Did they have nappies in the olden days?

Answer 1

Babies have been swaddled since time began. In the olden days, mothers used to use grass and moss to keep their baby's bottoms clean and dry. Thankfully times and manufacturing processes have moved on.

In the 19th Century, the explosion of industrial revolution resulted in plenty of cheap cotton. The invention of safety pins in the 1840s saw the birth of the "diaper" as it was known.

After the First World War, the Germans began looking at ways of manufacturing nappies other than using cotton. They developed a basic model which was adapted and improved upon by the Swedes and resulted in the birth of the world's first disposable nappy.

The Second World War resulted in women having to go out to work in huge numbers. As is often the case, necessity is the mother of invention. In 1946, an American lady developed the outer waterproof covering complete with fasteners and in 1947, a British mother started selling disposable nappies to her local market.

In the 1950's most of the well known manufacturers entered the disposable market and new inventions were constantly being tested and updated. The nappy wars began and have developed in a rather dirty playing field with countless accusations and misinformation fed to the outside world.

In the 60's and 70's various improvements were made to the diaper model and some companies even introduced his and her ranges but these didn't do well on the general market and were withdrawn.

The 80's and 90's were spent trying to develop a thinner prettier version of the disposables and his and her diapers reappeared. Given that over 90% of parents in developed countries opt to use disposables, the market to these firms is huge so fortunes are spent every day trying to convince parents that their nappies are the best.

The 2000's have seen more and more companies adopting a range of eco-friendly disposables and nappy wraps. Being cynical, I believe that this has less to do with the manufacturer's worries on our environment and more to do with the fact that green markets are now very big business. The nappy producers are always looking for ways of improving their bottom line. But if this financial consideration results in a range of reasonably priced green nappies then who am I to argue? We parents get the convenience of disposables combined with the knowledge these eco-friendly nappies will have less impact on our children's planet. We can even compost them.

We have come a long way from the days of grass nappies. I wonder what the next 100 years will bring in the world of the Nappy.