Reusable nappies?What type is best?

muracan

Can anyone recommend a brand/type of reusable nappy which can be good value,machine washable,convienient and practical?

Having used dispoables on our first child and experiencing the wasteful nature of the exercise we would like to try a more "green" approach, however we don't expect to break the bank to do it!!!

Thanks

lynski

I use bambino mio on first and they are great, i love the bum genius tho. dry in hours and so cute.
you can buy secondhand or look out for people selling of surplus or spares.
What you really need is a nappuccino, see http://www.thenaturalbabyresource.co.uk/site/nappy_agents.html for one near you to get all the info you need.

NextSteps

Interested to read about this as I hope to use washable nappies too. Are they a lot more trouble than disposables? Did you go through a lot more of them? Are they totally disgusting?

lynski

I did not find i went through any more then disposables,
No more disgusting, you have washing or you have stinky nappies, much of a muchness.
I found them great to be honest, my sone never had nappy rash while i used them, but did afterwards.
I stopped just before i went back to work on my son, only used them in emergencies with my dauther as with 2 at home it was hard to manage because my washing machine is out int he shed.
I am considering going back to them now, as i would like to potty train her as early as possible and I think it would be good to use real nappis for that.
Also, am thinking about using then for next baby, will have to put some thought into it tho.

a nappuchino would be a god idea if you are lost as you can see what is out there and how they all work.

Squiggler

This thread is great. I was actually going to search soon to see if there were any on the subject.

How many nappies did you find you needed to have in stock? Did you use them from birth? I want to avoid using disposables if at all possible.

My last exposure to cloth nappies was when my youngest brother, now 26, was a baby. Then they were a square of terry cloth to be folded and pinned with a real nappy pin. They've come a long way since then, from the looks of it.

Ayla

There is enormous variety out there, and just as much info to be had by googling "reusable nappies".

This is a fantastic site where they'll give you personalized advice based on your own lifestyle & requirements. The info on this site will answer any/all questions you could possible have:
http://www.thenappylady.co.uk/

We've tried Bumgenius All-In-Ones, Fluffles, Motherease & will be getting some Little Comforts (Irish based) that come highly recommended.


http://www.littlecomfort.com/

Resuable nappies are absolutely do-able, and they are no "grosser" than anything else we have to deal with as parents

Squiggler

Ayla wrote: »

There is enormous variety out there, and just as much info to be had by googling "reusable nappies".

This is a fantastic site where they'll give you personalized advice based on your own lifestyle & requirements. The info on this site will answer any/all questions you could possible have:
http://www.thenappylady.co.uk/

We've tried Bumgenius All-In-Ones, Fluffles, Motherease & will be getting some Little Comforts (Irish based) that come highly recommended.


http://www.littlecomfort.com/

Resuable nappies are absolutely do-able, and they are no "grosser" than anything else we have to deal with as parents

Can I ask you which ones you found best? Particularly interested in which were best for absorbency and not leaking. But also interested in drying time, don't like using a dryer so they'll be air dried.

Bun is due in March so we've got time to make up our minds, but want to get as much advice as possible, and preferably not from salespeople

Ayla

Squiggler wrote: »

Can I ask you which ones you found best? Particularly interested in which were best for absorbency and not leaking. But also interested in drying time, don't like using a dryer so they'll be air dried.

Some pointers (that I, although maybe not everyone, have found):

1) Any nappy based mainly in terry doesn't absorb much...think about tea towels - how much water can they hold? Look for bamboo (which is also naturally anti-bacterial) or specialized cotton materials

2) The 2-part nappy system (i.e.: liner & wrap) isn't *that* awkward, but if you'll be having someone else look after baby (carer, creche, etc) then the All-in-Ones can be handy.

3) I never really had any problems with leaking - per se - although cloth nappies generally do need to be changed more often than disposables. That said, my biggest complaint about the cloth nappies was about their breathability...something many cloth nappies claim to have but something I wasn't convinced of. Again, that all comes down to the type of material (i.e.: plastic wraps won't breathe, whereas wool does)

4) Each of the types we tried dried in a few hours on the clothes horse. Some (but not all) can go in the drier - although beware this may affect their usability.

