Can slow growth ever be good? #EWWR2014

My guest post on the Isonomia blog  stirred up a few questions.  I want to address the main one here, especially for European Week for Waste Reduction #EWWR2014:  the frustration waste officers have with the slow uptake of reusable nappies.  What waste and recycling managers love is quick wins and so, in their eyes recycling nappies is an attractive big risky spend whereas slow behavioural change of washables isn’t.  NB the latter certainly has lower carbon impacts and water use than the former.

However, those of us who have been working at the frontline of reusable nappies know that the slow uptake of reusable nappies has been a good thing.  We are doing R&D here.  There are products that have come to the market that have appeared great but actually have not been good over the long-term.  Poor products spread bad WOM and can hurt the real nappy industry.  It’s actually good to be working with a committed niche of consumers so that products are tried and tested before going mainstream.

And we've discovered something really important over the last decade: the habit of wrapping your baby's bottom in a nappy and forgetting about it until the next change is quite a recent habit.  The  toileting anthropologist in the French documentary ‘Couchorama’ calls it “hospitalisation."

What we've found out is that we don’t need superabsorbent, stay-dry nappies if babies are being ‘held out’ as they are in most parts of the world.  Did you know that this was happening in the UK until the 1950s? If you offer your baby the pot at change time you may find your baby uses it and the the next nappy stays clean and dry for longer.  Thus the nappies don’t have to be bulky and can be cleaned easily.  I have to admit when I first found out about parents doing this I thought it was WEIRD.  But I've gradually come round to realising it's the most natural and gentle way to deal with your baby's body waste and increases the contentment and well-being of both baby and carer.

It also reduces the need for single-use liners and makes washing nappies at over 40 ℉ totally unnecessary unless baby has an infection.  Plus 'holding out' also helps babies come out of nappies earlier.  This reduces overall nappy waste and also reduces the stress of "toilet-training" for parent and child and saves parents money - plus no need for introducing separate nappy waste collections and recycling/composting plants. 

Tell a mother, who has to walk 5 miles to collect clean water that we have clean running water on tap in our homes, washing machines and toilets but we choose to use single-use nappies and send the nappy waste to landfill, incineration, recycling, composting or whatever.  What would she say?  Why do we do it?

Long-term behavioural changes that reduce the need for nappies - period - has to be a better  solution than dealing with an ever-increasing volume of disposable nappy waste .  Please share this message this #EWWR2014 with all European local authorities and health professionals.

You may also want to check out this post for further information from the health professional's perspective:  Are potty training methods in the west ...

Rosetta thinking needed

Wow!  It took 10 years for Rosetta to reach  the comet from planet Earth.  TEN YEARS!  So this project was being planned years ahead.  This is the kind of thinking needed in the waste sector to move us towards a Zero Waste London. 

We also need the maths.  How much will your borough spend on disposable nappy waste over the next 25 years?  How much less would it spend if an increasing percentage of residents started using washable nappies instead?

The only thing that will make your borough use our service to help them reduce nappy waste is if you write to your local councillors and tell them.  Please help RNfL do more to reduce disposable nappy waste.  You can use this link Write to Them.

Next week is the European Week for Waste Reduction.  Please write to your local councillor.  Tell her/him that you are using real nappies and reducing waste and ask them to join Real Nappies for London so we can create a pan London nappy scheme so that we can reduce the overall impact as well as the cost of nappy waste.

The average cost of disposing of a tonne of waste by landfill or incineration is £100.  Each baby produces almost a tonne of waste from birth to potty.  You can find out how many babies are born in your borough here  It's interesting to see that the boroughs with the most babies born in them in 2013; Newham, Croydon, Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Wandsworth have not signed up to use our service. 

Thank you for already using real nappies.  Please do this extra one thing next week to increase your impact! 

Using a potty from birth - new on-line workshops available from Born Ready

Guest post from Jenn, Born Ready

Did you know that it's easy to help your baby to use a potty from birth?

 It was common practice in this country (and around the world) for thousands of years, but since the advent of washing machines and disposables it's become a forgotten skill.  I'm trying to bring it back!

It's clean and green and goes hand in hand with cloth nappy use because it can vastly reduce your pile of soiled nappies.  I did it with all four of my babies and it was brilliant!  It's a remarkable thing to behold - a tiny baby, pooing on cue :)  

If you're at all curious, this workshop is a great place to start.  There's also lots of information on my website if you're interested and want to read more.  It'll change the way you think about nappies... even really pretty ones ;)  

Want to book onto one of my on-line workshops?  Link is here.

Have we made a stupid mistake?

Have you ever wondered why your baby often pees the moment the nappy is taken off?  I remember how I always held a nappy underneath my baby’s bottom at baby clinic when I carried my baby between the changing mat and the weighing scales.    I also remember how my babies/toddlers waited until they had a clean nappy on to do a number two.  I may have finally found out the answer.  No scientific proof you understand?  This evidence is purely anecdotal, but something to be aware of.

