Cloth Nappies - actually fairly lazy (and very cheap!)

Having a few cloth nappy role models in my family made it easy for us to opt for cloth – and being slightly on the frugal side made it very appealing to our el cheapo tendencies. There’s also the positive environmental aspect – so though you’ve got to do what’s right for you and your family, for us this was a no brainer. I thought I’d lay out what I see as the pros and cons, and then will share the system we use (which we’ve found easy and awesome) in a later post [update: link here].

The Good Stuff:

Cost

Generally estimates of savings come in at around $1500 over the time your child is in nappies – though obviously this varies depending on how you buy your nappies (i.e. waiting for sales / buying secondhand vs paying full price for the fanciest kind). I think this table provides a fairly reasonable view including cost of washing (and we don’t come close to washing daily! Every 2-3 days is plenty). We got most of our nappy inners secondhand which made them really cheap (we’ve probably spent $200-300 total) – though for the next size up we’ll probably spend a bit more.

Environment

Speaks for itself really – though I have read that if you use the dryer it can undermine your eco efforts so let’s not be too smug. And there are compostable disposable options now so there are different ways of ticking that box.

Leaks – or lack thereof!

Leaks seem to be a non-issue for us – we have only had “poosplosions” in disposables, never in cloth. We’ve had the occasional wet leak but only when we’ve not quite put the nappy on properly (and now we’re in the groove that barely ever happens). We are not super vigilant about changing them – I mean, we’re not neglectful either (I hope) but I’ve read some things that say cloth is all well and good if you change them every three hours – that’s not my experience. If Young Sir has a long sleep he might go four hours or so in between changes during the day, and at night we add a booster (absorbent insert) but then he goes from bedtime through till morning (around 12 hours) without a change, and we haven’t had problems with leaks there either. Some people think cloth nappies are more prone to leaks but it’s probably mostly down to getting the right system – that definitely hasn’t been my experience.

The Bad Stuff

Bewilderment

I reckon this is the thing that puts most people off - the options are just so confusing. There are prefolds (which aren’t folded, you have to do that, the name makes no sense) and fitteds, which both need waterproof covers; then there are pocket nappies (you stuff an absorbent pad in the pocket), all-in-ones (less work but longer drying time) and various hybrid systems. It’s extremely hard to know where to start – I was lucky, as my sister reckoned she had it all sussed out, so I worked from her recommendations and it was easy and worked perfectly for us too. So as a (possible) remedy for your bewilderment, I’ll share that system in another post soon. Depending on your system there is also potential for grandparent / daycare confusion – if nappies need to be assembled – but there are plenty of options which don’t require assembly or special technique.

Ick Factor

Lots of people seem to be worried about this, but so far (we’re not up to solids yet so will let you know if this changes!) it is barely different to disposables. You have to touch the nappy when you change it – that’s the same whether it’s disposable or cloth. You also have to put cloth nappies in the washing machine at some point – but we empty the wet bag directly into the machine and don’t touch the nappies again (though I do wash my hands after doing this – same as I would after taking a rubbish bag full of disposables out on rubbish day). So I reckon that’s equivalent.

You are supposed to empty solids into the toilet (technically you should for disposables too – it says on the packet but hardly anyone does) but it’s pretty hard to do that for breastfed babies as it is too liquid – so that’s not something we’re doing yet.

Time

There is of course a time factor – perhaps add 1-2 hours of my time a week for 2-3 extra loads of washing. But that I can handle for the potential savings, which are likely to be well over $1000 per child. Again, this can increase if you use a more complicated system, but hello, lazy mum here, we try to keep it as simple as we can.

Space

They are bulky! But really on the scale of baby stuff it’s not that big a deal – just think ahead if you’re heading on holiday. We’ve taken our cloth nappies with us when visiting family but they take up nearly as much again as everything else we need for a weekend away!

Verdict

Overall for us cloth is a clear winner but everyone’s priorities are different – and though I’m expecting to keep using cloth the balance might swing the other way when I go back to work. How about you? Have you tried cloth? Have I missed any points on either side? 

Pregnancy and Postnatal Exercise

One of the big surprises for me with Young Sir’s arrival was the impact on my fitness. I love group fitness classes (I reckon Les Mills group fitness is one of New Zealand’s best exports!) and went to my last pre-baby class only a week before the small person arrived. I knew I’d need a bit of time to recover but hadn’t anticipated just how long it would take (and I think I had a pretty quick recovery compared with some) or what a wreck I would feel physically. I had assumed pregnancy was the hard bit!

So with that in mind, I thought I’d share what got me through.

