convince me to go cloth/mcn

when the twins are born. i know very very lil about these things and am wanting to be convinced.

is it really cheaper?
does it create much extra washing?
how exactly do they work?

any hints or advice or any other information........

I was a late convert - converting when Jake was over 2 and taine was 3 months I think. the main reason i did was i worked out how much i was paying in disposables - which was about $60 a month (and that was getting cheapies) - then figured if I bought a set of fuzzis, after 4 months, i had effectively paid them off. so got a set of medium, and a set of large and xtralarge mixed. we have 12 and although sometimes it would be good to have more, i find since i do washing everyday anyway, not too bad. one thing is that we have a front loader - the washing takes AGGGES, so i always put the nappies on when shortland street is on, and try to dry a few on the hot water cylinder overnight. Bought disposables over the weekend as awe were going away and was surprised at how expensive it was - and a pain when you suddenly realise you don't have any - quick trip to the four sqaure for a $20 10 pack of treassures.

I started with MCNs at 8 days old (basically when we got home from hospital). I started with prefolds and snazzipants fleece wrap (newborn size fitted him well and he was a skinny wee thing....its just starting to look a little small on him now at 9 weeks). These were really cheap. $110 got me a pack that has pretty much lasted us through till I started using pockets. I found pockets didnt fit well on little ones. Now I am loving pockets!!!! AIOs dry too slowly for me,except the bubblebubs ones that are also the cutest thing around.

I find even with the odd slip-up on a website it is still cheaper than sposies would be and really handy because you dont run out.

I tend to store them up through the day and put a load on early in the morning (currently straight after the 4am feed). I have put a load on in the evening andfind the pockets dry really fast on a clothes rack and the heated towel rail dries the inserts overnight.

I second the suggestions of checkin out snazzipants and mothers instinct. Both really helpful.

Since ya said convince me to go cloth!! im guna be different say sposies all the way- hehe

Sposies will probably outlive your Little ones, sitting in a sticky ol landfill for a very long time..

Cloth will waste a lot of water, unless you hook up grey water recycs And its water that is guna be the major problem for our little ones come 2050

And yep they'll be a lot of washing!! My mt washmore cant take cloth fulltime or it may become a cloud piercer

You cant win can ya? Either way you will destroy the earth!!

That made me lol, is too true, no one can actually tell you which one is environmentally better

Glow wrote: Sposies will probably outlive your Little ones, sitting in a sticky ol landfill for a very long time..

and there is your main reason for going cloth!!!!

yep i like to stir Difference is great. Still anal about water tho hehe literally!!

maybe infertility would be a good thing, no more children being brought up in a dying world, we borrow it from them, not inherit it!!

There will always be people using sposies as long as they sell them- just like all the other bad schitt out there, take it off the selves, make it illegal & there wont be a problem!!

Imagine trying to do your washing with an ol agitator? And a hobbit clothesline

sorry to rant on about the enviro issues - But this is what I have in my Agent pack to pull out when people question the benefits of cloth nappies (covers enviro, health and cost)


Quoted from Scoop 14 May 2004 - Green Party Zero Waste Spokesperson. MP Mike Ward

"Once in the ground disposables reportedly take at least 75, and possibly as long as 500, years to break down. 1.3 million trees and over half a billion cups of crude oil per year go into making the disposable nappies used in New Zealand. Disposables use 90 times more renewable materials and eight times more non-renewable resources than cloth nappies and the energy to make one disposable would wash 200 cloth nappies. Disposable nappies are clearly an environmental disaster.
"And they don't come cheap. Parents using cloth nappies save up to $1500 per year or $30 per week.
"The modern design of ready folded and shaped nappies take the chore out of fitting and cleaning. Nappy liners are re-usable and flushable which means mess is easy to remove from the nappy and with washing aids such as soaks, nappies can always be sanitised and white. There are also a number of nappy laundering services, which provide affordable washing care.
"Wearing cloth nappies could also be better for babies' health. There have been no long-term studies into the effects on skin of constant exposure to the polyacralyte super-absorbent gels found in most disposable nappies, but which were deemed unsafe and removed from tampons in 1985.
"Over the course of their lives, babies are the ones who will reap the greatest consequences of adults' current wasteful behaviour. In the present, babies are also likely to be the ones who most benefit from an additional $30 a week in the family budget," said Mr Ward.


And Glow, as for washing nappies with an agitator etc - what do you think our Grandmothers used?

tashzmum. I'm expecting twins in Feb/March and intend on going to MCNs.
I'm going to use sposies initially but am going to build up a selection of cloth ones before they arrive so I have some to test out and then will invest in a complete set once I find ones that work for me.

hmmmmmm

i never though about the extra water usage glow... and being on a farm i am rather stingy with my water usage especailly as at the new plce we will most likely be going to at the end of the season only has tank supply, and no spring, unless our boss decided to find a way to get spring/well water lol.
i already do something like 3-4 sometimes up to 5 loads of washing a day as for some reason i always have a massive washing pile of wet towels, wet filthy farm clothes, wet dirty overalls, and tashs clothes, and bedding.

i read the thread about the different types and i am still rather confuzzled. i might keep lurking around this part for awhile. i am still leaning towards sposies......

i have a memory in my head of my mum paying 50c for every cloth nappy i folded when she had my sister and brother when i was 8 and 10 lol.

eta- i forgot to say at the moment i spend $10-$15 a month on nappies for tash

Edited by tashzmum