Earlier this month I attended a Natural Infant Hygiene (NIH) session at Nappy Ever After where I heard why the session leader started baby-led pottying, otherwise known as Elimination Communicaton (EC) with her daughter.   At about 3 months old, her baby hadn't done a number two for a few days.  This was followed by a massive poo explosion. 

The thought occurred to the mother that ‘elimination’ couldn’t happen or was difficult while her baby was lying down in a nappy.  She offered her baby a pot and there was no more 'constipation' after that.   Gravity and exposure to the air seemed to help stimulate ‘elimination’.

As parents, we have been told that we should just leave babies/toddlers in nappies 24/7 so the poo and pee just comes out of the child ‘naturally’.  Indeed we have been warned that giving your baby the opportunity to poo on a pot from an early age can be dangerous leading to ‘holding’ ie constipation.  See link to Huffington Post article below.  

This mother’s experience implies that babies do hold, that they are born with the instinct or if not, develop the desire quite early on to keep themselves clean and dry.  But when we don't give them the opportunity to poo (and pee) on a pot they give up.  Then when we try to ‘teach’ them to try to control their bowels at around 2 years old it’s a problem. 

And it is a problem.  We are hearing about more and more 4 year olds who are dry during the day but ask to put on a nappy to do a poo.   

Read an article on the opposite point of view in the Huffington Post.  Steve Hodges: A Doctor's Response:  Don't Potty Train Your Baby.  At Real Nappies for London we are sharing this knowledge.  It’s up to you to decide what works for you and your baby.

Is it time to rename Real Nappies for London?

Why does Real Nappies for London need a new name?  I started this conversation @_RNfL yesterday.  Thanks for joining in.  Perhaps we don't but there are several reasons why we're considering a rebrand:

1. The term 'real' nappies has become controversial.  Many in the real nappy community now prefer the term 'reusable'
2. Our remit at RNfL now extends to coming out of nappies.  There is a big potential for waste reduction (and our funding currently comes from waste prevention budgets) if toddlers stop wearing nappies (during the day) at around two years rather than four years old.  We're missing a big audience for potty training messages by being called 'Real Nappies for London'
3.  Over the last few years we have also responded to the growing interest in giving babies the potty from birth.   What used to be quite normal and called 'holding out' is now becoming fashionable and goes by various names: Natural Infant Hygiene, Baby-led pottying, Diaper/Nappy Free or Elimination Communication. 
4. Nappies are not just a waste issue they are also a health issue and it's often midwives and other health professionals (HPs) who give out RNfL leaflets.  We therefore need a name that works for them.  
5. Some HPs believe real nappies are only used by white middle-class families and so are reluctant to hand out our leaflets to their clients.

So it's tricky.  We'd also like the name to be fun, joyful.  We want to convey positive messages about changing babies to first-time expectant parents.  Nappy changing shouldn't be something we always do in a rush, a dirty task to be despised.  Nappy changing is contact time with our babies.  A time to enjoy, to sing, coo, smile blow raspberries on her/his tummy. 

All thoughts and ideas welcome! 

Nappy conscious?  Nappy Savvy?  Nappy Aware?  Baby Love?

What is Potty Training?

June Rogers, the UK's expert on paediatric continence draws a distinction between potty training ie taking away nappies during the day and preparing babies/toddlers for using the potty/toilet.  We don't just suddenly show children books with writing and expect them to read right?  We show them shapes, then books with shapes and pictures.  We read to children, we talk about books.  All part of developing the skills and experiences they need to eventually read books.  So why has it become the norm to suddenly introduce potty and pants to your child at 2-3 years old?

Advice from the top paediatric continence expert June Rogers is to prepare your child with potty/toilet skills and awareness before potty training starts.   You can see June Rogers in a video talking about potty training HERE

The New Baby Boom | Buy Shares in Disposable Nappies

Today the Financial Times Magazine published an article 'The New Baby Boom'.  It says "In 2001, the number of births in England and Wales hit a 25-year low of 595,000.  In 2012, there were 730,000, a 22 per cent increase."  And this growth is highest in parts of London: "There are more babies per person in Barking and Dagenham than in any other local authority in Britain.  One in 10 people in the area  is under five."  Working out what to do with the increasing volume of nappy waste generated by these babies is a real issue.

Recently I was told that disposable nappy waste is not a problem as we will soon have the technology to turn it into diesel.  "In our lifetime?"  I ask and "Will that be clean diesel?".  But nevermind, what that doesn't do is tackle the issue of children spending longer and longer in nappies.  The weekly spend on single-use nappies is a significant burden for families on low incomes.  Also, changing children's nappies is taking up an increasing amount of primary school teacher's time.
  
