In which I am probably – no, almost certainly – asking for trouble.
Shhh.
Quiet.
Lean in closer, and don’t say a word.
*whispers*
I’m contemplating trying our cloth nappies again. It’s been months since we abandoned them, and the other day I happened upon them while up in the attic, rootling my way through boxes of kitchen paraphernalia which hadn’t seen the light of day since, well, probably 2005. There they were. The nappies, that is. Not the kitchen stuff. Though that was there too, of course. Ahem. Yes. Nappies. Now, some of you may recall the succession of traumas which were visited upon us during our time as cloth-nappiers. There was the nappy rash. And then – oh – there was some more. And then? Just for fun? A bit more of that ol’ rash malarky. And did I mention the rash? And of course, accompanying the rash, there were the creams. And the liners. And the lotions. And the camomile tea-soaked wipes. And the washing-powder changes. And the white vinegar, and then the not white vinegar. And the nappy-free time, and the hourly changes.
Oh, how we laughed.
And now, BECAUSE I AM INSANE, I find myself wondering (as a good friend of mine once did regarding his intense hatred of salmon) if this time, things could be different.
Of course, it’s probably idiocy of the first order to contemplate such a step, but you know, it really galls me that we have about two hundred pounds’ worth of nappies just sitting in the sodding attic, while each week I go and buy sodding disposable nappies (albeit the ones with a sop to the eco-conscious amongst us) from the supermarket, only to chuck them into landfill a few days later. They are very convenient, I’ll admit – quick to change, slim-fitting, and easily wrapped up using their own tabs when you want to chuck them – and, thus far, they are the only thing which has meant the small girl is rash-free. She does still get sore from time to time, but not in the skin-peeling, sunburn-resembling manner we started to think might be inevitable when we were using cloth all the time.
But…
But…
BUT – ! (If you’ll forgive the pun…)
I hanker after cloth backsides again. I didn’t mind the washing rota (although they do take FOREVER TO DRY, it has to be said, and I do think that tumble driers are probably anathema when it comes to the eco-contribution the cloth nappies make), and I loved the way they looked when she was trolling about in them.
(Is it sharing too much to say that what’s prompted this longing, in part, is the decision to buy some cloth sanitary pads? [Isn't that a grim phrase, by the way? 'Sanitary pads'. Shudder. Any better alternatives will be greeted with a friendly - yet not too firm - handshake and a smal piece of flapjack, the recipe for which will follow reasonably shortly, or, at least, as soon as I finish gorging myself on the aforementioned.*] Yes, it probably is sharing too much, but hey – them’s the breaks. I think that the cloth nappy experience just made me realise how many of such pads one buys, each month, only to chuck and find you’ve run out at just the wrong time the next month. So, washable ones, given that we still use washable wipes for the small girl, seemed like a natural progression.)
Has anyone out there found that an utterly irrational improvement was found after a long break from such nappies? If so, please do let me know; there is no reason to suppose that a second go would be anything other than a repeat performance, yet still I hanker…
* Don’t even ask about the exercise/eating regimen. I’m not gorging, honestly, but the last month has been an utter joke, exercise-wise. I shall do better, and retire to flagellate myself in the meantime. Hmm. Flagellation as a form of calorie-burning. Has promise, no? No. You’re quite right. No.
I don’t have anything to say about the cloth bar give it a go and see, what’s to lose? But I do feel I must mention the mooncup to you, if you haven’t come across said device.
Mooncup, definitely. Helps with the ouches too…
I love my Mooncup. Haven’t used any disposable menstrual products for months. As for the cloth nappies, it can’t hurt to give them a go. I gave up when I had my house up for sale and couldn’t be having them draped over every radiator when viewers came round. Trouble is, I sold them (for peanuts) in the big house clear-out-a-thon, so now I can’t really go back. Major eco-guilt.
I used the cloth nappies for number 1 but had to give them up for overnight when she approached two because even with additional padding they simply could not hold enough wee and she and her cot were wet in the mornings.
