The great nappy debate: read the battle of the blogs

Terrific news for anyone who gives a stuff about the environment or is curiously irritated because Huggies calls its sleep pants “DryNites”. Aren't our children already illiterate enough?

Anyway, disposable nappies are having a PR crisis. More babies now wear the re-usable, square-cloth type than at any time since the 1970s as righteous earth mothers strike a blow against the unbiodegradable evil that is the throwaway nappy, what with its weird-smelling granules for absorbing wee and the toxically fragranced nappy sacks, which, frankly, just make a stinky situation worse.

Mintel reckons that usage of washable nappies rose by 6 per cent in 2005-07, an increase largely assumed to be down to the eco-conscious middle class. As a spokesman for Green Baby says: “Everybody's getting too posh for Pampers now.”

Very good. But maybe such parents should hesitate before patting themselves heartily on the back. For a start didn't the Environment Agency produce a report that said that when you factor in electricity, water and detergents, disposable nappies were no worse for the environment than re-usable ones? Yes, here it is - May 2005.

If they really want to make a statement they should go hardcore and join the DiaperFreeBaby organisation in America, which advocates the use of no nappies at all! Members believe that nappies are unnecessary because babies are “aware of their elimination needs from birth and communicate about those needs through various vocal and bodily signals”. See? Simply read the gurning expression on your infant's face and, bingo, you can swoop in like an owl and dangle him over the potty. Yes, it all makes using cloth nappies seem a tad lightweight. As less posh parents might say, maybe it's time to s*** or get off the pot?

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