Thoughts on Nappies

Gooooood moooorning the Internets!

About two months ago, I wrote this post and a few of you left comments on the subject of nappies/diapers, so I thought you might be interested in our findings. (If not, feel free to stop reading now. I'll send the gnomes after you forgive you eventually. Maybe).


Before we go any further, I should clarify a few points:

• We have a washing machine. I would never consider washable nappies without one...
• ...but we don't have a drier, and have no intention of getting one. We do have a washing line, so everything will be great in summer, but for now, getting things dry is a significant issue.
• I'm not sure the idea of a nappy/diaper service has even reached France, let alone our tiny village.
• We had our reservations about disposables mainly because of the environmental impact (the quantity of landfill they produce, more than anything else - the energy involved in manufacturing appears to be comparable to that involved in washing cloth nappies). They do make good biodegradable disposables these days- we had some when Ze Baby was tiny and they were great - but they are a more expensive option.
• I work from home (when I do work) and it's very much a part-time thing, so getting loads of laundry done isn't a problem.
• I'm fairly organised as a general rule, but I did worry about running out of nappies (Ze Husband is often away for work and in these cases I'd struggle to get to the shops). With washable nappies, this is not an issue. 

We started out with disposables - the whole baby thing was new, after all, and we needed to make our lives as easy as possible. The two washable nappies we'd bought to try were too big for Ze Baby's little newborn bottom, anyway. Everything was fine, except for the odd leakage issue- once a day or so, but I thought that must be normal. 


With encouragement from my mother, I also bought a pack of 12 terry nappies (cloth squares) - I had my doubts as to the practicality of the thing, but I told myself that squares of flannel would always come in useful, if only as spare burp cloths. That said, my parents used the flannel square - nappy liner- pins - nappy protector system on five of us, so I thought I'd give it a try.


Results?


We're completely convinced by terry nappies. Firstly, they're washable, which was what we were going for, after all. Secondly, we have had NO LEAKAGE. Thirdly, they dry, on a clothes horse, inside, in winter, in under 24 hours. The other two washable nappies were fine, but they take just as long to put on and take much longer to dry (we do use them, but only when we've run out of squares). Admittedly, we do still use disposables when we're out so we don't have to cart dirty nappies around with us, but we're talking five or six nappies a week, no more. Even Ze Husband, who has more reservations than I did to start with, has been completely won over and is getting rather good at nappy folding.


So, there you have it - obviously this is just what works for us, and I understand just how lucky we are to have the leisure to do this. If I didn't work from home it would be very difficult to use anything other than disposables, and with little ones, anything that helps parents to maintain some semblance of sanity can only be a good thing! :-)


Off to put the washer on now - I wonder why?