Real Nappies (Merged Discussion Thread)

SusanCarter

Someone posted this link in an OS pregnancy thread and I thought it might be worth posting it here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elimination_communication

I don't have any children yet so can't really comment on it but was hoping maybe other people could. Maybe someone has tried it...?

Just thought it was a good point for discussion as it appears to be green and moneysaving.

pdoff

it says a baby needs to go every 10-20 minutes - so does that mean your whole day would be spent holding baby over potty? what if u had to drive somewhere that took half an hour? what about bedtime? sounds far too time consuming to me! older kids wouldnt get much attention as i would be afraid of missing the signs! am sure it works in warm countries where babies are naked & they can just go at the side of the road or something but i dont think you'd have time to strip off a snowsuit & get somewhere warm before they "eliminate" (their word not mine!) interesting though!

pdoff

thanks all, well he is clearing up after being in disposables for a couple of days, which is a bit annoying as dh has been looking for an excuse not to use washables! am gonna look into those wraps that have been mentioned. only problem is it could cost a fortune trying to find a good one & we are very skint at the moment! (guess i could open an ebay sellers account though!) dh doesnt understand that it will work out cheaper in the long run than disposables. men! i have been drying baby off with towel after cleaning but hadn't thought of using a hairdryer! could be interesting - he giggles like mad when u wipe & cream him!

pdoff

macksgirl - nappylady link takes me to ukreg.com! doesnt open fully. is it my computer? kittykins very helpful, thanks a lot.

SusanCarter

pdoff wrote:

it says a baby needs to go every 10-20 minutes - so does that mean your whole day would be spent holding baby over potty? what if u had to drive somewhere that took half an hour?

Apparently the baby indicates when they need to go and you can put them in nappies (or sit them on top of them) for some of the time and still do it.

MacksGirl

Sorry its https://www.thenappylady.co.uk
As for buying them, the nappy lady has pages with Classified Ads for second hand nappies - I prefer it to ebay, better prices and not faffing around to see if someone bets you to it. Also you can put in a post to say that you want to buy some wraps, and then people contact you direct. Easy search in my books.

MacksGirl

I thought about this for number 2, but decided that my toddler would require so much attention as it was, that watching for the extra signs of 'elimination' plus clearing up the inevitable occasional accident, was going to be too stressful.
Would have like to have heard about it sooner though and used it with dd1. Then it may have been straightforward with dd2... ah well, too late now. We did the nappy thing instead.

jumb1e

I only found out about this when my daughter was over the 6 month mark (when it's apparently easiest to start doing) and through the winter months it's not really been possible - too cold! But I have tried to whisk her off to the loo whenever I see her poo face and she now tries to poo when I sit her on the loo which has been a bit of a result. I think she was about 11 months when I first tried sitting her when I thought it was 'time', but sorry can't remember how long I was running to the loo with her before that!

lynneinjapan

I think it may have been a post of mine (on Babyworld or Bounty) that the OP is referring to!

I'm expecting my first baby in August and, although I recognise that it's probably not realistic for me to expect to do it 100% (especially as I'm planning on returning to work after 7-8 months), I hope to try this at least on a part-time basis. I want to use reusable nappies anyway so what have I got to lose? Accidents will only mean washing clothes (which would probably need washing within hours anyway) instead of full-time nappies.

I visited China about 5-6 years ago and noticed that you seldom see a baby in nappies there, especially outside the big cities. Mums just hold a bit of cloth against their babies' bottoms to contain any accidents, and I even saw one woman holding her baby over a bin in a public park. I was told that toilet training usually starts at the age of 1 month and is more or less complete by the time the child is a year old. Toddlers wear crotchless trousers (basically two separate legs attached to a waistband) so that it's easy for them to squat whenever they need to. Obviously it's a lot more socially acceptable there to have your child go without a nappy in public, so that's bound to make things easier, but that's not to say that it's completely impractical to even attempt it in this country, at least when you're at home.

The Nappy Lady website mentions EC too - look in the "Not nappies" section.

SusanCarter

lynneinjapan wrote:

I think it may have been a post of mine (on Babyworld or Bounty) that the OP is referring to!

I think it was a post of yours but the thread was so long I couldn't find it again but had bookmarked the link.

Would be nice if you could update us on how you get on?