Asking Daycare to Use Cloth Nappies

The first two childcares I looked at weren't the best. The first one gave me an uncomfortable vibe, mainly because of the manager who showed me around. I feel terrible to admit it since I'm sure she is a lovely person but she gave me the creeps. I noticed that the educators seemed to be nervous around her too, which I didn't think would create a positive environment for Turtle. They said they were unable to use cloth nappies when I asked. They also required a $50 deposit just to put Turtle's name on a waiting list.

The second centre (which is across the street from the first one) gave a much better impression. The administrator showed me around and was lovely. The staff all seemed nice. The problem was, unfortunately, that the site had no natural light. The baby area particularly was dark and gloomy. I knew I wouldn't like being confined in such a dark space so how could I let my daughter go there? They said they were happy to use cloth nappies if that's what I would like. No deposit was required to go on a waiting list.

The third centre I visited (a couple of months after recovering from the first two) was so much better. The owners were professional and the educators were really lovely and confident when interacting with them. The space was well set up, with lots of natural light and great outdoor spaces overlooking a park. I didn't even ask if they did cloth nappies, I was so relieved to find a place that I really liked. There was no fee to go on their waiting list either.

Turtle has been going to centre number 3 one day a week since mid-March. There were quite a few times when I thought about broaching the topic of cloth nappies but I found it difficult to remember in the chaos of drop off or pick up time. Frankly, just settling her in was pretty intense even though she was pretty happy from the start. It took awhile to get used to someone other than Mr Fix It or I taking care of Turtle. Since the family are all in South Australia she was always with one of us.

MCN packed and ready to use, complete with instruction sheet

I found Plastic Free July to be the perfect reason to finally broach the topic of cloth. I asked the senior educator if she would be happy to trial them for a day. She was completely happy to give them a go even though she had never used them before. I explained that they were modern cloth nappies, not the old terry towel kind, so much easier to use.

The next week Turtle had Hand, Foot and Mouth so our trial day got pushed back by a week. I spent the day before making sure I had enough nappies and boosters clean and dry. It's trickier when you can't use things straight from the line, which we sometimes need to do in winter.

The Cloth Nappy Kit for Childcare

I felt so organised when I went into childcare. I really wanted to make it easy for them so that the trial would be a success. I folded the nappies with the booster inserted and disposable liner in place. The I stacked 5 into a cloth bag (enough for the day) so that the educators could use them straight from the bag. I also packed a couple of additional pairs of pants in case of any problems (it's not unusual to have leaks at home). I took in one of our buckets with a lid for dirty nappies to go into. Then I wrote out a quick page of care instructions to help the educators use the nappies.

The instructions included information such as not to use nappy cream, what buttons to do the nappies up on (since they are one size or multi-fit) and how regularly to change Turtle (every 2-3hrs). The instructions were stuck up in the changing area when I dropped Turtle off. I also demonstrated how to change her nappy before I left.

When I picked up Turtle at the end of the day all had gone well. There had been one leak but otherwise no problems at all.

They are happy to keep using cloth now! I was really pleased that they were so open to trying it out.

Although it's a bit of extra work for me each week I am glad things are more consistent for Turtle at daycare and home now. She will be starting an extra day at the end of the month so it's great to have this worked out already.

I coincidentally came across a promotion by the Australian Cloth Nappy Association trying to encourage childcare centres to use cloth with Childcare Ambassador Packs. Unfortunately I found out about these just after I had done our trial day. If you are considering bringing it up at your daycare it could be a useful way to broach the topic.

Plastic Free July: Takeaway Coffee Cup

Hot drinks and babies tend not to mix well. Babies are unpredictable and you often need to make a quick getaway. It is, therefore, hard to order coffee and actually sit and enjoy it.

Since throwing away takeaway cups is wasteful I choose not to buy takeaway coffee either. I always plan to make one for myself when I get home but often that doesn't happen in the rush to eat lunch and get nap time happening.

Enter my new Keep Cup, which I bought as part of our efforts during Plastic Free July. I bought it sure of the realm of possibilities that would lay before me. I could see myself shopping whilst sipping on a warm (but not too hot) flat white. Turtle would be sitting calmly in the trolley, probably snacking on some crackers, as I stocked up on food for the house.

My first coffee experience didn't go exactly like that. Turtle had come down with a cold a couple of days earlier. I had dropped my elderly neighbours at a nearby medical appointment to save them having to walk to the train. We had half an hour to wait before seeing the doctor about Turtle's cold and an outbreak of blisters that had appeared on her bum and face the night before. My bets were on Hand, Foot and Mouth since it had been going around childcare recently.

I decided to use the window of time that we had to indulge in my first takeaway coffee experience. I carried Turtle into the shops. The coffee shop happily accepted my cup to use instead of theirs. I thought that was going to be the most difficult part of the experience.

Little did I know. Turtle got jealous the second she saw my coffee and demanded her own. She immediately went into full scale tantrum (which is unlike her!) and threw herself onto the ground in the middle of the shops. Since I had my coffee in hand I couldn't pick her up while she was writhing on the ground.

I had to rest the coffee on a nearby shop wall (with everyone in the coffee shop staring) and attend to her before carrying her and the coffee from the shops. Oh dear. Reality check... She did have Hand, Foot and Mouth and we had a few days of her being ratty while she got over it, poor love.

