Chile Forum

I have just moved to Chile with my chilean partner for the second time, this time with a different focus.
This time round we are expecting a baby!
Having done a lot of research before leaving New Zealand on availability of things here and what i should bring, I purchased some modern cloth nappies as they call them. The selection available in NZ is huge but it is possible to find a few brands tucked away in chile.

These are some I've found.

<LINKS REMOVED BY ADMIN>

But I want to know where and if you can buy plain old fold your own nappies here. So far none to be found! It seems ludicrous that the whole of Chile uses only disposables. How Awful!!! This can't be right!

Any info regarding this would be wonderful.
As well as practical baby gear! Were far too spoilt in NZ for these things.

I don't know about purchasing terry squares, but just wanted to say I'm so happy to find another MCN (Modern Cloth Nappy) user in Chile. I'm due in May and am going to use 100% cloth with this baby too. I'm thinking of ordering most of my MCN's from Oz though (more variety), as I found the sites you listed don't have a very big variety.

As it happens, I have a young woman friend who is having a baby and I was able to ask some questions. Everyone uses disposable(or almost everyone) and they are really expensive(compared to US prices). The disposables (I saw one out of the pack) look like Huggies seconds/rejects. I only saw Huggies & Pampers available(do they have a corner on the market?) Anyway, Chilean "traditional" cloth diapers(she showed me one) are something like very thin dishtowels. No wonder they don't use them! The funniest part was that she proudly showed me a little baby outfit that was Chilean and the brand name "Colicky". I'm not kidding, you can go to any baby store to the "Colicky Baby" section.

Laura, are you talking about Colloky? If so, it's a nice (but rather pricey) children's clothing brand. I find their shoes to be the best quality for tots.

I will ask around re. the terry squares and if it's possible to buy higher quality, I'll post back later.

Yes, you're correct, different spelling but it still makes me laugh. It just looked too close to Colicky to me. I must admit the brand consciousness I consider silly too. I see people here eat porotos all month so they can afford those expensive name brand clothes. So a Colloky Bebe outfit that baby wears a month or two and one could buy three more outfits for the same price.

Hi ladies,
Thanks for the replies. After even more research its looking like the states is the best bet! whof.
The amount of nappies in landfill here must be incredible. How sad.
I'm not at all worried about frills, basic baby gear???? any ideas. Cotton, plain, ????
smiles
b

Beka,
You are correct, disposables permeate the land here and the landfills as well. Sorry state of affairs I am afraid. Good choice to go with cloth diapers.

I used them myself with my kids and though more work...it was worth it. Remember though to triple rinse the diapers to disburse the ammonia and to reduce the risk of diaper rashes.

Many of my birth moms in my practice in the US used cloth with no problems. Good luck.

Jill (aka storklady53)

Sorry to say, but cloth diapers DO increase the incidence of diaper rash, in particular if worn with plastic "panties". Ecologically, there have been discussions about the trade off: increased use of water, detergent pollution of the environment, increased use of energy, etc. A large percentage of my patients' mom's in the States opted for cloth diapers and "lamb skin" breeches to hold them in place. Lots of work, but most of "my parents" were dedicated environmentalists, home birth, home schooling advocates. The "thin" Chilean cloth diaper alternative may actually be good for baby's bottom...more frequent changes. The high absorbency disposable diaper is the best for baby's bottom...but questionable for the environment. I liked very much the paper disposable diapers, although environmentally I understand paper or plastic a a toss up....paper is heavier and transporting it means more use of resources and more pollution than plastic. Anyway, plastic bags in Chile remind me of the States in the 60"s-70's. Sadly, the plastic is everywhere. Remember the tears on the face of the Native American looking over strewn garbage? Chile is still at that stage. Thank you for trying to keep this beautiful land clean.

I am bringing our MCN's with us. They are the best for my little one and unlike has been said- She has LESS nappy rash with cloth then with Disposables. I will be using them once we are set up.

Yeah for all the moms who are using cloth diapers...in Chile, this is definitely not the mindset of mothers here.
I´ve done a little looking around for cloth diapers, and in Chile have really come up empty handed, but I do know that on ebay there is a brand from China, called Coolababy, and from the reviews of moms on the internet, they seem to be really great. Plus, they are inexpensive and the shipping is really cheap..I think that you can get like 24 diapers with 48 inserts for around $200 USD with shipping. Not bad at all!
Also, on ETSY dot com they have great diapers and also some people sell patterns for making your own cloth diapers, which is a good option since the pattern is sent electronically. You can also get reuseable wet wipes there too.

Just some ideas for all the mommies worried about the environment and their babies.

If you want to make your own a good pattern is called Honeyboys.

How much is postage from the US? I usually use itti bittis and Bumgenius nappies- both are very very good.

Late to the party, but thought I should chime in, itti's are now made in China and the quality is not as good.
I have 3 that are only 3 months old and the elastic has failed. They have a 6 month warranty so I expect them to be replaced.
I emailed them 3 weeks ago and attached a photo of the faulty mcn's and am still waiting on a reply.
The online store that I bought them from has also emailed them and still no reply.