A while back I spent a lovely day at the Abbortsford Convent in Melbourne. Its an old convent given to the community and houses an array of yummy delights. Artists in residence work their wares in glass, metal and clay. You can even watch them create amazing stuff like glass vases and ornaments. It 's where Brendan and I got to know each other over the delicious food at Lentils as Anything – a cafe where you can sample the fine vegetarian cuisine and pay what you feel the meal was worth - a very down to earth kind of place.
We meet some friends there and it just happens to be the weekend of the makers market. I'm over the moon! I love markets and after perusing all of the amazing hand made stuff I am drawn to a stall. It stands like a golden beacon calling out to me “I will answer all your nappy prayers”. There in front of me is a modern nappy stall!
A tall earthy woman greets me and explains how her modern cloth nappies work. They are a cloth nappy but they are in the shape of a disposable. They look like the Weehugger pants with buttons on the outside to do the nappy up. However they do not have any inserts as they are all in one. Just like a regular cloth nappy you use one at a time and wash them after use. I really want to try one out and even though I am getting a little slim on cash I cannot resist buying one . She makes me a deal and I choose a wonderful black and white dalmatian patterned pair. They cost me $25 (this is with a discount too) soooooooo expensive but I feel good supporting a local (offsetting the guilt of digging into my dwindling money funds). I eagerly rush home to try them out and Sebby looks snug in his spotted new nappy.
So now it has been a little while and I'm sad to say that the beautiful spotty nappy sits on the shelf most days. I think the concept is good – an all in one nappy that is the equivelent of a cloth nappy, however it is so bulky that it takes forever to dry. So I use it once and then have to wait a few days while it dries out on the line until I can use it again. You would need a heap of these nappies just to get through the day. At $25 a pop you are looking at a really expensive option (seeing that a 12 pack of cloth nappies costs the equivelent of one modern nappy its hard to justify purchasing these new improved wonders).
I do feel that I am getting closer to a better solution than the original cloth nappy though. So the search continues...
Dude!
ReplyDeleteI got all excited then...how disappointing though!!! Maybe you should design something/invent something?
Love lots Helen xx
Hi Eco Mum,
ReplyDeleteI've just come across your blog and I'm wondering how you're going. I did the terry towel nappy thing with my eldest (for 2.5 years) and it worked well - a bit bulky, but cheap. I was a bit lazier than you with the cleaning though! Nappy soakers left residue in the nappies that caused nappy rash on my son, so I just tipped solids down the toilet and dry pailed (like you do with modern cloth nappies), before putting them through the machine. I had a few stains, but the sun bleached most of them out!
Fast forward 9 years (and another 2 boys!), and now my sister and I own a modern cloth nappy online store with about 30 different brands - who knew there could be so many?
Anyway, I was thinking that if you're still looking at alternatives, an All-in-2/Snap In system might work for you. It's a bit like the Weehugger in that the cover part of the nappy and the absorbent part are separate, but the inserts snap into the shell (rather than are tucked in). You can get extra inserts too, so it works out cheaper than a lot of MCNs because you can change the insert and reuse the shell. MonknBears are really good - great quality and very absorbent bamboo fabric and $23 each (for shell and inserts) and extra sets of inserts are $10 each. They fit from birth to toilet training too, so you don't need to get bigger sizes later on. The inserts fold out for faster drying and they're topped with a stay dry liner.
Anyway, I hope you and little Seb are doing well. Feel free to email me if you have any queries: admin @ darlingsdownunder.com.au
Take care,
Fiona