Cloth nappies | one mother’s personal experience

After my post about environmentally friendly fem-care products, of course next up are nappies. Another rabbit hole! Amazing amounts of non-compostable waste is created by all of our lovely, sweet babies. Looking into eco-friendly disposable nappy brands, or even cloth nappies, is so relevant. One of our readers, Ilja Roomans, a mum of three here in Amsterdam, kindly agreed to share her experiences with cloth nappies. Such an interesting read! I really like how she explains the practicalities of dealing with cloth nappies.

After the birth of my eldest son in 2005 I instinctively felt I had to breastfeed him as long as I could, and after that it felt natural to feed him biological food. I became more conscious of my ecological footprint. I felt very bad about every nappy I threw in the garbage, even though I only used ecologically friendly nappies. There were so many of them… what a waste!

My daughter was born almost 3 years later, and the thought crossed my mind to look for an alternative to disposable nappies. I knew that cloth nappies existed but I was full of prejudices. I thought that it would be a lot of work and I didn’t even know anyone who had even thought about cloth nappying. With two small kids, my life was very busy, and I started using the ecological friendly disposable nappies again. I found out that even the most ecological friendly nappies are max 60% biodegradable. There was no 100% biodegradable alternative.

And then, when my kids were 7 and 10, I fell pregnant again! This last baby made me even more aware of the environmental problems we face and I decided that even though I can only do a  little, I wanted to live as substainable as I could in the choices I make. I did not want this baby to start his life with a footprint of 22 kilos of garbage per month (!) and I searched for information on cloth nappies again. A whole new world opened up to me and in the beginning it was very confusing. All these types and brands, I had no idea what to choose!

I consulted an advisor of Kaatje Katoen, a Dutch website which is the cloth diaper leader in the Netherlands. Based on that visit I chose a system called Totsbots Peenut. Peenut is an ‘All in One nappy system’ (also called ‘Snap in One’), with wraps made of PUL material (water resistant yet breathable) in which you click a bamboo pad or two. Each nappy consists of one size S and one size M that you can choose, or combine, depending on the age of your baby. In the nights I used Totsbots Bamboozle, which is a double system — a bamboo nappy that you cover with a PUL wrap. It offers the least chance of leakage and is very absorbent.
With a newborn baby the washing is easy. Breastfeeding poo is completely soluble. When they start eating solids this changes, then you use nappy liners that hold the poo and which you just throw away.

When I started, it turned out to be very easy! With 20 double pads, 4 Bamboozles and 8 wraps I have enough products to wash once every 2/3 days. I use a washable baby wipes system called ‘Billies Box’, which works perfectly. I have a bin with a laundry bag for the filthy diapers, and a small bin for the liners. Two laundry bags are handy, so you can use a new one when the other one is being washed. I use a normal 60 degrees program. (An eco program doesn’t work since it uses less water, and with absorbent nappies, you want enough water to rinse them properly.) I use an eco-friendly washing detergent which is recommended to use on nappies.

The pros of cloth nappying include a smaller chance for irritation/rash. Also, babies tend to be potty trained a year younger than with disposable nappies. Unfortunately my baby has a skin that irritates easily if wet, and he got red marks from the elastic. This is the only setback I’ve had to deal with. Changing nappies more often helped reducing the rash, but the marks remained. Then I discovered the Petit Lulu system in which the edges are lined with fleece. For my baby, this worked. So I sold my stash of Peenuts (there is a good second hand market for cloth nappies!) and bought a new stash of Petit Lulu snap in one. My son is almost 2 years old now, and I still use them every day.

Our childcare also uses them. I was surprised to learn that my son is the first baby in cloth diapers there (it’s a green child care in Amsterdam). We simply bring him with 3 extra diapers and a laundry bag.

The advantages of cloth diapers:
– It’s environmental friendly
– It’s cheaper. (My new stash and accessories costed around 500 euro in total; disposables cost around 1300 euro from birth until potty trained.)
– No nasties on your baby’s skin. Many disposables are made using chemicals. Cloth diapers are made of cotton, or bamboo, or microfibre.
– It looks cute! There are so many sweet designs around. It looks so much nicer, especially in summer!
– Children in cloth diapers tend to be potty trained a year earlier.

My advice to people who would like to start would be to start renting nappies first. Every child is different, everything depends on your baby’s posture, how much he or she wees, your personal preferences. You can rent a combination of nappies for a month, and then decide which system suits you best.

Thank you Ilja! This was super interesting to read.

Do you have any experience with cloth nappies? Would you try them?

xxx Esther

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