A mother-of-one has slammed Tesco for the ‘old-fashioned’ instructions on its nappy liners – that say they ‘help mum’ with changing their babies and doing the laundry.
Angi Strafford, from Leeds, was shocked by the wording on the back of the supermarket’s own brand pack of 100 disposable liners, which she’d bought online.
She says the instructions ‘perpetuate[s] the idea that only women should be the ones who change the nappies’ and does not apply to families today.
The description reads: ‘The liner is designed to allow liquid to pass through to the nappy helping to keep baby’s skin dry but holds solids which helps mum during changing and laundry of the nappy.’
Angi Strafford, from Leeds, has slammed Tesco for the ‘old-fashioned’ instructions on its nappy liners that say they ‘help mum’ with changing their babies and doing the laundry
Nappy liners are used inside reusable nappies to make it easier to deal with soiled nappies.
Describing her shock at seeing the gendered instructions, Angie, who is a nurse, said: ‘I have never read anything like that before on a set of instructions for anything.
‘I just noticed the word mum in this block of text and I thought I would look and see what it said.
‘I couldn’t believe it at first, I thought I had misread it. I read it again and I couldn’t believe that it actually said to help mum with the laundry.’
A description on the back of the supermarket’s own brand of nappy liners only makes reference to ‘mum’
She added: ‘Everyone changes nappies. I think it’s a very old-fashioned view that only mum does the nappy change.
‘To be honest in the first month I don’t think I changed a single nappy. I was doing the feeding so dad was doing the nappy changes.
‘I just think it is very inconsiderate to word it like that. The phrasing doesn’t take into consideration that families in 2017 are very different.’
Arguing that Tesco should reconsider their wording, Angi said: ‘It’s not just mums that can change a nappy.
Angi says the instructions perpetuat the idea that only women should be the ones who change the nappies and does not apply to modern families
‘Mums, dads, grandads, grandmas, uncles, aunties and friends all change nappies. Also, it doesn’t really consider same-sex parents either.
‘Parenting is just different in 2017 and I think Tesco should recognise that. Instructions like this perpetuate the idea that only women should be the ones who change the nappies.
‘It’s part of a drip drip effect that results in women providing the majority of child care.’
Despite her frustration at the instructions, Angi said that she will not be boycotting the product.
The nurse, who is mother to a 22-year-old, said she will not be boycotting the nappy liners but called for the supermarket to change the wording
‘We use the liners quite often, especially with a 22-month-old,’ she said. ‘I’m not interested in boycotting them as we do use them. Mistakes do happen and it might have just been an oversight, but it should be brought to their attention.
‘I don’t know why they have to have mum in the instructions. I’m sure it would mean just the same without the word mum in there. It could just say “to help with the laundry”‘.
A Tesco spokesperson said the product has been discontinued and while a small number of nappy liners were still on sale with this description on them, they would soon be sold out.
The spokesperson said: ‘We discontinued this product earlier this year and no longer print this description on our packaging.
‘We’re really proud to help both mums and dads with everything they need when it comes to baby care.’