Let me introduce myself, my name is Brynja, I come from Iceland and am mother to a lovely 3 year old toddler. I’m filling in for Jenny Weeks whilst she is on her maternity leave and enjoying life with her two beautiful children and partner (check out her blog about having two children in reusables at the same time). As for myself, I did use reusable nappies on my son however I didn’t start until he was 1 year old and here is why.
One of the nappies I bought using my Real Nappies for London voucher
During my pregnancy I did some research about reusable nappies, the impact of disposables and how we as a family could prevent creating more waste when our little one arrived. I was very excited as most parents are when they start a family and couldn’t wait to be a mum, but my mind had other intentions.
Shortly after our chunky little boy arrived the blue cloud moved over my head and postpartum depression settled in. It was mild and undiagnosed but thankfully I managed to work my way out of it through my interest of reusable/less waste lifestyle and the task of applying that to our way of living (not forgetting my brilliant partner and amazing friends). It all started with one reusable nappy that I bought on sale at my local Waitrose and, from that day there was no going back. The reusable nappy was like a shining light in the fog and getting rid of the smelly nappy bin became an exciting task.
Before full-time use, we only had a few nappies. No Nappy bin nor wetbag so a little tub did the job!
I found out about Real Nappies for London at my local stay and play group in Islington, applied for my voucher and purchased a few different types of nappies to help meget going. My friends who had finished using the few nappies they had gifted them to me and I found a couple of used ones on eBay and Facebook (if you didn’t already know about the huge secondhand market, then read more about it here). Within a month I had built up enough nappies for full time use and used up the remainder of disposable nappies we had left. When the pack of wet wipes finished, I introduced reusable wipes to my changing routine, nothing fancy just a used old towel that I cut up into squares and sewed the ends so they wouldn’t fray (check out this post about making reusable wet wipes).
The great thing about reusable nappies is the community around it! Real Nappies for London host events which I started to attend and through that I began to find myself and the blue cloud started to clear up. I learnt so much more about reusable nappies, their environmental benefits, how they are making a difference and how I can make a difference.
A year after my son arrived, we had finally started with what we wanted to do from the beginning and it wasn’t too late, it was the right time for us and I think that made a considerable difference to our reusable nappy journey. No regrets!
The nappy bin became a big favourite, once we got one.
All to soon my son showed signs of being ready for potty training and our reusable nappy journey ended a couple of weeks before his second birthday where he potty trained in 3 days (watch this space for a potty training blog). I do miss the bulky cloth bum from time to time. Even though he stopped using reusable nappies I never stopped promoting the use of them, so much so that I lent all my nappies to my friends (and I know they will be passed to another friend before making their way back to me). As they say “a nappy in use is a good nappy”.
I look forward to helping you get started with your reusable nappy journey. You can find me at our upcoming in-person events this month and at our online give and take Facebook page.