Do babies really need nappies?

Have you heard of Natural Infant Hygiene otherwise known as EC, short for Elimination Communication? London mum, Rachel Richardson prefers the former term as it puts the emphasis on working with your baby's natural instinct to be clean and dry. For some people changing baby so frequently sounds like a nightmare but after I'd seen Rachel's presentation on NIH last week in Lewisham I just wished I'd known about it when my babies were born. To find out more you can download Rachel's factfile on NIH from the RNfL website.Real Nappies for London is going to see if Rachel can do more workshops over the next year in different parts of London. Perhaps it should be taught in ante-natal classes so everyone can have the knowledge!

If you just want to avoid soiled nappies this may interest you. The mum who told me about her experience has 4 children, two girls and two boys, now grown up. They pooed on a pot from birth. There was no issue with washing nappies at high temperature as they were only ever wet. The babies had no nappy rash and needed no creams. This mum was told that the child may regress later but this didn't happen with her children.

But how do you know when your baby is going to poo? This mum fed her babies every four hours. After each feed she held her baby over a pot. Baby is held like this with head resting on arm if necessary and the baby's back is massaged gently. If a poo comes it does, if it doesn't, it doesn't. Any other stories to share? Let's give parents the knowledge. It's up to you to work out whether it works for you and your baby or not.

For more info on natural infant hygiene visit tribal baby.

Money Saving Tips

Perhaps you are strapped for cash or maybe you just enjoy repairing and making things. If your bum genius need repairing there's help on that. I've come across people making their own nappies from old 100% cotton T-shirts. There are also people who hand knit nappy soakers. Do you know you can make soakers from old sweaters? There are even patterns for making a Maya baby sling.

Please let us know what you've found, made, repaired.

WANTED: Nearly New Real Nappies

Do you have nappies your child no longer wears that could be used by someone else? It is European Week for Waste Reduction and we are calling on people to put real nappies in good condition back into service.

Please visit the Real Nappies for London Exchange page to find out where you can sell your nappies. Alternatively you may be able to take them along to a local NCT nearly new sale or one of the Bring and Take events that are happening all over London this week. Please see our events diary to find the ones specifically for maternity and baby items.

If you are looking to snap up some nearly new nappies go along to an event and see what you can find. If the nappies look a bit stiff they could be in great condition. They may just need to have the detergent residue removed. For more details visit our page on washing.

And MANY THANKS!

We’re not anti- disposables, we are simply pro-choice

What I’ve discovered during my years of campaigning around alternatives to disposable nappies is that there are a lot of influential people out there; MPs, councillors, health professionals, journalists who used disposables on their babies. Some now think reusables are better but are scared to go public on the issue for fear of being branded as hypocrites. Others genuinely believe disposable nappies liberated women and continue to promote them with the best intentions.

If you give the issue of disposable nappy waste serious attention for even a limited amount of time it’s very difficult to believe disposable nappies are a good idea. I’m not saying that real nappies are right for everyone. What I am saying is that we should have open competitive fair markets so people can choose which nappy system is right for them and their babies. At the moment we don’t. Not only do disposable nappies enjoy a high profile through the Bounty Pack given out by midwives at the first scan, mass advertising on TV, what looks like an unlimited budget for web advertising and a high level of space on supermarket shelves but also the influential parenting charity the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) is sponsored by Pampers.

Even if you buy the ‘there’s no difference between the impacts of washing and disposables’ argument (despite Defra’s 2008 report that said real nappies can have up to 40% lower impacts than disposables depending on how you wash them) just consider the growth model of the disposable nappy industry. The birth rate in Europe is currently stable if not falling and so the only way to ensure growth is to keep inventing new disposable products and keep children in nappies for longer. The whole ethos of the real nappy industry by comparison is to get children out of nappies as soon as they are ready. This is something I’ve addressed in numerous posts. For more see ‘An Inconvenient Nappy’.

Another group of people who block real nappies are those who had babies in the ‘70s and remember leaking terry towelling nappies and badly fitting plastic pants, boiling nappies on the stove and using heavy duty chemicals to sterilise them. For them disposables liberated them. Unfortunately for the real nappy industry - and local authorities that need to reduce waste sent to landfill urgently - these people don’t seem to realise that real nappies have evolved. Saying real nappies are a step backwards is like saying you won’t use a mobile phone because it’s the size of a brick. I don’t expect to turn these people into advocates of real nappies I just wish we could stop them being blockers. All ideas welcome.

