Disposable or reusable nappies - Which is cheaper??

Lillibet_2

keatergreyhound wrote:

Be Once your child gets into size 5 nappies which I believe is the largest that they make its easy to bulk buy.

Thats because they want you to delay potty training for the easier option & keep giving them your money!! Why do you think they don't do the same for the smaller size nappies?!:rolleyes:

BrandNewDay

I went with The Nappy Lady and was VERY pleased with the service... I got a phone call after filling out a questionaire, and we had a discussion that led to me choosinghttp://www.thenappylady.co.uk/Shopping/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=85
Tots Bots Fluffles. These are microfiber polyester that is great because they're at least as absorbant as cotton, yet they dry REALLY fast. As in, you take 'em out of the washer and they will dry quickly just sitting out in the air or in an airing cupboard, or in a few minutes in the dryer. They'd probably be good for a washerdryer machine that would ordinarily require you to halve the load for the drying cycle.

This style has a pocket you can stuff with a booster pad. I bought booster pads, but I honestly think it would be just as good to buy cheap flannels from a pound shop and fold them up to stuff in the pocket.

I got the version you fasten with a "Nappy Nippa" which is a sorta three-pronged bungee cord with tiny teeth to grip the fabric. They work well because they make the nappy totally adjustable in all directions. The wrap has a velcro band at the waste and works pretty much just like a disposable nappy.

A separate wrap means an extra step when changing the nappy, but they make for faster washing and drying, and they last longer than an all-in-one. And, as somebody said above, you can use the same wrap all day long, or at least until there's a poopy accident. I just rinse mine under the tap and hang to dry in the kitchen, only machine washing them when there's a real need (ie, poop) to do so.

I use disposables when we're out and about. I just can't be bothered with carrying a poopy nappy home. And, I often use disposables at night because they are honestly more absorbant and I am too sleepy to change a nappy unless I really have to. Yeah, I'd say that a good Pampers disposable is probably the most absorbant option, but I only have to use one or two of those a day. It really is annoying to change nappies every hour when your kid's being prolific and know that each diaper change is costing you 16p or whatever.

From what I gather (and see on the reselling boards), most babies outgrow the first size rather quickly. I have big babies, so I anticipated this and went with size two, which I gather should take most babies from birth to potty. Some people are put off by the sight of their tiny baby in a huge nappy. My 5-week-old looks like a penguin or bowling pin! But, they're not walking or crawling and it honestly won't bother them a bit that their legs are splayed out at that ridiculous-looking angle.

BrandNewDay

MarkyMarkD wrote:

What is it with people saying they use disposables at night but re-usables all day? We never use disposables at night, and we never have night-time leaks either.

Are you having leak problems at night, or are you just worried they aren't absorbent enough?

For me, it's not a leak problem... I just think the hi-tech Pampers have better moisture-wicking ability that means the moisture doesn't sit on the skin as much. I find you have to change reusables more frequently than disposables, and I would rather not have to do that in the wee hours of the night.

BrandNewDay

mum26 wrote:

all the info I was given recommends avoiding using napisan if you use nappies with elastic in them (i.e round the leg cuffs etc) and there is no need to soak nappies these days either! dry pail them then bung them in the washer

I got one of those mesh bags to put in my nappy pail, but I could not figure out how to get them into the washer with getting my hands all wet. (If I had an American top-loader, this wouldn't be a problem at all.) So, I've begun dry-pailing, although still using the mesh bag. I still have to put my hands on the nappies, but this way I can just pick them up with thumb and forfinger and not get as dirty.

I'm not sure how things will change when he starts on solids and has "real" poop. I think I may try paper liners at that point. Speaking of which... it would be nice to find the actual paper that is used. It looks to be similar to a dryer softener sheet and I would love to find a big roll of it, somewhere, to cut my own. That would save money, one would think. Hmmmmm.....

squashy

BrandNewDay wrote:

For me, it's not a leak problem... I just think the hi-tech Pampers have better moisture-wicking ability that means the moisture doesn't sit on the skin as much. I find you have to change reusables more frequently than disposables, and I would rather not have to do that in the wee hours of the night.

I used re-usables with my heavy-wetting son at night. The solution is simple: Boosters! Line or stuff usual nappy with preferred booster pad, or I used to like microfibre dusters, and fleece liners too to keep their bottom drier.

Mummy2Emily

I use reuseables on my daughter and love them so much that i set up my own business supplying them locally (and sometimes further)

The main reason i started using them is because i just hate the thought of so many being thrown away and the fact that it can work out much cheaper also appealed:rolleyes:

I own and use many different kinds and i would not recommend buying birth to potty packs of one type of nappy....not every type of nappy suits everybody so even if one is recommeded you really need to give the nappy a whirl first before deciding which suits you AND your baby!

