Thank you to Tottenham mom, Anne who has contributed this guest post as part of our Real Nappy Week 2015 writing competition. Please keep sending in your stories. Just email to realnappiesforlondon@lcrn.org.uk
I’m a life-long greenie, so when my partner and I discussed buying a house and then having a baby, I always knew that I’d use reusable nappies. We’re both extremely committed to making our lives as environmentally friendly as possible, and we agreed that reusable nappies fall into that commitment. Flash back one year ago however when I just discovered I was pregnant, we were gazumped on a house, and living with his parents, the dream of making our lives as green as possible was put on hold. Now however, after a year-long house-buying struggle, we’re in our own home and we’ve started using cloth nappies. I say we… I mean I. He’s replaced all our light bulbs with LEDs and has already started looking into solar panels… I’m investing in cloth nappies and reusable wipes.
I’ve been stunned by the huge array of nappies to choose from, and despite my idealistic environmentalism, I still want to use what is easiest and most convenient. I did the questionnaire on the Nappy Lady
website, and was pleased that she came up with such comprehensive feedback, but dismayed at the price of the nappies. I understood that I’d be spending a bit at the outset and then saving over the next few years, however the name brand all-in-ones that she recommended struck me as very expensive; so I went to try to find them second hand instead. Being a total newbie to reusable nappies, I had no idea that they have such a huge following, or such high resale values. The brand that I’ve been recommended in particular has an array of patterns, colours, and designer editions which people buy at cost and then resell for a profit. I find this aspect of cloth nappy-ing to be particularly perplexing. Surely the point of buying and selling cloth nappies is to ensure that they are used to their full extent with the aim of keeping excess waste out of landfill, not to be the first in the queue just to get the newest colour and then hoard it in order to sell it on.
I thought using cloth nappies would somehow allow me to avoid paying into the baby industry; instead it has sucked me into a whole new world of discussing and buying different cloths, models, and patterns. I’m trying to avoid becoming obsessed in the way that some women seem to be. Well, with the particular colours and designer nappies at least… I am still obsessed with being green, and the materials that go into the nappies are definitely worth thinking about (bamboo and organic cotton in particular). I do like my little boy to look cute, but ultimately I want him to wear what will hold in the poo and wee, is comfortable for him, and will last us the longest. All that being said, I’m going to keep trying to find what works best for us. I just discovered that there’s a North London Nappy Library. Having gone to the
North London Sling Libraryseveral times already, I am a fan of trying before I buy and probably should do this before we get any more nappies.
I hope that our cloth nappy journey will be a good one. Already I feel like I’ve tapped into a new community of people with similar ideals to me (if some slightly over-the-top obsessions with making their children’s bums look fashionable). I’m happy that using cloth nappies will save us a lot of money in the long run while keeping disposable nappies out of landfills as well. However, thinking of how we can be even better for the environment and the pocketbook – and continue to smash the baby industry – I’m very seriously considering doing elimination communication (or baby-led toileting depending upon where you read about it) with my little boy. I just need to steel myself for it. And that is another blog (and set of obsessed parents) altogether.
Thank you to Tottenham mom, Anne who has contributed this guest post as part of our Real Nappy Week 2015 writing competition. Please keep sending in your stories.
