IF someone said the words FuzziBunz, Imse Vimse and Snugglenaps to you, you’d be forgiven for thinking they are the names of a new breed of Teletubbie. But real nappy campaigners know different.
For they are all types of new "real" nappies, but are a world away from the kind that your mother used.
With the old-style nappy, you needed to be a dab hand at origami to master the complicated folds - never mind being able to ignore the pain of
constantly jabbing your finger on the large, so-called safety pins.
And then, of course, there was the laborious task of getting them clean again - boiling them up and hanging them out on the washing line to dry.
But that was before the disposable revolution which brought Pampers and Huggies into parents’ lives, promising to make their lives easier and quicker, if not any less messy. Like all good things, though, there’s always a price, and with disposable nappies it was the environment that ended up paying it.
In the UK, eight million disposable nappies are thrown into landfill sites every day, each one taking between 200 and 500 years to biodegrade. In Edinburgh alone, disposable nappies make up four per cent of the city’s household waste and can account for half the rubbish from a household with just one baby.
Unsurprisingly, such statistics have encouraged a campaign for the return of the real nappy. And so they’re back - but this time without the plastic pants and large pins.
Modern-day cloth nappies claim to be so convenient and easy to use - with breathable waterproof wraps and Velcro or popper fastenings - that parents will never be tempted to use a disposable again. And they come complete with biodegradable nappy liners which contain the waste and can be flushed down the toilet.
These reusable nappies are the "real alternative" to disposables and old-style terry towelling, according to Edinburgh’s Real Nappy Network, which is urging parents to switch from disposable to traditional nappies to save themselves money and help the environment.
The one major drawback, though, is the thought of washing nappies, especially when you consider the hassle compared to disposables, which you just tie up in a nappy bag and throw in the bin.
But, again, there is an alternative. You can pay Nappy Days - a nappy laundry service - to take away the dirty cloths and provide you with a pile of soft clean nappies, freshly laundered to NHS standards in return. The once-a-week service collects the nappies and takes the hassle of washing them off your hands.
Colette Healy, who runs the laundry service with her husband, believes that people need to be re-educated about the merits of cloth nappies.
"It’s ridiculous, the amount of disposable nappies that are put into landfill sites. And the damage they do to the environment is terrible. The problem is that the information about cloth nappies is not readily available to new parents and we want them to be aware of the alternatives."
So to try out these "alternatives" and discover if there is life after disposables, registered childminder Tracy Thomson agreed to put four types of nappy to the test.
Tracy, from Dalkeith, has used a few nappies in her time, but for the trial she tried out the real nappies on her seven-month-old niece Ellie. Tracy has two daughters who are now six and four, and said she has always used disposable nappies, preferably Huggies.
"I am intrigued about these new real nappies, but I’m not convinced I’ll want to give up using disposables. I’ve never folded a nappy before and I think it will take up more time than using disposables," she said before beginning.
So Tracy met with nappy guru Morag Davidson. Morag is part of the Nappy Network and is also an agent for Lollipop children’s products. She offers advice and helps parents decide what’s best for them and their baby. She explained how to use the different nappies and showed Tracy how to fold the terry towelling nappies.
TRACY tried out two styles of cloth nappies - the ones from Boots being the old-style ones with the safety pins - and the Lollipop cloth ones which use a plastic gripper instead of pins.
She also tried out two other styles which looked more like disposables. These were produced by TotsBots and Motherease.
Rather than washing the nappies each day, Tracy put all the nappies straight into a pail of cold water and then they were all washed as one load.
"Initially, I didn’t like the thought of soiled nappies sitting in a bucket for a few days, but it was fine as most of the waste had come off of the liners when I flushed them down the toilet.
"The fleece liners dried very quickly and all the nappies were extremely clean with no remaining stains," she says. "It was also quite satisfying to see all of the clean white nappies hanging on the washing line."
But is she tempted to continue with the reusable nappies or would she rather head back to the supermarket for disposables?
