Cloth/Reusable/Real Nappies

[Red]

Hi just wanted to make people aware of the Highland Real Nappy Project, an organisation trying to reduce the number of nappies going to landfill by providing advice, demonstrations and starter packs of real nappies to familes who need them.

Real nappies are so easy to use and you do not need to be an origami expert to fold them as most of them these days are like cloth versions of disposables - no nasty pins, no soaking for days on end - simply throw them into the washing machine and then let them dry - easier than going to the supermarket to buy disposables (and you never run out!)

Why not come along to a free coffee morning tomorrow (Friday 11th December) in the Pentland Hotel Thurso between 10.30 - 12.00 to have a chat with other real nappy users and see what we have to offer.

Hope to see you there.

The project can be contacted via www.hrnp.org.uk
or email info@hrnp.org.uk

[bobandag16]

so long in coming. profit . lazy way . lack of grannie influnce

[KEEP_ON_TRUCKIN]

looking forward to finding out tomorrow.....

[Kathy@watten]

MA it's no bother used with Hamish and all the grannies loved the nappies and must admit did like seeing a washing line with nappies on too! real nappies saved me a fortune and were easy to wash and believe it or not there was no stench in the utility room from the nappy bucket! I used cotton bottom system and used fleecy liners that you just flick the poo off, they keep little ones bums so dry and comfy...and at the other end of nappy training into pants was easier!

[Allsorts]

Loved using cloth nappies on my two toooo

[Red]

CREDIT CRUNCH

Highland Real Nappy Challenge!

Does your family already use modern cloth nappies some or most of the time? Would you be willing to take up our challenge of using at least one less disposable nappy a day?

We can help you increase your real nappy use with our fantastic real nappy offers. Our Credit Crunch packs are available for a limited time only and will allow you to access a range of modern cloth nappies at credit crunch busting prices!

Night time nappy pack – includes 2 extra absorbent nappies from Minki and Ella’s House, boosters and wraps for just £20 (retail value £75)

Quick dry nappy pack – 2 Fuzzibunz one size and 4 Totsbots pocket nappies, with extra quick dry boosters for just £25 (retail value £90)

Shaped nappy pack – 4 Totsbots Bamboozles and 4 Flexitot nappies, plus 2 Motherease wraps for just £25 (retail value £90)

Economy nappy pack – 6 terry and 6 bamboo squares, plus 3 Motherease wraps and accessories for just £20 (retail value £80)

To take up the challenge contact

HRNP 0845 201 2609 info@hrnp.org.uk

Or pop along to the nappuccino Friday 11th December in the Pentland Hotel at 10.30am

[ShelleyCowie]

Yes these nappies sound good but i really could not imagine myself cleaning the poo off the nappy! And my son goes through up to 10 nappies a day!! (he is 14 months) I just dont think i could keep up with washing that many nappies!

[lauradur]

I used reusable nappies with my 2nd and 3rd child,saved an absolute fortune. Cleaning was no problem you just put in liners so removing no twos was easy it was only on liner which u flushed away.I got mine from tescos in Inverness and they were £12 Each, I had 15 but that many was not required as always had plenty of clean ones.After just 3months I had saved the money that put out on reusable nappies already then the rest of the time I never put out for nappies again, I noticed the difference on my shopping bill.Would recomend reusable nappies, there bottoms were never sore, no sudacream was ever required.Win win child has a clean dry and unsore bottom and you save pennies.

[Red]

Shelley,

We (HRNP) do a trial pack which you could borrow for a few weeks to see how easy they are (trust me they are easy) and as PP said poo just gets flushed away easily.

Can I ask why a 14 month old still gets through 10+ nappies a day - it should be around the 6-8 region. As using 10+ nappies a day you'd save so much money using reusables.

[ShelleyCowie]

Shelley,

We (HRNP) do a trial pack which you could borrow for a few weeks to see how easy they are (trust me they are easy) and as PP said poo just gets flushed away easily.

Can I ask why a 14 month old still gets through 10+ nappies a day - it should be around the 6-8 region. As using 10+ nappies a day you'd save so much money using reusables.

Hmmm im not sure.

Its up to 10+ nappies a day, so not every day. depends on him. He is a frequent pooper lol. Also changing when i am aware of how full the nappy is getting with urine. I buy active fit nappies for through the day which is £5.98 a pack. One pack a week usually. Then a pack of simply dry for night times which is £3.99 a pack. They last about 2 weeks.

[Red]

Your call...

By your reckoning you'd have spent £1100 on nappies by the time he is 2.5 (assuming potty trained by then). Resuable nappies would have costed £500 max (depending on type bought) plus washing costs, even including the cost of a new washing machine would still be less than that.

[Vistravi]

Now what you're saying Red is all fine but what if you don't have access to quick drying facilites such as a washing line which is no use in winter anyway or a tumble dryer?
In the flat my partner and my myself are in at the moment we have no tumble dryer and no washing line so we only have clothes horses which clothes take up to five days to dry properly on and you can't have too much on it as it'll take much longer. I have no way of knowing what kind of drying facilites will availble to us when our first child is born next year so i'll be using disposables as drying everything on clothes horses means that washing is a struggle atm already without adding to it by using resusable nappies. If we have a kitchen/shed big enough for a tumble dryer then its a different story.

[Red]

Vistravi - I use clothes horse and radiators, washing line in dry windy weather (not often then!) the trick is to find nappies that dry quickly, there are some new ones on the market that are made of microfibre and fleece and they dry really quickly, you could almost use them straight out of the washing machine they come out that dry!

