I have very strong and fond memories from when I was 2 and my mum was returning to full-time work. My dad would drop me off every day at his sister's house so she could look after me, along with her youngest (4 year old) son. I remember him carrying a washing basket full of nappies in from the car every couple of days.
I don't have any memory of my parents ever changing my nappies but I vividly remember my aunt putting a thick cloth nappy and a pair of frosted plastic pants on me every afternoon ready for my nap.
My cousin usually just wore his underpants to bed for naptime and I can picture him lying on his bed, staring at me while I was being changed. I remember being upset about having to wear a nappy because I wanted to be just like my older cousin.
After naptime, if I was wet my aunt would change me either into a new nappy but more often it was just my underpants with a pair of plastic pants over the top. Sometimes my cousin would be wearing the same (I guess because he'd wet himself or the bed) and we'd play in the yard wearing nothing else. We both got into trouble one for building a fort out of scrap timber, which managed to tear holes in both our plastic pants.
Some days, if my dad was going to be late or if we'd slept late in the afternoon, Iād wear my cloth nappy all afternoon until I got home.
I can honestly say that I can't remember much else that occurred at this age and so I have to assume that those experiences I do remember from my aunt's were just so important to me - it still excited me to this day when I think of them.