Is it safe to wash nappies at low temperatures?

There was a piece about the health risks that may arise from washing clothes and bedding at low temperatures in the Daily Mail. It received lots of comments and is very interesting so do take a look.

At RNfL we are keen to hear about your experience of washing nappies at less than 60c. Have you found the balance between washing with low environmental impacts and ensuring there is no risk of the spread of bugs?

Our understanding is that most bacteria and fungi are destroyed at 60c It is only necessary to wash at temperatures over 70c if baby has an infection or the nappies are used by more than one baby eg a nappy laundry service, nursery or hospital. We also understand that as long as a baby/toddler does not chew a nappy washing nappies at 40c is quite safe for healthy babies.

Over the last decade or so there has been an increasing awareness that to develop healthy immune systems we should expose our families to a certain level of micro-organisms and not live in a completely sterile environment. The rise of MRSA and other Superbugs, both in hospitals and in the community has taught us this.

But what is your experience? What works for you? Let's share scientific knowledge but also what you know from direct experience. Lets try to establish how to manage health and low impact living.

Partnerships to prevent as much nappy waste as we can

Last week Real Nappies for London attended an inspiring partnership roundtable discussion at St Thomas’ Hospital where Sustainability Managers from London Hospitals shared ideas with Local Authority Sustainability managers.

On the ‘Waste’ table the need to find an alternative to the incineration and landfill of nappy waste was seen as a high priority. The recycling of this waste is still some years away in London and a very expensive option so everyone was very keen to hear about Real Nappies for London and what we are doing to reduce London’s disposable nappy waste, especially as this something that is already happening and needs no additional infrastructure.

It doesn't have to be all or nothing

You know real nappy users have a secret. They like to keep it quiet but I’m going to share it with you. Most real nappy users also use disposables some of the time. In fact many real nappy users use a disposable at night. Typically around 6 months when babies are about to be weaned and they are on a liquid diet. They tend to drink a lot and that means they pee a lot. So real nappy users, not being quite the martyrs they’re supposed to be use a disposable because cloth just isn’t up to the job. Some will get through this with extra cloth and bamboo boosters but I can reveal, from extensive research that many do use disposables at night during this phase.

Also, many real nappy users will put a disposable on their baby when they are out and about-especially when they know it’s not going to be easy finding somewhere to change their baby. It’s true. So don’t be put off using real nappies because you think it’s all or nothing. Parenting is tough sometimes, well a lot of the time actually and you know what’s right for you and when. No one is judging you, or if they are they’re not worth worrying about.

Do what feels good for you and your baby. And if the time is right turn away from this screen and go look at your baby: smile, kiss, laugh, hug, sing, wink, flirt, blow raspberries and just get high on your beautiful baby. And if this sounds nuts and you don’t have these feelings - a lot of the time - then please go and speak to your GP or health visitor urgently. This is a special time and you should be enjoying your baby and if you’re not then there is help out there, there's no need to be ashamed, but you need to tell someone.

You may also like this post: Remember the Waste Hierarchy

Weekly bin collections back again – hurrah!

That should boost the economy. Good old Eric Pickles finding £250 million. This is urgent. We’ve got to get the nation shopping again and how can they shop with confidence and energy when they’ve got no way of throwing away rubbish once a week?

I'm pleased to see a sense of urgency about this. If people get out of the habit of shopping they may realise they prefer going to the park, going for a cycle ride or taking a stroll along the canal. That’s awful because then they’re not spending money and GDP won’t grow and we’ll never get out of recession. Hurrah for weekly bin collections.

Improving indoor air quality reduces risks to your baby's health

When you use real nappies you tend to become very sensitive to the smell of washing. There are a few rules about washing nappies – eg never use fabric softener, it stops them absorbing – but to a large extent you need to work out what works best with your washing machine, unless you handwash. You want the nappies to smell clean without smelling of detergent.

