I feel that I can admit it, now that I’m back on the wagon again. My Itti Bitti nappies have been languishing in the hall cupboard since Aerin was born in March. Every time I opened the cupboard to get some Cheeky Wipes they’ve winked at me and waved ‘Hello’ before I slammed the door shut on the nappies and my guilty conscience.

You can imagine what it’s like when you’ve got a newborn and 3 other children. If you’re not feeding the baby, you’re getting the others ready for school / lunch / swimming practice / bathtime /bedtime. Staying on top of the washing was already a mission with my washing machine being on at least once daily never mind adding nappies into the mix.

So I ignored my nappies and used eco-disposables instead . And my Cheeky Wipes of course. But then I saw the lovely Norma from Itti Bitti at the recent baby trade show in Cologne and I had to admit that I hadn’t used my lovely Itti Bitti for a while, but couldn’t quite explain why not!

Now Aerin is 6 months old and at nursery a few mornings a week, I have a bit more time and things aren’t quite as hectic, so that definitely helps. And she’s gone past the pooing 10 times a day stage too, which also helps.

So I dug the Itti Bitti out and introduced Aerin to them and she just loves them of course and looks super cute with her little fluffy bum. But I thought it was worth doing a quick blog post to all the Mums who have their cloth nappies lurking in the cupboard rather than on your baby’s bum (I know you’re out there!) Remember the good thing about cloth nappies is that once you’ve got them, any use you make of them is going to save you money and help minimise your environmental impact through landfill.

It doesn’t have to be all or nothing, you can mix and match if you need to and it suits your lifestyle and circumstances. Dip in and out as you need to and don’t feel bad. Your nappies will welcome you back with open arms when you’re ready…

Sure, it’s convenient to be able to wrap up a stinky poo and chuck it in the bin, never to be seen again (just don’t think about it rotting SLOWLY away in your local landfill site.  Nice.)  But it’s not that much harder to flick poo off a cloth nappy, into the toilet and flush it away!

When you’re out and about the only minor inconvenience about using washable nappies is that you’ve to bring them home.  Most modern cloth nappies (like my lovely Itti Bitti’s) have a popper or velcro closure which keeps the soiled nappy closed and makes it easy to transport home for washing.  Even on occasions when I’ve forgotten my wet nappy bag, I’ve been able to throw the dirty nappy straight into my bag until I got home, with no problems.

Itti Bitti Bum

It does take a little more planning to use washable nappies successfully in that you have to get a bit more organised in terms of washing (and drying) your nappies, but once you get into a routine of doing so, it becomes much easier.

In fact the only time that I can see that the ‘convenience’ of disposable nappies wins is when you’re on holiday and don’t have access to washing / drying facilities.  Even then though you’ve still got to either lug your disposable nappies away with you (and if you’re going for 2 weeks, that’s quite a lot of nappies).  Or you need to find somewhere locally that sells them.

But…I did a bit of reasearch online anyway and realised that cloth nappies had moved on a bit from the bad old days.  5 years later, with no3 in her Itti Bitti’s, I thought I’d share a few of my reasons for going cloth (and staying with cloth…) 

• Saves money.  If not for the fact that I had a little girl and was vain enough to want a trimmer nappy on her, then my Motherease nappies would have lasted 3 children
• The cute factor.  Snuggly baby bums in fluffy nappies as they’re learning to crawl are just the cutest thing ever
• No nasty chemicals from disposable nappies against your baby’s bum
• The environmental thing….better for the environment as long as you don’t boil wash and tumble dry every time (as if??)
• Comfort – after all would you rather wear cotton or paper pants?
• Much less household waste (and less smell too!)
• Emergency help for unprepared mothers.  I have been known to flick poo off a fleece liner , turn the liner over and put the nappy back on again.  You couldn’t do that with a disposable!
• Smug Mummy feeling…for when your lovely clean white nappies are blowing on the clothes line
• Extra bottom padding.  For those upsy-daisy learning to walk by falling over days
• Great conversation starters – particularly the Itti Bittis!

If you’ve got any reasons you’d like to share, please feel free!