confession of a nappy addict

First off I would like to confess that I am not 100% on cloth. I do use disposables for nights and sometimes when we go out. So this is not a full-on cloth advocacy site; when someone invents a cloth nappy that super-soaker Leah can be comfortable (read: sleep soundly) in overnight, then I will be the first to invest in that product!

So why have I chosen to dipe Leah in cloth?
I was inspired by my sister-in-law in the UK who diapered her twins this way. She introduced me to modern cloth nappying: shaped nappies that do not need to be folded. When I saw that her husband could change such nappies really easily with these new type of cloth nappies I was sold.

But after the inspiration came stubborness. Much later, when back in Malaysia I became pregnant, I went to pregnancy fitness classes and met other mums-to-be. After one of the classes I asked a few friends if they intended to cloth nappy. The looks of horror that greeted that innocent question amazed me. I could almost hear sharp intakes of breath, as the literary-minded are wont to say.

One woman huskily said, "There is no diaper service in Malaysia." She was referring to cloth nappy laundering and delivery services that are available in the UK and USA. Another lady said, "Oh disposable diapers are more convenient", nodding her head as if making a wise pronouncement. I then realised that their notion of cloth nappies was of traditional large muslin squares that need to be folded and pinned and are not very absorbent. But to keep our conversation on an even keel I kept my mouth shut and we moved to less contentious matters.

I was quietly adamant, however, to try cloth nappies as I find disposable nappies a bit repulsive. Maybe because they are manufactured by large companies. Maybe because I find them aesthetically unappealing.

Start of the addiction
Alone, so I thought, in Malaysia in my cloth nappy quest, I did my own research (the miracle of the Internet) on cloth nappies and finally sought the advice of one of the consultants from The Nappy Lady (a UK cloth nappy retailer). From that advice and judging from most of the posters on cloth nappy fora I decided to plump for Bumbles and Mother-ease One Size nappies.

These arrived in time for my premature delivery of Leah (see previous post) but I found them enormous on my little baby, who although had chipmunk cheeks, was slight everywhere else. So while I stuck to despisable disposable diapers for several weeks I did more research on cloth nappies.

It was like moving from a world of black and white television to colour; from snail mail to e-mail. I had been living a bland cloth nappy existence in comparison when I saw the colourful and pretty options out in the world wide web.

To the exasperation of hub-unit, who thinks I have enough cloth nappies now, I am still trawling different WAHM cloth nappy sites for interesting nappies. To me, besides whatever marginal or real environmental reasons for using cloth, it is also a matter of aesthetics. Cloth nappies are like any other fashion item in Leah's wardrobe, if not the most important!

Now, the results of my nappy addiction can be viewed on this blog.

A minor peeve: I am still searching for the perfect nighttime cloth nappy, one that is super-absorbent yet keeps Leah dry, and thus undisturbed from her beauty sleep. Because of this I still have Leah in disposables at night. I know, boo hiss. (When hubby is away on business I am 100% cloth though, as he is the one who insists on disposables for nights.)

For independent opinions, or user comments on cloth nappies (aka real nappies) I recommend these sites:

• Diaper Pin
• The Cloth Resource

These are the sites from which I have ordered real nappies:

• Kittykins (UK): Quite prompt with email queries and delivery
• The Nappy Lady (UK): Limited selection but with personal consultation service via email
• Twinkle on the Web (UK): Very large inventory and range, but slow with email queries (in fact she didn't answer one of my emails at all)
• Whoopeekiddies (SG): Small brand range but cheaper to ship from Singapore to Malaysia