As to nappy rash, no 2 in her disposables (I know, I know) suffered more of it. I swore by sudocrem – it worked like a charm for both of them generally. On the one occasion it did not the pharmacist recommended canestan (used for thrush) and that cleared it up in no time.
definitely cloth san pro – moon cup in use here too.
we’re quite lucky in that yogi decided to potty train herself just before christmas (22months – isn’t that roughly where your small girl is now too?) so we’re luckily only using cloth at night time so much fewer nappies to wash and dry, maybe if you’re lucky shortly after starting back on the cloth you might have to endure the delights of ‘i need a wee’ at all of the most inconvenient of moments….
good luck with the cloth, both hers and yours xx
Your green credentials are rapidly evaporating, aren’t they?
I know of lots of children who were dry by day and usually by night before 2. Way back, parents didn’t have the convenience of disposables or washing machines, so made it happen. It can even be done in a day. Allegedly. eg http://www.pottytrainingconcepts.com/A-How-to-Potty-Train-One-Day.html. Realistically, I’ve not seen it done in less than a week. http://www.pottytrainingconcepts.com/A-Potty-Training-Age-Readiness.html. And I’m sure there’s a correlation between time of weaning and time of toilet training too, deeply rooted in the ‘attachment’ literature.
Pewari’s Mooncup thread http://pewari.may.be/2003/08/01/the-mooncup-review/ currently stands at 352 comments. Good only for those with average flow I think, from experience.
Thank you, ladies – as it happens, I am well-versed in Mooncupness, having acquired one some time before the small girl appeared (and yes, I now have A one instead of the B), but I still find the heavy days mean a precautionary approach to underwear is a good plan.
See that line, way back there in the distance? That’s the ‘too much information’ line.
Hi there,
I just randomly strayed upon your blog….
Cloth nappies – I used them for both of mine(motherease), although my second girl grew out of them quicker and ended up doing the last stint in disposables.
I liked them – washing is hard work but I can’t stand the smell of disposables!
As for nappy rash, the best thing I found was comfrey – I got it in a little pot of thick brown salve mixed with lanolin which is a slight barrier in itself, an excellent rapid healer. I also used Weleda calendula nappy cream which is lovely and well worth the price!
Nappy rash wasn’t often a problem with mine but usually came with ‘teething tummies’
If cloth really doesn’t work for you, try ‘Nature nappies’ made from corn starch, so no plastics or nasties, very eco and biodegradable, and almost smell pleasant compared to plastic disposables!
Best of luck with them…
Hi Earthenwitch,
I just stumbled across your blog, and wanted to post a comment. Firstly, I am an ex nappy advisor. I also gave up on cloth for similar reasons to yours. And because I now use disposables, I gave up my business as I felt a hypocrite selling cloth but using disposables! Anyway, I just wanted to say please, please don’t beat yourself up over not using disposables. You must do what is best for your little girl, and that seams to be disposables. (incidently, I dont rate the so called eco ones, they all end up in landfill where there is nooxygen so they decompose as slow as regular ones. Save your money I say!). I cannot offer any advice, as you have tried everything I’d suggest.
If you really wish to stop using disposables, then have a look into Elimination Communication. This is where you respond to your babies signals to go and hold them over a potty or toilet. That way you do not use nappies at all! We do it part time and its fab!
Linzi
i’m w/carrie on this one!
Highly recommend the Mooncup, they last as long as you need them and are as easy to use as tampons without the health dangers or the waste. As long as you aren’t the type who gets squeamish about their own bodily functions (pretty certain you aren’t!)they are perfect. As for the cloth – give it a go, you know you can always go back to disposables and perhaps they will assuage any eco-guilt you may still (foolishly given all you have done and are doing)harbour.
BW: Sorry – had to approve your comment (must be because of the number of links, methinks), so it didn’t appear before I replied generally. Re green credentials – well, I hope not; at least we tried real nappies without going straight to disposable. And Mooncup-wise, I have had one for probably four years, so I feel no guilt on that score.
