6 Reasons Parents Avoid Modern Cloth Nappies

6 Reasons Parents Avoid Modern Cloth Nappies

6 reason why parents avoid cloth nappies

 

1. "There’s too much washing involved with cloth nappies!"

2. "Ew, GROSS! Poo!"

3. "How do I pick the best cloth nappy? – I’m overwhelmed!"

4. "The upfront cost of cloth nappies is too high!"

5. "Cloth nappies leak, don't they?"

6. "Disposables must be easier when out and about though, right?"

Do any of these resonate with you? You're not alone! 

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With the Global Pandemic pushing people to look into more cost effective and reusable options for their families, the use of Cloth Nappies has seen a phenomenal resurgence! MCN's or Modern Cloth Nappies have come a long way since our parents or even grandparents bundled us up in traditional terry squares. With a variety of options to suit all families, Cloth Nappies can be as convenient as disposables - without the midnight grocery store runs and smelly rubbish bins!

Whether your motivation for wanting to use Cloth Nappies is environmental, financial or you want to keep the toxic chemicals found in disposables away from your baby's delicate skin, many parents (perhaps including you) still have apprehensions as to whether Cloth Nappies are right for them!

Cloth Nappies vs Disposables. With modern parenting demanding so much of our time and with disposables so readily available, it's easy to throw the idea of MCN's in the ‘too hard’ basket.

Today we look at some of the common apprehensions parents have when looking into Cloth Nappies for their family!

1. "There’s too much washing involved with cloth nappies!"

"Using cloth nappies will require so much time that I don't have. I hear you have to run them through a Pre-Wash AND Main Wash?! That's a lot of loads of washing (and time!) that I don't have".

Surprisingly, it's not nearly as time consuming as you may think. The washing machine does most of the work for you! Disposables are more prone to leaks so you may end up doing the same amount of washing due to multiple outfit changes anyway!

On average, you will need to invest around 10 extra minutes a day to wash your nappies (which if you think about it is how much time you would spend changing an outfit / bedsheets). This factors in a daily Pre-Wash (if you’re using cloth overnight, just pop your nappies from the day before plus your overnight nappies in your morning Pre-Wash and you’re done for the day!), and a Main Wash every 2-3 days depending on how many nappies you have to wash – and that’s it!  Folding/stuffing your nappies is completely optional, though many find it to be a very therapeutic task!

To get the most out of your cloth experience, we recommend having a wash routine set up right from the beginning.  A solid wash routine will ensure that your nappies stay clean and hygienic; free from smells, stains and the risk of ammonia build up. Our friends at Clean Cloth Nappies provide unrivalled support to families wanting to set up a wash routine as well as trouble shooting any issues that may arise!

2. "Ew, GROSS! Poo!"

I don't want to touch poo - I hear you have to roll the poo in the toilet and then wash the sticky ones off in the sink! Not my thing!

Did you know...

Even with disposables, you are supposed to roll/dump as much poo in the toilet as possible before disposing of the nappy in the bin. 

There's no way around it - as parents to small people, poo is now part of your daily existence. Your brunch conversations will inevitably turn to poo at some point whether you chose to use Cloth Nappies or not.  Welcome to parenthood!

In all seriousness though, the scrubbing, scraping, rinsing isn’t as bad as you may think.  Breastmilk poos are entirely water soluble so these nappies can just go straight in the dry pail, no rinsing required!  Once baby starts solids or your baby is formula fed, it will be a while before you achieve the holy grail – a ploppable poo! In the meantime, many parents use a dedicated poo removal device to deal with soiled nappies. Including and not limited to - a poo knife, a silicone scrubber and/or a nappy sprayer. You can also use a liner placed between the top insert and babies bottom to keep your inserts cleaner. These liners can be disposable or washable (made from microfleece) and are also a great choice if you use a barrier cream.

3. "How do I pick the best cloth nappy? – I’m overwhelmed!"

There are so many Cloth Nappy companies out there with all these different types - sized, OSFM, AIO, AI2 - how will I ever learn all the jargon to start using Cloth Nappies? 

We hear you! Cloth Nappies can seem intimidating when you first start looking. We set out to make this experience as easy as possible for families interested in using Cloth Nappies with our variety of trial packs. Over that past few years we have listened to the feedback from our customers and feel we have now created the perfect Cloth Nappy system. Monarch nappies come in two options:  The Classic - our AI2 Pocket Style OSFM nappy and The Ultimate - our 3-in-1 nappy, so versatile it can be used as a swim/day/night option catering to the heaviest of wetters. OSFM?  One Size Fits Most!  This is the acronym given to MCN that are designed to fit babies from birth/early days, right up to toilet training.  Check out our Cloth Nappy Glossary for more essential terminology!

