the bucket's full just bung 'em in the washer – what could be simpler?
disposables. Fact
Never got into a routine with re-usables, despite wanting to do our bit for the environment. Tried and failed
mastiles_fanylionFree MemberAnd I did say ages ago on a thread just before our two were born that I wanted to use re-usables as well but my wife argued the case that we would have enough on our plates as it is and it would be daft to put even more pressure on us and on our washing machine (which is on more than the telly these days). And I have to admit to thinking she was right – every night I come home from work to chaos – as it is when we have put the girls to bed that we get a chance to wash up food bowls/bottles/clothes/bedding etc and generally we don't sit down till past 9pm. To give ourselves another task to do just increases pressure on us when we really don't need it.
Our washing line about 12 hours after the girls were born (second line now fitted)…
TooTallFree Membermastiles – put the nappy inside the babygro – then you don't have to change both! 😀
TandemJeremyFree MemberThere is a third option – use reusables with a laundry service – the collect the dirty ones and return clean ones
For example http://www.cottontails.co.uk/
mastiles_fanylionFree Membermastiles – put the nappy inside the babygro – then you don't have to change both!
😆
molgripsFree MemberTinbred – you are doing it way wrong. Don't blame the car if you don't know how to drive!
Does it matter what side of the fence you s(h)it?
Well the theory is that yes, it does. Hence the fuss.
And I think MF is insane washing that much. We do about two extra loads a week and yes I know we only have one kid, but I still don't understand why you have to do so much flippin laundry?! It makes no sense to me.
You might be able to make your life very much easier by streamlining your processes!
BTW, last time I checked energy cost of re-usables is only similar to disposables if you boil-wash everything and tumble-dry. We dry them on an airer on our (very small) landing upstairs where it's warm. We wash on 40 and we have no problems with smell or rash.
And as for putting a tea tree soaked towel over the bin – why not try a bin with a good fitting lid? A lot easier, and works perfectly in our house.
kcrFree MemberThe link above appears to reference the original 2005 version of the UK study, which was shown to have some significant flaws (e.g. assuming that reusables are washed at 90 degrees and tumble dried, etc). The report was updated in 2008, and the new version suggested that re-usables do have the edge:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DiaperWe use a combination of re-usable and disposable. I think you can argue either way on the overall environmental impact for manufacture and use, but I think there is a real problem with the sheer volume of landfill that is generated by disposables. Five minutes on Google will show you that the people responsible for providing landfill services clearly think this is a problem.
For example:
http://www.nonwoven.co.uk/reports/PIRA%202006.htmlPhilip Ward, Director of the UK Government's Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP), was concerned to respond to the EU Landfill directive and divert solids from the landfill route. The points he made were:
…Disposable nappies, at 300-400,000 tonnes (2-3% of domestic waste) are a problem and he is working to persuade consumers to move back to reusables.
This he saw as a battle between convenience and sustainability, and he felt that in the interests of the planet, everyone should be prepared to sacrifice a little convenience. He was hoping to reduce the 90-94% of diaper changes in the UK which now go to disposables…mastiles_fanylionFree MemberOf course, feel free to find contradictory research as I am sure there will be lots of it.
Told you so.
but I still don't understand why you have to do so much flippin laundry?! It makes no sense to me.
You might be able to make your life very much easier by streamlining your processes!
We use the machine as much as is needed. And you can try telling my wife to streamline – I know I wouldn't dare as she is doing a quite frankly amazing job as it is fitting in everything she has to do 7 days a week.And this statement in the revised report shows what a pointless exercise it was and how impossible it is to gauge realistic comparisons between the two…
Washing the nappies in fuller loads or line-drying them outdoors all the time (ignoring UK climatic conditions for the purposes of illustration)
So – if you don't have to tumble dry at all then you use significantly less power? It is like saying you can improve your fuel consumption by not driving your car. Pointless and inconclusive research.SplatFree MemberMother to 3 under age of 2 years – got first one out of nappies before the twins arrived and used terry squares for the first 6 months mostly, then nearly dying of exhaustion and, quite thick indeed, by this stage, realised that if I bought them and just ran up the credit card bill a bit more, it was a bit easier – then I started to do a few shifts at work to earn the money to pay off the credit card and oh joy! it was blissful to get out of the house. 8)
molgripsFree MemberWe use the machine as much as is needed
How do you explain the fact that you seem to do 10 times more laundry than we do? I'm saying you could maybe be more efficient with your clothes changing that's all 🙂
And this statement in the revised report shows what a pointless exercise it was and how impossible it is to gauge realistic comparisons between the two…
I've never tumble dried a load of nappies in my life. Still unreasonable?
mastiles_fanylionFree MemberHow do you explain the fact that you seem to do 10 times more laundry than we do? I'm saying you could maybe be more efficient with your clothes changing that's all
I have no idea what your lifestyle is like nor you ours. To try to tell each other that what we do is the *right* way is, well, rather pointless.
