I come from the Eastern part of the world where traditionally people use old cotton clothes instead of disposable baby nappies. It is considered the best as babies are cleaned immediately and it’s environmentally friendly. To be honest, it’s hard if you are not surrounded by people to help. I was able to put cloth nappies on my kid when I had my parents living with me for some time to help or when I went home for holidays, as my parents were there to help with this.
I wanted something for my baby that was eco friendly and was gentle on baby’s skin with minimum or no chemicals. I did some research and came across Moltex Eco Nappies which you can only order online (in Ireland). It was difficult at times if I did not receive the package on time, so I moved on to Naty’s and Pampers Pure as they are available readily in pharmacies and online health stores. If Moltex was more widely available, then I would have stuck to them, but now things have changed and they deliver the next day anywhere within Ireland.
There are different kinds of nappies:
- Cloth nappies: Cloth nappies are very environment friendly and very baby skin friendly. It is a big task for parents as they need to clean more often and then wash the diaper too. If you have help to do this then it is one of the best options as babies can then have so much nappy free time. These days the cloth diapers are so much more absorbent and they grow with the babies. They would help you save money as well as the environment.
Mummyoffour.com has explained the types of cloth nappies very well.
- Disposable Nappies: Traditionally, disposable nappies have a plastic outer layer, a layer of super-absorbent chemicals and an inner liner of cotton or something else. Disposable nappies are quick and easy to put on. As Babies skin are delicate you can try different brands and see if it suits your baby’s skin.
- Biodegradable disposable nappies: These nappies are made up of biodegradable materials like bamboo, paper, clothes and so on. These are easier on baby’s skin and the environment.
You can view some brands for eco-disposable nappies in Earthmother.
To decide on what nappy is best for you and your baby see the below guidelines:
- Chemicals: Check if the nappy is baby skin friendly and won’t give rashes because of the harm chemicals. This is where cloth nappies or eco-friendly disposable nappies are better as they are gentle on baby’s skin.
- Cost: see how much you can spend on those as these are recurring costs if you go with disposable nappies. Also washing cloth nappies in the washing machine is a cost too with detergent costs, electricity bills etc.
- Convenience: You need to consider if it is convenient for you to wash the cloth nappies. Disposable nappies are convenient.
- Nappy quality: check the absorption strength of nappies. Usually disposable nappies have better absorption than eco-friendly disposable nappies and cloth nappies.
- Impact on Environment: Disposable nappies are a big cost for environment as they create loads of waste. Cloth nappies have some impact on the environment if your detergent is not environment friendly and not using washing machine at below 40C.
For a time period, I used cloth nappies during daytime and disposable eco-friendly nappies at night time. This was a very balanced act. When my kid became 18 months I permanently moved to eco-friendly disposable nappies as I didn’t need to change that frequently. See whatever suits you, your baby and your family.
To read more on nappies, see below links:
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