If you follow my Instagram page you will no doubt know that I am cloth nappy obsessed. I harp on about them all the time on my stories and on my wall. There is good reason! They are truly amazing. I knew when I found out I was expecting my fourth baby that I wanted to do as much as I could to protect the environment and reduce my baby’s carbon footprint. Baby’s can be huge consumers- new cots, new bedding, new clothes, disposable nappies, disposable wipes, plastic toys, the list goes on. I started by creating a nursery by sourcing as many second hand items as possible. There are only a small handful of things that Vera has that aren’t second hand or recycled goods.
While I was pregnant I was approached by Bubakin“>BubakinAustralia. They produce modern cloth nappies (mcn’s). They offered to stock me up with nappies in exchange for me giving my honest opinion on transitioning from disposable to cloth. I’ll be honest, I was hesitant. I used disposables with all three boys (I feel SO guilty about that now). We are also on tank water with no mains water connection, so I thought it wouldn’t be possible due to the added water use with washing. But, something made me say yes (and I am so glad I did!).
After Vera was born I decided to give myself a week before I started cloth nappies. Partly because I didn’t want to overwhelm myself and partly because I had been gifted disposables. A week after she was born I did one bubakin cloth nappy a day. And remember, that even if you only do one cloth a day, every day until your baby is toilet trained you could save anywhere between 700-1100 disposable nappies from landfil! You’ll also save roughly $300 in disposables by purchasing ONE $30 cloth nappy!
I gradually increased how many cloth nappies I was using per day until I wasn’t using any disposables at all. It was a lot easier than I anticipated. I actually enjoyed changing her nappy because I got to pick the next cute cloth nappy and I felt so proud knowing that with every cloth nappy change I was saving another disposable from landfil. Win/win! I also found the Bubakin nappies SO easy to use. They are super soft on Vera’s toosh and she doesn’t get any nappy rash like she did in disposables in the beginning. We’ve also never had a leak in our bubakin nappies!👌🏽
I did find the lingo and abbreviations hard in the beginning. MCN, AIO, AI2, Snappis, OSFM, prewash, dry pail, main wash, bamboo vs microfibre. It was overwhelming! I found so much amazing information on two Facebook pages- Clean Cloth Nappies: these guys will give you the full run down on how to wash your nappies the best way to keep them sparkling clean. MCN reviews uncensored: this page is great for finding out what style of nappy might suit you the best, also to just familiarise yourself with all the lingo and the different brands.
If I haven’t sold you yet, let me break it down into a good old pros and cons list!
Disposable Nappies
Pros:
- Easy to purchase
- Widely available
- Simple to use
- Low cost initial outlay
Cons:
- Huge impact on landfill & environment
- Long term very expensive $2000-$3000
- Constant poo explosions
- Chemicals from the nappy against your baby’s skin
- Heightened risk of nappy rash
- Continual purchases due to sizing
- Smell
- Can be uncomfortable in hot weather
Cloth Nappies
Pros:
- Cheapest option. A full stash of bubakin nappies will cost you less than a years worth of disposable napoies
- No poo explosions!
- Good resale value
- Better for baby’s skin
- Lower risk of nappy rash
- Can lead to quicker toilet training
- Pretty prints
- Cool and comfortable in hot weather
- One size from birth- toilet training
- Purchase once
- Better for the environment
- Can purchase second hand
- Reuse for multiple babies/siblings
- They don’t smell as bad as disposable nappies
Cons:
- Washing time
- Initial outlay
- Water use for washing
Now for my most common questions:
1. How many nappies will I need? This depends on a lot of factors, mostly the age of your baby- the younger the baby, the more they’ll go through in a day. And also how often you want to wash. I have 28 nappies currently, most of them bubakin brand, which is perfect for me. Vera uses about 8-12 nappies a day and I wash second daily.
2. Do they take heaps of effort? I honestly don’t think so. I do 2-3 extra loads of laundry a week and I spend about 5 minutes that evening stuffing my nappies. For the impact they have on the environment I feel like that is totally worth it.
3. Does it use heaps of water to wash them? We rely solely on tank water (and we only have one medium sized tank) and I haven’t noticed a difference in our water level. We’re in the middle of a drought and I’ve been using cloth for almost three months full time now and we haven’t run out of water. Other people in our street have had to order water trucks and we haven’t. So, no I don’t believe that cloth uses a substantial amount of extra water. Also, water is an infinite resource (I know it doesn’t always seem like that, but the amount of water on the face of the planet has never changed), creating disposables and adding them to landfil is far more toxic to the planet than using water.
3. What’s your favourite brands? Honestly, bubakin. They’re so ridiculously simple, they’re pretty, they’re super absorbent, they NEVER leak, what more could you ask for? Other brands that I have that I also like are Econaps, Bambino mio and My Little Gumnut ❤️
I was the world’s biggest skeptic, I honestly thought they would smell, they would be time consuming, they would be messy, they would leak and that I would just spend hours every day washing and folding. I was soooo wrong and now I’m kicking myself that I didn’t use them for my other three children. I wish I could go back in time! So, give it a try. Buy one cloth nappy and give them a go. You don’t have much to lose. I mean, if you genuinely don’t like them, resell them on Facebook marketplace-can’t do that with a disposable 😂👌🏽I’ve got a code for you to use a Bubakin for some added savings. It’s GLASSHOUSE15, and you’ll receive 15% off your purchases (excluding bundle deals) 👌🏽 if I’ve swayed your decision at all make sure you tag me and upload a pic to your stories! I love hearing when people have made the switch to cloth and are doing their little bit for the environment 🌏
Glass House Mama 