When I let Eve in on my secret that I was expecting our first baby back in 2010, Eve was so excited for us and asked me if I’d be using her nappies. “Ew no chance!” was my reaction.
She just laughed and said no more about it. Eve and I spent a fair amount of time together and I’d seen her plenty of times changing her daughter’s nappies, she never asked me again about using them whilst I was pregnant.
Then when my baby was about 8 weeks old, she came over to see me, she had 2 nappies with her and asked me if I’d like to just give them a try and see how I found them. Again, no pressure, just a gentle nudge. She helped me put the first one onto my tiny girl whilst we were sat in my living room and the rest, as they say, is history.
I wonder now, what changed my view? I don’t think I was conscious of my own mind at that time, being in the newborn blur. When I think back now it’s quite clear to me. When Eve asked me about the nappies when I’d first told her I was pregnant, I wasn’t a parent. When she asked me again when my little girl was 8 weeks old, I was.
The first thing that entered my head when she asked me that first time was that I’d get poo everywhere and that’s gross. But the reality is that whichever kind of nappy you choose to use, the likelihood is that you might get a bit of poo on you at some point, using reusables doesn’t really increase or decrease that risk.
When I do my talks in the baby groups, I always have a single use nappy as well as a reusable nappy showing parents that the primary function of both is the same. As one of our customers said many years ago ‘it’s just a poo-catcher’!
I love being invited to come to baby groups to talk about reusable nappies. I’ve noticed throughout my years of doing talks in baby groups that there are 4 definite reactions that I tend to get;
- Totally on board, already got them, know exactly what’s what and confident that I’ll be fine.
- I’ve heard of them and looked into it but there was so much information, I found it confusing.
- What are they?
- Ew YUK!
Weirdly, I’ve had the most success in guiding people and setting them off on their cloth journey with reaction number 4.
I think the reason for this is that I am that person that Eve was to me. A parent who showed me something new. Who gave me those two orange and purple nappies to try. No pressure, no guilt, just kindness and guidance.
This is why we talk about gentle changemaking. Activism doesn't always need a loud voice or actions that go viral. Sometimes it's those gentle nudges that create the most change.
When you use reusable nappies, you are not just changing bums. You are helping to change the world. Your baby's world.
We'd love to hear your stories about how you have helped other parents switch to reusable. Please do share your stories below. We really love to read them.