Fennel, your story about your young son not wanting to continue wearing his nappy brought back memories. In 1973, I had two young children toilet trained, aged 4 and 3, and another one just over a year in nappies (terry towelling, of course). For speed I would still use the potty for the older two if necessary and the baby would watch her older sister use this and one day, sitting at just over a year, started to cry and scream whilst sitting in her highchair. Nothing I did seem to appease her, and it was her older sister of 3 yrs old who told me ' She wants you to take her nappy off and let her sit on the potty'. I thought this was absurd, but to prove it, I did that,- screaming and crying stopped and 14-month old smiled as she used that potty. She never needed daytime nappies again after that.
I had six children and fostered another thirty plus babies over the years. Only ever used terrytowel nappies With liners, and plastic pants - never caused any problems. With my first child did not have a washing machine and would rinse them out in the kitchen sink each morning, with others I did have washing machine and outside space to hang them.
I know I had a special way of folding these different for boys and girls, for smaller babies - as they got older just into the usual kite shape. Can't remember how I did that folding now - it gave much more folds along the centre of the nappy.
I was disappointed that none of my adult children were willing to use terry towel nappies with their children, but one did show me figures which seemed to prove that those were as bad for the environment as disposables.
Way beyond any nappy use in the family at present,thank goodness.