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Why I use cloth nappies

When I had my son I wanted to give cloth nappies a go. I bought a few different brands and tried them all. Unfortunately my son hated them. He screamed as soon as they got wet and I realised pretty quickly that it wasn't going to work. Instead of keeping my collection, I stupidly gave them all away on Freecycle. Instead, we used Bambo nature nappies - a  biodegradable nappy.

 Whilst pregnant with my daughter I thought I'd try them again. I waited until she was about eight weeks old and I'd got my head around actually having a baby. Needless to say, she has never complained about them or cried when wet. She has also never had nappy rash, which my son had really badly.

 I was concerned that they would be a bit of a faff but, they are so simple. I use pocket nappies which you simply stuff with an absorbent insert. When they are wet I put them in this (a wet bag I made which is waterproof), until the end of the day when I rinse them and then was them at 40 degrees on a fast wash. They dry quickly and can be used again the next morning. I discovered a great company called Tiny Nippers who sell affordable cloth nappies and I use a mix of these and BumGenius.

 In total, I only have around 15 nappies which are more than enough for us. When I first mentioned to the childminder that I was using cloth, her face fell. She was mainly concerned about them being a pain for her.

 Although my son is potty trained now, he has taken to wearing his sister's ladybird nappy when he has a nap in the daytime.

 So, back to the reasons that I use cloth nappies.

  1. Cost. I have spent approx £60 on cloth nappies and these should last until my daughter is ready to be potty trained.
  2. Good for the environment. Yes, I know this is debatable because you have to wash them, which uses electricity, but surely it beats sitting in landfill for hundreds of years before they decompose.
  3. They reduce household waste. We are throwing away considerably less since changing over to cloth nappies. The amount of disposables you use in a day doesn't half build up.
  4. Ease of use - honestly no different to using disposables. They seem to stay on better and leak less.
  5. They don't tear and break like disposable nappies occasionally do.
  6. No chemicals - great for baby's skin which hopefully means no nappy rash!
  7. They look great on the washing line!


So if you fancy giving cloth nappies a go, I would highly recommend them. Whilst they don't work for every child, when they do, they are a fantastic alternative to disposable nappies.

Disclaimer: I have not been asked/sponsored/given anything by any of the companies/brands mentioned to write this post, mention their name, or link to their website. In fact, I doubt they know this post exists!
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