I'm not against disposables as a rule - I can't deny that they can be convenient at times, such as long journeys in the car. I just feel guilty using them knowing that every disposable nappy that has ever been made (even the so called eco nappies) is still sat in a landfill site somewhere(unless they were incinerated and releasing toxins to the air). Every time you reuse a nappy that is one less going to landfill.

Did you know that from Inverness alone every day 20 bin lorries go to landfill sites in Scotland, the equivalent of 1 of those is filled with used disposables nappies.

Sorry I don't mean to sound all preachy - I just like people to understand the facts and not base opinions upon hearsay or misconceptions.

[Boozeburglar]

Well, with the threat of rising sea levels we need as much land fill as possible, so I suggest we all start wearing disposable nappies to do our bit!

(Think about it, flushing everything down the loo into the sea is obviously very dangerous, we may soon swamp the land with sewage.)

[Aaldtimer]

Now what you're saying Red is all fine but what if you don't have access to quick drying facilites such as a washing line which is no use in winter anyway or a tumble dryer?
In the flat my partner and my myself are in at the moment we have no tumble dryer and no washing line so we only have clothes horses which clothes take up to five days to dry properly on and you can't have too much on it as it'll take much longer. I have no way of knowing what kind of drying facilites will availble to us when our first child is born next year so i'll be using disposables as drying everything on clothes horses means that washing is a struggle atm already without adding to it by using resusable nappies. If we have a kitchen/shed big enough for a tumble dryer then its a different story.

5 days to dry properly in your flat? Have ye no heating?
My mother raised 7 bairns in a one bedroom tenement flat in Dundee in the 1940s without any machines /tumble-driers/etc...wonder how she managed before disposables eh?
Oh aye, she had a washing line oot the kitchen windae!

[crayola]

5 days to dry properly in your flat? Have ye no heating?
My mother raised 7 bairns in a one bedroom tenement flat in Dundee in the 1940s without any machines /tumble-driers/etc...wonder how she managed before disposables eh?
Oh aye, she had a washing line oot the kitchen windae!

Northener: Flat? You were lucky to have a flat! We used to live in one room, all twenty-six of us, no furniture. Half the floor was missing and we were all huddled together in one corner for fear of FALLING!

Rheghead: You were lucky to have a ROOM! We used to have to live in a corridor!

Crayola: Ohhhh we used to DREAM of livin' in a corridor! Woulda' been a palace to us. We used to live in an old water tank on a rubbish tip. We got woken up every morning by having a load of rotting fish dumped all over us! House!? Hmmph.

Shelley: Well when I say "house" it was only a hole in the ground covered by a sheet of tarpaullin, it was a house to US.

Northener: We were evicted from our hole in the ground; we had to go and live in a lake!

Rheghead: You were lucky to have a LAKE! There were a hundred and fifty of us living in a shoebox in the middle of the road and we all shared a single reusable nappy.

And on it goes.

[Vistravi]

5 days to dry properly in your flat? Have ye no heating?
My mother raised 7 bairns in a one bedroom tenement flat in Dundee in the 1940s without any machines /tumble-driers/etc...wonder how she managed before disposables eh?
Oh aye, she had a washing line oot the kitchen windae!

Well having bad damp in the flat does not help! This alone makes drying clothes a nightmare. We are trying to get our letting agency to do soemthing about the damp and it is slowly getting better but again only through a dehumidifer(sp) and having windows open all day to clear the condensation properly along with heating using the only heater we have. (Its a bedsit we are in atm) Heres hoping that after feburary we are in a house/flat with more than a room and a tiny bathroom!

[Red]

Well Vistravi,

If you do move somewhere with better facilities and you do fancy at least attempting to have a go with proper nappies when your baby arrives - please get in touch with the project (www.hrnp.org.uk) or come along to a nappuccino (will advertise on here again no doubt). I'm sure that we can advise something suitable for you to try if nothing else...

[crayola]

People considering nappies might find this useful.......

Disposable Nappies - No Worse for the Environment Than Cloth Nappies

LONDON, May 19 /PRNewswire/ --

- Environment Agency Report Shows There is Little or no Difference Between the Environmental Impact of Cloth Nappies and Disposable Nappies

A Government commissioned life cycle assessment (LCA), co-ordinated by the UK Environment Agency, has been published today and shows through independent analysis that disposable nappies have no greater impact on the environment than cloth nappies.

Specifically, the study confirms:

- Neither disposable or cloth nappy systems can claim overall environmental superiority

- The differences in the impacts between the three nappy systems(1) are not significant enough to voice support for one nappy type over the other on the basis of environmental factors alone.

The Environment Agency states "The study, which looks at and evaluates the environmental impacts arising from every stage of the life cycle of disposable and reusable nappies, found that there was little or nothing to choose between them...The study, which was carried out by independent environmental consultants, is the most comprehensive and thorough independent study of its kind ever undertaken."

[Red]

That report is quoted quite a lot and the report which was originally conducted back in 2002 erroneously assumes that all cloth nappies are laundered at 90 Deg C and tumble dried.

The other thing that the report fails to take into account is the distance covered by the nappies before and after use. Cloth nappies have to make one journey to the end user, disposable nappies have to make that journey week in week out... That's a lot of miles when you live all the way up here.

There was also an article in the Times last week stating that Ed Milliband the Environment Minister doesn't use reusable nappies on his 6 month old baby either as he believes that the disposable eco-nappies are better for the environment!! Just goes to show how much work we (nappy projects) have to do to publicise the correct information when even the Environment Minister is ignorant of the true facts...