Possible “nappy tax” on disposables

Having had 7 children over the years ive tried all variations of nappies- even had terry nappies at first, then moved on to disposables at age 1- 2, then tried terry nappies for two of them at once, as they were close in age (the only ones who were) as cost of disposables would have too much for two) but then as years went on & disposables got better & better, i am afraid they won out, as i needed extremely tiny premature nappies for youngest 2 children.But i had tried the new fangled terry nappies with velcro too but they take AGES to dry as theyre tri fold so thicker. I cant see it happening as a long term solution, tbh.And as pointed out , the washing,soaking solutions drying, etc is also going to be a blight on the earth isnt it? Im surprised Boris has come up with 'nappy tax' having a new baby too- but then, hes got staff to deal with all that has'nt he?!!??

When I had my first baby in Sweden the Swedish consumer council did a survey of the environmental impact of different nappy types and there was no great difference between disposables and reusables owing to the chemicals, water and energy use of reusables
Best in test was the environmentally marked disposables with biodegradable plastic and recycled paper core
Worst in test was a nappy service because of the temperatures of industrial laundering the use of bleach and the environmental impact of driving nappies around in diesel lorries

Maybe we should try the traditional (aka no longer used) Chinese split britches approach, for walking children, at least.

And revert back to earlier potty training. My DD was day dry at 1 and night dry at 2.

I’m about to turn some 40yo square terry nappies into reusable wipes for a new baby. They’ve been washed so often they’re as soft as can be, perfect for a baby’s delicate skin.

I’m not familiar with China but in Developing World countries nappies of any kind are unaffordable for most people. Mothers (mostly) soon recognise their baby’s signs and learn to ‘hold out’ their baby to wee or poo in a potty or a suitable place. Children are toilet-trained by 2yo at the latest.

My first two DC, in terries, were TT at about 2yo, while my disposable-nappy-wearing DC were closer to 3yo. I resented paying out for disposables for that long!

My daughter’s ten and I was very lucky to receive some second hand reusable nappies, but we really didn’t get on with them. Baby just always seemed unhappy in them and I struggled with drying them. So we ended up using disposable ones, the biodegradable ones where possible as they were tricky to come by. The outlay for reusable nappies is quite considerable, so a nappy tax would hit the less well off even more (as usual). Whilst I used disposables for baby, I have used a Mooncup and cloth sanitary pads for very many years.

My 4 babies were all born in the 60's and I used terry nappies. Pre soaked in ? and machine washed.
Relevance to sanitary pads - mine were burnt on the kitchen fire after use.

ps the amount of used nappies would be too much to burn.
But maybe that's what happens to them anyway in the present system.

MaizieD

^I seem to recall that even with 2 of the good old terry nappies at night, folded into the ‘kite shape’, my dd1 was still sodden in the morning, so I’m not sure how the much smaller new cloth nappies would have coped.^

Which takes us to another 'angle' of disposables. Isn't one of the reasons that 3billion nappies a year go to landfill that babies don't get toilet trained as early as ours did? We were keen to dispense with those terry nappies as soon as we could.
And the 'wetness' was quite helpful when we were toilet training. How does a toddler even know that they've wet themselves when the disposable nappy they're wearing wicks all the wet away and leaves them feeling dry?

The sodden-ness I mentioned was well before potty training age - she was just a very ‘wet’ baby.
Both of mine were trained (at least in the daytime) at very soon after 2. It took just a week each time.

It’s no wonder that toddlers are trained so much later now. A dd’s friend was still saying that her little boy ‘wasn’t ready’ at well over 3.

In the days before just about everyone had automatic washing machines, let alone tumble dryers and central heating (instead of steaming clothes horses in front of the fire on wet days) there was so much more incentive to training early.

My daughter works and finds cloth nappies quite convenient. It's hardly a problem with washing and drying these days!

Fennel

ps the amount of used nappies would be too much to burn.
But maybe that's what happens to them anyway in the present system.

No, they go into landfill.

In France I was told that some rubbish, such as disposable nappies, was incinerated. But that of course causes pollution.

In the dark ages (early 1980s) when DS was born and we lived in our first mortgaged-up-to-the-eyeballs home, I had no space in bathroom for a nappy bin, and no space in the kitchen for a tumble dryer. I did try terries, I hated them, my childminder hated them, and the subsequent nursery hated them.
Like cold, even in the 80s, I read research that said there was very little difference environmentally.