"I’d still give disposables nine out of ten as they are really easy to use and, depending on where you buy them, they can be cheaper than other nappies. If they were cheaper still they would be perfect.
"However, the whole thing was much easier than I thought it would be. I would definitely recommend the shaped nappies and would be happy to childmind a baby with real nappies."
So if this success is anything to go by, it surely won’t be long before parents go back to competing to get the whitest whites on their washing lines.
For more information about ERRN, suppliers of real nappies and the laundry service, contact the Edinburgh Real Nappy Network on 0131-669 5591 or at www.ernn.org.uk; Lollipop Children’s Products on 01506-419083 or at www.teamlollipop.co.uk; TotsBots on 0141-550 1514 or www.totsbots.com; Nappy Days on 0131-669 8851 or at www.realnappydays.co.uk
Boots original terry towelling nappies
I used the terry towelling nappies, nappy liners, nappy pins and a breathable waterproof wrap - which basically looks like a pair of plastic pants.
I had been practising the folding and felt quite confident. To start, I was positioning the liner on the nappy. But it proved to be fiddly to put the nappy and the liner under Ellie so I put her on to the nappy instead.
As I was holding it together using my thumb and forefinger, it was very difficult to get the safety pin into the cloth, and I was worried about hurting Ellie, which meant I pricked the top of my thumb - and it hurt!
The nappy seemed to be a bit baggy around the top of the baby’s legs, but it was better when the wrap was put on over the top.
Ellie’s bum did look very bulky, though.
When she needed changed, there were yellow stains at the front and near the top of the nappy and the smell was quite bad.
After the fifth nappy, it was getting easier and quicker to put it on, but the pins were still a bit of a problem. And, of course, the nappies were piling up to be washed.
I don’t think I would use these nappies again.
MARKS: 4/10
Lollipop terry towelling nappies
Again, these were terry towelling nappies, but had fleece liners, the Nappi Nippa plastic gripper and a breathable waterproof wrap which had adjustable popper fastenings.
I positioned the liners as before and used the butterfly fold again. The nappy was quite a snug fit but it was definitely neater around the top of Ellie’s legs.
The Nappi Nippa was brilliant. It kept the nappy very secure and it was really easy to use - much better than the safety pins.
However, I had to try quite a few different fastenings of the poppers on the wrap to get a neat and comfy fit, and Ellie’s bum still looked quite bulky.
To get the soiling off the fleece liner I held it inside the toilet bowl and the flush of water took away all traces of stool. There were urine stains on the front of the nappy but the fleece liner was always dry to touch.
This nappy was better than the old style and the Lollipop terry towelling was softer to the touch than the Boots product.
MARKS: 6/10
Mothercare shaped nappies with popper fastening
These nappies were shaped, and the towelling had popper fastenings, fleece liners and a breathable wrap with adjustable Velcro fastening.
There was absolutely no folding required, as these nappies look more like disposables as opposed to a flat sheet of cloth.
Positioning the liner was easy enough and the nappy was very easy to put on and secure comfortably.
The wrap was easier to put on as it had Velcro at the sides. It was quick and simple and a better fit than the others. Also Ellie’s bottom was not so bulky.
I used the fleece liners again, so I did the same as the day before - flushing the waste down the toilet.
There were stains of urine on the nappy as before. But this nappy was easy to use and was a success.
MARKS: 8/10
TotsBots shaped terry towelling nappies with Velcro fastening
These nappies were also terry towelling, but had Velcro fastening, fleece liners and a breathable waterproof wrap which, again, had a Velcro fastening.
And this nappy was lovely and thick and fluffy. Ellie reminded me of the baby from the Fairy Liquid advert.
The nappy was a snug fit like the Motherease, but Ellie’s bottom did look slightly bulkier. There were soiling stains on the nappy as before, but again the liners were dry.
Although these nappies take longer to dry, as they are quite thick, they are my favourite. The nappies are very soft and easy to use and they are the snuggest fit.
These are definitely the winners from the four kinds - but I still prefer disposables for their ease of use.
MARKS: 9/10
