It was on a sunny March morning of 2019 when I discovered I was pregnant. Joe (the baby daddy) and I were over the moon, and we talked extensively about what this meant for us and for our future. You see, we’d only been together for 9 months at the time and joked about the fact that we could’ve had a baby in that time. Irony had the last laugh.
One of our many conversations was how we would raise our child. At the time, I was a strict vegan (my diet changed drastically during pregnancy as I soon found that all my favourite foods tasted like poison) and I was very conscious of the mark I leave on our home planet.
I made the switch to reusable pads and a moon cup for my periods and absolutely loved it. Not only did I not have the horrible smell and feel of the disposable pads, but I was one less person contributing to unnecessary sanitary waste. And anybody who menstruates the way I did would know that that was a bloody lot, and it was too expensive to keep up.
I mean, paying £5 for a pack of 12 pads that would only last me three days out of six on a good cycle? That means spending £10 a month on the ultra-long pads – with wings – plus another couple of quid on the night-time pads because, sometimes, I’d wake up in the morning and you’d think someone had died in my bed. So, I probably spent about £15 a month - £180 a year just to make sure my period was well contained – and our government reckons our completely necessary sanitary products a luxury item? Are you mad?
I digress.
Having weighed out the pros and cons of reusable sanitary products, I knew it would only make sense to use reusable cloth nappies on our child.
Admittedly, we didn’t start off immediately with the cloth nappies. Theo arrived a lot earlier than expected and luckily we had some disposables gifted to us by our NCT group and the hospital. With all the madness that went into the birth, we were completely shattered, and too tired to look for nappies.
And let me tell you something, for anyone who hasn’t been around a newborn long enough to know, their poos are certainly not to be played with! Imagine something sweet, but still nasty. Sticky, but also runny. That was my son’s poo. And heaven knows how we would’ve dealt with those middle of the night poo-namis (it is exactly as you read it. A tsunami of poo) while also having to wash out a reusable nappy before putting it in the basket for a main wash the next day.
No.
Unfortunately, reusable was not for us in the beginning.
But fast forward six months to when Theo started weaning and the poos were a lot more solid, I was more than excited to get those cloth nappies in and go back to having less of a carbon footprint. So I searched Facebook for cloth nappy recommendations and what came up the most for me was TotsBots, a local business specialising in all things reusable – nappies, pads, wipes, and now masks!
My Mother-In-Law kindly gifted us with the PeeNut Nappy System, complete with 8 x Size 2 PeeNut Wraps, 12 x 3-in-1 PeeNut Pads, 12 x reusable fleece liners, and a Potion Nappy Wash. And we loved it!
First of all, supporting a local business is always a must for me. Secondly, their nappies all state that they are made 100% from recycled material. Isn't that amazing?
Well, I thought it was.
So after a few months’ use of these wonderful nappies, I contacted TotsBots and asked (kindly) if I could be part of the team as an Ambassador, that’s how much I value these nappies and what the company themselves do!
Thankfully, they agreed and sent me their new range of all-in-one nappies to try out and review before the launch, and OMG I LITERALLY SCREAMED WHEN THEY ARRIVED!
They are so cute. So, so, so, cute. And soft. And EASY to use!
I won’t lie, Joe and I definitely struggled a little bit with the PeeNut nappies since there are three different components to them: The shell, the pads, and the liners. And with an incredibly mobile infant, it was a strug.
But the All-In-Ones? Hello???? Perfection!
Like, I really can’t rave about them enough.
Even as I type now, my fingers are moving a million miles a minute (is that how it works? In miles? *shrugs shoulders*) But for real. I can’t get over them.
They’re easy to use. Easy to clean. Easy on bums. And easy on the planet!
So I guess this whole story was just a really long-winded way for me to say that I love them.
Like, I LOVE love them.
Anybody looking to make the switch, or get started, or even get these as a gift for an expectant parent, do it.
I mean, I probably am biased since I haven’t tried any other cloth nappies (yet) but these are so good and I am so freaking happy we got them.
Pictured below is my little monster modeling the nappies for your consideration 😉
P.s These were gifted to me for my honest review. All opinions are mine, and nobody bribed or threatened me to give positive feedback :P
