We have basically chosen reusable (maybe washable would be more apt, probably don't bang them [i]straight[/i] back on). Something like [url= http://www.bambinomio.com/GB/btp.cgi ]these Mio ones[/url] seem most likely.
Not going to be massively obsessive, disposables will crop up from time to time when necessary/more practical I am sure but basically, reusables seem to be a cheaper option even including washing/drying long term.
Anyone got any experience with these, or any others that they would care to share? Less than 9 weeks to go so probably time to start getting the details sorted...
Sam has just pooed a bluey green mess, as I was changing him, another python-esque bluey green jet of poo has just shot out onto the changing mat, the last thing I want to be doing is scraping that off a nappie and then washing it,
So the grunting and gurning on Twitter progressed then 🙂 I think you just pick up the liner and flush it, no scraping required (or neat folding and keeping in the bin for that matter).
Not sure there is a system that will make it a pleasing process though (keep them in a shower with a wide drain?)
As for the washing machine, it copes with my riding kit, at least the nappies will be soft.
Still not discouraged...yet.
Next!
We mostly used re-usable for our 3 kids. So I now have an inexhaustable supply of bike cleaning cloths. That was a while ago - our eldest is due to present us with a 3rd generation nappy user this week.
BigJohn- my dad was particularly keen on the "post baby" life of reusables. Not sure they would go straight into bike duties though, may need them for more than one baby I guess. I guess Fenwicks would bring baby up a treat though!
Washable nappies every time.
My experience is (ever so) slightly out of date (eldest is 28), and we only had terry squares, none of these fancy shaped modern things.
As 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?
No, I did wait about 10 years after the 3rd one stopped using them before promoting them to chain wipes.
Whatever works best for you - sound arguments for both ( environmental v convenience etc). We use dispoable but only because we have twins and can barely keep up with the washing/drying of clothes as it is.
We used a mixture, lots of terries and reusable and dispo when we needed convenience. Don't beat yourself up about it tho' 😉
Well I never. Apaprently you can get money back from the council when you buy reusable nappies (thanks for not putting them in the bin I guess). [url= http://www.littlelamb.co.uk/shoppage.php/template/localcouncils.html ]A list of participating councils on this page.[/url] Looked at our council and yep, seems to be still operating!
Nice 🙂
Done it all the different ways. Disposables any day.
You have enough on your hands with a child without laying a guilt trip and more work on yourself. Also the nappies tend to get changed more often, so less rashes.
Obviously your first child then!
Disposable all the way for my three.
I mean, imagine carrying and bringing home 3 shitty nappies after a summers' day out...
Oh, and don't listen to the new rubbish about not making up feeds in advance (from when they're on bottles) - make up 5/6 last thing, stick them in the fridge, then microwave as required.
We liked the idea of them and we found that re-usables were great if you found ones that fitted the particular shape of your baby. Otherwise it gets out from everywhere and just makes a right bl**dy mess and still quite a lot of hard work.
Possibly better for an older child than a new born maybe?
To quote myself
Not going to be massively obsessive, disposables will crop up from time to time when necessary/more practical I am sure but basically, reusables seem to be a cheaper option even including washing/drying long term.
but now the ones we like the look of have been found online for £50 less than we thought + the £25 back from the council for getting them the potential savings seem too tempting. Oh, and we have a campervan with a PortaPotti so carting 5h1t around makes it seem more like a holiday 😉
b r, yes, our first child (but not first nappies for either of us) and it [b]will[/b] be perfect and [b]exactly[/b] the way I imagine it will be 😉
(the author of this comment reserves the right to change his mind at absolutely any time and with no notice whatsoever, especially when presented with a scene from some horror movie where our hero drowns in fresh effluent/human waste)
Also the nappies tend to get changed more often, so less rashes.
Eh? Why would you change less often because you're using cloth nappies?
Not going to lay a guilt trip on anybody, but it really isn't that much trouble using cloth nappies - ours are currently on their second owner. We've got them to work from newborn up to 2 1/2 - they do of course vary, but we've never really had leakage problems with the ones we use.
I mean, imagine carrying and bringing home 3 shitty nappies after a summers' day out...