PS Even then, psychologists were not happy with toddlers being toilet-trained too early

Hetty58

Same here, cloth diapers were also accepted in daycare without any issues.

An extra load of laundry is nothing

Lot of reference to mothers on here. Other gender parents are also available!

As many have said, who but the totally dedicated will be using terry nappies? You can get eco friendly sanitary towels. They could make nappies from a similar substance and just have some waterproof pants to go over them like they used to with terry nappies. Unfortunately the eco sanitary towels are way more expensive that ordinary ones and as with many eco friendly products are out of reach for anyone but the well off. I think the government should subsidise eco friendly products as an incentive to be ‘planet responsible’ but of course that’s highly unlikely.

Still using, as hand towels in the car for sticky fingers, terry nappies that I had for my daughter and she has just celebrated her 65th birthday!!

Surely it is still cheaper to wash nappies than to use disposable ones? They cost the earth, these days.

Even in the 1970's when we were new mums, it was cheaper to buy a washing-machine, four or five dozen cloth nappies and washing powder for a whole year than to use paper nappies.

Same applies to hand-knitted sanitary towels, as well.

Perhaps we need to tell young mothers, that you have to change nappies more frequently, if you use cloth ones, but that does help to prevent nappy rash and may well reduce the number of young women with chronic inflammation of the bladder later on, or boys with adhesions of the foreskin.

There are doctors who attribute the rise in both these conditions to children being left in wet nappies for far too long at a time.

I totally agree with a tax and it should be high as disposable nappies are clogging up rivers and will take years to bio degrade. It is possible to cloth nappy shaped nappies with velcro so there is no need for disposable nappies.
I had 3 sons and took pride in my white nappies hanging on the line and were better than disposable as they used to leak.

My daughter uses washable nappies with her 2 year old and has for the last 18 months. They are vastly different from the Terry nappies we used with my children.

grandtanteJE65 can you point to the research that says that not changing nappies leads to the chronic inflammation of the bladder later on? I'm not sure how that computes as we now know that a stretchy bladder which doesn't empty as often as it should because we don't get the signals is problematic and leads to chronic inflammation. Anybody who has lax joints (used to be known as double jointed) is more likely to suffer that could be prone to that. They also wouldn't need their nappy changed as often as it wouldn't be wet but then it would flood as the bladder released its very full contents. Those little girls (and boys) would possibly suffer regular UTI's because of the bacteria which would inflame the bladder. Changing the nappies more frequently would do nothing to help nappy rash or stop bladder problems.

The disposable nappy was marketed in the early 70s, not an era when most Mums worked full time. Does any GN have a mum who worked during the 30s and 40s a time when women basically replaced men in factories etc.? No disposable nappies, no washing machines never mind automatic ones, no tumble dryers. How on earth did they manage with the cotton nappies. Disposable nappies are like many items considered to be essential for modern life and are marketed solely for profit. Perhaps if children weren't so comfortable in disposable nappies not so many would still be wearing them at 3/4 years old. I am all for a massive tax on disposables to try to reduce the landfill. After all those landfill tips generate gasses that have to be dealt with and controlled. Motorists are having to pay a heavy price for ozone control why nit nappies when there is an alternative.

My physio friend has asked me to recommend www.squeezyapp.com
She wants everyone to know you don’t have to put up with incontinence if you are prepared to do something about it.

Surely, Galaxy, men are just as capable of turning on a washing-machine as women are? And of steeping dirty nappies?

If they aren't, becoming a father would be the right time to learn!

I thought about it for ds. But due to his disabilities and medical issues he had permanent diarrhoea and vomiting - coping with the constant changes of clothes and bedding was more than enough laundry without nappies as well. It didn't sit easily with me, but rubbish here is incinerated so at least the disposables are gone and not in a landfill somewhere.

when i had my son in 1986, the staff nurse or sister who wore high heeled white shoes and a shorter than usual uniform dress said to me ....you are not going to be one of them mums who use towel nappies and handed me a packet of pampers, when i got home i tried to use the cloth ones but after a month of having no place to dry them and endless nappies filled with green sludge (had a milk allergy) i went back to pampers...lol

My d in l lives in a 2nd floor flat and had no tumble drier. Using cloth nappies would be a nightmare and the clothes horse would be constantly filled with wet nappies or they would have to dry on
The radiators. And that’s not good either.