Real Big Nappy

To cloth or not to cloth? The average baby goes through an average of 4000 nappies. The amount of pressure this puts on our landfills is tremendous given that each of those nappies take a maximum of 500 years to fully decompose. A sobering thought for any environmentally concerned mum. But it's not just the green cost to landfill which makes real nappies appealing it's the green cost to your purse too. The average disposable nappy costs between 8-10p, doing the easy maths means I'll be spending £400. A lot more than 24 real nappies worth including the cleaning. Lincolnshire Real Nappy Network scheme provide help and support by supplying mums with trial buckets of real nappies to see how you get on with them and figure out which style of nappy is right for you and your baby plus giving you a £30 cash back incentive to start off your own collection of real nappies. Find their Facebook page.

Bio degrable nappies are also on the market, the leading company being Naty who are available from most supermarkets and health and beauty stores. The Swedish brand boasts a fully bio degrable nappy costing around 13-15p a nap. "Go green without giving up performance" their website displays their proud tag line. 

Many other brands are cropping up on the bio degradable bandwagon for the green mum who ain't nobody got time for that washing and drying. One other caught my eye mainly because they give out free samples (you pay for postage and packing). Beaming Baby, a British brand at the higher end of the nappy price market at 20p a nap (not including postage and packing) and tMhat's buying in bulk. Not only are these nappies bio degrable but claim to be made with 30% less chemicals which aids baby's skin conditions such as nappy rash and eczema. They even claim to help breathing conditions like asthma. Their website sell a lot of other green baby products including gift packs, clothes, wipes and bath and skin care products. They also sell real nappies not their own brand but a good range of real nappy companies. 

The feedback I've had from friends and family when I've expressed interest in real nappies has been less than positive. Apart from one friend who has just had her first baby and started actively using the Lincolnshire Real Nappy Network scheme who can't recommend them enough. My parents although green hippy types argue that the cloth nappies simply aren't practical and will take up my valuable time. I can't help but think that possibly the styles and techniques now available on the real nappy market are much more advanced now compared to when they last used one. 

A good website I've just stumbled upon is www.GoReal.org.uk which is a complete list of brands, advice and support on real nappies. 

I guess I can only speculate on real/bio degrable/disposable nappies until I have my own nappy wearer to test them on and believe you me i'll be documenting it minus the graphic poo pics. A concern is that the small baby grows probably won't fit as the real nappies seem to be quite bulky but this also depends on how big the baby starts off at. As I peer across the screen over the big bump I'm guessing he's going to be quite heavy but we'll just have to wait and see. 

This is one of my sisters taking a selfie with the bump a few a weeks ago. I'm 28 weeks now and the kick count is at 10 every 3 minutes. I'm wondering if he's coming sooner than expected! 

If anyone has any experience or advice to offer on the nappy debate please either leave a comment or contact me. I'd like to know what you think!