Do you not have nappy bags to put them in? Not really that offensive sealed in one of those and tucked away in the changing bag. You can of course always switch to disposables for days out if it bothers you (as we have done when going on holiday). Though I presume from your comments that you're not actually speaking from experience of using cloth nappies?
We did similar to you and it was fine. My only tip contrary to the advice you usually get is not to chuck the nappies in a bucket full of water and tea tree - otherwise you have to empty the slimey stinky stuff out again. We just put them in our bucket dry and washed about every other day. (you need a proper bucket with a tight lid though!)
We mainly used Motherease ones.
WRT leakage, I think you pretty quickly develop a "nose" for the job. When it needs doing, get on with it and you'll save yourself trouble in the long run.
It's also said that the fact that baby feels wetter in real nappies means that they get out of them faster as they can tell when they've been more easily.
We used the Bambino Mio ones more for our first than the second. Biggest problems we had was getting them to fit under clothes, first child was small for her age so we had less problems.
I mean, imagine carrying and bringing home 3 shitty nappies after a summers' day out...
🙄 Unless you are a real eco freak most people use disposables for out and about. I actually prefered the reusables, didn't have bins full of disposables around the house.
So I now have an inexhaustable supply of bike cleaning cloths
I'm definitely waiting for that time.
I tried really hard to persuade my other half to use re-usable nappies, I was trying to do the whole "earth father" thing (the baby sling didn't last long either with a 10lb newborn, too f***ing heavy). She wasn't having any of it. I've ended up living with my guilt about using disposables, but elder son has been out of nappies for over a year now, and younger son has probably only got another year or so (he's 21 months), and we're down to about 4 changes per day, so not that bad a pile of used stuff at the end of each day.
Basically, it's a choice thing, but don't beat yourself up about giving in to disposables, life's probably too short to be washing crapped-on nappies.
Good luck with your new arrival, best wishes and all that.
I have no experience with kids at all but I do know it only takes a week to house train a dog! 😉
We've tried both for varying lengths of time as we've had our own 3 + another 10 or so babies that we've fostered
We really did find the reusable ones just too onerous for our lifestyle & as someone else mentioned above - it's a right pain if your out for the day & have to carry dirty ones around with you etc. whereas you can simply dump the disposables out of the car window [only joking]
Besides - my wife won a years supply of Pampers in a competition when our youngest was just a couple of months old
Crikey, fair play to you lot going with re-usables. Until recently we had two sprogs in nappies & you couldn't pay me enough to use anything other than disposables. I'm sure it's all fluffy for the environment & everything, but life with two nippers is busy enough frankly!
the baby sling didn't last long either with a 10lb newborn
Hah. Crap sling 🙂 20lbs of 8 month old was fine in a closer carrier.
We've used a lot of reusables, tots bots and little lambs were the best. Motherease were crap. As above tho - just like using a disposable nappy but instead of emptying into a wheely bin, empty them into the washer. Used paper liners when she was on solids, other than that just whack the lot in the washer poo and all. Simples. And a shedload cheaper.
As for carrying pooey nappies around when out and about - we have a waterproof bag, no bother at all. You don't know you're carrying poo. And tbh if you have kids and you are squeamish about poo, then god help you 🙂
it's a right pain if your out for the day & have to carry dirty ones around with you
Just don't see why that's so much of a pain..!
As for it being a lifestyle choice, it's really not. The world really doesn't need piles of crappy nappies being buried all over the place. This eco stuff isn't just an affectation...
Yeah they're a lot of landfill that's for sure. I can confirm however that disposables burn really well in a wood burner 🙂
I have no kids, however, I do know this. Unless every time a disposable nappy is used, someone dies, I'd be going the disposable route every time. As others have said, life's far too short to wash shite off nappys.
why is a bit of poo in the tip worse than washing 3 times a day instead of 1. We have twins and I wouldn't entertain the idea of using reusable at all!
We use [b][url= http://www.wonderoos.com/ ]Wonderoos[/url][/b] and it couldn't have been easier. Not an eco freak here, just works out cheaper and minimal hassle. Not had to rinse or scrape a pooey nappy yet (use flushable liners).