Once you become sensitive to the smell of conventional detergents and find out about the ingredients - basically waste from the petrochemical industry disguised by perfumes, you begin to understand the links between detergents and the rise of childhood asthma, eczema and glue ear.

You also start to question the use of air fresheners (please don't use the plug-in ones if you have a baby in the home), mainstream household cleaners and beauty products. Pat Thomas, health editor for the Ecologist has written extensively on this subject and she doesn’t just say what you shouldn’t use, she offers advice on practical, healthy, effective alternatives. Micro-fibre cloths are entering the mainstream and mean you can just clean the home with water. And if you can get a nappy clean you can get a micro-fibre cloth clean and vice versa.

Read the post on Detergents

The truth about detergents

One of the benefits of washing nappies, (especially in London with our wickedly hard water) is that you tend to learn a lot about detergent - and washing machines. Before I got involved with real nappies I knew nothing about detergent. I’d never actually looked at the ingredients on a detergent box or thought to wonder what's in it. However do a web search about washing nappies and you will soon find out about detergent residue. It’s that film of optical brighteners and whiteners that stay on the surface of clothes to make them look clean. Not a problem in the normal run of things unless you have sensitive skin and it causes eczema but on nappies it’s a problem – it can make the nappies stop absorbing (that’s what they need to do, right?) and stop the wrap being waterproof (its main job). It may also cause nappy rash. Here's some great advice on washing nappies from the USA.

If you're new to this, please don't let this put you off using real nappies. It’s really easy to prevent the detergent residue problem, once you know about it. If you’ve got detergent residue build up you put the nappies on a hot wash cycle with no detergent to get rid of it. After that you use less detergent, or an alternative, such as wash balls or soap nuts and you can prevent it.

You’re also likely to start doing spot cleaning. Now this is a great habit. Before kids you tend not to get grass stain and blackcurrant juice on your clothes. However, after kids, you need to know about this. Spot cleaning is simply doing a bit of treatment, preferably before the stain drys in, with a bit of hot water and soap and perhaps a nail brush if necessary. That way the stain comes out easily with the minimum amount of detergent at low temperature. You pick up this tip pretty quickly with nappies and it’s a basic skill of parenthood that means your children’s clothes stay looking good and can be passed on when your child grows out of them.

But there’s something else I need to warn you about if you’re going to become a real nappy user. Once you start looking at the ingredients on a detergent packet and you start looking into the effects of conventional fabric softeners you’re going start thinking seriously about not just what waste you put on the doorstep but also what you’re sending down the sewer. And in terms of your families health you’re also going to start thinking about indoor air quality. More on that next time.

Blog post on Improving Air Quality

Remember the waste hierarchy? Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

People can argue all they like about the relative environmental impacts of disposable vs washable nappies and they sure do www.guardian.co.uk but one thing is for certain; disposable nappies create a lot more waste. At Real Nappies for London we know it’s at least one large bin bag of rubbish per baby each week. It doesn’t really matter if disposable nappies are 10% smaller www.futurefriendly.co.uk when clean – it’s what’s in them when they’re in the trash that counts and that tends to be largely pee and poo.

So that’s why new processes are being developed to keep disposable nappy waste out of landfills and incinerators edie.net and www.dailymail.co.uk

But what’s also important about what nappy system you opt for is how that choice affects your attitude to waste. If you’re very green but just can’t get on with washable nappies it may not affect your attitude to waste. You will probably try harder to reduce it in other ways. But for most of us the effect of creating a large refuse sack of nappy waste each week is just demoralising. It makes you feel hopeless and other waste just seems minor by comparison.

On the other hand if you’re using real nappies most of the time you will be very happy with the fact that since you’ve had a baby your household waste has barely increased. This means you’re far more likely to feel inspired and look at other ways in which you can buy less packaging – such as buying refills of detergent to reduce the number of plastic bottles you throw away/recycle and think of ways to substitute single-use items for products you can use over and over again such as reusable wipes rather than disposable ones.

What’s more it’s very likely you’re going to pass on used baby clothes, equipment and toys www.nct.org.uk because thinning your bin is part of who you are and you take great pride in it. It’s probably going to make you buy less stuff too. You go to buy a plastic toy your child’s whining for and what you see is landfill. And then when friends and relatives ask what present they can buy for your child you ask for no plastic and if possible something wooden that improves with age and can get passed on, or something useful like a book or clothes.

