five things about... cloth nappies

It's Real Nappy Week 2019 this week, which marks a whole year since we started using cloth nappies. Using cloth has honestly been one of the best things I've done as a parent and it makes me so happy to see that they're becoming more mainstream. For anyone considering using real nappies, here's 5 things to know about them...

1. It's ok to not know where to start

I was so lucky when I started using cloth, one of my best friends was using them with her two kids, and after I'd spent a few hours confusing myself on Google (seriously why are there so many acronyms in the cloth world?!) I sent her a massive list of questions and bless her, she spent about 2 hours chatting to me about it.

If you're short on cloth bum mum friends, you can find loads of easy to understand information on The Nappy Gurus website, also Baba and Boo have some really good articles on their website too.

If you have any specific questions, please feel free to contact me or send me a DM on Instagram.

2. It doesn't have to be all or nothing 

The number one question people ask me when they're considering cloth nappies is "how many do I need?", and then they look massively put off hearing that to full time cloth, you'll probably need 20 nappies. The thought of buying so many all at once is so daunting but hey, you don't need to go out and drop £200 on nappies in one go! 

Buy one or two and start there, even using one cloth nappy a day will save 900 disposables from going to landfill! Also if you're prepared to wash every day you might never need that many. 

Plenty of people (myself included) use cloth part time. We use disposables in the night, mainly as I've been blessed with a good sleeper and I'd have to boost a night nappy so much, I don't think I'd get pyjamas to fit! And also when my mum looks after him while I work, she puts disposables on him too.

Play around with it, find something that works for you and slowly build your stash up as you can. Don't put too much pressure on yourself, it's only nappies!

3. Find your own way of doing things

Baba & Boo vs Totsbots. Reusable liners vs disposable liners. Wet wipes vs cloth wipes. All in Ones vs Terry squares and a wrap - there are so many options and everyone has their opinions on what's the best way to do things. Try a few different nappies to see what works for you and your baby, cloth nappies have a great resale value so if you don't get on with one type, you can always sell it. 

4. You become immune to poo really quickly

We use reusable liners so me and Lou's bowel movements get up close and personal pretty often. Not gonna lie, the first time I had to hold a shitty fleece liner under the flush of my toilet, I did question what the hell I was doing with my life, but that feeling passed after about 3 poos. 

My top advice is to take the wetbag/nappy bucket over to the toilet, it's a lot less messy! 

If that doesn't sound like it's for you, you can always use disposable liners. The Canny Mum ones are the best I've found.

5. You will become addicted to buying them

You know how I said you might not need 20 nappies if you wash every day? Yeah, you'll happily buy those 20, and then your favourite brand will release new prints and you'll buy all those too! 

What's that? Your kid is 2 and a half and you think they're gonna potty train soon? Yeah, you'll still be tempted by the pretty #clothbum posts on Instagram 🙈

Basically you can say goodbye to all your money now!