My Cloth Journey

Okay, So I've openly said so many times to feel free to have a chat with me about my cloth journey, and also to help you start/develop yours. I've been absolutely overwhelmed with messages that I thought it was about time I wrote a blog about it so I can direct you here first.

When we had Peighton my husband and I briefly spoke about cloth nappies and decided that neither of us wanted to 'touch poo' to clean the nappies - and then we never spoke about it again.

It wasn't until I fell pregnant the second time that I was 'alerted' to the fact that so many nappies/wipes/baby products went in the bin and I didn't want to repeat the process a second time. Again, I had the conversation with my husband and our mindset was still the same - 'no touching poo'! 

I read reviews and observed Instagram accounts and it wasn't until I read something Shelly @themumcollective posted about 'using cloth part time'. I hadn't even considered this to be an option!?!? So it got me thinking, maybe I can use cloth part time and save SOME nappies going into landfill?? Maybe I could time those cloth nappies to only be wet nappies and save the dirty changes for disposables!?!

So I bought my first pack of 5 nappies with absolutely no idea of how to use them or what I was really doing. I was thankful it came with a few brief care instructions and followed that and then it wasn't until Mia was a born that I started asking cloth using Mummas the 'real' questions of 'how do I put a cloth nappy on?', 'how do I wash cloth nappies', 'why do I keep getting leaks?'. SOO MANY QUESTIONS!!

We were gifted some disposable nappies for Mia's baby shower as I had requested 'useful' things only as we already had everything saved from baby #1. We also purchased 1 box of nappies in the lead up. So it wasn't until week 3 that I even contemplated cloth nappies. And I will be honest and say that every nappy leaked!! It didn't matter what I tried. I was getting leaks. My husband told me to give up while I was ahead and that I was wasting my time.

But honestly, from that first SNAP ... I WAS HOOKED!! I loved how easy it was. I love how pretty the patterns were. I loved that my bin wasn't getting full of disposable products that would only go to landfill and sit there for 500 years! It was only the leaks that were getting me down. I spoke to a few Mummas and made additional purchases of extra inserts to bulk up the nappies and after a few weeks the leaks stopped!! So looking back on that I just think it was because Mia's legs weren't chunky enough to hold it all in, so it would seep out the sides. (I opted not to buy the newborn size because I know how fast babies grow. That was my personal opinion and doesn't have to be yours! There are plenty of NB sized cloth nappies around!)

I was washing those same 5 nappies every single day and since it was summer I could walk back out a few hours later and they would be dry! I had been made redundant from my job while I was pregnant with Mia and found a job that I worked around 10 hours a week at - so money was super tight back then. But as soon as my maternity leave payments started coming I bought another 3 nappies & a few more inserts and then was SUPER LUCKY to find a whole stash a few minutes away for only $20!!! I jumped at those and bought them home and started a strip and sanitize on them immediately. Some were duds from the get go - but others have lasted me until now (9 months use - plus the lady I bought from used them for her 2 kids). Pretty awesome life hey?!?!

A couple more new purchases and my stash got up to 28 nappies and it became MUCH EASIER with a more relaxed wash routine - especially when I started back at work when Mia was very young. Also coming into winter didn't help with longer dry times. But 28 is the number I sat at for approximately 6 months.

Basically from the start of our cloth journey I have stuffed each nappy with 2 inserts. This could be a combination of 2 microfibre, 1 x microfibre and 1 x bamboo OR 1 x microfibre and 1 x charcoal. I really had no preference which one was which as they all held up over night. I just used whatever was clean and dry at the time. It has only been the last month or two (Mia's age being 8-9 months) that I've needed to use a third insert at night. I'm still not 100% sure if this is also due to the delamination issues of the older nappies or because she's doing bigger wee's. I'm slowly weeding out the older nappies and replacing them with the Mama Koala's.

I am not going to sit here and say that our cloth journey has been problem free. Because it's not the truth. Sometimes after a long day at work that load may not make it into the machine. Sometimes I struggle to make it out the door on time of a morning because I didn't stuff Mia's daycare nappies the night before (yes we use cloth 24/7 - even at daycare!).  But I sure as hell know that I am doing the right thing for me, right thing for our family and right thing for the planet! It is also super satisfying after stuffing most of your stash and seeing all those beautiful prints!

My husband doesn't do any of the nappy washing, although he occasionally helps hang them out. But he does support my wish to use them and has no other choice except to use them! Also, I don't touch POO! If the poo is solid enough it can be shaken off or if it 'sticky' I take the dirty nappy outside and hose it off into a corner of the yard we don't use (we have super green grass HAHA). This is what I read someone else did and have adopted it for me - but may not necessarily fit into the 'cloth nappy rules'. It works for us and at the end of the day - that's all that matters!!

I hope that this may have covered a few of your questions and given you a background on my journey. Unfortunately I've had so many Mum's reach out to me saying that their family and friends think its a waste of time, or that it takes up too much time and not getting the support that they need at a very important and crucial time of their lives - which in itself is really sad. BUT I will be there for you as much as I can be and give you guidance wherever I can. And if there is something I can't help you with - I can guide you to somewhere that can help!

My goal/mission now is to educate people on cloth nappies, remove the stigma that is attached to cloth and #MakeClothMainstream.

Remember I am a Mum too, and am here doing cloth with you each and every day. I'm not telling you to 'buy this' and walk away. Come have a chat with me if you still have questions or concerns and I'd be more than happy to help you.

Trish xx