Driving Our Economy Forward: Flappy Nappies
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) –Potty -training, it’s a task given to all parents. Tonight, we are learning about a product to help young children transition to the bathroom during training. The product is called Flappy-Nappies. Cloth diapers, if you will, that attach to a separate waist belt. The invention is made right here in Chattanooga. It’s this week’s Driving our Economy Forward.
“When my son was born, we actually introduced the potty to him. When he was eight weeks old. And if you can figure out when their cues happen or their timing for when they need to use the bathroom, you can take them to the potty and they will go instinctively,” said Chelsa McAmis, Owner and Operator Flappy Nappies.
“I found that the cloth diapers I was using were really annoying to take off because they had a lot of layers and pinning. So, I started to design my own diapers and the diapers that I designed had two parts. They snap to a separate pair of pants or a waist belt, which makes them very easy to pop open to go potty. And after I had two more babies and worked on the design, I started to sell them,” said McAmis.
“As I started selling these diapers, I started getting feedback from other moms. It was through working with these mothers that I have expanded the product selection to include so many more options for parents,” said McAmis.
“Through the incubator program, we have been provided a space where I can not only work on the designs in the manufacturing, but I can also store all of the inventory. And we have a classroom where I can work with mothers on how to use cloth diapers, how to potty train their babies, and generally just work with others in the community,” said McAmis.
“So, we have parents come in with questions like, I have nowhere, nowhere to go. I don’t know where to start with cloth diapers. Give me the basics to mothers who have cloth diapers but just need a little bit of help with figuring something out. And, well, the general goal with these workshops is to get parents to a point where they can use their cloth diapers with confidence because it’s not very hard, but it is intimidating to think about how do you wash these things? How do you put them on and take them off? Why are there so many different types of cloth diapers, and which one should I use on my baby,” asked McAmis.
“One of our missions of flapping nappies is to make sustainability and a more convenient choice. And we’ve made our cloth diapers as easy as possible to use and change. And we also make it as easy as possible to introduce potty training. And we’ve partnered with local businesses, such as midwives and doers to speak with clients and help their clients learn about the benefits of using cloth diapers and let them see how simple it actually is to do a more sustainable diapering. And then we have also, offered free cloth diaper workshops and potty-training classes so that parents can have easy access to information that helps them save money and reduce their environmental impact,” said McAmis.
