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Baby Tommy's our little eco-warrior!
STINKING nappy pails, causing grievous bodily harm with a safety pin and scraping poo from a terry cloth on a three-hourly basis? No thanks. As if a new mum hasn't got enough to do.
Why make life hard for yourself? Well, because disposable nappies account for four per cent of all landfill in this country.
Don't get me wrong. I'm no tree-hugging sling-wearing hippy mum. But all my colleagues are taking on eco challenges this week and I'm not being left out just because I'm on maternity leave.
But when I called my mum to share my plan to use real nappies for a week, she barked: "Are you MAD? What are you doing that for?"
I tried to explain about landfill but was shouted down with: "But it's awful. You'll have to buy nappisan, and nappy pails, and how will you fold them? You can't even fold a jumper properly. You'll stab the poor child in the bottom with the safety pins."
My explanations that it's all modern now with fancy Velcro-padded pants fell on deaf ears.
"You'll see." she whispered ominously, like the time I said I was going to have a natural birth.
After hours of internet research and talking to the Real Nappy Campaign, there's actually loads of "systems" you can use, raging from traditional flat nappies you then shove a liner in and then put an outer waterproof cover on, shaped nappies that are more or less the same but look like disposable ones and do up with velcro, or all-in-ones where you just need to change the liner. Allegedly.
There are lots of groups who do free trials, Wakefield Council included. And it's worth doing, as the initial outlay can cost about 150 to get started.
Or another option is to go for a laundry service, where you hire the nappies for a week, leave the dirty ones on your doorstep in a bin, and someone comes and takes them away and leaves you with a fresh lot. This costs about 11 a week.
For the purpose of this challenge, I am using Smart Nappy, which is basically a big pair of comfy pants into which you insert nice soft pads that you then cover with a liner.
You can either use disposable pads, which are fully biodegradable, or reusable ones, which you then shove in the wash.
Day one
Going fine until Tommy burst into tears after lunch. Picked him up for a cuddle and discovered he was dripping. Re-read instructions. Meant to change him every two hours. Look at clock. Am terrible mother. Had to change entire thing – not just the liner like I was led to believe. On the plus side, he does seem comfy in it, and it's really easy to change.
Day two
Took Tommy for lunch with my mum and baby group, when he started seeping from all angles. Took him into the toilets of the pub and attempted to change liner and pad, then realised it was just everywhere and took him home to hose him off. He is in his last clean pair of pants and others haven't dried yet. Think I was being optimistic by only buying three.
Day three
Tommy's bottom all red. Maybe I should change him more often, but I'm trying to do it every two hours. I'm really not organised enough. Can't get my head round getting all the nappies washed and dried on time. It's not that I need to do any extra loads – any mum will back me up that the washing basket is always full when you've got a baby, it's the drying that's the issue.
Day four
Redness gone, and seem to be getting into the swing of it. Have started using the disposable pads, which I'm finding a easier. Can throw them away guilt-free as they are biodegradable.
Day five
Another forlorn Tommy. I don't know whether it's the brand of nappy I'm using that makes it leak. Another girl from my group has no problems. Cheated last night and used a disposable. I'm running out of clean sheets and Tommy is much less happy to lie in his own filth in these nappies than disposables.
Day six
Good day. No real accidents. Managed to keep him reasonably dry all day, but it took work.
Day seven
Last day then back to Pampers. I'm exhausted. Although it hasn't been the utter hell I envisioned, it certainly wasn't as easy as some would lead you to believe. If I had my time again, I might have gone for another brand. of nappy.
Realistically, I'm not converted, but I will do my best to carry on with the real nappies when at home, saving the evil landfill-plugging ones for when out and at night.
For more information, go to www.realnappycampaign.com
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Weather for Wakefield
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 12 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