And if you wash your baby’s nappies – even those of you who have used a laundry service end up washing some, even if it’s just the wet ones to stretch out the weekly supply – it’s highly likely that you are going to end up picking up environmentally friendly laundering habits. More of that in my next blog.
Of interest The truth about detergents and post on indoor air quality

Another problem with disposables

That comment about the water cycle in Leo Hickman's nappy debate is very thought provoking. So there's loads of water basically trapped in disposable nappies in landfills all over the World. Is that true? Isn't that a major issue?

Real Nappies in Vogue

I'm so excited about this: check it out
www.yummybums.co.uk

The true cost of disposables

Nocturnal Enuresis – ever heard of that? Well, I hadn’t until yesterday – although I probably should have. In my role as London’s real nappy ambassador an email popped into my inbox from ERIC – the charity for childhood incontinence. By the end of the morning I had read a 473 report published in October 2010 on bed wetting by NICE (the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) and had found out the enormous social and medical cost of this problem.

The NICE report advises how to treat sufferers – with drugs and alarms. Not one mention of cotton nappies did I find, or any indication that this problem is growing and perhaps we should try to understand why.

Then I looked at who had sat on the advisory board for this report. AHPMA’s name appeared close to the top of the list – as it would, as the list is in alphabetical order. For those of you with better things to think about AHPMA stands for Absorbent Hygiene Product Manufacturers Association ie the disposable nappy industry’s trade association.

So the people who are involved in this industry, that is estimated to be worth US $29 Billion by 2015, that could be causing the epidemic growth of this problem sit on a board, funded by me and other tax payers to analyse the problem and suggest treatments.

Now where I come from that’s called a conflict of interest. AHPMA is funded by experts at selling nappies and running a profitable industry, they are not objective health professionals.

Don’t get me wrong, I applaud what the industry is doing to raise awareness of this problem, making products such as pyjama nappies for 7-14 year olds available at the supermarkets and its contribution towards taking away the stigma from children and teenagers who suffer from nocturnal enuresis. But I can't help thinking that making bed-wetting a 'norm' brings them benefits; it helps them sell more products. All that money spent on websites that tell you how to potty and night train your child are clearly not purely altruistic - they are sophisticated marketing tools.

We need to get rid of this new myth - with some urgency - that has developed over the last 14 years, that children potty train themselves when they are ready and as parents we shouldn’t interfere. I’m not saying some children won’t. Some do; some children learn to read by themselves, but most need stimulation and intervention and the more expert the better.

I learnt how to potty train my second child from a friend. I turned to her for advice when I found out her child was out of nappies – both day and night – by 23 months, disposables I should add. She was a communications lecturer and the dad was a child psychologist. You probably can’t be more expert than that and what she told me worked! 

We have to recognise there are instances where the free market doesn’t work in the interests of consumers ie when companies make money out of our ignorance. It is possible your child will not develop night-time bladder control until 14, but highly unlikely. It's more likely though, if that is what you are led to expect.

Soap nuts

Has anyone used soap nuts for washing nappies?  I bought some at UK Aware and I've been using them for clothes and I love them but my babies are out of nappies now.  Please let us know.

That this house notes ...

Yesterday Zac Goldsmith MP signed Austin Mitchell MP's disposable nappy Early Day Motion 1169 that says:
That this House notes that approximately four per cent. of all waste to landfill is disposable nappies, which equates to three billion nappies weighing 690,000 tonnes; is concerned that disposable nappies are one of the biggest identifiable products in the domestic waste stream and that a zero waste economy cannot be achieved without tackling this waste stream; is shocked that local authorities spend up to 100 million every year disposing of nappies, whereas if a child uses a real nappy then 874kg is diverted from landfill and the local authority saves up to 130 per year, meaning savings of up to 9.2 million per year on just 10 per cent. conversion rates; adds that using real nappies can help parents reduce their carbon footprint by up to 40 per cent. compared to using disposables and bring about domestic savings of up to 500 per year, achieving 35.4 million savings across the UK for families on just 10 per cent. conversion rates, and if the same nappies were used on a second child, a further 85 million would be saved; urges the Government, in these times of austerity and environmental concern, to acknowledge the impact of disposable nappies and to support the promotion of real nappies as a viable alternative; and further urges the Government to provide a clear message to parents to introduce real nappies into public service infrastructure and to provide financial support to enable existing networks to adopt a Big Society approach to providing a more balanced market with increased parental choice.


