Why use a Cloth Nappy?

Every parent or guardian has a different motivation for using cloth nappies. Your rationale for wanting to use cloth nappies may be purely for environmental and sustainability reasons, however for many parents, the main reason they are also moving towards reusable options and away from disposables is to save money; a lot of money.

Using Cloth Nappies

There’s a variety of manufacturers to choose from, and you can be assured that at Summer Sweets Baby we only stock what we trust, and what our loyal customers trust. Cloth nappies are not complicated, nor are they a hassle to use on a daily basis. Modern cloth nappies come with an outer waterproof lining and are stuffed with an absorbent insert, and can be adjusted to fit the size of the baby wearing them, from those tiny little legs to those thick and chunky thighs! They are not like the wrap your parents may have used years ago, and cleaning is them is really easy. They also dry quickly too. Once dirty, you could pop them in a wash bag, wet bag, or a nappy bucket. If you have a pocket nappy, first you should separate the insert, such as a bamboo one, prior to the wash. And when the bucket is close to full, simply pop all the contents into your washing machine (wash when 3/4 of your machine is full to allow for room for agitation for effective cleaning).

Benefits of Reusable Nappies

Every cloth nappy purchased means 275 fewer disposable nappies ending up in landfill sites. Your little baby who uses disposables will generate around 850kg of nappy waste during its first three years of infancy, and many children require up to 3 years to grow out of nappies. If a group of 25% of parents are going to switch to cloth nappies for their little babies, the reduction of total waste in Europe would exceed 1.5 million tonnes per year. For every €1 spent on disposable nappies, there is a financial cost to the taxpayer of 10c to dispose of them!

If you use cloth nappies and wraps on your baby, you are helping to protect your baby’s very delicate skin from the harsh chemicals that form the basis of disposables. The skin of a baby is 5 times thinner than that of an adult, so you can only imagine how much gets absorbed. That’s why parents in Ireland are buying absorbent organic cotton, sustainable bamboo, natural hemp, and microfibre inserts from many different brands of modern cloth nappies along with gorgeous prints and patterns of the nappies themselves. And remember still, as ever with a cloth set, less is often more. For a bit more advice on what to try and buy, please get in touch and we’ll be thrilled to assist in any way we can. Also check out our birth to potty starter kits for a really economical start to using cloth with your little child.