A whole new world..............of fluff?

First of all welcome to my blog and thank you for reading this far. My name is Amy, I'm 30 years old and a new mother to my gorgeous 8 week old boy called Toby. We live with my parter of 4 years Richard, my 8 year old Springer Spaniel Jem and two cats, Jasper and Pixie. 

Toby was born at 37 weeks and 4 days by c- section weighting a hefty 5lb 3 oz. Perfect in every way but nicknamed Tiny Toby for obvious reasons.

We are both new to the world of parenting and whilst I was pregnant I researched many ways of bringing up a child in a more ethical and cost effective way. One of these areas was reusable nappies and wipes, an area I feel every new mother should be given some knowledge in. Well that's what I want to share with you all, as well as some of the ups and downs of being a new mother. 

Where to start............

Initially reusable nappies would conjure up images of my younger sister, Rebecca having her nappy changed in a home video at the age of 1, with a large terry towel secured with an even larger safety pin and finished off with a white wrap resembling a plastic bag with cuffs. Nice eh. Not very slim and probably not very good at containment either. 

Well if you type "reusable nappy" into Google now you are greeted with a huge number of sites offering all types of nappy from partly reusable to overnight ones. All at different prices too. I was overwhelmed and very confused. I started to look into them at about 13 weeks pregnant and thank god I started early. 

Some weeks later I was introduced to a lovely lady on a Facebook birth group called Melissa. She became my bump buddy as we were both expecting babies on 20th July (although neither of us managed any where near the due date in the end) and if it wasn't for her I doubt I would have got into cloth. She has a 2 year old son who uses cloth nappies and she passed on nuggets of information as well as introduced me to Facebook sites and even brought me along to a nappy meet where I met other mums who were using cloth or were thinking about starting. It was still a lot to take in to start with but her advice and guidance certainly shaped how I perceived using cloth and influenced my choices. Thanks Melissa x

Anyway there are many sites that explain the different types of reusable nappy and I need not spend time explaining them all but if anyone has any questions I can certainly try to help if requested. The main reason for my blog is to provide new and expectant mothers with my own personal reviews of certain nappy brands to aid in your choices should you choose to cloth your child. 

What are the benefits..........

Again there are many benefits to reusable nappies vs disposables and I shall no doubt mention these throughout my blog pages in the months to come. The main one is the lack of waste. I don't have smelly bins full of stinky nappies and don't need to buy nappy sacks or one of those silly nappy bins where it twists them into separate sausages for ease of transferring into a bigger bin outside once it gets full. 

The cost is also a big benefit.

Whilst pregnant I mentioned that I was going to use reusable nappies to a small group of my sisters friends. One of them laughed and told me to let her know when it all went wrong. I asked her why and her first response was they were extra hassle. What is exactly extra hassle? There is nothing I can think of which would be deemed a hassle at all. I do a nappy wash every 2- 3 days, so that is one extra wash a week. Big deal. I wash at 40 degrees with a normal washing detergent, no hassle there either. I dry on the line or in the tumble dryer on a low heat. Nope still no hassle there. I don't have to wash them whilst spinning plates and juggling fruit as that probably would be a hassle to me. 

What else could be a hassle? Putting it on? Most are very similar to a disposable nappy and I don't know anyone who cant stick one of those on a little bottom. Do they leak? Well every nappy can leak for various reasons. A bad fit and being on too long it becomes saturated are the main reasons and are valid for both reusable and disposable. The fit is more key on the reusable to assure comfort and good absorbency. Every brand fits a baby differently too, so one could work amazingly for one and not so good on another little bum. 

I have not had the pleasure of having a "pooplosion" with Toby but have heard that these are almost unheard of in reusable nappies than they are in disposables. I guess the containment of a reusable is so much better. 

What is against your babies bum........

Cloth nappies are made from natural materials such as Cotton, Bamboo and Hemp. They also use micro fibre and fleece. All very nice and soft on squidgy bums. 

Disposables contain all sorts of things to make them absorbent but have you ever wandered how hey can make them so thin yet it seemingly holds a small swimming pool worth of liquid? The following information was taken from Reallypants.co.uk and explains what's in that nappy. 

