Natures Cradle's Blog

Today Nature’s Cradle are hosting the South Australian event for Reusable Nappy Week.  I am so excited!!!  I can’t wait to see everybody, I can’t wait to talk ‘nappy’, and I can’t wait to hear the nappy talk given by the wonderful women joining us for the event.

I am going into store this morning, without any of my little ones pulling at my Sari Skirt.  I will get to talk to people with out a mummy confused mind, well that is the theory anyway! 

I am so excited about the prospect of helping more parents try some cloth, whether it be 1 single nappy, or a whole full time package, just to know that from one busy event alone, we might be pulling literally hundreds, possibly thousands of disposable nappies (think about it, several nappies a day per child, even one parent converted to cloth will mean thousands of disposable nappies) out of landfill, chemicals off their babies.  This is what makes every bit of effort worth it.

I LOVE talking nappies.  I love helping parents with information, I love seeing them go home excitedly to try out their new treasures, and I love hearing how well they have worked. 

But nappies are not always as simple as buy one, take it home, use it, happy happy joy joy.  Sometimes, like all nappies… even disposables… they can leak. 

I think that your success in getting nappies to work for you, has a lot to do with your attitude.  Weird thing to say?  Well really, when I am using nappies, when I try one out, if a nappy doesn’t seem to be holding in the wetness, whether it be a new nappy I am trying for the first time, or a nappy that has worked wonderfully up until now, I stop and look at why.  It is easy, especially when you are a tired mum, to say ‘oh this nappy doesn’t work, it is hopeless’.  But so many contributing factors can make a nappy leak.  And I am a firm believer that you can get practically any reputable nappy brand to ‘work’ to some level, if you work with your nappy. 

Here are some of the things that I look at when a nappy doesn’t seem to be working -

• Have you washed your nappy enough times?  Bamboo/Hemp fabrics especially, but even some Cottons, can have build up from the manufacturing process.  There are oils, and things that basically clog up your nappy, and until you have washed it enough to get them out, your nappy doesn’t absorb enough.  So if your nappy leaks and you have only washed it a couple, or even a few times, wash it more!!!  Put it in with some weekend loads if you wish, you don’t always have to dry it in between washes.  You cannot fully know how well a nappy works for you until it has been washed at least a dozen times.
• Have you got it fitting nice and tightly around the legs and the waist?  If using a fitted nappy with a separate cover, the cover is what needs to fit tightly.  I know it can seem like the nappy is pulling at baby’s skin, and sometimes leaves a red mark on the skin, but you will know if something is actually hurting your baby.  As an example, are you wearing pants or a skirt with a waist band?  If so, pull the waist band away from your skin, can you see a red mark?  Does it hurt you?  No?  Well that is the same for a nappy, you need that firm fit to stop leaks, not so much that it hurts, but of course something against your baby’s skin is going to leave a mark sometimes.
• How many absorbent fabrics do you have?  Perhaps you could add a little more if the nappy isn’t lasting as long as you want before leaking.  Just make sure you don’t add so much that you make a leg gap by pushing the cover out too far.  How to tell if you need more absorbent fabrics?  When the nappy leaks, have a feel right through your whole nappy.  Can you feel wetness through all layers.  Is the wetness right up from the back to the front?  If yes, then simply your nappy is absorbing well, and your baby has just done enough wee to fill the nappy.  Great, now you know how long between changes for this type of nappy, or add more absorbent fabrics if you want it to be longer.
• However, if when your nappy leaks there are parts that are only mildly damp, or not damp at all, yet the nappy is saturated in other areas and leaking, then the nappy might not be absorbing well enough for your baby.   What does this mean?
  A) The fabrics in the nappy are maybe not ideal for the way your baby wee’s.   To explain, if you have slow absorbing fabrics, such as Hemp/Bamboo, and your baby holds on and then has a strong powerful wee, these fabrics may not grab it fast enough before it comes pouring out.  In that case, adding some Cotton or microfiber as the top layer may help grab the wee, before it then more slowly soaks into the moisture holding fabrics of Hemp/Bamboo below.
  OR
  B) Your nappy may have a soap build up and cannot absorb properly, which means it needs some strip washing.  Or you haven’t washed it enough as above and it can’t absorb yet.
• What is your baby doing when the nappy leaks?  This question is important in particular when using Microfiber.  When using Microfiber, if you are doing an activity that puts pressure on the nappy, such as wearing your baby in a fabulous Ergo Baby Carrier, then the pressure on a wet nappy can push the moisture out.  So for babywearing in this type of carrier, Cotton/Hemp/Bamboo are best.  For a light nappy running around in the afternoon, Microfiber is great.

There are so many factors in choosing the ‘right nappy for you’.  There isn’t a right nappy for everybody, otherwise we could just sell one brand of nappy and be done with it!  Where some will have great success with a Cushie Tushies Bamboo nappy, others will find that leaks for them and will have great success with a Mommy’s Touch Microfiber nappy, and Vice Versa. 

Does this make you put your hands up in the air and say “Noooo, how will I ever choose then?”, do not stress!  If you work with your nappy, you can buy any nappy.  If you try one with Microfiber for example, and it leaks for you, and you are using it for afternoons running around, and you don’t have soap build up, and the nappy is wet from front to back… then the nappy is working properly and if you want it to last longer it simply needs some absorbent fabrics added such as Cotton or Bamboo/Hemp added to it by the way of a booster.  See, that is ‘working with your nappy’.

In the end, whether you buy one brand and choose to work with it, or buy a whole mixture, you can get them working for you.  You may realise that a brand of nappies only holds for a short while on your baby, so more frequent nappy changes with that brand, and  you might only like to use it for running around at home.  It doesn’t mean the nappy doesn’t work for you, it just means that at this time (Because believe me it continually changes!  What works for baby now, can change down the track as they change the way they wee) that nappy is a run around during the day nappy, and for night you either boost it up if there is room, or use a different nappy.

I always remind everybody, that a nappy is simply a piece of cloth to soak up moisture.  It doesn’t matter what form or shape it comes in, make sure it fits properly, and work with the fabrics.  If your nappy doesn’t last long on your baby, after looking at all of the above, then consider it a run around in the afternoon nappy!