It’s a big week in this house. We’re trying something new.
Real nappies. That is, the cloth ones that you have to wash. Hmmmm.
Since Frog was born ten months ago, we’ve always been disposable kind of girls (I say “we”, clearly she was the one actually wearing the nappies). Ever the lazy mother I was keen not to make extra work for myself by constant washing. Sorry Environment, but I really don’t have the time.
But then I got poor.
That is, my maternity pay ran out and we decided it was time to adopt some kind of financial strategy to avoid complete bankruptcy. It was about this time that I heard of Real Nappy Week. I was challenged by Bambino Mio to replace one disposable a day with a reusable. Just for a week.
And today is Day Number One.
But I have a confession to make; I’ve already tried them. Me being the impatient girl that I am, I ripped open the package from Bambino Mio last week and delved in (with a little trepidation). Expecting to find huge terry towelling nappies and terrifyingly large safety pins, I was surprised. Because cloth nappies have got with the times. They’re now, well, trendy.
I am such a girl. The oh-so-pretty purple and blue stars on the nappy cover immediately appealed to the frustrated fashionista within. I mean, you don’t get those with plain old disposables do you? And they’re not enormous either. Frog doesn’t look like she’s J-Lo on a bad day. Her bum is an actual normal size with the cloth nappy on.
Figures from Bambino Mio show that using reusables can mean savings of up to £700 per child. £700?! I’m in.
So it looks like I don’t have to give up wine completely. I can still afford the odd glass now I’m a cloth nappy girl.
Of course, I’ll keep you up-to-date with our progress throughout the week. But all of a sudden it doesn’t seem so scary. Funny what a pretty pair of pants and the promise of wine can do really.
Mother's Always Right 
We’re a cloth nappy family. Here are my top tips:
1) get a good bucket with a tight fitting lid to keep the dirty nappies in until you have enough for a full load of washing. Store them dry and soak overnight in Napisan the night before washing.
2) have enough nappies that you can get together a decent sized wash. Half empty washing machines are not a recipe for energy efficiency and are expensive to run.
3) don’t be afraid of using cloth nappies when you’re out and about. Just make sure you always have a nappy sack handy on case you do a change when you’re out and about.
4) line dry the nappies as often as possible. Not only is it better fit the environment, the uv will bleach unsightly stains and kill bacteria.
5) don’t be hard on yourself. If you’re going away or just fancy a “disposables day” a couple of disposable nappies won’t be the end of the world (well, they might be, but not compared to never using cloth ones.
Very useful tips, I’ll definitely keep them in mind! The challenge is to swap one disposable for a reusable for every day this week, but if it goes well we’re going to swap completely I think. x
Good luck with your real nappy adventure. I was converted about 5 months ago when BabyBel was 5 months, she’s now ten months and I am a fluff addict- I’m now even organising a “Nappuccino” during Real Nappy Week.
I find myself singing about the benefits of real nappies at every available moment and my poor daughter’s pants are always being flashed at complete strangers.
Rebecca
I don’t blame you – they are very pretty pants.x
I tried mine early too! 🙂
We’re like children before Christmas – too impatient to wait for our presents.
Um but what I would then have to drink in wine to wipe away my day would negate the savings…:-)
True, we’ll have to see if it’ll be a false economy. Looking good so far though. If I was Fancy like you, I’d just employ someone else to do the changes and the washing.
um yes. you would. 🙂
Looking forward to giving Bambino Mio a go. My mum sewed me loads of terry toweling and those are the ones I’m familiar with changing on other people’s babies but I’ve got a trial pack from them and a few BumGenius. Hurrah for eco and cheap…and pretty pants! Does Frog seem to like them?
She doesn’t seem fussed either way to be honest. Her favourite thing ever is to have no pants on at all and bare her bum to the world. At least with the Bambino Mio ones she can’t take them off herself. I really hope her inclination to take her pants off at any given opportunity isn’t a hint of a future career.
I’ve still got the beer making plastic bucket with lid that I used for washing yours & Lizzy’s terry nappies! Shall I bring it over?
Love mum x
Yes thank you mum. I love this new form of communicating through the blog. Far more novel than the telephone. x
Hope the rest of the week is still going well. Prefolds are my first choice on a budget and all I used on my son many moons ago.
We’ve had no leakages yet and I’m pretty much converted. Definitely considering in a full pack and ditching the disposables completely now.
Excellent news – remember all nappies will leak occassionally and even in disposables you will end up with an ear to ankle poo explosion at some point.
Let me know if you want any help / advice as I run the New Forest Nappy Network.
Brill – now I know where to come for tips! I know some councils offer incentive schemes so I’m going to research if that’s the case with mine (W Berks). V impressed with the Bambino Mio though.
More than happy to help – check out http://www.goreal.org.uk/finder to see if your local council do incentives, not an exhautive list but a good place to start – if they don’t lobby them!!
Thank you – very helpful.
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