Cloth / Reusable nappies - advice?

Archer

Archer

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Ah yes, the avalanche of unknown things for fledgling new parents :p

Anyone have any advice on reusable nappies? Or last minute reasons why I should avoid them at all costs? It seems like from a cost and environment perspective they work out better, but obviously there is more effort involved.
 
If you're okay with the reflexive gag in your throat you will survive with reusable nappies.
 
You've also got to wonder is it really more environmental friendly? You've got to wash them over and over etc...
 
Why not cloth during the day and diapers at night? Will save you from getting up at night everytime baby wets the napkin.
 
A guy at work just never ever will he use cloth nappies, he had 4 kids.
 
D3nz said:
Why not cloth during the day and diapers at night? Will save you from getting up at night everytime baby wets the napkin.
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We have been using bamboo nappies during the day and one disposable at night and it works really well. We have got http://www.mothernatureproducts.co.za/ as well as http://fancypantsproducts.co.za/. Both products work really well and we have never had an issue (we might not have the best brands out there). We bought our mother nature nappies second hand off gumtree and there were no problems with them. We bought the fancy pants nappies off their website, which also worked well. There is a Facebook group for cloth nappies and there are often people there selling unused nappies for a lot less money, so worth checking out. Search for "SA Cloth diaper Buy/Sell/Trade" on Facebook and you should find the group.

Regarding the environment, sure washing means that it might not be as eco friendly as you think, but at least most of your nappies are not sitting in some landfill. Plus, you save quite a bit of money per month not using anywhere near as many disposables. Apparently it takes loads more water to produce disposable nappies than it does to wash cloth nappies. Also, you don't use normal washing detergent, you need to use sulphate free detergent, which means the water is less polluted. And, it really is not that much effort to wash them, the machine does all the work and the nasty stuff gets flushed down the toilet with the nappy liner.
 
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in the veeeery old days there was a nappy (diaper) service called Stork.

they delivered a fresh load of nappies twice a week and removed the soiled diapers which had been dumped into a big bucket with a lid. Milton, a disinfectant, was involved somewhere but i'm not sure where.

Stork made life easier for new parents.
 
Lupus said:
You've also got to wonder is it really more environmental friendly? You've got to wash them over and over etc...
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There is some debate on this point, but the selling points for me are that natural fibres will degrade quicker (vs disposables that sit in landfills for 50+ years) and it actually takes a fair amount of resources to make the things. In my opinion the bit of water and detergent needed every wash have a lesser impact. In one year you're using ±25 reusables vs ±2500 disposables, and disposables require more resources to make. The absorbing stuff probably counts for most of this (and needs oil too).

D3nz said:
Why not cloth during the day and diapers at night? Will save you from getting up at night everytime baby wets the napkin.
Click to expand...

Apparently there are night time cloth thingies that absorb more stuff, so shouldn't be needed. But will likely keep one pack of disposables for the times we're out and about or something
 
My question would be WHY?

It's the modern world, with modern technology...use it.

I also don't buy it being more environmentally friendly unless you plan to wash it with your hands.
 
SauRoNZA said:
My question would be WHY?

It's the modern world, with modern technology...use it.

I also don't buy it being more environmentally friendly unless you plan to wash it with your hands.
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Agreed here. Diapers might work out a bit more but the convenience makes up for it.
 
SauRoNZA said:
My question would be WHY?

It's the modern world, with modern technology...use it.

I also don't buy it being more environmentally friendly unless you plan to wash it with your hands.
Click to expand...

I like saving R2-5k a year per child :)

The environment thing boils down to two things - what ends up in land fills (disposables create 100x more post consumer waste that decomposes very slowly), but reusables use 6x more water. This assumes a 2.5 year period of using nappies, averaging 4.6 per day.

And modern day modern tech is a poor argument. You should only wear synthetic fabrics then right? No cloth or wool for you, it's old tech!
 
2 kids - tried the cloth nappy route for a while.
IMHO All that effort! - not worth it.

My advice - stay away.
 
While it would have been nice, we decided against it. Just potty train as soon as they hit the terrible twos and you'll be good to go.
 
if you go the cloth nappy route be prepared for your house to be smelly unless you keep the unwashed ones outside.
 
maumau said:
if you go the cloth nappy route be prepared for your house to be smelly unless you keep the unwashed ones outside.
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Not really. You get those special buckets with the snap tight lid and you soak it in something like steri nappy that kills the odours.
 
Archer said:
Ah yes, the avalanche of unknown things for fledgling new parents :p

Anyone have any advice on reusable nappies? Or last minute reasons why I should avoid them at all costs? It seems like from a cost and environment perspective they work out better, but obviously there is more effort involved.
Click to expand...

Hehehehehe...haha.hehehe...once your child is born, the LAST thing on your stressed and sleep deprived mind, will be landfills full of disposable nappies....
 
cant believe people still use cloth nappies, never once did we even consider them to be honest

most babies get nappy rash at some stage or the other and wont it will be more often with the cloth nappies ?
just asking I'm not sure myself

i suppose if the budget is extremely tight then these do work out more cost efficient
 
D3nz said:
Not really. You get those special buckets with the snap tight lid and you soak it in something like steri nappy that kills the odours.
Click to expand...
Nah, that ***** doesn't work.
That smell is better than McGyver, get's out of everything.
 
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