Have you heard of ‘cloth bumming’?

The new trend involves mums collecting fashionable, reusable nappies. With some costing hundreds of dollars!

Cecilia Leslie is one collector, she admits she has 500 nappies in her collection.

The mother-of-four spent $300 AUD on a pair of limited edition nappies, with just 100 made in the range.

Leslie admits to being addicted to the cloth nappies and is even a “nappy influencer” on social media, amassing more than 22,000 followers on Instagram

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Happy new year! I have had a great couple of weeks celebrating the festive season in between working and delivering babies ???????? Hope you all had a great time too ???? Ready to be back on instagram ????????What best way to start a new year resolution than giving cloth nappies a go ? I will be sharing my experience over the coming weeks to hopefully insta inspire and motivate you ❤️???? as well as doing some giveaways and collaborating with @fill_your_pants ☺️ I look forward to sharing my 2019 journey with you ???? #clothnappies #clothdiapers #makeclothmainstream #newyearresolution

A post shared by Cecilia mum of 4 (@cecilia.leslie07) on Jan 2, 2019 at 12:19am PST

“I feel a sense of pride about how nice it looks and it’s a conversation starter, especially at baby groups,” she told the BBC.

“Some brands will launch a collection a couple of times a year, with about five or six prints each time, and I would buy all five in one go. I’ve also been known to buy five of the same print if it’s one I particularly love.”

She initially swapped disposable nappies for cloth to reduce waste but over the years collecting the colourful prints soon became a hobby.

“I’ve got a lot of limited editions, which sell out quickly. It became a bit of a game trying to track them down – I used to source them from Canada, Australia and the USA.”

She added, “I do get some negative comments about the size of my collection. Yes, it’s more than I need, but those nappies were bought at independent shops, so it’s keeping people in jobs, and I use every single nappy I own: none of them just sits on the shelf.”

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Interesting that today’s topic for the #ourcolourfulkids challenge is cloth nappies and I am joining in . I say interesting because there is an uproar on social media today with myself right in the centre of it. I have no intention to read any threads out there on the subject, but I know there will be lots of negativity . I have reporters wanting to come to my house, radios wanting me to do live interviews as well as dozens of newspapers and agencies wanting a piece of my opinion. My phone hasn’t stopped pinging . When Jenna, from BBC, interviewed me about my rather large cloth nappies collection back in January I knew exactly what the backlash would be. Yet I went ahead with it, why? . Because I want cloth nappies to become mainstream, I want mainstream media to talk about it, I want parents going on facebook and discussing it. I want to reach people who are unaware modern nappies look the way they do. I want the article to reach as many people as possible (link in bio) it’s within the 10 most read articles online today. . A headline saying ‘ I paid £2 pounds for a cloth nappy’ would not spark a debate, me saying I had a collection of 10 nappies would get diluted amongst the daily news and nobody would batter an eyelid. I don’t mind the ‘bait article’ ,as some have called it. It was necessary to capture people’s attention. . The only aspect of this I do not like is the division amongst cloth nappy users this always cause, the “ them and I”. Really, there shouldn’t be a “ I am a cloth user with 10 second hand nappies therefore I am more righteous than her” . Where is the supportive cloth nappy community we want others to be welcomed into, when we cannot be united in promoting cloth within our own means and budget ourselves? . But that is, unfortunately, a necessary evil on my journey to making cloth main stream . As I say to my children: “do not ever get upset about what others say about you, their words don’t determine who you are, do not give them that power. True power is sitting back and feeling secure in yourself and standing by your decisions, even when the world may think otherwise ???? Join me in #makelaundrynotladfill #makeclothmainstream

A post shared by Cecilia mum of 4 (@cecilia.leslie07) on Mar 26, 2019 at 10:14am PDT

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What sparked your eco conscious journey? ♻️ For me it was the waste single use nappies generated when I had my 1st baby 12 years ago. all these years later and 4 kids in , that beautiful and fluffy white @totsbots nappy in the centre of the basket was the catalyst of the changes I have made to date, what was yours? . Joining my friends on their #ourcolourfulkids challenge ???? . . #maketheswitch #ecoconscious #saveourplanet #makelaundrynotladfill #clothnappies #clothdiapers #maleclothmainstream #reuse #recycle

A post shared by Cecilia mum of 4 (@cecilia.leslie07) on Mar 25, 2019 at 9:32am PDT

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Whenever I have a bit of time at home (like today ????) I like to prep some flip covers for a rainy day. They are so versatile, if you don’t know them, they are a an amazing cover and you customise the inserts. I make them robust and thick for night time or if Isaac has been drinking lots. I make them slim for when you need a nappy just to tide you over for an hour pre-bed time. You can play with the width of the inserts also- when they aren’t well???? I make the inserts as wide as can be so to catch everything; if it’s certain it will only be a pee nappy I get the insert narrow but in several layers ???? You can see by the photo how different they look . #dresskids_likekids #loveclothnappies #makeclothmainstream #clothnappies #clothdiapers .

A post shared by Cecilia mum of 4 (@cecilia.leslie07) on Feb 16, 2019 at 9:07am PST

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