Last weekend Mr Fix It and I took our matching Keep Cups and Turtle to the beach. We stopped for coffee on the way and spent a lovely morning playing in the sand with Turtle, soaking up the beautiful Perth winter sunshine. It was much more in line with my idea of a relaxing takeaway experience.

I've also started using my Keep Cup on mornings when I think I might not get to finish my cuppa before I leave the house. If I haven't finished I can just pop the top on and head out. I'm really happy with my new purchase.

Are you a coffee fiend? Have you discovered the delights of having your own reusable cup yet?

Joining With Some Grace today for #FYBF. I hope you've fitted in a nice cuppa while reading this (hopefully not on the run!).

Secondhand Baby Market

I often feel like I live under a rock. This is especially true in relation to keeping up with the news. I've always been guilty of it but with a baby I am so completely in the dark about current affairs it's quite embarrassing. I just never find time to watch, read or listen to the news. After I finish writing this I will surf the news sites (well maybe :-)).

Generally I do feel pretty "in the know" with sustainability type things though (since that's what I do, isn't it??). Recently, however, I found out about secondhand baby markets from a pregnant friend and couldn't believe that I had NEVER heard of them. It's devastating really since Turtle is now 20 months old. Although I don't need much baby stuff anymore I really wanted to check it out and right this wrong in my life.

I was too busy shopping to take a photo of the market - oops! Image Source

As market day approached I considered bailing on the event since I didn't need that much and life was busy. I'm so glad I went along. Apart from seeing what it was like I also wanted to buy size 2 winter clothes for Turtle.

The markets delivered. We rocked up at 9am and entered the hall. There was a variety of clothes, toys, shoes, bouncers, and general baby "stuff" across the stalls. The first stall I saw was Booty Crawl, whose nappy packs for beginners have been highly recommended to me by cloth nappy users. Apparently they make finding the right MCN style much easier and could have saved me a lot of stress had I known.

Turtle rocking her new purple jeans from the market with a secondhand raincoat I bought off Gumtree.

I bought 2 gorgeous dresses (ok, so one was a summer dress), 2 jumpsuits or onesies, 2 jumpers, 3 pairs of jeans, two very nice long sleeved tops, 4 basic singlets, a pair of flannelette PJs, two pairs of tracksuit pants, gorgeous floral shoes (that Turtle is in love with), and a toy mobile phone. All for the bargain price of $80.

It was a very successful shopping trip. These warm, cosy (cheap, secondhand - woo hoo!!) basics will make life so much easier when we are changing her 2 or 3 times each day. She is constantly covering herself with food, or playing with dirt, or... or... whatever else takes her fancy.

I just wish I had known about the market earlier!

Can you relate? Have you come across anything lately that made you feel like you live under a rock?

Today I'm joining With Some Grace for FYBF!

Why I like to use cloth nappies

Before I had Turtle I was determined to put her into reusable or cloth nappies.  Mainly because I wanted to make less waste that would end up landfill.

Newborns can use up to 12 nappies each day and when babies are a bit older they might go through 6-8.  Most babies wear nappies until they are two or three years of age.  Each child is therefore likely to go through at least 4,000 - 5,000 nappies.  That is a lot of waste.  I would love to see a pile of 4,000 - 5,000 nappies on display somewhere to fully comprehend how much waste is going into landfill for each baby.

The pouch style of nappy that we used for Turtle from 3 - 6 months

Interestingly, however, if you read up on the benefits of using cloth nappies you will see that this is a hot topic in the sustainability/environmental area.  The jury seems to be out on whether disposable or cloth nappies are better (or worse!) for the environment. Here is a Choice Magazine review on the topic.  When disposable and cloth nappies have been compared for their environmental performance - the resources used to make them, care and maintenance, and requirements for disposal and eventual degradation - there has been no clear winner.  The environmental costs of the different nappies are summarised well in this link. 

Despite this debate I cannot believe that using disposables could ever be more environmentally friendly than using cloth.  Not that I'm judging anyone who chooses (or needs!) to use disposables.  Having a baby is hard work and you have to do what works for you.  There are some biodegradable disposable options available as an alternative too.   We use these when we go out for long periods, and also for night time sleeps since Turtle was 6 months old and was wetting through the cloth.  I choose to use mainly cloth because it is a much better fit with my values and, with the support of Mr Fix It, we have managed to make it work for us.

We used the sized style of nappy for a few months (6-10 months) before moving to a one size style that grows with Turtle

Cloth nappies are washed every day or two while in use.  For the sake of comparing their performance to disposables it is presumed that cloth nappies are washed in hot water and then dried in a clothes dryer.   Since we live in Perth it is warm for most of they year so nappies dry quickly on the line and there is no need to use a clothes dryer.  This reduces the energy needed to wash our nappies, which improves their environmental performance.

Another way to improve the environmental performance of cloth is to use them on more than one baby.  Each time that you use the nappies for a new baby it doubles the environmental performance.  I have bought almost all of my nappies secondhand so even if we don't end up having a second baby I know that this has reduced the environmental impact from Turtle's nappies.  It has also saved us money since the nappies are cheaper secondhand.  I resell the nappies that we don't need (when Turtle has grown out of them or when we find another style that we prefer) so they can be used again by other families. 

I am really glad that we have made the effort to use cloth nappies (we use modern cloth nappies or MCN) on Turtle.  Don't get me wrong, it's added to our daily tasks since we tend to wash a load of nappies most days but I feel good that we have been able to do it.

Do you feel strongly about the kind of nappies you use on your little one(s)? Are you also concerned about the waste nappies cause?