It's a doddle. Got to really laugh at those who say "I don't want to compromise my lifestyle". You've got a far bigger problem that's going to affect that!
why is a bit of poo in the tip worse than washing 3 times a day instead of 1.
If using cloth nappies required you to wash 3 times a day you might have a point. Ours doesn't get through nappies quickly enough to add more than 2 or 3 washes a week. It's really a lot less trouble than the naysayers (mostly those who've never tried it) seem to think.
Does it matter what side of the fence you s(h)it? As long as what you do works for you I don't see what the issue is - too many pros/cons for either option to have a clear 'winner' so each should be free to do what they want without preaching from the other side of the fence. 🙂
>why is a bit of poo in the tip worse
It's not the poo that's particularly the problem, it's the mountain of disposables that need to go into landfill - particularly when it's avoidable. Not to mention that even compostable stuff (not that they are particularly) doesn't break down at any decent rate in landfill - which is also why councils are now having separate food waste collections to reduce - putting waste food is an expesive use of landfill when there's better options.
It'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..
Pfft - if you think THAT is emotive, just try having the 'breast or bottle' discussion. The words 'leper' and 'peasant' would just about describe the middle-class disgust and horror of not breast feeding.
we bought the re-usables... (farkin expensive too.. not like terry squares at ALL!)
my boy is now 5 months old and we have just sold the re-usables un-used on ebay... turns out that having a baby has a million and one unexpected variables.. and in our case we were too pooped to deal with washing nappies on top of everything else..
Jond - my father in law has just retired from a long career running a business that supplies liners for landfill sites ( amongst other things) and there is a great deal of research to prove the case FOR disposable nappies as they help break down other waste meaning the environmental impact of the site is lessened.
there is a great deal of research to prove the case FOR disposable nappies as they help break down other waste meaning the environmental impact of the site is lessened
Sounds interesting - can you post some links for this research, please?
Well, only one kid arriving, non already present, washing machine and tumble dryer present and working (don't intend washing them by hand or anything) and expect there will be enough piss, crap and puke flying around that emptying a bucket into the machine every couple of days will barely register in the battle with bodily fluids so will be giving them a go.
(please see my earlier disclaimer)
Not right now - it is all industry research. I will ask him when I see him next to see what there is. Obviously these aren't papers specifically on nappies in landfil, rather just research into various impacts on the overall situation.
We've used reusables for both ours, including the 12 months where they were both in nappies.
It really isn't a problem, even with 2 kids in them we were only doing a nappy wash every 3 days, now down to once every 4 or 5 days as we've only got 1 in nappies.
The bin in the bathroom doesn't smell if you cover the nappies with a damp, teatree soaked cloth. The liners flush away, the nappy gets a rinse. Job done.
Yes it takes a couple of seconds longer to do a change, but so what?
The only time we've had a problem is during teething when nappy rash got bad and we reverted to using NatureBaby compostable disposables.
As previously mentioned if a poo covered nappy bothers you then the nappy is the least of your problems! The only leakages we've had are from disposable nappies, we usually put a waterproof cover over them to stop it.
Our best discovery was Cheeky Wipes which are washable wipes that are head and shoulders better than any disposable. And you just chuck them in the nappy bin to be washed when you're done.
We've only used MotherEase onesize and they have been great with both a boy and a girl. They dry on radiators quickly or on the line. The bamboo version is also really good, especially when you want them to last for longer between changes.
Incidentally MrsLister is an agent on Babykind.co.uk so have a look there and order through us! 😉 Email in profile...
And if you find they aren't for you don't beat yourselves up, and they'll sell second hand really easily.
that's true enough.. our second hand bitty delish bamboo nappies sold in moments
there is a great deal of research to prove the case FOR disposable nappies as they help break down other waste meaning the environmental impact of the site is lessened.
So disposables are all good so long as you ignore the energy cost of producing them, and delivering them to the shops.
Against the energy cost of washing and drying re-usables... Yawn.
Against the energy cost of washing and drying re-usables
Don'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).
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.
We 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.
[b]Instructions for re-useables;[/b]
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.
[b]Instructions for Disposables,[/b]
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.
Desposable ones called Pampers
Don'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 disposable