At Real Nappies for London we do not blame parents for children starting primary school in nappies.  What we (and many others) have observed is a change in cultural norms of later and later toilet training.  The norm has been to have babies in nappies 24/7 and then at the age of two and a half years suddenly introduce the potty and pants.  

Research shows that children develop bowel and bladder control through being given the opportunity to use the potty/toilet.  Just as we prepare babies for reading through showing them shapes we can introduce babies and toddlers to the potty well before they have bowel and bladder control.  Giving your baby the opportunity to poo or pee on a pot at change time, after a meal or before a bath can be good preparation for taking away nappies during the day ie potty/toilet training.

For several years Real Nappies for London has been pointing out the need for a public health intervention to help parents prepare their child for this important milestone - taking themselves to the potty or toilet.  John McDermott's report indicates the urgency to start this task.

This post may also be of interest:  Are Potty Training Methods in the West ....

For a more detailed account of changes in potty training habits in the UK since the 1950s see Rachel Richardson's Factfile (pdf).  Find  link from www.realnappiesforlondon.org.uk/elimination

Don't put nappies in the mixed recycling bin

Your borough needs your help.  An increasing number of London councils have introduced mixed recycling to increase recycling rates.  But a problem has developed.  Some residents are putting single-use nappies in the mixed recycling bins.  True it does say so on some brands of nappies that they can be recycled.  However to recycle them they need to be collected separately.

The big problem with putting 'disposable' nappies with the recycling is that it contaminates all the recycling and then all the rest of the material that could have been recycled has to go to incineration.  This is clearly a big problem.  Please spread the word to friends, neighbours and other people you come across in your parenting communities:  Don't put nappies in the mixed recycling bin.

Another reason for boroughs to increase information about reusable nappies, right?

#RealNappyWeek Mythbuster #6 | the biodegradable disposable

Real Nappy Week officially ended on Sunday but as competitions and offers are being extended I thought I'd add an extra mythbuster:  biodegradable ( b ' -d-gr ' d-bl ) adj. Capable of being decomposed by biological agents, especially bacteria.

There are many brands of single-use nappy that claim to be bio-degradable.  And of course, if it says it is on the packet it has to be true, doesn't it?  But of course they can only biodegrade under certain specific conditions.  Most household rubbish goes to landfill and incineration and these are not places where nappies stuffed with superabsorbent polymers (SAPSs) biodegrade.

So far, so obvious, right?  So what do you say when someone tells you they use biodegradable nappies?  In the past I was blunt: "They're a con.  They don't biodegrade."  I now say things like "Oh, that's better than buying the others," (and that's not patronising, I mean it).  "Don't a lot of scientists say they need special conditions to biodegrade?"or "I might be wrong but ... "

I don't want to make a parent feel bad about her/himself.  I don't know what else is going on in her/his life and what s/he is having to cope with.  My anger should not be at parents for being duped but at the companies that dupe them.  So I then move the conversation on to a topic on which we can connect - happy to leave the question unanswered.  It's up to them whether they have the energy/time/inclination to find out more.


#RNW2014   See #RealNappyWeek Mythbuster #1 HERE
#RNW2014   See #RealNappyWeek Mythbuster #2 HERE
#RNW2014   See #RealNappyWeek Mythbuster #3 HERE

Real Nappy Week Mythbuster #5 | there's too much choice

This is another reason people give for not trying reusable nappies; too much choice.   There are lots of pushchairs too but that doesn't seem to prevent people from buying them.    John Lewis says that's why it doesn't sell reusable nappies - but it sells slings and there are a lot of those to choose from too, right?

But you do need help to buy washable nappies, because it's still a niche product and you are new to this whole parenting/nappy thing.  We tend to wear different clothes for lounging around the house, going to bed, showing off at a party and so on.  It's the same with nappies.  Flat nappies are good for lounging around at home, bamboo shaped nappies can be good for nights, pockets can be good for going out and about and well, customised nappies - if you can afford them - are great for social occasions.  

So get a mixed bundle of 6 flats (such as muslins, terries or pre-folds), a shaped nappy, a couple of waterproof wraps to go over the top of all of those and then a pocket to try.  That's 8 nappies that all work and will be useful.  That little bundle shouldn't cost you much more than £60.  Based on your experience you can build up your stash from there.

As with slings it's a good idea to buy from an agent or nappy consultant who will ask you questions, find out your preferences and help you choose what's right for you.  You can even borrow from your local nappy library.  You may even pick up the flats for free on your local Freecycle.  If 100% cotton give them a boilwash with no detergent to sterilise and get rid of any residues.

Don't be afraid, take the plunge.  And if you live in Bexley, Camden, Hackney, Haringey, Islington or Tower Hamlets don't forget to apply for your nappy voucher.  You can apply HERE

#RNW2014   See #RealNappyWeek Mythbuster #1 HERE
#RNW2014   See #RealNappyWeek Mythbuster #2 HERE
#RNW2014   See #RealNappyWeek Mythbuster #3 HERE