I've never tumble dried a load of nappies in my life. Still unreasonable?
Good on you – you must have markedly better weather than we get in our exposed location on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. As I have said – the research is pointless as it calculates its findings based on a constant which is, in fact, a variable.
missingfrontallobeFree MemberI'm a trained children's nurse, and spent 13 years working on paediatric wards. I'd estimate that over 95% od babies were in disposable nappies before admission, very, very few used reusable nappies.
I'd suggest buying shares in the company that produce Sudocrem, basic nappy rash can occur faster with re-usable nappies than disposables, and using a barrier like sudocrem is the best way to avoid the problem, and treat it if it occurs.
I'd suggest if a D&V type illness occurs then use disposables, you'll be stressed enough with an ill child without having to wash shitty terry towelling all the time.
molgripsFree MemberI have no idea what your lifestyle is like nor you ours. To try to tell each other that what we do is the *right* way is, well, rather pointless.
I'm saying you could probably make improvements. Of course, if you like doing all that washing then go ahead 🙂
As for climate, we live in Cardiff which is one of the wettest cities in the UK. As I've been trying to stress previously WE DRY THE NAPPIES INSIDE. Inside my house, rain is not an issue.
We had lots of nappy rash using Motherease nappies, but not with Tots bots. We have had a bit of redness with reusables when she's in them for say 10 hours or so, so we're now (10 months) using a disposable overnight which helps.
For Tinbred's benefit, here's what we do with washables:
Grab baby
Put baby on floor or mat if you are feeling organised
Grab potty
Grab nappy, outer, booster and liner – all in the same pile
Remove baby's legwear
Undo nappy, put liner in potty
Scrape poo off baby's arse with wipes
Put wipes in potty
Put new nappy, booster, liner under bum
Do up velcro
Put outer under bum
Do up velcro
Put original clothes back on unless pooey
Put old nappy in bucket (with lid)
Take potty into toilet, flush liner away
Put wipes in binWith disposables:
Grab baby
Put baby on floor or mat if you are feeling organised
Grab potty
Grab nappy
Remove baby's legwear
Undo nappy
Scrape poo off baby's arse with wipes
Put wipes in potty
Put nappy in potty
Put new nappy under bum
Do up velcro
Put original clothes back on unless pooey
Take potty into toilet
Put old nappy in bin
Put wipes in binNot too much different.
Washing goes like this:
Open washing machine door
Empty bucket in
Put in powder
Select 4
Press startDrying:
Take nappes out of machine
Take upstairs
Hang on airer😉
Seriously, if you get your technique down it's no bother. By far and away the biggest pain in the arse is putting her bloody clothes back on. And tbh washing her clothes is more annoying too because nappies don't need clothes pegs, you just use their own velcro 🙂
mastiles_fanylionFree MemberWE DRY THE NAPPIES INSIDE. Inside my house, rain is not an issue.
And what do you do to dry nappies inside the house? Have the heating on. Or keep the heating at the previous level and have a colder house. And a damp one. Which isn't good for a baby's health.
GAWD!
SplatFree MemberDoes it really matter? Surely the main thing is to stay sane, so you can look after your lovely babies?
molgripsFree MemberHouse is nice and warm, gas bill is £20-30/mo. Still nice and warm with nappies out, thermostat unchanged. We choose the warmest place in the house which is either the upstairs landing or the airing cupboard, whichever's empty.
You know, there's a slim chance here that we've actually figured out how to do stuff easily and efficiently without much work.. give us some credit 🙂
mastiles_fanylionFree MemberGood for you then – glad it works for you.
Our system works for us.
TandemJeremyFree Membermastiles_fanylion – Member
WE DRY THE NAPPIES INSIDE. Inside my house, rain is not an issue.
And what do you do to dry nappies inside the house? Have the heating on. Or keep the heating at the previous level and have a colder house. And a damp one. Which isn't good for a baby's health.
GAWD!
