Using cloth nappies at Daycare

So you’ve signed your little bundle of joy up for daycare. That is filled with enough emotional turmoil as it is and now you’re also wondering how to handle cloth nappies. There are a variety of reasons to continue using cloth at daycare; environmental, continuity for your child, financial, and sometimes it’s just something that matters to us. Whatever your reasons they are valid and important. So once you’ve decided that you want to use reusable nappies at daycare how do you go about it?

The first step is to go check out a few daycares and see where you can get in and what is around you. Approach them with confidence and be upfront about the fact that using cloth is something that is important to you and that you wish to continue it in daycare. It’s a good idea to take a modern cloth nappy with you to show them what they will be dealing with. Many people hear “cloth nappy” and think of Terry flats and pins still, showing them in person how cute and easy they are to use could put the carers mind at ease.

Some centres may discuss a “hygiene issue” often they are thoughts of soaking or rinsing. Just explain that the nappy can come straight off the child and into a wetbag, you will deal with it all at home. Simple as that. Sometimes they may ask for a bucket instead of a bag. The key phrase to use is “continuity of care”. Continuity of care between home and the centre and respect for parenting choices is very important for daycare accreditation. At the end of the day, not all centres will allow cloth nappies but many do and the more people ask about them and educate daycare providers the more it will become the norm.

Now you’ve gotten the approval and bub is ready to start daycare lets discuss some of the practicalities. A few demonstrations by you of how to use them is a great way to start. It’s a good idea to stick to one kind of nappy, don’t mix things up on the poor carers trying to work out something new. Candies are a popular choice at daycares because side-snapping nappies are incredibly easy to fit. Using iron-on or snap-on name tags on your nappies is a great idea if there is more than one child in cloth in a centre but obviously less of an issue if they’re the only kid in cloth or if you’re using Family Day Care instead. If your daycare has an app for communication, post in there. Try and give your carers as much support as possible.

To show the providers which snaps your child is on there is a few options Some people use a Sharpie and colour in the right snaps. Some people buy snap covers and cover all the snaps but the correct ones. But the easiest way is definitely just to print out the daycare guide below that we have created and attach it to their bag. You can even laminate it, then it’s easy to update when they change snap settings. 

Next step! Packing your bag. There are a few accessories that will make life easier for you and your daycare provider. After chatting to many BubbleMums I’ve found a consistent system that works well. Clean nappies in a pod, already assembled and ready to go. This way they don’t get confused with dirty nappies and they’re easy for the carer to grab. Supply them with however many you think they will need then add two more, you don’t want them to run out if bub decides to poo a lot that day! I found supplying at least two wetbags a good idea, my carer liked to put poo in one and wee in another so she didn’t have to re-open the poo wetbag all the time. A lot of mums also said their centres liked the XL wetbags. They could hang them off the change table and just dump everything in there. 

And that’s it! That’s all you need to know to effectively and efficiently use cloth nappies at daycare. I’m going to leave you with some advice and experience of other BubbleMums who use cloth at daycare.

• What helped: Real-life demo of fitting, name snaps, nappies folded with liners already in and ready to go, and two wet bags. – Erin
• Speak to carers if you have any issues or concerns; they are learning just like you once were. – Anna
• Our daycare loves the pods to keep clean nappies tidy and the hanging XL wetbags for dirty nappies! Easy, hygienic & hassle-free. – Claire
• Two wet bags – one clean with nappies ready to go, one for dirty nappies. Fit guide printed and laminated so they could put it above the change table and I used coloured dot stickers to show which snaps worked best at any particular time. Three magic words – continuity of care. – Kirsty
• There are lots of parents as well as us using Cloth at the daycare we go to. We send two pods, one empty and one full of fresh nappies. It’s been so easy so far. Much easier to stay full-time cloth so we can keep our normal wash routine. – Merrill
• Always leave one or two extra nappies for that unexpected poop! – Anne
• Only send one brand of nappies to reduce confusion. – Nikola
• Daycare loved our nappies and the fit guide, the pods are perfect for transporting nappies to daycare. – Robyn
• I send my daycare Bubblebubs candies in a Candie pod with a regular wet bag for dirty nappies. They have been super supportive and actually not terrible at fitting (except the time they snapped both snaps on the top row). Also when I showed them the candies they said that they have had other families use the same ones. – Li
• Our centre is so supportive. We send all the nappies at the start of the week and 1 wetbag each day for dirty nappies. – Yulia
• Ours was surprised and super supportive. We have a bucket with a pail liner that we take home each arvo. Our pod turns up each morning with fresh nappies. They struggled at first with not “bagging” every dirty nappy. I told them so many times, just chuck it all in. Now they’re all over it! – Paige
• Our daycare has been great. Sometimes there have been some interesting “applications”, but they have stuck with it. – Madison
• My son’s carers were jealous they didn’t have Candies when their kids were little! Nothing but support and positive comments specifically about Candies. – Christina