They are so much harder to fit!
Don’t get me wrong, they are definitely different, but they don’t have to be hard. Learn a few key pointers, give it a go and with practice, you’ll be changing cloth nappies just as quickly as disposables in no time!
I don’t want a bucket of gross water stewing in my house!
With cloth nappies nowadays, you’re not supposed to be soaking them in a wet pail anymore so there won't be any gross, stinky water sitting around. In fact, this is bad for the nappies and can cause problems with the PUL lining (makes nappies water resistant) and elastics too. Now, we just have to pop them in whatever reciprocal you want to store them ready for washing (bucket, basket, wet bags, whatever works for you)
I don’t want poop floating around in my washing machine!
You won’t! Now, newborn poop can actually go straight into the machine as it is water soluble so it will dissolve in the water & just be rinse away. However, as soon as you start weaning baby, any firmer pieces of poop needs to be disposed of down the toilet (where it belongs).
They will leak and I’ll have to change whole outfits all the time!
I can’t deny that you may get leaks to begin with as there is likely to be a learning curve with fit and finding the right absorbency, but, once you get confident with fit and find the nappies/inserts that are right for your baby, leaks should not be a common thing!! This is where getting advice from someone with more experience is super helpful, as you can get help to guide you through what to do to overcome those leaks.
Plus, if anything, cloth nappies seem to be able to deal with ‘poonamis’ more than disposables! All the elastic seems to offer much better containment for most of us (although it’s not foolproof)! I’ve never had a ‘blowout’ while Seth has been in cloth nappies, but a few of the times he has been in disposables, my oh my, what a horrendous mess. I wish I’d have been using cloth with our first too as he was regularly awful for this!
Cloth nappies cost too much money!
Yes. I understand that they are more of an upfront expenditure but honestly, there are many ways of keeping those costs down, or spreading them out. Plus, if you actually work out the money you’ll spend on disposable nappies (and wipes too) up until your little one is fully dry, I reckon you’d be seriously shocked (I was, ha). Then, if you look after nappies well, they can be used on multiple children, plus you can often sell them on at the end to recoup a little money…bonus right!!
Won’t washing them be really hard and time consuming?
Put simply, no. It really wont. I wholeheartedly thought this would be the case but it’s just a case of chucking it in the washing machine & letting the washing machine do the hard work…it’s no big difference to any other washing. The real difference is you need to run a short wash (30-60mins) before your main wash to get rid of the majority of the gross stuff (you wouldn’t want nappies being washed in pee/poop soup, hey). For us, it’s just an extra load every 3-4 days really.
They will stink my house out while waiting to be washed!
Obviously they won’t be smelling of roses, but actually (from our experience and many others too), cloth nappies don’t actually smell that bad while waiting for wash day; we don’t even notice them (unless you get super close) and they’re in a bucket in our porch but no one else has ever mentioned a smell either. The poop (other than newborn) will be flushed down the toilet remember. In fact, disposable nappies tend to actually smell worse!
Won’t my baby feel uncomfortable?
They may well feel different and if they’ve been used to disposables for a while, then yeah, the bulkiness can take a bit of getting used to but they will get used to it! If this is the case, I’d introduce shorter spells of cloth nappies to begin with and build it up. Plus, some are bulkier or more slimline than others so playing about with what your baby likes best can be key!
Then, the other aspect people tend to worry about with comfort is the wetness! Cloth nappies don’t use chemicals so the wetness can’t be ‘locked away’ but depending what nappies you use, lots are Fleece or Athletic-Wicking Jersey (AWJ) lined which acts as a stay dry layer. Alternatively, you can add fleece or AWJ liners to any nappy to keep babies bum feeling drier!
They will affect my baby's hips and stunt their development!
This concern tends to link to the worry of how bulky cloth nappies are. Well, you might be surprised to know that cloth nappies actually hold babies hips in a wider position which is actually better for them.
Also, remember, disposables are actually a fairly new thing in the grand scheme of time and it’s not like all of our parents/grand-parents/etc never learnt rollover/crawl/walk. Babies are different and will develop at their own rate. Some babies in cloth nappies have learnt to walk incredibly early and, likewise, some babies in disposables have taken a whole lot longer to get there. You can always give your little pickle lots of nappy free time too so they can explore different movements anyway!
It’s too late!
You don’t have to start nappies right from the get go, or even just in the first few months. There are plenty of people who don’t start using cloth nappies until their little ones are over a year old and some don’t until they realise their children aren’t going to be out of nappies as early as they thought and decide to delve into the world of cloth nappies when they children in fact are in need of junior sizes.
I totally get the issue with cost, etc but remember there are many ways to save money and you can tend to sell them on at the end so if you want to make the switch, go for it! Sometimes you can even get a long term loan kit for cheaper too.
One thing that I honestly do feel is incredibly important is trialing a range of nappies before investing in what you 'think' will work! More often than not, issues come from people (myself included) just going for what we first find as opposed to finding out what actually works first. Just like us with clothes, etc, what we think will work or what worked for someone else, isn't necessarily going to be what is actually best for your little one (and you too...I thought we'd be all about velcro, but nope! We had so many problems with velcro that we've ended up with a fully popper fastening stash)!
If you ever have any questions or want to know more about how I can help you on your cloth nappy journey, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Drop me an email, find me on Facebook (Cloth Nappy Club) & Instagram (cheekypicklesuk).