As Other Mothers Do – Miriam Santos Pereira
A new week, a new experience! A few months ago I started a new series called “As Other Mother Do” on my Instagram account. The idea behind it is to share a different mum’s experience with cloth every week and show that cloth is actually quite simple to use and there isn’t ONE way to do it, rather the way that best fits your family.
I send every mum the same questions and the answers I put on here are theirs, without any intervention on my behalf (other than translating them, of course!). This isn’t my experience I’m portraying, rather that of the mum in question!
Today I have with me @miriam.santospereira, author of the blog Adorable Mi and whose profile in pastel shades and beautiful photos inspire me all the time. Shall we get to know her?
1.How did your first learn about cloth nappies?
I’ve been following MamalinaUk for many years now and I also follow other people who use cloth nappies. However, it was only at the start of this year, when I decided to change things up around the house and have a more environmentally friendly lifestyle that I decided to give cloth a proper look.
2. Did you use cloth since NB? If not, why?
At the time, my youngest was already 4/5 months old so we didn’t buy any new-born nappies.
3. What are your favourite types of nappy and why?
We only use Bambino Mio Miosolo all in one nappies. I have two Blueberry pocket nappies that I was advised to get when Salvi started weeing more overnight and woke up damp, but although I do sometimes use them overnight, most of the time I go for a Miosolo with an extra booster. They are our favourites because they are practical, gorgeous, and dry faster than the pocket nappies, that have a bamboo insert, and since we don’t own a tumble dryer and know we can’t line dry all year round, we’ve gone for Bambino Mio.
All in one nappies: http://eco-mommy.com/all-in-one-nappies-aio/
Pocket nappies: http://eco-mommy.com/pocket-nappies/
Rundown of the different types: http://eco-mommy.com/cloth-nappy-systems-rundown/
4.What is your wash routine?
We have 17 nappies in total – 15 Bambino Mio and 2 Blueberry, I wash every two days, 10/12 nappies at a time, (I have a blog post about how we wash our nappies and another one on why we chose to use them). Although in the post I say I wash at 60º, I’ve now changed that routine a bit: I pre wash them cold with the ecoegg and a few drops of lemon essential oil, to disinfect them, and then I was them, together with my children’s clothes or towels, with the egg, some lavender essential oil and Miofresh at 40º and realized this washes them well because I didn’t use to pre-wash them and since the drum was almost empty, they weren’t washed. Now they smell nice.
5. What is for you the greatest advantage of using cloth?
First, I never run out of nappies. I don’t have to take the rubbish out every day, I help the environment, I save money, even if it does entail a small investment at first, but above all for health reasons, knowing I don’t need any ointments and he won’t have nappy burn and won’t have harsh chemicals up against his skin.
6.What is the greatest disadvantage/challenge?
The only disadvantage is the smell. It’s normal now, I’m used to it, but my relatives are always telling me he needs a nappy change, because people stopped knowing what poo and wee smell like. If it smells – he needs changing, they assume. But this smell of wee in the nappies is the only disadvantage.
7. What was your partner’s attitude?
He was really understanding when I told him about the money we’d save. Men. At first he didn’t really like the idea of spending the money on nappies upfront, but once I explained the health benefits and above all the long-term savings, he was on board straight away. He changes nappies and puts them in the machine, the only problem is he doesn’t always prep them for washing.