The first thing that just about any source of info will tell you is to listen to your body – pregnancy and the early months with a newborn are not the time to push boundaries, and our bodies are pretty good at giving us the feedback we need so long as we’re paying attention. I found this the most in the first couple of weeks after my son was born – a couple of times we walked a bit too far and I was just wiped out - totally destroyed. And you’re already sleep deprived so all very well trying for a nap but it probably won’t catch you up!

The second thing is to make sure you’re well nourished – lots of protein seems to be the main thing, both for repair of your own body and producing milk, but a normal balanced diet (with about an extra 300 calories worth of food if you’re breastfeeding) should do the trick. I’m definitely far from perfect on this front but I figure if about 80% of the time I’m eating my protein, veg and good nourishing food then the treats which inevitably creep in won’t do too much damage.

And then you have to work out what’s “allowed” in terms of exercise. 

I discovered the excellent Pregnancy Exercise website early on in pregnancy – I knew I’d want to keep my momentum as much as possible and I struggled to find much info so this site was a source of sanity. Lorraine is a qualified fitness professional and has competed in triathlon – and also has three kids. Her site offers lots of general advice (watch out for diastasis recti! Most of the ‘normal’ ab exercises are no good during pregnancy and immediately following) as well as dedicated exercise programmes for pre and post birth (which cost money, but it’s worth it!). I have to admit though I bought both programmes I didn’t really follow the pregnancy one as I was still going to the gym regularly (and even running until 33 weeks), but I did use it to modify some of the exercises in my gym classes once the bump started getting in the way.

The postnatal programme (Birth2FitMum) was really good, as it provided a reasonable guideline as to when I could expect to be able to do various things again. I found it a bit ambitious (she suggests you can start from five days after your baby is born, and the word “run” sneaks into the programme at around week five) but since you can start whenever you feel ready - even if that’s months down the track - and running is optional it’s very achievable. I started following the programme about three weeks postnatal, went for my first (very gentle with lots of walking) jog at 12 weeks, and was back at the gym at about 14 weeks. Right now I’m at 17 weeks, feel great in my BodyPump classes (though I skip the ab track), feel pretty good about doing most of a BodyAttack class (not up to the sports training track yet, with lots of agility work – my joints and core strength just aren’t quite there), and can do a (very slow) 5km run without having to stop to walk.

I also did the “Mums in Motion” course with Active Mums – another targeted postnatal fitness option, but this is run locally so you get the added benefit of working out with others, and you can bring your baby along. It was good for the easing-back-in stage (though was very easy until the last week or two!) but I learned how much I enjoy the “me time” aspect of my workouts, so having my small person there was actually a negative for me, though I’m sure works well for some folk.

Both these programmes address pelvic floor condition to some degree, but I was a bit paranoid about that (especially as I'm really fond of very high impact exercise) so I went to see a specialist physio, who gave me personalised advice (though essentially: do lots of pelvic floor exercises!) and checked I didn't have a prolapse or anything nasty like that. She recommeded Pelvic Floor First for useful exercise info - I confess to not necessarily following all the recommendations but at least I'm now aware of the more risky exercises! 

Another consideration if you’re breastfeeding is ensuring you don’t affect your milk – I’ve read that sustained exercise at high intensity can impact this so it’s recommended you don’t work past about 80% intensity. I now tend to pump before I work out to ensure there’s a back-up feed if Young Sir needs it – which can also make morning workouts more pleasant if you know what I mean! 

I didn't realise it would be this complicated, but I'm hoping that by making sure I stay fit and active I can be a happy, healthy parent who's keen to head down to the park and kick a ball around so that we can have lots of fun family times in the future. Because that's what it's really all about. 

An introduction to our laid back parenting style

It seems my response to all major life events is to start a blog. However, here we are, so hopefully I can write some stuff here that's helpful to someone. 

I read an article the other day about “Precious Firstborn Syndrome,” where first time parents bestow unnecessary levels of care and fastidiousness upon their darling child. That's basically the antithesis of our parenting philosophy - the name of the blog is a little tongue-in-cheek but we are endeavouring to be laid back, and as our small person begins to explore the world we hope he'll be a keen explorer and discoverer, while we provide the loving backstop and guidance as needed. 

However, I’m sure we'll have plenty of blind spots – and certainly we have ideals which will likely be shattered. And actually, my number one belief when it comes to parenting is that there are a million different "right" ways and what works for you is likely to be best for your children and your family - just because it's different from the next person doesn't mean anyone is wrong. Obviously there are some exceptions to this - there are some truly neglectful parents out there - but they're unlikely to be reading parenting blogs to start with... So I'm starting with the base assumption that everyone reading is awesome in their own way, and hopefully I can learn something from you along the way!