Comments on: Should We Use Cloth or Disposable Nappies (Diapers For American Friends)?

by: Rae

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 01:21:06 +0000

OK, thanks again all for your comments. I’m going to close off the comments on this post now, as we’ve come to our decision, with a little help from you all.
Cheers!
Rae

by: Lisel

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:47:30 +0000

Apparently about half our landfill is nappies and sanitary products, all stuff which takes so many years to break down. Also consider how you’d feel spending the first 3ish years living in chemical filled plastic undies, yuk. Whilst the cost difference is obvious, for me the environmental and health aspects outweigh a bit of extra washing and drying time. Just dry pail the nappies and throw it all in the wash at night, set and forget, and it is done in the morning, no time wasted.
From a cloth mum!

by: Charm

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 00:04:13 +0000

i’m not a mum yet (soon though i hope!) but i’m voting for cloth. disposable seem easier but they smell, take up space in your bin and are expensive… and i can never seem to put them on “just right” they’re always too tight or too loose for some reason. with those nappy claws or velcro on the cloth nappies i’m always happy with the fit.

i’d also suggest a “buy me a nappy service” button for the first few months :)

oh, long time reader, first time commenter… congrats on the twin news!!!

by: Ren

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:36:40 +0000

Go the cloth nappies. I am a happy, responsible, well adjusted adult even though my mother toiled with cloth nappies for my bum. (And if you don’t think I am a happym responsible, well adjusted adult you can feel free to BLAME my mother for toiling with cloth nappies for my bum. It’s obviously all her fault.)

Obviously, I have no advice to offer because I am just an aunty and I seem to be able to get away with changing nappies hardly ever. However my common sense side had a thought about the warm/cold weather and drying options. One person said they saved money even when using a cleaning service for their clothies. Well, how about you wash/dry everything yourself during the warmer months and get them cleaned by a cleaning co. during winter. Good idea? You still save dosh and perhaps a little bit of stress.

by: Rae

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 01:47:07 +0000

Thanks all. We currently use disposables for Bert, and the Mamia ones from Aldi are definitely the way to go. I agree with that completely!
I’m hoping to start with toilet training Bert next summer. He’ll be over 2 then. But it will all depend on him wanting to. Apparently boys are more difficult (typical! :D) to loo train. Phee wasn’t a problem, but again, I waited til she was ready. No point in starting anything til the kid is wanting to co-operate. Same with adults really….
Well, it would appear that no one really has any idea on the cost. I have a friend with twins (they are around 10 months old now) and she thinks I’m mad for even contemplating cloth, but when I think of the cost, I know that I’m doing the right thing. Even if I’m only able to stick it out for the time I’m home (Like you Veronica, I did fabric with Bert at home, then when Tony took over, we went to disposables full time, but I acknowledge he was working from home too - makes a difference in the free time available for nappy washing/hanging/folding) and then we go disposables again, at least that’s almost a full year of cloth and occasional disposable use. I figure that should save us some money.
But I thank you all for the time you took to respond to my query. It’s so funny to see just how many agree that the Mamia (Aldi) disposables are the best. The cheapest and the best. I know Huggies are fabulous too, but they are too exp for most of us.
Thanks again!

by: Miss Trish

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 00:11:38 +0000

Wow! This whole discussion has opened up the world of nappy options to me… I hope to remember it, at least in part, when the day comes for me to make the same decision myself.
Anywho, all I was going to say was that a colleague of mine swears by the Aldi brand nappies, which I see another commenter has mentioned…

by: Veronica

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 22:48:28 +0000

Good on you for working the maths out. I started with the cloth for 6 months and It was fine. Then Stephen couldnot cope with the washing etc and kept running out.
Of all household chores I think the washing is the easiest - chuck in the clothes and then hey presto hang on the line 1 hour later. Word of warning though with the fitted nappies - they do take longer to dry. Cause we have the November baby easy during summer - but come May and the glorious Melbourne autumn days - all sun no wind they simply would not dry. I ended up using the dryer on them to finish them off.
The other thing to consider is that you probably give the babies more free nappy time with cloth - its easier sometimes to leave them lying there in nonthing than quicklky putting on another dispoable that may last 5 minutes. And that is excellent for nappy rash.

Veronica

by: steve

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:53:42 +0000

We started with modern fandangled hemp nappies that fitted like disposibles, easy to use but just had to be washed. We had a heap and lasted for some timedoing this but in the end just did not justify wasting or time rinsing,washing,hanging, folding and putting away when we could buy several boxes of disposibles at once (on sale every now and then in which we loaded up and still do) which would last us months. The Question is land fill which new housing estates will be built on in 10 years or water……When we get a bigger hous we want A grouse Veggie Garden(we can water )…..Go disposables!!!!!

by: Michelle

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 06:58:27 +0000

I’m doing the opposite to a few of the previous commentors (is that a word??)… I started out with disposables for my DD as I thought “no way - too much work for cloth” and now that she is older and using a few less nappies a day I’m moving to cloth. I started to get sick of the sight of the sposies in the bin, plus my daughter seems to be allergic to some of the cheaper brands.

I’m thinking next bub I’ll do a similar thing though I might move to cloth a bit sooner. I’m using Pea Pods which are a modern cloth nappy and don’t need pilchers… so far they seem quite good.

by: Kathy

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 09:55:06 +0000

Even using a Nappy Wash service (where they bring the clean naps each week and take away the dirties for you … oh, the heaven), we still worked it out to cost-neutral or slightly better with cloth than disposables, so financially, I think your maths must be dead right.

We used Nappy Wash with Alia for the first 6 months (the first 3 months were a baby gift from my workplace - very nice) then used home-washed cloth until she was about 1 or a bit older, moved into disposable around the time I fell pregnant with Beth. Nappy Wash 0-3 months with Beth, then home-washed cloth until about 9 or 10 months, then disposable. That was more a matter of energy and time than anything (it coincided with a period where I was working a lot of hours at home without a baysitter, so doing a lot of work hours when the kids slept, cutting into my nappy-washing time!)