One of our biggest Baba+Boo fans, Susan Hill, shares how Granny has taken to using cloth. We think it's great how cloth has evolved since our parents last used them.
I never saw my mum so happy as she was the day we announced we were "expecting a special delivery some time in November" and making her a Granny for the first time, it was just wonderful to see her elation.So after she had picked herself up off the living room floor and had a little more time to digest the magnitude of this life changing event we got to the more important event of, yes, you guessed it, SHOPPING! We both have highly developed shopping skills and it seemed at one point that we would single handledly pull the country out of recession with all the bits and bobs a baby just can't do without. The truth be told, 90% of such purchases are completely unnecessary when your baby couldn't care less if it's hat didn't match it's socks but hey ho, these things mount up to an unbelievable cost.
Shopping
So we cleverly saved up all our clubcard vouchers and waited for double points week so we could stock up on wipes, nappies and other essential baby items that again, no baby could possibly be without (well they ALL need pretty flower shaped bath thermometers, 2 bouncy chairs & several cuddly toys don't they?!). I had a huge storage system of nappies and wipes that would last me months....hmmm or so I thought.
First of all, I nappy shopped without advice from my friends who'd had their babies fairly recently, who would have probably told me that the ones I had bought would probably not be required for a few months so at the hospital, my poor little lady had these nappies that fastened just under her arms! Furthermore, my beautiful little lady was a very sickly, she was sick a LOT, right up until about 9-10 months of age, I was quite often covered in baby sick, it became my new scent, so, there goes my lifetime stash of wipes.
Cloth Nappies
My lovely friend introduced me to the wondrous world of cloth nappies, what a joy. My most favourite thing about them is how they look in comparison to their paper rivals but a very close second is the cost saving and never having the panic of running out of nappies! I just loved them.
A few months later we were thinking about my return to work and my mum and mum in law offered to help us out - we are very lucky. This was such a relief for us as it made the return to work easier. The next hurdle was asking if Granny & Grandma would please continue the use of the cloth nappies because by this time I was loathed to spend our hard earned cash on disposable nappies when I'd already spent as much as I ever needed to spend on nappies for this baby AND any future children.
Returning to work
On discussions with Granny and Grandma now (my little lady is now 17 months old) they have both said that they were a little apprehensive about using them as they were different to what they had used before (my mum was a a nursery matron looking after 2-3 yr olds up to retirement & mother in law has a grandson 20 months older than our baba) but they respected what we wanted and gave it a go knowing that if they preferred disposable then I had no problem with this (grrr!)
My mum thought they looked so cute and felt lovely that she took very little persuasion before she was as hooked as I was. She had some problems with the poppers at first but soon got the hang of them and now just absolutely loves them. My mother in law even refers to her cloth nappies as 'the normal ones' which really pleases me that she has turned around so much since the initial apprehension. Both of them show them off to their friends and try to spread the word where possible.
Nappy rash
When asked their thoughts on a comparison to the old terry nappies our mums put us in as babies, this is met with laughter as if there IS no comparison. Apparently, my brother and I were coated in nappy rash cream with every change because we were constantly sore, my poor mum was forever pricking herself with pins when fastening them up and they were quite awkward to hold before putting the pin in place. I also understand that they took quite a bit longer to dry than my microfibre or charcoal once they had been through the washing machine.
A lot can be learned from grandparents about the evolution of cloth nappies, I take my nappies for granted, I believe in them because I took the leap of faith from what is considered to be normal now and am more than happy with their performance, however, I am met with scowls from people who probably relate using cloth nappies to how they were yesteryear.
I have saved so much money, not only because we use cloth nappies and cloth wipes but I am still only a third of the way through the sample tub of sudocrem that came in my bounty pack....17 months ago! There's got to be something to be said about that!
Vivre le cloth nappy revolucion!!!!