Nature babycare Nappies: green with ease?

Son was out of nappies at 24 months, and boy was I glad of it. Daughter, being only 15 months younger was of course still in them, and so two lots of nappies was making me feel as if i lived in poo and wee. When one wanted changing, the other wasn't far behind, and leaving the houe necessitated lugging a huge nappy bag. I'd initially contemplated changing to cloth nappies after the first few months of son, but didn't get round to it what with one thing or another (being ill, being pregnant again....) So like it or not, the expense of two babies in disposables, not to mention the environmental cost meant that son was de-nappied and trained quickly.


Now daughter is 20 months old and showing signs of wee and poo awareness, i'm thinking of ditching the nappies at last. But before I do, let me review the ones I finally settled on for her. She was never as easy as son, her bottom was more delicate, her skin more easily reddened. Son was happy with a nappy all night with nary a problem, daughter hates being wet and reddens easily if the nappy isn't right. I abandoned the cloth idea, as I mentioned, and fell back onto the cheaper offerings from the supermarkets. I had a guilty moment and felt that i'd let the tree hugging side of me down, but the pressed that guilt away. I had two babies, and one of them was perpetually in a ring sling when she wasn't crying, and the other was wrecking havoc and had learned to run. I wasn't going to be soaking cloth nappies. For a while I Huggied and Pampered, but didn't like either of them. They didn't fit daughters little fat legs well, and I didn't like the darn smell of them, so chemical and horrid. Son must have had a different chemical make up to his wee, either that or it's a boy thing, but he never made his Huggies smell or leak. She did. Eventually, we moved somewhere with a big Co-Op supermarket and huzzah, they stocked Nature Babycare nappies. http://www.naty.com/uk/AboutUs/TheConcept/tabid/71/Default.aspx

The nappies are the brainchild of Marlene Sandberg, who wanted to produce a nappy that was chemical free and as environmentally friendly as a disposable can be. They are chlorine free, biodegradable, and GM free, based on cornstarch rather than chemicals to soak the wee away.

Do they work? Yes. Daughter stays dry, and doesn't come away with that chemical tang in the mornings. Alright, the smell of wee is there, but hey, she wees. There's also none of that weird jelly stuff leakage when full with these, that always freaked me out with son. I'd lob the full nappy downstairs to the bin and it would explode it's wee jelly stuff everywhere. Nice. When full, these nappies just get full, and whilst they might not hold quite as much wee, they hold it in a nicer way. I would say they perform as well, they're just not quite as great if you have to leave a full nappy for a bit, which of course you shouldn't do anyway, but we all know sometimes there isn't a nappy changing area.


Since changing over to them at 5 months, daughter has had no redness, which leads me to conclude that it was the cholrine in the major brands that caused it. I use cholrine free sanitary products because of the same reason. The only quibble is that for daughter they come low on the leg, which since she's been running has meant a little tightness there, but otherwise fit is just as good as other nappies.


Cost? These nappies are not often on special the same way as the majors where you can pick up double the amount of nappies for the same price, so yes, honestly, they are more expensive. They are £5.99 for 34 where I live, so it works out more than a Huggie but cheap in landfill and bottom costs, I think.


These have been a great find for me. I think they fulfill a green consciousness thing for mums like me who just honestly haven't the time for soaking and washing but still want to be landfill aware. They won't appeal to neat-and-tidy-no-smell mums, the sort who just have to have scented wipes and bags, because they don't disguise wee smell as well and don't look as pretty, being un-chlorinated, but they do the job and are reasonably priced. The few times i've been out and fallen short of them, and ended up borrowing a huggy or pamper from someone, daughters redness has come right back, and that for me is the best reason to buy them, ecological considerations set aside.