Rubbish – just drivel MF
Classsic new much wanted baby = everything as perfect and protected as possible = loosing sight of reality completely. Teh babygro pic tells it all – thats a babygrow per child every couple of hours.
versesFull MemberWe tried reusables in the early days, but after a spate of less than solid solids that ended up my daughter's back and down her legs, we reverted to disposables.
In hindsight, once my daughter's metabolism had settled down we could have tried again, but the convenience and 'reliability' of disposables meant we stuck with them.
uplinkFree MemberIt's only the last few decades disposable nappies have existed, every other generation prior to the last few has seemed to manage it without too much difficulty..
& before that we used leaves & animal skins, why not do that?
😀
ClongFree MemberWild stab in the dark here, but i'd say Tandem Jeremy isn't a parent…
mastiles_fanylionFree Memberthats a babygrow per child every couple of hours.
That picture shows a row of babygrows from our two premature babies that were being tube fed through their nostrils and in our new parent clumsiness we spilt more milk over them than into the end of the tiny syringe being used.
You are correct about the 'every couple of hour's bit though – that was how often we had to feed them their 5ml feeds.
Actually. 😉molgripsFree MemberOur system works for us.
Works for you, screw the environment eh MF?*
* This is a deliberate troll 😉
Oh and btw when they have super runny poo it leaks out of disposables too, just as much ime.
mastiles_fanylionFree MemberWorks for you, screw the environment eh MF
But of course, as has already been proved above, the benefits of one system over another is, at best, marginal. So we took the route which was best for us.
versesFull MemberOh and btw when they have super runny poo it leaks out of disposables too, just as much ime
but not just as much ime…
I'm not saying our disposable didn't occasionally leak, but it was the odd one, rather than twice a day, every day…
trbFree MemberHow do you explain the fact that you seem to do 10 times more laundry than we do? I'm saying you could maybe be more efficient with your clothes changing that's all
My baby – he's a greedy boy with a strong stomach, what goes in stays in. probably 1 extra load per week, 2 max.
My Sister' baby – Delicate little girl with a weak stomach – I reckon 3/4 of what goes in comes out again. Multiple changes of clothes for baby, mum, sister and sometimes dog as well.
1 or 2 extra loads A DAY in the early months (my sister objects to smelling of baby sick)Don't assume all babies are like yours………
molgripsFree MemberBut of course, as has already been proved above, the benefits of one system over another is, at best
That's not how I read it.. and there's no proof of any kind up there for that matter.
Don't assume all babies are like yours………
I'm not.. just wondering what the deal was. I've known people make tons of work for themselves, which could be reduced by changing their practises. But I guess MF feels got-at so he won't want to get in to a chat about parenting tips.. 🙂
Btw it's also worth mentioning to the OP that some brands of re-usables are much much better than others. Hardly had a leg leak from tots bots/little lambs despite plenty of runny poo. I think they're pretty good.
mastiles_fanylionFree MemberDon't assume all babies are like yours………
Very good point. 🙂
But I guess MF feels got-at
Not at all – I am used to the rounds of 'what I do is best and everything that anyone else does therefore must be wrong' that is par for the course on here. At the end of the day I really couldn't give a damn if someone on here thinks what we are doing for our babies is wrong.
clubberFree MemberOh and btw when they have super runny poo it leaks out of disposables too, just as much ime
Interesting read. Disposables for our 20 month old. Luckily he's not really had many in the way of super runny nappies but he did this weekend and I can report that despite him having run all over the place while it was full, there was zero leakage. Pampers active fit FYI.
I think in the 20 months he's had less than 10 nappy leaks (and I reckon mainly down to us fitting them badly in those instances). Maybe we've been lucky?
molgripsFree MemberMF I'm not telling you you're wrong really. Just a) wondering really why you do so much washing and b) trying to correct people who think re-usables necessarily mean tons of work. And also c) pointing out that they are better for the environment.
b) is a fact, c) is pretty convincing and a) is curiosity.
enfhtFree Member= loosing sight of reality completely. Teh babygro pic tells it all – thats a babygrow per child every couple of hours.
Classic
TJ, are parents who use disponsable nappies all just a bunch of nazis? 😆
mastiles_fanylionFree MemberA: We do as much washing as necessary for our circumstances (ie, how much the clothes/bedding gets soiled by OUR babies).
B: I don't think that re-usables are tons of work – we simply decided they would be too much work for us given *our* situation. I have already stated that I initially wanted to use them.
C: The link I have provided shows that any benefits of one system over the other is, at best, negligible and the subsequent research was done assumed that it would be possible to dry all the nappies without using a tumble dryer.
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