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The Empowered Educator

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Cloth Nappy musings….

by The Empowered Educator 6 Comments

As the title says i have found myself thinking about cloth nappies lately (yes i know…a boring life i lead i am afraid!!) mainly because since we had the toddler twosome everyone began asking why i was bothering to use cloth nappies and ‘how do i do it?' Well, to be honest i never thought of anything else…..i knew the money it would save us, the landfill it would save and considering we only have an actual ‘rubbish' collection every fortnight here (we have organic and recycling pickups also)…allow us not to have an overflowing smelly bin!
Please don't get me wrong…i am in no way entering a disposable v cloth debate….each family needs to choose what works best for them and they both have their advantages…but for us it is cloth nappies except for overnight. Since one of the questions i get asked most is ‘how do i manage cloth nappies with twins?' I thought i would share some of my time and money saving tips here.
When my teen was first in cloth nappies i used the terry flats and awful plastic pilchers….now of course there is just so much variety!We mainly use the modern cloth nappies although i do still use the terry flats with PUL covers in wet weather as they dry so much quicker. I am one of those ‘odd' people who love to see nappies hanging on the line in the sun!!
These look a little odd as they are turned inside out to dry quicker!
To save money and be kinder to little bottoms i made sure to cut and sew a million (well it seemed like it!) wipes from terry towelling and flannel. I simply put these in a large container and using a drink bottle squirt some water on each time i need for a nappy change. I used to add some olive oil to the water but i have found water to be just as good on its own to be honest….also i don't advise refilling the bottle in the early days when you are very sleep deprived and accidently use the garlic infused oil…bubs smelt like garlic every nappy change!
These just go into the nappy bucket with nappies and are washed as usual…the girls are 18 months now and they are lasting well….all the sewing edges was worth it!

Unfortunately, the toddler twosome are drinking so much water now that they have been consistently wetting through their disposable nappy overnight. I decided to try the bamboo pads that i have had lying around for ages as a booster. They are working really well. I have tried overnight cloth nappies but they are just so bulky and take sooo long to dry that i would need a lot of them so i decided to compromise…

I just take a bamboo square (very absorbent)
fold each side in until you have a pad that isn't overly bulky….
and pop a liner on the top……i cut a heap of liners from micro fleece also when pregnant and they have been great….no need to buy liners, these are soft on bub's skin and help wick the moisture away to keep little bottoms staying dryer!Just pop into the wash with the nappies and wipes!

 Really, in all honesty i can say that i am happy with my decision to stick with cloth nappies even though it has indeed meant a lot more washing and folding…..i enjoy thinking about the money we save and i love to see those little padded bums running around…..i have no idea why some people try to make nappy bums look smaller….i think they look like they should…very cute!It can actually be relaxing to sit at night with a cuppa and fold nappies….the MCN's really only need the pads to be inserted and a liner on the top so pretty quick!

They can be expensive when you are building up a collection…especially enough for twins but i managed to get most of mine second hand and they are still working well! I also love my little squirt sprayer which is so handy for rinsing soiled nappies into the toilet. With twins it does mean putting a load of nappies on each day but hey…what's one more load of washing!!I think the initial outlay is still so much cheaper than buying disposable nappies each week until toilet training age!

Have you ever had to explain using cloth nappies or justifying the extra work i wonder, or is it just because i have twins that people are so vocal? I'd love to hear your cloth nappy experiences!

Well…nap time over by the sound of it…..i just wanted to share a couple of photos that made me smile this morning…we are so lucky to be able to spend our mornings outside playing!

Water Play with the chookies!(Don't mind the shirt…grandparent present….funny though you must admit!!!)

Thanks for stopping by…..have a lovely weekend

Jode xx

Filed Under: chooks, nappies, outside play, toddler twosome

« Red dirt, red paint and orange scones….
Are they twins? »

Comments

  1. Ngo Family Farm says

    07/01/2012 at 6:34 am

    Oh no, garlic-infused bums! Heehee. I love seeing diapers on the line, too, so that is not at all strange–either that or we’re both strange ๐Ÿ˜‰

    I’ve had to explain my choice to cloth diaper so many times since even before my baby was born! In fact, some well-meaning relatives actually bought me disposables as a baby shower gift because they thought my “cloth-diapering phase” wouldn’t last, and claimed I’d thank them later. Ha! I ended up giving all those disposables away.

    I love being self-sufficient in this way. A lot of people mention they think cloth diapers are “gross” but I think dumping all that waste into a landfill is much more so!

    Reply
  2. Jode says

    08/01/2012 at 10:56 am

    So glad i’m not strange…if there is two of us Jaime then we can’t be!!!funny you were given disposables as a present, i thought that was going to happen too so i was cheeky and requested some MCN’s instead!
    I’m with you…would rather flush it then tip it…it can be gross but hey it’s only poop..washes off, hehe!!

    Reply
  3. Fiona from Arbordale Farm says

    10/01/2012 at 7:07 am

    Thanks for popping over to my blog and now I have found yours. We are trying to get pregnant with our first and have already decided that we want to use cloth nappies as much as possible so I really value the informations in this post. And already the people we have told that we want to cloth nappy look at us sideways. I am sure they are thinking “you will change your mind when you have to do it” but i don’t think we will.

    Reply
  4. Jode says

    11/01/2012 at 12:04 am

    Hi Fiona….yep, many people will offer the comment that you are mad to want to do cloth but i love them! As long as you are organised they are quite easy really…do as much prep as you can once pregnant is my tip. Good luck with the trying too!Thanks so much for stopping by.

    Reply
  5. lovestitches says

    07/06/2012 at 7:16 am

    I told an older lady that I would be using cloth on my baby and she got all smirky and starting saying things about how it would never last and she loved disposables and I would too. As if that settled it. People are always one side of the argument or the other with cloth, never in the middle.

    Reply
  6. MsXpat says

    11/10/2012 at 8:45 am

    Wow that’s quite a collection :0) Thanks for stopping by Tiger Tales blog. You some great posts on cloth nappies and I’ll be spending some time here learning from you, lol. Thing is British weather is so crap and are approaching winter, added to which we live in a two bed flat with limited space, so I need nappies that can dry in the drier.

    Reply

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Jodie
Hi, I'm Jode, Mum to twins and a teen, and an early childhood educator.
I love to share ideas & resources for play based learning
Find out more about me here...

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