Interview with Real Nappy mums

Reshma Kukadia and Mandie Wells are two Leicestershire mums who use real nappies. Reshma first heard about Real Nappies at an Ante Natal class, and ordered a free trial kit from the County Council.

“I was concerned about the environmental impact of disposables and started using real nappies when my son was about 8 weeks old. Its not just the fact that they take up landfill space either, the process of making millions of disposable nappies each year can cause a lot of pollution too”. Mandie first read about real nappies in a mother and baby magazine, and was surprised at how funky the designs were. Mandie looked on the internet to buy some nappies, but found they were cheaper to buy from a local supplier.

“We were spending about £20 a week on disposables for two children, whereas the real nappies cost me about £180 for the initial outlay, and that’s it. I’ve definitely saved a fair bit of money.” Though it was mainly a financial decision that made Mandie opt for real nappies, she was also swayed by the amount of rubbish disposables were creating. “With all those nappies, the bin would be full after a couple of days.”

Surprisingly, neither mum has found using real nappies to be an inconvenience, though Reshma, who works full time, reverts to disposables when on holiday. Reshma soaks her son’s nappies in a nappy treatment powder during the day, and then washes them just before bed. “I have not noticed a huge amount of difference in the number of washes, and I often wash the nappies along with other items. I normally wash at 40 degrees.” On the real nappy websites they recommend 60 degrees, but both Mandie and Reshma have found that with the powder, 40 is fine. Mandie does say, “Drying the nappies in the winter can take a while if you haven’t got a tumble drier,  but I have found that using the drier occasionally makes them really soft.”

Mandie says she would have used real nappies from the birth of her first child if she’d have known about them, and is taking a friend along to a ‘Nappuccino’ event, so her friend can find out more. Reshma has been singing the praises of real nappies to a couple of her friends who are having babies, and says simply, “Real nappies are brilliant, I would recommend them to anyone as an alternative to disposables.”