Now that the pet human is 16months old, cloth nappies have become second nature to us. I started when he was 3 weeks old and haven’t looked back since. We’ve had to evolve our strategy as he got older because his output has increased and we’ve had to add extra inserts and prefolds and he now waddles even more with a cute oversized Queen Bee bum.
Here he is for the longest time scooting on his Ikea stool from about 11 months old that we had to hide and he didn’t start walking independently till last weekend at nearly 16 months.
Through trial and error, secondhand and new cloth diapers, wool covers, PUL covers and the many (confusing) variations and types of cloth diapers – oh the luxury of choice! – I’ve finally found what works best for us. He’s non-fussed either way. Different strokes for different folks, everyone has to find what works best for their child and themselves.
The most economical and efficient diapers is the chinese brand Happy Flute. How cute are these??? if I didn’t already have a great stash in rotation, I would buy them, but I don’t need more. Being truly sustainable is buying only what you need and where possible buy them secondhand.
I have to confess eco-anxiety aside, it’s the irresistible cute prints that made me persevere when we had to deal with poo-namis and leaks. In the summer, we go without pants because the prints are great to show off. So win-win, you even save money on pants/shorts!
For longer outings, I use disposables as it’s way more convenient and not very nice to be carrying around a couple of soiled nappies in a wet bag. I’ve tried the charlie banana bamboo inserts, but with a heavy wetter, you’d still have to change the whole nappy, if not you could do with changing the disposable bamboo insert. There are some eco-friendly disposable diapers which cost a little more than the run of the mill brand, but i’m not sure how truly sustainable they are even marketed as such. We use Honest and Bambo diapers when we’re on the go.
cloth diapers reduces microplastics in the landfill
I’m not sure how many diapers I’ve saved from the landfill, but hopefully a significant number as we go through about 5-7 nappy changes a day, including one overnight (fitted snaps bamboo/cotton – baby beehinds, Imagine) works best with a wool cover over. We’ve also recently added Grovia ONE diapers with an extra insert for overnight
As I have a mild case of arthritis on my fingers, they aren’t very nimble (was it because I didn’t have a confinement nanny?? I’m still glad in hindsight we managed on our own, driven by instincts), so snap button nappies are the bane of my life while I struggle to keep the toddler still. the Hook and Loop option have been the best for me so far, it’s also easier to put on a wriggling toddler. (basically the same functionality as the disposable nappies with the velcro straps). I’ve an olympic wetter, so I’ve had to double up on an extra insert to all his nappies.
In a turn of events, he’s now been taking off his own nappies because he has figured out the velcro clasp and he’s sometimes walking around butt-naked and recently enjoys looking me in the eye before peeing directly on the bed. I know my faux pas because they do it for the reaction and I am yelling in panic!
I haven’t found the best solution for cloth diapering a wriggling toddler. JustPeachy works as pull-ups which is great, only that the poo-liners get dislodged while you’re pulling them up and once our toddler is on the move, cloth pull-ups are not very practical. I am hopeful that once potty training starts it will get easier and I’m still figuring out the optimal way forward.
find the best fit for bubs bum
In terms of absorbency and ease of use, I find Happy Flute, Imagine, Niki’s diapers (for prints!), Just Peachy, Baby beehinds fitted snaps + wool covers (our fool proof night routine) and Charlie Bananas – in order of preference. Grovia didn’t work well for us being bubs has chunky thighs and we always ended up with leaks.
I’ll leave you with a video of my cheeky groovy bubs with his Queen Bee cloth nappy bum.
