Real nappies

[Jess&Frank]

Chris from Yeadon has written a brilliant article about cloth nappies:

http://www.moormums.co.uk/baby-tips/real-nappies/ (http://www.moormums.co.uk/baby-tips/real-nappies/)

I've been thinking about it for a while as a way of saving money but just haven't got round to it with everything else going on. Chris makes it sound like a piece of cake. Has anyone else thought of trying it? Or do you think it is just too much of a palaver with a new baby?

J

[Kirsty&Felix]

I did think about real nappies before I had Felix, especially to save money. Now he's here I just seem to be putting washing on and putting it away ( I don't iron! ) all the time. I have a small house too so when the weathers bad we've got clothes drying in the living room! Don't think I could face any more washing! Felix is on solids now too and his poos are just wrong!! It's really bad for land fill etc but I'm going to stick to disposables. I've just tried some from Aldi which aren't bad for the day and quite cheap.

Let me know how you get on with the real ones. It's a good time of year to try at least you will be able to dry them outside.

Kirsty

[clare]

If you live in the Bradford district, there is a free nappy scheme when you receive a nappy bucket filled with lots of different types of 'real' nappies to try. Worth £50 apparently.

http://www.beat.org.uk/bm/bradford_real_nappy_project/buying_nappies_main/bradfords-free-nappy-kits.shtml

[snuffle]

Hi, I've used real nappies for almost 18 months now. We didn't start until C was 8 weeks old. Once you get into the way of using them they are fine and it is jus tpart of everyday life. I use disposibles if we go on holiday or C is ill (saves the washing) Now I am moving towards potty training I do feel a sense of achievement. I have apparently saved myself about £1000 ( as I had my nephews old nappies). Go for it if you can. If you give yourself a break at the beginning it is easier. At the beginning I always said 'if I'm ill, tired or can't be bothered I won't' and that really helped.
snuffle

[tinkertoes]

Thanks for the encouragement snuffle - I'm teetering on the edge. I always planned to start after the first month or so - but now nearly 5 months on, I'm well in to comfort zone with disposables. We're in leeds so the scheme is not quite as compelling - they contribute £20 or give you a couple of nappies to try but wont say exactly what kind they are.

May be I should just hit the confirm purchase button next time I look them up on babykind's website and sit staring at the page for a half hour!

[Jess&Frank]

Tinkertoes - you might be interested in knowing that Leeds city council are running a Real Nappy Week with demos all over Leeds (although nearest to us is Horsforth).

Details are on MoorMums (http://www.moormums.co.uk/whats-on/events/real-nappy-week-horsforth/).

Residents of Leeds can get a free trial pack or £30 cash back if they have already bought nappies. You can also enter a competition to win some stuff.

Also, you could borrow the ones I got from Bradford CC. I still live in hope that I'll get round to using them, but with doing MoorMums as well, there just aren't enough hours in the day!

J

[Kirsty&Felix]

Hi Tinkertoes,

I will send off for the free pack from Bradford for you if you want. I'm going to stick with disposables but I think I've still got the slip upstairs.

Kirsty

[Angela]

Hiya

I think part of the problem is that there are sooo many different reusable nappies to choose from..not only brands but different styles too.I had a bit of a false start with some mothercare ownbrand ones (not good at all) and was getting very used to the disposables...really didnt know which ones to buy...

but I bit the bullet and bought some littlelamb washable ones with separate waterproof liners- plus some tots bots ones so I could compare and contrast.....got bamboo ones for both which are apparently the most absorbent...the little lamb ones have fleecy washable liners which are really gorgeous and soft....
they look dead cute on him and Im sure his bum is less red ...
So far I am preferring the little lamb ones....as the tots bots are a bit bigger....so that may change a bit as he grows...
only two downsides...
a) you do have to change them every 3 hrs...whereas at 6 weeks he seemed to be lasting much longer in his disposable (mind you that may have been about to change anyway as he is getting bigger and it may have been that I would be changing the disposables that much quicker too....) and b) they do seem to take quite a while to dry...
but the washing of them doesnt seem to much of a hassle as yet (and Im really workshy when it comes to the washing machine...its just about getting enough nappies so that you arent constantly waiting on them to dry...
there is something really nice about a row of cute nappies hanging on the line...and also not having so much going into the bin (though maybe I just need to get out more!!)

Im pleased I did it now, though really nearly didnt!
Angela

[sarahk]

we didn't get on with real nappies, i think we started too early and my daughter got bad nappy rash. we do however recommend nature boy and girl eco nappies, she's been in them the first 18 months and now we're moving onto 'real' training pants rather than disposable pull ups.

[Jess&Frank]

Although I would say, in the light of the current credit crunch, those Eco nappies are quite expensive (around the same price as Pampers/Huggies). Being strapped for cash myself, I've found the supermarket own-brand nappies to be half the price and mostly as good.

[sarahk]

That is true, but (gets all tree hugging!) they take approximately 396 more years to biodegrade unfortunately...:eek:

[tinkertoes]

Well I've bitten the bullet and ordered some real nappies! He he... got to just wait for them to come now and see how it goes. Agree - the biggest problem was the overwhelming choice - but thankfully my sister in law is an awesome researcher and helped me get to a conclusion!

I have gone with the totbots - they have a few to choose from and I went with the pocket tot bamboo - just a few to start with and see how it all goes. The bamboo is pretty virtuous - very sustainable - very absorbant and has all sorts of other properties. The ones we picked should be good up to about 35lb...

For what it's worth the research - backed up by a few nappy oficianodos that I spoke to - suggests that bumgenius is one of the best you can get.. I biffed them as I liked the idea of the natural materials... Bumgenius (great name huh?!) are all man made - easy to dry as a result - and apparently they are the closest you can get to disposables - so a v good choice if you want to try but cant quite bring yourself to drop the disposable habit.

I have also ordered a starter pack of wonderoos - just to get a comparison - they sound a bit bulkier - so am thinking they might be good for extra strength at night?? Who knows?!

Anyway - I bought them from a super helpful website - www.softbots.co.uk The ones I ordered were out of stock as the nappy week created so much demand - but they went out of their way to make sure i could get something sorted - so in a world of rubbish customer service they came out with flying colours.

[tinkertoes]

me again! Just saw that softbots have extended their offer on all nappies... 10% discount off lots of nappies and accessories.

[tinkertoes]

Hi Tinkertoes,

I will send off for the free pack from Bradford for you if you want. I'm going to stick with disposables but I think I've still got the slip upstairs.

Kirsty

Thanks for the offer - that's really kind of you. I think we have enough now for doing a trial - they arrived today so very excited to see them all up on the washing line and ready to go!

[MrsKRobb]

I've been using reusable nappies for Julia pretty much since her first week.
My washing machine is on all of the time and I'm not convinced they are really a cheaper option, however, I feel much happier not filling my bin with 35-40 nappies a week!
We started out with the Mothercare Smart Nappies. They were great at first and a much cheaper option than most. When Julia got to about 10 weeks though, she was soaking the nappies everytime she slept, even with a booster!
I decided to invest in a set of Little Lambs, having tried them in the free bundle from the Real Nappy people. I have half bamboo (for her longer sleeps) and half microfibre. The bamboo is definitely far more absorbent, but takes much longer to dry.
We've had to deal with nappy rash on and off over recent weeks, but nappy free time, some E45 cream and the occaisional night in a disposable seems to keep it at bay.