War of the Diapers

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This is Part 3 on the diaper wars… Check out Part 1 and Part 2 for more information.

I decided to purchase a sample of the reusable diaper I was looking at so I could get a better idea of how it worked and how effective I think it might be. Here are the photos of what it looks like:

The extra snap buttons are so you can alter the size of the diaper to accommodate a growing baby. Once the diaper is worn, none of the snap buttons comes into contact with the baby’s skin so there’s no issue regarding irritation from the buttons.

The outside casing is “leak proof”, though I have yet to test it out with water, but it certainly feels like it can handle more liquid than the regular muslin nappies.

Below is a view of the inside. The microfiber fabric is very soft to the touch. So soft that I’m sure even hubby wouldn’t complain if he had to wear this against his skin.

Below is an insert that can be placed into the pocket lining of the nappy to increase it’s absorbency. The insert can be adjusted to accommodate front wetters or center wetters (since we know boys and girls wet their nappies differently). It is removable for easier washing and quicker drying of the nappy. Alternatively, if you don’t want to use the inserts from Mommy’s Touch, you can always use other inserts to achieve the same ends. The benefit of MT inserts is that they are made of a combination of microfiber and hemp which is designed to be more absorbent than regular fabrics.

Below is a picture of what the nappy looks like with the insert inside. You can see that the padding is thicker at the wetting area. The benefit of this is so that you get the increased absorbency in the places where it is required without increasing the overall thickness of the diaper, so the diaper remains comfortable for the baby to wear.

Now that you’ve seen the nappy and read about it in my previous post, someone please tell me what’s not to like? We’re only considering reusable nappies here so please don’t launch into a long thesis about the benefits of disposable over this nappy because that is not what I’m considering. My comparison is purely against the conventional muslin square nappies.

I have received some comments that this diaper is too thick and no different from a disposable diaper (for which I beg to differ now that I’ve seen it and touched it). Perhaps these are the old school of thoughts for those people still living in the stoneage, so let me ask a question, “Who’s going to be cleaning and changing the baby’s nappy?” It’s easy to dictate what I should or shouldn’t be doing if you aren’t the one who will have to experience what it’s like to use muslin nappies and clean up the mess after the baby has just wet himself and everything else in the vicinity.

Before I start sounding like a selfish mother who’s only considering what’s easier for herself rather than what’s best for the baby, I have examined this nappy quite thoroughly from the baby’s point of view. Even if I were to put myself in Gavin’s shoes, I would still prefer to wear this nappy rather than the traditional muslin nappies.

Not only that, but I think it will be more hygienic for the entire family and Gavin if we can contain most of his urine and faeces in the diaper rather than on the couch, the floor, the bed, Gavin’s toys, and everything else that happens to get the way when Gavin receives a call from nature. Bear in mind that this is going to be about 10-12 times a day when he born and will only decrease to 6-8 times a day when he’s older. This will be the routine for the first 2-3 years of his life unless we’re successful at potty-training him before then.

Just because we have hired a maid, doesn’t mean that all is going to be cushy since the maid will be left to clean up the mess. What I wonder is how many times we’re going to be washing the cushion covers, the bedsheets and anything else that gets “hit” before it is conceded that this is going to be a very tiring exercise, not only for the maid but for all of us. I know that with a baby around, there is inevitably going to be a lot of cleaning involved, but do we really have to add more things to the list? It’s not like we don’t already have plenty to do what with the regular household chores and taking care of a baby.

Sure we can place plastic barriers to protect the furniture, but does that mean we’ll be sitting on plastic until Gavin learns how to toilet train? That’s not going to stop Gavin from making a mess if we were to take him out shopping or to visit friends, or are we going to revert to disposables which we agreed wasn’t a good thing for Gavin in the first place? For those people who protested this point so vehemently in the first place, it seems convenient that they are back-tracking on the original reason why we opted to use reusables in the first place.

Most of the sites I looked up recommended the wearing of nappy covers to prevent leaking. Unfortunately, some people feel that use of nappy covers doesn’t allow proper ventilation for the baby and will also be no different from using disposables. Well, if you really want to ensure adequate ventilation for the baby, then going diaper free is the best way the baby is going to get it. I have already intended to provide diaper free time for Gavin where I can apply barriers to the surrounding area to reduce the mess.

It can be argued that I haven’t even given it a trial run, so how would I know it’s going to be difficult. Perhaps you could attribute it to all the mothers that have commented after my first post on the debate between disposable and reusable nappies. I received a lot of feedback advising me of the wonders of disposable diapers and very little on why I should stick to my decision on using reusables. I also received comments from mothers who tried reusable nappies and gave up after the task became too much for them.

This is the question I pose: is my suggestion to use the MT reusable diaper all that unreasonable? To me, it sounds like the most practical solution that still allows us to use reusable diapers (and reap the benefits of using reusable diapers) without going mad from the cleaning.

Now that I’ve had a chance to vent, I somehow feel a lot better…

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Other posts that might interest you:

• Review: Pretty Printed Fleece Diapers
• No Diapers, Please!
• Baby No. 2: Cloth Diapers and Elimination Communication
• On Mommy’s Touch
• Potty Training Lessons for Mummy

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