I have always loved the idea of using cloth nappies. My husband, however, has not. We've been using cloth nappies for over 5 months now, and even now if I'm out of the house, he sneaks her back into disposables. He's come up with a stream of reasons that he doesn't really like to use them, all of which I understand. But I was very determined to use them, and seeing as I do 80% of the nappy changes I stood my ground. He will thank me one day ;) Below are a list of his 'excuses' and my responses...
"They cost an absolute fortune!"
When you consider how long you need to use nappies for (24 months at least normally) you do save money in the long run. The initial start up cost is a definite downside to cloth nappies but it does pay off as you save A LOT of money. If you look after your nappies well, you can also use them beyond one child and continue to use them for subsequent babies (there's a good reason to build a lovely large stash)
It is 100% cost effective... Unless like me, you become a cloth nappy addict. I swear he doesn't even know about half of our stash... I am slowly adding them so he doesn't realise. I've heard of other mummies telling their husbands/partners that they won them in giveaways etc as well. Genius!!
"I don't want to deal with the poop"
It's just poop. And we own soap. When our first was a couple of months old.. He projectile pooped. Everywhere. All over me and my husband. We were speechless but poop is inevitable with babies, whether you use cloth nappies or disposables, and I guarantee as a parent you will get pooped on a number of times during the nappy years... and possibly beyond!
My husband is a bit of a poo-aphobe and really didn't like the idea of having to 'deal' with the poo. So we compromised. We have two nappy pails, one for nappies that need a rinse, and the one for pre-rinsed 'ready for the wash nappies'. So now he has no excuse HA!
"What if I'm out and she poops everywhere... I can't bin the nappy and I don't want to carry that around"
This phased me at first as well. It took my a while to get a good 'system' going, so we kept emergency disposables in the changing bag for a while. We do now carry two wet bags, one for nappies and one for clothes (this one came with the changing bag) to make things easier. And I can 100% confirm that carrying a poop filled cloth nappy is no different to poop covered clothes that have been exploded on. You can wrap them up and put them in the wet bag as you would with soiled clothes, take home, wash and go again! The wet bags can be washed too and if you have a good wet bag, they don't smell and you wouldn't notice any difference (that's wee and poo included).
"I work up to 60 hours some weeks, I can't bothered dealing with them after a long shift at work. Disposables are easier"
There really isn't much difference (especially now we have our 'still to rinse' bucket). It the same quick change as we mostly use all-in-ones, and all he has to do is put the dirty nappy in the bucket. There is equally as much effort in changing a disposable! Besides, I change the nappies most of the time anyway. Since buying lots of lovely prints - I actually enjoy it!
"It's too much washing"
Honestly, when my husband said this, my response was "you never touch the washing machine anyway". He doesn't. The last time he did the washing I was in hospital with severe morning sickness, I was there for two days and he managed to ruin 3 of my favourite tops by mixing the washing...
In terms of how much extra you wash, it really isn't that much. I wash twice a week and it's literally just a case of chucking of them in the washing machine and hanging them up to dry. Which I love, as I get to show the nappies off on the airer... sad I know.
We now use cloth nappies 90% of the time. I'm still working on him! We will get there! I'm a stubborn mummy and determined on using them all the time.
Let me know what your husbands and partners think of them and how or even if you had to convince them to use the cloth.
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