When someone mentions cloth nappies to you what do you think? Flat white squares with pink stripes, soaking nappies in buckets, scrubbing, pricking yourself with pins, folding,  leaks, plastic pants etc etc

 

Well you'll be very pleased to know that those days are virtually gone. You can still use those white squares as stuffers in pocket nappies though.

 

Modern Cloth Nappies (MCN's) are almost the same to use as disposables, but they are better for baby, better for the environment, and save you lots of money. They look cute too!

 

 

 

When you first start thinking about using MCN's it can be very confusing. Here are some of the basic terms you are likely to come across:

 

These naps have a waterproof outer layer and a stay dry inner layer, and an opening (usually at the back) which you put absorbant inserts into.

 FancyPantz are pocket nappies.

Pockets are fast drying because they are all seperate parts. They usually close with either snaps (plastic domes), or velcro.

 

Fitted naps are made of absorbant fabric and require a waterproof cover to be added over top. Some fitted naps have all the absorbancy layers hidden, others have fold out or snap in soakers for quicker drying.

 

AIO's are basically the same as fitted naps, but have a waterproof outer layer. Whilst these are very easy to use they can take a long time to dry. Fine in the summer or if you have plenty of naps, but can get annoying in the winter.

 

Inserts are what you put inside a pocket nappy. These can be almost any absorbant fabric. FancyPantz inserts are 4 layers of microfibre. Some people use flat white nappy squares, hand towels, face cloths, tea towels etc.

 

 

Most children are in nappies for 2-3+ years. If you were to use modern cloth for this time you could save thousands of dollars for just one child, then reuse them for future children with absolutly no cost to you!

 

Most familes spend $20 plus a week for one child in disposables. That's $1040 per year, $2080 for 2 years and $3120 for 3 years (per child)

Modern cloth nappies will cost you a few hundred dollars from birth to potty. Most children only need small and medium nappies, or if you have a bigger child mediums and large sizes. Of course, when you have more children the cost is $0! Most modern cloth nappies will easily last 2-3 children. I also recommend looking at using a hire kit for newborns as often babies outgrow nb size within a few weeks, Fancypantz will make nb naps on request. Just ask if you prefer this option.

 

The only additional costs with MCN's are your washing costs, which are minimal. Please read the section on Care of your nappies later in this section.

 

MCN's have a really good resale value so if you are considering starting to use them with an older child this is worth keeping in mind.

 

 

 

I recommend dry pailing your wet nappies. Just take the inserts out and put everything in a lidded bucket with no water until you are ready to wash. Soiled nappies are just as easy. Shake the contents off into the toilet (which you should be doing with disposables anyway), rinse off any residue in cold water then put in the bucket. No soaking needed in most cases.  I usually just put them through a rinse first then use half the normal amount of laundry detergent. No fabric softener should be used. Hang on the line to dry or put in the dryer. Did you know that natural sunlight is a fantastic bleach? In most cases any stains and smells will disappear after a day in the sun.

 

You can use your normal laundry detergent, or I recommend using Eco friendly powder or liquid. Just use about half the recommended amount. I also recommend using about a cap full of Canestan Laundry rinse in the fabric softener dispenser. This eliminates any germs and smells and leaves your FancyPantz soft and fresh smelling

 

For a start you will not have a bin or bag of stinking, rotting nappies sitting around until rubbish day. This was one of my primary reasons for changing to cloth when my little one was 2 years old! I just got so sick of the smell and the rubbish!

 

MCN's are great for preventing nappy rashs. Most have a stay dry layer inside which draws the moisture away from babies deicate skin. Most inserts are made from natural fibres. Fancypantz inserts are a layer of hemp fleece and a layer of microfibre. OR a layer of sherpa fleece and a layer of hemp fleece.

 

Recent research has suggested that cloth nappy users toilet train, on average, 5 months earlier than disposable users. This is possibly to do with the fact that MCN babies are more aware of when they are wet, whereas a child in a disposable doesn't realise they are wet because the dangerous chemicals absorb the moisture.

 

There have been links about disposable usage and Toxic shock Syndrome,  asthma, infertility in males and other nasty things.

 

TSS and Gels:

 

Asthma:

 

Infertility:

 

 

Did you know that just one baby using disposable nappies will use aprox 4.5 trees and an astounding 8700 cups of crude oil?

 

Zero Waste trust estimates that nearly 600 million disposable nappies enter our landfills every year! Studies indicate that each disposable takes up to 500 years to completely decompose. Scary, isn't it?

 

Using MCN's will use aprox 12kg of eco friendly laundry detergent during the nappying period, and about as much water than an adult uses to flush the toilet over the same period.