The first lot of nappies that i used on my daughter were prefolds,which i think are a really excellent choice for those on a strict budget and they also dry pretty quick on the line in the summer...ahh i just love looking at the nappies on the line,it give me a warm glow to know of the good i am doing to the enviroment and to my baby:D

A lot of people talk about having to change the baby's nappy more often but i change my daughter every 3 hours (ish) and i think that is an average time to change your baby...after all who wants to leave a baby sitting in its wee for longer that nessasary?! just because disposables 'draw the moisture away quicker' does that give someone the excuse to leave their child sitting in a chemical gel nappy that is full of wee for longer?...:(

Anyway im not bashing disposables as they do have their uses at times but i personally think that they should be the occassional nappy.

With all of that said...as a parent you have the right to decide as everyone has their own reasons and that is totally ok;)

Regarding cost, it does differ a lot between which type you decide to use but why not ask your friends and family that rather than receiving baby gifts that as you would like to use reuseable nappies you would very much appreciate a money gift towards that? or a gift voucher for one of the various nappy selling shops?
Ebay is a fab place of secondhand and new nappies but shop around a bit as prices do vary a lot.
As someone else said Freecycle is somewhere else to ask....when i was starting out with my daughter someone on there kindly gave me a massive bundle like new!!

Take care & Goodluck!

MarkyMarkD

Thanks for the responses about night-time use of disposables.

We use an extra pad inside our Motherease nappies (they are designed to take these) and honestly it's absorbent enough; we are also lucky to have a lovely daughter who never wakes up in the night for any reason, including wet nappies.

She doesn't get rashy either from wearing a nappy through the whole night.

I think we're probably just lucky.

mum26

BrandNewDay wrote:

I got one of those mesh bags to put in my nappy pail, but I could not figure out how to get them into the washer with getting my hands all wet. (If I had an American top-loader, this wouldn't be a problem at all.) So, I've begun dry-pailing, although still using the mesh bag. I still have to put my hands on the nappies, but this way I can just pick them up with thumb and forfinger and not get as dirty.

I'm not sure how things will change when he starts on solids and has "real" poop. I think I may try paper liners at that point. Speaking of which... it would be nice to find the actual paper that is used. It looks to be similar to a dryer softener sheet and I would love to find a big roll of it, somewhere, to cut my own. That would save money, one would think. Hmmmmm.....

I use the mesh bags too, if everything you put in the pail is ok to go on the same wash (i.e you haven't put red fleece tots wraps int here ) I just used to take out the mesh with all the nappies inside and bung it in the machine as it was, then loosen the toggle on the neck of the bag, the nappies work themselves out as the machine does it's cycle

Tots fluffles size 2 with a nippa was my top recommendation for people, they are such good nappies!

I found proper poo to be ok to deal with, I shouldn't think you'll need the paper liners, the fleece in the fluffles is designed to make paper liners unneccassary, the nappy lady has a great section on peeling poo (voms!)

Apparently ypu are still supposed to put poo down the loo if you use disposibles, but I have never met anyone who does.

plane_boy2000

We use the cotton bottoms set - bought on ebay for about £90 for the birth to potty pack. - most were stilled sealed in the bag as the lady said she didnt get on with them. We used disposables with our first two, but to be honest felt pretty guilty about it so decided to give it a try. Anyway, we have not loocked back! It does take a little more time, but not much - all we do is chuck the whole lot in the washing machine - job done. I know that we are using water and energy etc, but we are lucky enough that we have enough to wait until we have a machine full - every 2 - 3 days. People also overlook all the hidden energy used in disposables like the production of the nappy, the transportation to the shop, then to your house etc.

One other big issue for me is that some of the chemicals used in disposable nappies are actualy banned from being used in womens sanitary products - what does that tell you????

Aoife's_mum

defintely saves money, especially if you use them on more than one child. I bought new (sorry, couldn't quite face second hand) but am using them now on both children. I'm not a martyr to them - use disposables when out or if I feel like it, dry pail and often use the tumbledrier - but even using a few a day will save money.

A friend who only started using them when her son was 12 months worked out that she would have to use them 200 times to break even on the cost, which she managed in a few months - she's also now using them on her second child.

Don't buy a birth to potty set til you know it will work for your child. motherease leaked with my daughter and I ended up with totbots, for my friend it was the reverse. I did get size 2 tot bots, and they have worked as birth to potty - a little on the large size for small babies, but as a pp said, they're not going anywhere at that age so a bulky bottom doesn't matter, and in fact looks much cuter under some clothes like proper dresses. My son is crawling now and they fit fine, and my daughter is just potty trained but still wears them while asleep.

(and personally I think they help speed up potty training as well, but that's another story...)