Reusable/washable/cloth nappies

Js_Other_Half

There's a huge thread with lots of information on it:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1047835&highlight=cloth+nappies

Congratulations

Cullumpster

i have to say that i was thinking about it when i was preggers with my little boy, doing my bit and all that, and when it comes to it i was so knackered the thought of washing pooey nappies everyday put me off completely so i defaulted back to the disposable ones.

Carmina_Piranha_3

I worked out last week (now that my son is out of nappies) that I reckon I spent 300 a year on disposables!

My boy didn't seem to be the right shape for cheaper nappies, and as a toddler he was in size 6 anyway, which most cheaper nappies didn't do - he is an enormous child - rugby player build and will be 6ft 6 tall too. That's why I was using pampers nappies anyway, because cheaper brands weren't suitable.

So, bearing in mind that some people ONLY use brands like huggies or pampers it's possible to psend £300 or more each year on one child. I have a friend who uses a more expensive brand of pampers, so her nappy bill is huge. Also, if you use pull-ups those cost about 4 times as much as a nappy, and huggies little walker nappies (they are proper nappies, not potty training ones, but they are pull-up like potty trainer nappies) cost a lot more too (well, all the packs cost the same but you don't get as many nappies in the 'luxury' packs).

I used washables for the first 4 months, then disposables for around 3 years. When you consider that many children, especially boys it seems, will still wear a nappy on their 3rd birthday (a fifth of children, according to the tesco baby magazine) I think you could spend around a thousand on disposables - that's shocking!

Washables can be used on more than one child - I sent my used washables to another MSE member

fernliebee

I use washables and I love them! I bought prefolds and junior joy wraps as they were the cheapest apart from terries. Got them off e-bay from a seller who was selling brand new wraps for £2.50 each! I think she is still on there but can't find it at the min. I bought her next sizes (cotton bottoms from:
https://www.usednappies.co.uk

They were really good and I couldn't tell they had ever been used, they looked brand new!

I then posted a wanted on freecycle and got 8 shaped birth to potty nappies which I use in the day as they are very trim so her trousers fit better.

In total I have spent nearly £100 on re-useable and have only bought 1 pack of disposables (naturebaby) to use when we went on holiday when my daughter was 3 weeks old! I plan on having at least one more child so will get more use out of them.

See if your council offer a cash back scheme as I get £40 back in my area!

Kind of rambled on really but I think it's definitely worth trying them. IMO I found it easier using them from the very beginning as I got used to using them when everything is up in the air, and so it only got easier from there. I know lot's of ppl who intended on using them when their children were bigger and once they were used to disposables couldn't make the swap.

I would also reccomend fleece liners, they keep their skin so dry, especially for nightime! MSE tip- buy a fleece blanket from a pound shop and cut it up- 24 liners for £1!!

foreversomeday

Hi,

My tips are start off using disposables, you can get eco disposables in sainsburys and larger boots stores now, and then go on https://www.usednappies.co.uk when you are feeling up to it and buy nappies one by one so you ease into using them and the amount of washing doesn't suddenly shoot up once you're used to disposables. You can also try out different types this way.

I found once I put my baby into washable nappies the difference in how his bum looked was incredible - in the disposable it was covered in red lines from the nappy but in a washable nappy the skin looks smooth and just like the rest of his body. That was a big selling point for me!

shirlgirl2004

Cost wise you can spend very little or £100's but cheap in not always good as with most things. For reliability nothing will beat a quality shaped fitted nappy with a seperate wrap (that's plastic pants to the old school :rotfl: ).

It is so much cheaper to use reuseables. I used them on my 2 daughters. I guess my whole outlay would have been £400 for different sizes (not essential) but I used them on 2 and sold them for nearly half of what they had cost me so £200 for 2 children. Not bad considering I never had a poo leak and only one or 2 wee ones and that was when I was a bad mummy and left the nappy on way too long .

izoomzoom

My first two children were born in third world countries and disposables were an unknown luxury. I used good old terry squares with a waterproof over the top.

When DD was born last year, my intension was to go the same route, but for the first three months I used up all the 'expensive' disposables that I had managed to pick up at work for a song. I worked out that I was using 200 nappies a month, at a cost of about £20. Another good thing about this is that I didn't have to deal with the very liquidy, staining first 6m poos for too long.

Anyhow, eventhough I knew all about terry squares etc, I was overwhelmed by the choice of fiited nappies and didn't know where to start. Personally I went into local stores and felt the nappies for myself, and made choices from that (which I tested by buying a single one off of ebay). However, I can seriously see the benefit of getting hold of the www.nappylady.co.uk and getting someone to come out with samples so that you can make choices.

I also managed to get £25 cash back from my local council, and plan on getting the same back next year (if they still do it) as I no doubt will have to spend out a bit more for bigger size wraps. Overall I spent £200 on about 25 nappies, and about £7 for each wrap and I think by the end of it, I will probably end up buying 3 different sizes ...

If your nappies are in good condition you can probably get a good half, or at worst quarter of their value back.

Good luck.

pinknfluffy

Thanks for the replies and advice I will pass it on to my daughter. I have had a look online at what is available but was a little daunted as in my day (only 27 years ago, but how things have changed) there was only terry squares and the very early disposables which were a bit rubbishy and really expensive, now even terry nappies come bottom shaped - amazing.

I am very proud of her as all her friends use disposables without any thought for the environment and they think she is mad to make more work for herself.

MrsTinks

Interesting as I had this conversation last night with some friends and all of them were saying "Oh you won't stick to reusables! The thought of having to wash every day etc - it won't last!" - thing is our bin is outside the front door and in summer it's gross as it is! Let alone filling it with dirty nappies! I feel sick just at the thought!
I intend to use disposables for the first couple of weeks because I don't know what will happen and it will give me a bit of a breather not having to worry about washing dirty nappies too... But then I intend to switch over to re-usables

Fly_Baby

I cannot imagine using reusables. I appreciate that they are bad for the environment but hasn't it been proved that endless washing and drying of reusable nappies make a great negative impact too? But most of all, I value my time and sanity. The last thing I want to deal with when I have a newborn baby is washing, drying and ironing nappies all the time. A baby wees every 15 min or so - and what, do I have to change his nappy 4 times an hour? I will go mad and the thought of how much I allegedly saved by ditching disposables will not be any consolation. Money is not everything.

With my daughter, I found that Boots own brand nappies were fine for her when she was a baby (they were great) and Tesco own brand for Active kids (or something - the purple packaging was similar to the Pampers one). They suited her very well and were by 25-30% cheaper than leading brands. Also, I joined Pampers, Huggies and Tesco baby clubs and would steadily receive money-off coupons for nappies 1-2 times a month. And there are always deals on big packs of nappies. I would spend on average £15 a month on nappies. That's 1 week of the child benefit money.

I am potty-training my daughter now so I expect her to be out of nappies by the time she is 2. Which will bring my total expenditures on nappies from 0 to 24 months to no more than 360 pounds. For me, it looks a more than fair price for the opportunity to make my life a great deal easier in such a busy and enjoyable time.