Bum fluff

So, lets get down to the nitty gritty of bum fluff - and I'm not talking about the not-quite-as-fine-as-it-used-to-be hair growing from a pubescent boy's face either! Today I'm talking cloth nappies.

I'm curious. Cloth nappies work out cheaper. They are better for the enviroment. They are sooooooo much easier than they used to be and lets face it, they're sooooo much cuter!!! With modern washing machines and the antibacterial properties of most fabrics, it's no longer necessary to soak our nappies and the variety is immense. There are nappies out there to suit every budget and for those who do chose cloth, it can often become somewhat of an addiction. I sure wish that I had more disposable cash to spend on some of the beautiful nappies currently available. So, why is it that cloth nappy users are still so hugely in the minority?

I've heard so many mums come out with "oh I couldn't be doing with that" and things like "it's hard enough coping with a newborn without adding to my load". Are people today seriously misguided enough to actually believe this? When you have two adults and a baby in a home, is doing an extra load of washing once or twice a week really going to make the blindest bit of difference to your workload? Because at the end of the day, that's all it takes - an extra load of washing.

When I bought the bulk of my nappies back in 2006, nappies had moved on a hell of a lot from what they were back in the 80s. You could buy all in ones (AIOs) that go on like a disposable. The downside of these was a) they were much more expensive; b) they took forever to dry and c) they would often need replacing before a child trained as Polyurethene laminate (PUL) is not designed to be washed quite as frequently as would be necessary with AIOs. Some of the AIOs currently being marketed have combatted a lot of these issues though. The pocket nappy was pretty unheard of in the UK at that time or I may have considered it. The pocket nappy consists of a liner interior (usually fleece), that wicks liquid away from baby's skin) and a waterproof outer. The absorbent bit of the nappy comes in the form of an insert or "booster" that you put inside an opening at the front or back of the nappy. This eliminates the rediculous drying times of many AIOs but retains the ease of use and convenience. Due to a lot of the newer fabrics currently being used such as microfibre and bamboo, they are a lot more absorbent and not nearly so bulky. Some of the nappies I have have an inbuilt liner but some require a separate liner (these can be fleece squares or flushable disposable liners). Then there's the actual nappy - the absorbent bit. Some of mine are polyester, some are cotton and some are bamboo. Bamboo are the most absorbant but take longest to dry. The advantage of the polyester is that they dry in next to no time although they are pretty bulky. And then the last stage is the waterproof outer or "wrap". Most of mine are PUL although I do have a few woolen wraps - these need to be lanolized. I made the plunge into cloth four years ago when the selection wasn't nearly as great as it is now.

Nowadays, you can still opt for the three part nappy system - this certainly works out cheaper than a lot of other alternatives but you can get great one size AIOs/pocket nappies which, depending on where you buy them, can also be extremely cost effective. I can't imagine just choosing disposables if I were having my first baby right now. Wee Notions (and I'm sure some other companies too) make nappies to order so you can even design your own and have them made to your exact specification! And then there are the animal character nappies Starbunz. You can order these as AIOs, PNs or just as a waterproof wrap. How cool are they??!! Cloth nappies no longer need to be ridiculously bulky and on a hot summers day, having your baby sporting nothing but a cute cloth nappy is just the most adorable thing!

Approximately three billion disposable nappies are put in bins in the UK every year. That's just from the UK. We are already running out of landfill sites - to me, it beggars belief that disposable nappies are even legal! My mother in law has often told me of the first disposable nappies and how she wasn't able to buy them for her first child as they didn't really become readily available in the UK until the birth of her second child, my husband in 1980. And back then they consisted of a large roll, similar to cotton wool that you cut off to the required size and you used these with the plastic pants that you used to use with the terry squares. So by her account, disposable nappies have only been used for 30 years. What'll happen in another 30 years when there's actually 60 years' worth of waste, double what we've got now - or in 90, or 120... Surely we can't go on like this? Something is gonna have to give and personally, I think the sooner the better.

Added to the stress on our ever filling and limited landfill sites is the environmental impact of the manufacture of disposable nappies. And the ones that don't make it into the landfills instead find their way into incinerators and become harmful toxic gases being pumped out into the air we breath.

I've heard arguments regarding cloth nappies not being any kinder to the environment when considering their manufacture, the materials used, the energy and chemicals used to wash them etc but anyone using these arguments clearly has no understanding of the manufacturing process for their disposable counterparts. Also, when the cloth nappies you buy end up being used on several babies, such as mine for example (have been used on three babies now), they turn out to be even better for the environment. There is a relatively good resale value to cloth nappies too so when you are done with them, you can pass them on, recoup some of your expenditure and also do a further good turn to the environment. As for the energy, chemicals and water used to launder cloth, this can be fairly minimal if you want it to be. I use soap nuts for my nappies which are, as the name suggests, nuts that emit soap. A totally natural product. I never tumble my nappies and therefore aren't using energy for this and I dry pail which means the only water used is the water in the washer. If my nappies do need an extra rinse, I use bath water that we're finished with. Also, if you are trying to be as much of an eco-warrior as possible, it's important to chose your fabric well. Fair trade organic cotton, hemp and bamboo are great materials - 100% renewable and probably the best choices for the tree hugger in you :D

So what are the arguments for NOT using cloth nappies? Convenience? You have to actually go to the shops to buy disposable nappies - an inconvenience in itself and thus adding further to the already large carbon footprint of the disposable nappy. Yes, you get to put them in the bin and forget about them but at what cost? And when you finish with a cloth nappy, you get to deposit that in the bin too - the nappy bin. The only difference is that when the nappy bin gets full, you don't empty it into the outside bin, you empty it into the washing machine!

People who know me will all nod knowingly when I say that I am the most disorganized person I know. I'm totally hopeless. Most days I spend chasing my tail trying to get things into order and usually fail miserably because there's not an organized bone in my body! So I put it to anyone considering using cloth nappies, or those who feel that they "can't be doing with that" if I can do it, why can't you?