Dedicated Newborn Nappies or straight to OSFM? This really depends on personal preference as well as the size of your newborn.  If you are likely to have a smaller bub then a dedicated Newborn Nappy will make sense. On the other hand, if your newborn is on the larger side, they may fit our Classic Pocket Nappy from birth. The Classic is designed to fit babies from 3kgs to 17kgs and as a OSFM nappy, it will likely be the only day nappy you need until your babe uses the toilet independently! The Classic features an athletic wicking jersey pocket to keep baby’s skin dry, as well as a double gusset to provide extra protection against blow outs. The inserts available with our Classic nappy are a 5-layer Hemp insert and a 5-layer Bamboo insert. For a light wetter, these inserts can be used individually and for a more moderate to heavy wetter we recommend using both inserts. The Ultimate is quickly gaining popularity in the MCN world as one of the best night nappies for the heaviest of wetters, but many parents use it as a day nappy too! With its Snap & Wipe shell, simply remove the wet insert(s), give the shell a wipe and snap in fresh inserts. Each shell can be reused 2-3 times provided the gussets are not wet and there is no poo on the shell. This system is particularly good if you’re looking for a more economical nappy system as extra insert sets can be purchased separately.

4. "The upfront cost of cloth nappies is too high!"

I don't have $1000 to spend on a stash of cloth nappies. Disposable nappies just cost $20 each week. 

Did you know we change around 5000-7000 nappies in the first few years of our children's lives? Not only does this come at a huge cost to our environment, your pockets suffer too. With the price of disposables ranging from 50c to $1 for a premium eco friendly nappy, the cost adds up! The initial financial outlay of building a full-time cloth nappy stash can be a big expense. To combat this, many families begin collecting cloth nappies early into their pregnancy and with a comfortable stash size being between 25-35 nappies for one child, a few nappies a month is all you need to commit to and you’ll have a full time stash before you know it! If you plan to have more children you save even more!

At Monarch, we offer trial bundles and bulk bundles to help lessen the sting associated with the start-up cost of cloth. We also offer BNPL options.

Save even more by choosing eco friendly, reusable wipes - perfect for cleaning faces, sticky hands and for nappy changes. Disposable baby wipes are often overlooked when considering the environmental impact of single use baby items.  Roughly 5000 disposable wipes will be used in a babies first year alone, that's A LOT of landfill. In addition to being chemical free, our lush bamboo wipes take on what most disposable wipes struggle with. One or two wipes are usually sufficient, even for 'those' changes. The most convenient thing about reusable wipes, is there is no need to stop by the bin on the way to your dry pail.  Your wipes get washed right along side your nappies! (yes, its perfectly hygienic to use cloth wipes for face/hands/bottom if your wash routine includes a hot 60 degree wash!)

5. "Cloth nappies leak, don't they?"

It's just bits of fabric held together by a safety pin - won't it just leak? 

Talk to any seasoned cloth user and they will tell you, a poonami in a disposable is a far more dire situation that a poonami in a cloth nappy!  One of the key factors in your success with Cloth Nappies will be getting your fit right.  If your fit is perfect and you’re still getting leaks, we then take a look at your insert set up.  Are your inserts soaked? If not, there’s a chance your baby is holding their wee and then ‘flooding’ the nappy. If this is the case, you will need to add a booster that absorbs quickly and can wick that wee away before it even touches the sides.

Speedy absorption and super soft, our bamboo inserts work perfectly in this situation. If your fit is perfect and your inserts are soaked, then additional absorbency boosters will need to be added – our ultra-thirsty Hemp inserts will save the day! A super trim, highly absorbent material and as a bonus, hemp is one of the most sustainable crops on the planet! Our pure Hemp inserts need around 8-10 washes before they reach max absorbency, so you may need to change baby more frequently or boost while this builds up (on average, babies need to be changed every 2-3 hours during the day).The wonderful community of experienced cloth families in our V.I.P. Facebook group are always on hand to share their wealth of knowledge, should you run into roadblocks with your fit or insert set up. 

6. "Disposable nappies must be easier when out and about though, right?"

We go out a lot. I don’t want to be carrying stinky, wet nappies around with me!

Answer - Wet Bags

Having a wet bag packed for nappy changes on the go will make for a super simple experience when changing bub away from home. Our leak-proof regular wet bags come with two pockets, one larger main pocket and a smaller one at the front. Pack the front pocket with your cloth wipes and a mini wet bag or two for dirty nappies. In the main pocket pack your clean nappies and a change mat.  When the time comes to change your baby, the dirty nappy and wipes go in one of the mini wet bags and the stink is sealed away. Once home, you simply get rid of any poo in the toilet before dry pailing the nappy and the wet bag! Too easy! 

The biggest perk of this whole scenario is that you will NEVER have to open one of those public nappy disposal units again! 

So there you have it!  If you're still on the fence, why not pick up one of our trial packs and just give cloth a go. The trial packs even come with a 20% off voucher for you to boost your stash on a budget. You have nothing to lose and only the cutest little earth-friendly tooshie to gain (and we promise you will be addicted to the prints in no time!)

Need a TL:DR?  More of a visual person? Check out our infographic on common cloth nappy myths.

References:

Clean Cloth Nappies

Disposable nappies: A looming environmental threat?

How Many Diapers Does a Baby Use in a Year?