Questions people ask me about cloth

Today is cloth nappies laundry day. Various people have also been asking me questions about it offline, so as my mind is on cloth nappies today, I decided to do a post on the subject and answer some of those questions.

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1. How long can they hold up?

Modern cloth nappies can actually hold up very well for long stretches. I always use them when I’m out for this reason (as well as for the cuteness factor).

Although I aim to change him at least every 2-3 hours, I have however gone for a stretch of up to 6 hours with my itti bitti d’lish nappy (pictured on the right) with no problems at all.

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2. How often do you need to change him?

At home I use traditional muslins/prefolds and usually change him twice during each wake-time – once when he wakes up, and again before he goes down for his nap. If he does a poo I change him immediately.

So altogether, his bum receives a fresh nappy between 7-10 times throughout the day.

I love the liberating fact that I can change him as often as I like with no reservations over cost or waste.

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3. How do you deal with the poo?

I think this is a big concern which causes a lot of hesitation for moving to cloth. I actually don’t find it a big deal – I just change him into a fresh nappy, rinse the soiled nappy in the laundry sink and dump it in my nappy pail.

As Nathan still fully breastfed, his poo is still the soft-runny consistency which rinses off fairly easily. Sometimes I use a liner in which case I just need to take the soiled liner out of the nappy and throw/flush it away.

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4. Isn’t it more unhygienic and bad for his skin?

The context of this comment/question was around the concern that there’s always some pee/poo residue left in the cloth which could lead to rashes on baby’s skin. In my laundry day post, I talked about the wonders of sunlight and the modern washing machine – both of which are really perfectly effective at banishing any stains and residue.

All my cloth nappies are still in pristine white condition and I can honestly say that rashes became almost a non-issue since I switched to cloth – whether it’s because I’m able to change him super often or whether it’s the better breathability of the cloth material – either way we’re rash-free! In fact I still have not finished the tiny sample pot of sudocream that came in my bounty bag from the hospital.

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5. How do you find the time to manage with cloth nappies?

People have the impression that cloth nappies require a lot of extra work and imply that I must be some kind of wonder-woman/super-mum – puh-leeeese… spare me all that lah!

It’s true that going cloth requires a bit more organisation, but I don’t think it takes a great deal out of me – just an extra load of laundry during the week.

Altogether I launder three times a week – two for Nathan and one for me and hubs.

I integrate the laundry activities around Nathan’s wake-time – he hangs out with me while I hang up the laundry, and later when taking them down, then afterwards he sits next to me as I fold them and put them away.

I also find it to be a great way to vary his routine.

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So there you go. Hopefully I get another convert or two. I love talking about cloth nappies but sadly I only know one other mum in Perth who uses cloth and she lives waaay down south. If this topic generates enough interest, maybe I can host a cloth nappy party one day!