Also, Linzi, thanks for the comment re EC – I actually did some reading about it when we were having real trouble with the cloth, but from what I could gather, we’d slightly missed the boat by that stage, in terms of age…?
And ema, yes – the small girl is twenty-one months now, so knocking on the same age. I don’t think she’s quite ready to do the potty training thing yet, but it looks like that point might not be far off.
Would it be fair to say, as a general any-mamas-out-there-who’re-reading question, that small people need to be able to pull their clothes off and on if they are to potty-train? One of the articles linked by BW above has this ability as part of a readiness checklist.
The original ‘potty training in a day’ bible suggested wearing nothing on bottom-half, or just loose knickers, when using the procedure. Therefore best done in warmer months. Usually people put their children in elasticated easy-on easy-off garments during and shortly after.
Oh – and there was a study I read a few years ago that said children are easier to potty train if they are used to seeing their parents using the loo. Which is obvious, and makes sense.
From my sister, out teaching in Nanyang: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42384679@N06/4384837638/
yogi now wears easy pull up and down trousers(usually leggings or trackie bottoms) to make life for her easier but actually she’s not ready to pull up and down properly by herself yet – it was more that she asked each time, and whined ’til we complied…. she still has days when there are nothing but accidents but can go a week or so without any at all. a day spent with grandma here always is a day with nothing but accidents (no idea why) and yet we can head up to london on the train, spend the entire day trawling round museums, on and off tubes and buses in and out the sling and not have a single accident…..
i have to say we have no lock on our bathroom door and yogi was an incredibly ‘attached’ baby at one point (that is, no matter how hard i tried to put her down i couldn’t physically prt her arms and legs from off me) and so has lots of experience of the toilet, coupled with sister 2 years older who likes an audience in the bathroom….
can’t really comment on the cloth nappies because we didn’t have rash issues with them. But I did use “eco disposables” (erm?) overnight because we really needed to sleeeep. Good luck!
On the Sanitary Pad front (*shudder*) for years I’ve used cloth pads overnight, (and I use a Diva cup during the day – much like your mooncup I suspect). I bought mine from a local wholefoods grocer, and they’re brilliant (I’ve had them for 8 years or so) and they’re in perfect condition still, despite years of washing. I’m thinking of making some myself, and there’s lots available on Etsy of late too. It’s definitely worth doing, as like the Mooncup, it saves a lot of waste over the years. Good for the garden too if you soak ‘em in a bucket of cold water after use : )
Erm…if you know what I mean?
I say go for trying the cloth nappies again:
1. Might have been her entre into eating food that caused alot of the rash problems.
2. Could ease her/you into potty training. I’ve heard cloth nappy kiddos potty train easier because they can actually feel when they’re wet or soiled.
Love cloth “sanitary pads.” Wish I had found them in my teenhood. Also have to use them in conjunction with Mooncup. Killer combo.
p.s. Your wicked choco malt cake rocks the kitchen!
My mom, who put all 6 of us through cloth nappies, said that the ONLY thing that beats the rash is drying time spent in the sun… I have found this to be true but Surrey doesn’t get much sun sooooo…. I have gone back to the wasteful nappies
My little fair skinned red head just couldn’t wear cloth without an awful rash. My deciding moment to pack away the cloth was when I realised that even my lovely homemade herbal cream, that heals EVERYTHING, didn’t touch the rash…. (sniff, sniff, time to move somewhere sunny)
And no, to the need for the child needing to be able to pull pants on and off for potty training. My three year old, who has been potty trained day and night for the past year still runs to us dancing saying ‘wee, wee! wee, wee!’ We pull off his trousers, he runs to the toilet and then back to us to put his pants on. He is practicing with doing this himself but has a ways to go before he perfects it!!
Good luck and maybe you have more sunshine than we do!!