Cloth Bum Mums

Seven years ago the cloth nappies we used on Little Lady were extremely hard work. The shaped terry nappies were very bulky and difficult to put on her. The terry nappy had to be wrestled inside a water proof wrap. We used cloth at home but I never felt confident enough to use them out and about. We saved plenty of nappies from land fill but this time, with my second baby, I was determined to do more.

When Littlest Lady, born in March this year, got to a couple of months old we tried again with the bulky terry nappies. The big pail of water reappeared by the washing machine. My husband was convinced that Littlest Lady was unhappy in the bulky nappies. They were so big. She was so little. They came half way down her thighs.

Around the same time, I met another ‘Cloth Bum Mum.’ Her little girl was in cloth full time- I had a lot of questions! “It looks like cloth nappies have come on a lot in 7 years,” I told my husband one evening after a detailed cloth nappy discussion at playgroup. The Babipur website that my fellow cloth bum mum had recommended was a revelation to me as I started browsing that very evening. The all in one nappies looked like just the thing for us. Within a few days my first new Tots Bots had arrived. They were beautifully soft and fit my little tiny baby. I was immediately impressed. I started to think that maybe we could cloth fulltime too.

My next nappy purchase was Bambino Mios. I loved the patterns! Guess what, they fit too. They also dried very quickly and survived some major poo-namis! Littlest Lady was happy in cloth and I started to feel confident. The all in one cloth nappies were as easy to put on as a disposable nappy. And the patterns are so lovely (sorry- did I mention the patterns again!)

As a family, we are majorly concerned about the environmental impact of plastic. We still have a very long way to go but we are trying to cut our use of plastic however we can. Knowing that a standard disposable nappy could still be here on earth in 500 years is a terrifying fact. We really wanted cloth nappies to work for us and knowing that they were so much easier than last time was a relief.

More nappies arrived and we started using them full time during the day. They took a bit of getting used to. It’s getting easier to know how long a nappy will last before a change is needed but it’s still harder to smell a poo in a cloth nappy. It feels great though that we are saving literally hundreds of nappies from landfill. 

I have found lots of encouragement from other cloth bum mums in real life and online. You pick up lots of tips and tricks. I discovered that I don’t need my big pail of water and that all in one nappies should be dry pailed. That makes life easier! My next step is to work out how we can cloth nappy at night. I’m a little nervous as I love my sleep. I don’t mind getting up for an unhappy baby but can’t bear the thought of waking for a leaky nappy. I’m sure I’ll find the answer from other cloth bum mums!