The Real Dangers of Disposable Nappies

We all know that modern disposable nappies are produced using valuable resources such as petroleum based plastics, and wood pulp, as well as adhesives and a host of chemical products-as parents, it is our duty to carefully evaluate these chemicals and assess their potential consequences.

Taken directly from the Huggies website, they list some of the components that make up their nappies:

‘The inside absorbent padding on Huggies® nappies is made of wood cellulose fibre, a fluffy paper-like material, and a super-absorbent material called polyacrylate. 

Other materials used include polypropylene, polyester, and polyethylene. These are all synthetic materials designed to enhance the fit of the nappy and the help stop leaks. The elastic strands in all Huggies nappies are made of synthetic rubber to provide a snug but gentle fit for baby. In addition, Huggies nappies feature an all-over breathable outer cover”

This ‘list’ is described in a promotional manner, however these synthetic substances and plastic ingredients are hardly reassuring when you take a closer look….

Polyacrylic Acid- Ever noticed little gel balls on your babies bottom after wearing a disposable nappy? Welcome to Polyacrylic Acid - A Super Absorbent Polymer (SAP) that turns urine into gel and can absorb 100 times its weight in liquid. This is a substance which was banned from use in tampons in 1985 due to its link with Toxic Shock Syndrome. Employees in factories producing Polyacrylate suffer from female organ damage, fatigue and weight loss. No long term studies have been conducted to assess the risks of 24/7 exposure to this compound on a babies vulnerable genitals.

Due to its extreme absorbency, this chemical has been found to draw moisture from the skin, causing severe nappy rash and bleeding of perineal and scrotal tissue. Polyacrylic Acid is also lethal to cats when inhaled.

Dioxin- The most toxic of all cancer-linked chemicals, and a by-product of the paper bleaching process. Certain dioxins have been shown to be a carcinogen and to affect the reproductive and immune systems, cause skin disease, birth defects and liver damage. Several European countries have begun phasing out the bleaching of wood pulp with chlorine due to concerns about dioxin and it potential negative effects on health.

In response to scares over dioxin exposure, several disposable nappy manufacturers have started to product nappies that are unbleached or bleached without chlorine.

TBT (Tribulytin)- This substance was found in Pampers® Ultra Dry nappies in May 2000. TBT is one of the most toxic substances ever produced, it damages the immune system and impairs the hormonal system. There is also speculation of a link with male sterility.

Xylene, Ethylbenzene, Styrene & Isopropyl - These are some of the chemicals which were reported to be released from disposable nappies in a study published in the Archives of Environmental Health (1999). Anderson Laboratories exposed lab mice to various brands of disposable nappies and found them to suffer from asthma like symptoms, including bronchoconstriction and eye, nose and throat irritation as a direct result. Xylene and Ethylbenzene are suspected endocrine, neuro and respiratory toxins; Styrene is a suspected carcinogen and respiratory toxin; Ispropylene is a suspected neurotoxin.

Male Infertility- In 2000, a scientifc study was conducted at Kiel University in Germany which indicated that the widespread use of disposable nappies, which heat the testes above body temperature, is a significant factor in the declining fertility rates in Western European males.

Nappy Rash- Reported instances of nappy rash rose from 7.1% to a whopping 61% with the increased use of disposable nappies according to a review of Proctor and Gambles own studies (The Landbank Consultancy Limited, 1991). How very handy for Nappy Rash Cream manufacturers!

So, we can see that the petroleum based plastic and wood pulp compounds of the disposable nappy are harmful enough to us and our world, but adding chemicals such as Polyacrylic Acid and Dioxin into the mix, as well as allergy causing irritants like fragrances and deodorants, we could potientally have serious problems. There has currently been no where near enough studies assessing the long term risks of the modern disposable nappy- especially because they are ever changing, and always being ‘added to’- so really, is it worth taking that risk?

Anyway I have done enough rambling for one day. I hope you find this a small but intriguing insight into the fluffy world of cloth nappies. I shall be back soon to share more of my cloth journey and my experiences. 

Thanks for reading and share the fluffy love :-)