Cotton nappies have come a long way since they had to be boiled and soaked. Pins no longer exist. Instead aplix fastenings (similar to velcro only is softer and longer lasting) can be found on many nappies or Nappi Nippas (see image on the left of this page).

 

You can really make a choice to use cotton nappies in your home without all the manual labour still associated with cloth nappies. As a father of two and a stay-at-home dad it is me that does most of the nappy changes and washing. You really don’t notice a couple of extra loads a week as there is so much other washing to do anyway. To coin a phrase from a holiday we had in Scotland, modern cotton nappies really are ‘nay bother’.

 

If you want more help, from someone who really does use cotton nappies on their children, please contact us and we’ll help you as much as possible. There are many myths about cotton nappies. We’ve picked just a few of them, but if you know any more, we’d love to hear them. Just e-mail them to us and we’ll add them below.

 

Myth One

If I go on holiday, I would have to use disposables anyway, so I might as well just use disposables. All I can say to this, is check out the photo from our holiday in Scotland, October 2005. The same nappies have graced the washing machines of Guernsey too!

 

Myth Two

Using cotton nappies increases the risk of nappy rash. Dr Jean Golding, Bristol University, conducted some research for Pampers, and concluded that nappy rash was to do with the mixing of solid and liquid waste in a nappy. In other words, if you do not change your baby’s nappy they will get nappy rash. It does not matter what type of nappy they have on at the time.

 

Myth Three

Cotton nappies make children walk later. Far from it; it is suggested that the softer landing, when the child falls backwards, can increase their confidence. Actually our first son was walking by 9 months!

 

Myth Four

All nappies are white, square and boring. Well, there are many types of nappy. Some are indeed white, some are organic or unbleached (an off white colour). There are nappies with various patterns, prints and colours. The traditional terry square still exists—it is still very usable and we use these for every day nappies! If you do not want a square nappy, there are a huge number of shaped nappies; these look like a disposable nappy in shape. They fasten with Aplix  (long lasting, child friendly velcro) or poppers. The other fastening is a Nappi Nippa which we use ourselves. Check out the picture for a closer look, but basically flat teeth ‘grip’ the fabric very easily, so all you really have to do is ‘tack’ it on to the nappy. They really are quite funky!

 

Myth Five

Cotton nappies need pins and plastic pants. They really put me off. Modern cloth nappies do not use pins. We do not sell them, or the plastic pants they are so often associated with. Many modern nappies are shaped and fastened with velcro or poppers. Square terry nappies are still going strong, indeed we have used these, and still are using these, on both of our children. These are fastened with a Nappi Nippa instead. These simply grip the fabric. As for all the mess.

 

Myth Six                                                                                              

I will have to boil and soak my nappies.What about all the mess and extra work? You can dry store your nappies in a bucket until you wash them as washing machines will deal with any mess left by your child. Sadly this is not true of the bedroom floor after a play time or kitchen floor after a meal time! You will be, if you aren’t already, dong lots of washing. Nappies will need to be washed once every 3-4 days. They easily disappear into the pile of washing I do each week. If you want to wet store, that is fine, but many houses aren’t set up for this. It is the best way of caring for the nappies however. Try it to start with and see how you get on if you wish. If you do find some stains on the nappy through dry storing, which we get occasionally, then try some Ecover Laundry Bleach. Drying on a line, where possible is good too as the sunlight is a natural source of bleach. I still get enormous satisfaction seeing a line full of clean nappies, blowing in the breeze! Check out out holiday photo!

Back to top