Anna's New Parent Pages
(Cloth Nappies/Diapers) |
The Cost to the Family BudgetWhen my first baby came along, money was a bit of a worry. I calculated that using good-quality disposable nappies at the time would cost around 350 pounds (estimating an average of 5 nappies a day) for the first year and rising to a total of 700 pounds by the end of the second year, and if I had any subsequent children, it would cost a further 350 pounds per child, per year. This horrified me, but I believed the propaganda which said that reusable cloth nappies/diapers were almost as expensive due to laundry costs etc. However, my husband trained as a mathematician and as skepticism is part of his trade, we decided to make a cost estimate for one and two years supply of terry cloth nappies, complete with plastic pants and night-liners. Our estimates for good quality nappies and an ordinary automatic washing machine for the first year are as follows:-
The cost for the subsequent year is only 109 pounds, and this figure remains for any subsequent children (or subsequent generations). In reality, we spent even less than that, as many of Emma's nappies have already been worn by her parents! I actually spent only 19 pounds on new nappies and did rather well at an NCT table-top sale. I did start off with cheap plastic pants, but soon realised they were a false economy. We ran into difficulties using pins and plastic pants. They were basically unpleasant to remove and very sweaty for the child to wear, laundered badly and took forever to dry. By the time Alice, our second child had come along, we'd discovered "Elliepants" covers. These covers enable a terry cloth nappy to be folded into a kind of "pad" and then tucked into the cover, which folded round the baby and was attached with poppers (snaps). They cost 6 pounds each, and we bought a dozen, but they've lasted well and are so much easier than pins and plastic pants. There are other advantages to terry nappies besides cost
I think the case for terries has been buried under a torrent of advertising about disposable nappies, which are convenient and supposedly feel dry even when wet (although they do get horrible sweaty), but are also very expensive at around 6.50 pounds per packet of 30 or 40. Enviromental CostOfcourse, many people are not only concerned about the personal costs to themselves, they are also very concerned about the enviromental cost of acres of non-biodegradeable, pooey nappies on our over-filled land-fill sites. In those terms, the cost is incalculable. It has been estimated that the average disposable will take 200 years to rot down, and even the so called "bio-degradeable" sorts don't rot in the airless enviroment of the landfill. We are running out of landfill locations, and the cost of landfill is escalating. The ecological advantages to terries include:
Health ConcernsI cannot count how many friends have had serious problems with disposable nappies. When Emma was in disposables when I was pregnant (before I discovered how easy things like Elliepants made terries), she got a terrible thrush rash that just wouldn't go away. Samuel, my third, developed a contact allergy to disposables within days of birth, which didn't really clear up until I put him into terries with Elliepants. I have since met so many mothers who's babies are allergic to disposables - all those lotions and special liners seem to be making the problem worse, not better. I've also read of conncerns regarding the hydrophilic gels (the "Lock-away cores") in disposables, getting into the baby's genitals (and having goodness knows what effect) and drawing water from the baby's skin, thus drying it out and making it more susceptible to infection. Any woman who's had to endure disposable sanitary pads for weeks after the birth, will know how uncomfortable they can be - like my son, I have developed an allergy to the things. I have noticed, on the occasions when I have used disposables, that the baby gets little lumps of gel all over their bottom, which is difficult to clean off. Some parents, not realising that this was a component of the nappy, have even rushed their child into hospital, convinced it was some kind of horrible "discharge"! The manufacturers say it is harmless, but it makes me sufficiently uneasy to put me off disposable nappies. Laundering Cloth NappiesThis is what I personally do - check the washing instructions with whatever cloth nappies you personally use. Particularly note the nappies with velcro are often sensitive to being washed with any chemicals, including bleach or Napisan. I don't personally soak my nappies in a bucket, except occasionally I will pre-soak them for an hour or so before washing, in some kind of stain remover. Filthy buckets of slimey nappies was one of the things that really put me off terries at first, and it's not hygeinic. Neither am I sufficiently organised to avoid that every day. So, I flush the paper liners with poo on them down the toilet (make sure the sort you use are flushable), and them put the whole nappy and wrap in a bucket with a lid. In the evening, I put the dirties in the washing machine, and wash them with ordinary non-bio washing powder or liquid and some nappy sanitiser, such as Napisan, in a medium hot wash (60 degrees/Fast Coloureds). If they are particularly horrible, I might put them on to a short wash after the main wash, just to rinse them out thoroughly, sometimes with a stain remover as well, such as Ace bleach (never use with Napisan, due to the chemicals reacting). Personally, I don't get too uptight about stains - I've got too much to do with three small children! You should never use fabric softeners with nappies, as it will reduce their absorbancy. It is also a main cause of contact allergies in the baby. I prefer to dry outside, in the sun, because as well as saving energy/electricity bill, it also bleaches the nappies white again. If the nappies are rather "crispy", it might be a sign you are using too much washing powder, and maybe an extra rinse would be in order. A few minutes in a tumble drier to finish them off usually softens them up again for me. One of the advantages of having seperate nappies and wraps (such as the Ellie Pants system that I use) is that the plain nappies can be washed very hot, or even boiled, and there is not a problem with nappy sanitisers or bleaches. They also dry more quickly. The one criticism I have heard for all-in-one nappies is that they take an age to dry, but friends tell me that's not a problem if you are organised. Where to Obtain Cloth NappiesThe only companies I know that sell cloth nappies are Ellie Nappy Co. and Perfectly Happy People. I have no idea if these are the best companies, but I have found it difficult to find sources of supply in UK and I know that both of these companies are excellent. For further information, please contact the Women's Enviromental Network Please send an SAE to:- Perfectly Happy People sell Kooshies all-in-one cloth nappies, wraps, one-way flushable liners, swim-nappies, cloth trainer pants and a huge variety of other baby equipment. They have an excellent, full-colour catalogue. Please contact them at: Tel: + 44 870 6070545 The Ellie Nappy Co. sell excellent, traditional, terrycloth square nappies (including superb nighttime nappies), their unique Elliepants covers, organic cotton pyjamas and mattress protectors. Please contact them at: Tel: +44 151 200 5012 Compiled by Anna
Hayward (c) 1996. |