Zac Goldsmith MP, elected in May 2010 as MP for Richmond Park was editor of the Ecologist 1997-2007. At Real Nappies for London we are politically agnostic  - what we want is happy, healthy babies and a healthy happy planet for babies to enjoy.  
Has YOUR MP signed?
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=42181
If not, please take the time to write to your MP.  There's a downloadable template letter on the RNfL web site:
http://www.realnappiesforlondon.org.uk/index.php

Is this current interest in thrift and frugality just a fashion?

A response to a reduced household income? Nostalgia?  Or is it touching a deeper anxiety about us losing our self-reliance and becoming more and more dependent on so-called 'convenience' products?  For example, I only recently found out about detergent residues.  Evidently the whiteners and optical brighteners in most washing detergents are not rinsed out but stay on the clothes/nappies/wraps.  They are then supposed to make your whites look whiter and your coloured clothes look brighter.

However, I am told that actually what happens is these residues build up and start to absorb dirt and bad odours turning whites grey and making the washing smelly.  We put in more and more detergent to get the clothes clean but actually a heavier detergent residue build-ups up on the surface of the clothes that makes the problem worse - and can cause eczema.  (The solution is to do a wash every so often with no detergent at all and that gets rid of excess detergent residue.  If this doesn't solve the problem you should add some bicarbonate of soda and white vinegar and that should get rid of it!)

Similarly conventional household cleaning products tell us 'no need to rinse off' but then leave a sticky layer on the surface.  Our floors and surfaces look wonderfully clean  immediately after we've cleaned - but not for long - the sticky surface picks up the dirt and we have to clean more frequently.  This only became clear to me when I started to use micro-fibre cloths for cleaning.   I can't help wondering if someone isn't taking us for a ride.

Which brings me to  stay-dry nappies that mean our children often end up night-training later and later, making parents sleep deprived, thus making our lives even  more chaotic than they inevitably are when you have children. In this case the solution is to use cotton nappies at night so  your child has the stimulation necessary to help him/her night train.

Do you have other examples of 'convenience' products that hurt our wallet and our quality of life?

Do we need an eco NCT?

The National Childbirth Trust (NCT) does an amazing job bringing expectant parents together and fostering new friendships.  It reaches us at a crucial stage of our lives.  The birth of a new child makes most of us look at our lives in a new way.  We think about the world that our children will live in and our grandchildren too.

But we are also very vulnerable, fearful, not knowing what the future holds and how we will cope.  Big business knows this too.  That is why, as expectant parents we are bombarded by advertising.

The NCT is a charity and we trust it.  Many new parents volunteer for the NCT, helping to run 'Nearly New Sales' to raise money for the charity.  It is hugely influential.  So is it right that the NCT is sponsored by the producers of Pampers and Comfort?

And does the NCT do enough to inform parents about green and healthy lifestyles and the risks of exposure to some mainstream products?   According to the Ecologist Comfort is a cocktail of dangerous chemicals that can lead to asthma, eczema and glue ear in babies. Does this kind of sponsorship compromise the values of the NCT and its members? And if so, how does the NCT need to change?

Other posts that may be of interest The True Cost of Disposables

Would you pay for real nappy advice?

At Real Nappies for London we don't just want you to buy real nappies and we don't  just want you to use them:  we want you to LOVE real nappies and the whole experience of changing your baby through to potty training.  That's why we want you to choose the right nappies for you.  We encourage you to buy your first set of nappies or a trial kit face-to-face so you can see, touch and talk about real nappies with an experienced user and make the right choice for you and your baby. 

What we ask is that you think about the person who is 'giving' you their time.  If they give you good advice please  also buy from them.  Sure, you may be able to get a special deal from an on-line seller who doesn't have so many costs, but please do think about the people lining up behind you who need advice and guidance too.  If the face-to-face nappy sellers do not sell enough they will have no option but to start charging for their time.