Cloth Nappies

Why use cloth nappies?

Why use cloth nappies?

People decide on which nappies to use, based on a combination of the following common five factors:

1.    Convenience: It needs to be easy to use
2.    Price: It needs to be economical
3.    Environmental : What happens to it when you dispose of it
4.    Healthy: It needs to be good for your baby
5.    Washing: It needs to be simple and organised

Convenience

Nappies have to be easy to use. There are three types of nappies available.

• Standard disposable which are made with layers of plastic and paper and contain gels for absorbing the wee and poo.
• Biodegradable disposables - these can be flushed in a toilet and do not fill our landfill with untreated sewage, and will break down in 90-150 days.
• Fitted cloth nappies- are the response to the parents demands for a easy to use cloth nappy, that is reusable, and look like disposable nappies with gathered elastic at the legs and velcro tabs, so no folding or pins are required. Some brands are one size fits all, while other brands come in different sizes.

Price

Disposable nappies as any parent knows are not cheap, I read recently that you will need to spend
around $2500 (1800 UK pounds) for one child from birth to toilet training.

Fitted cloth nappies for a baby from birth to toilet training on the other hand would cost approximately $370 (270 UK pounds), and can be used for subsequent siblings. Plus ongoing liners and washing powder.

Environment

There is an ongoing debate between supporters of Disposable nappies and supporters of cloth nappies as to which is more environmentally friendly. we wont get into that argument here. What I would say is that we didn’t consider cloth nappies when we had twins but wish we had as I would have more comfortable with re-using fabric cloth nappies and a weekly wash with washing detergent than filling a bin with disposable nappies that contained raw sewage, plastic, and chemical gels. We didn’t consider cloth nappies, and this is one of the regrets from my pregnancy.

Healthy

Most parents of babies are concerned with their baby having nappy rash which is caused by an acidic  diet or the skin being kept warm and wet.

Some children can have an allergic reaction to the water absorbing gel in disposable nappies.

Biodegradable liners can be used with cloth nappies to protect the baby’s skin from staying wet.

Used as recommended, you can save yourself money and help save the environment by using cloth nappies,