5) We got all of our nappies for daughter #1, only to find that they wouldn't fit around her *massive* belly. :rolleyes: Now, her case really was exceptional, and they fit fine on daughter #2. But that just goes to show, you'll want to do the research, pick out a selection that you think meets your criteria (for materials, dryability, etc), then try them out on babe when s/he arrives. And try not to get carried away beforehand on the cute factor (because there are *loads* of adorable nappies out there!). After you know which ones work in your case then you can load up.

I really would recommend a visit to thenappylady.co.uk b/c they are as independent & personal as you can get - and they know their stuff!

senordingdong

Is their really that much of a saving to be made?

Squiggler

It you're planning on having more than one child they'll definitely save you money.Disposables generally aren't cheap and, according to my brother and sister, cheap disposables are a false economy, in any part of the world. (They raised children on opposite sides of the planet from each other.)

But for me it isn't just about saving money. For me it is also about avoiding contributing to the increasing mountains of disposable nappies in landfills. And burning disposables isn't any better for the environment, releasing toxic fumes into the air.

Ayla

senordingdong wrote: »

Is their really that much of a saving to be made?

I'll do a quick calculation for you - I buy disposables from Asda, and get approx 90 for £10. 90 nappies lasts my 1-year old about 3 weeks. Now, project that forward, and that means that same girl will use about 17 sets of 90 nappies in a 52-week period...with me so far?

That means, bottom line, we spend approx £170 for one child, for one year. And yes, you can get cheaper (and more expensive) nappies than Asda's.

But here's where the expense comes in b/c one child is generally in nappies for 2.5 - 3 years, so you'll wind up paying in the region of £500 for one child. This makes it clear, then, that the approx €200 you'll spend buying reusables are well worth it...and that's only for one kid. Keeping in mind you can use the cloth nappies for multiple kids and the cost savings really adds up!

senordingdong

New to the parent scene and I've only just learned re-usable nappies existed.

Still reading the cleaning proces.

fi1979

Just on the cost point above, a hidden cost here is the cost of running the washing machine, the additional detergents you'll use and also the cost of running a dryer (ifneeded, which will probably happen in rainy ireland) Also there will be the additional wear and tear on these machines.
From an eco point of view you need to consider the additional energy you are using in washing and drying these nappies.

This is often an aspect people do not consider on this matter.

Squiggler

fi1979 wrote: »

Just on the cost point above, a hidden cost here is the cost of running the washing machine, the additional detergents you'll use and also the cost of running a dryer (ifneeded, which will probably happen in rainy ireland) Also there will be the additional wear and tear on these machines.
From an eco point of view you need to consider the additional energy you are using in washing and drying these nappies.

This is often an aspect people do not consider on this matter.

A good point, and one I had considered, although we would never use the dryer, clothes horse all the way.

From talking to friends a baby increases the amount of laundry anyway, and, unless you have a very large supply of babygros, cloths and sheets you end up doing a lot of half load washes. Those same washes with the day's nappies in become full?

A disposable nappy takes approximately 100 years to degrade.

lynski

I did, wash the nappies and clothes together, particularly if they were only wee ones, but i know some don't

senordingdong

Squiggler wrote: »

A disposable nappy takes approximately 100 years to degrade.

Yes but with the current situation everyone in is in, saving money comes before saving the enviornment.

Squiggler

And with reusables you can do both...

It's a personal choice though.

senordingdong

Yes, but as Ayla pointed out, the savings aren't black and white.

3DataModem

Ayla wrote: »

I'll do a quick calculation for you - I buy disposables from Asda, and get approx 90 for £10. 90 nappies lasts my 1-year old about 3 weeks. Now, project that forward, and that means that same girl will use about 17 sets of 90 nappies in a 52-week period...with me so far?

That means, bottom line, we spend approx £170 for one child, for one year. And yes, you can get cheaper (and more expensive) nappies than Asda's.

But here's where the expense comes in b/c one child is generally in nappies for 2.5 - 3 years, so you'll wind up paying in the region of £500 for one child. This makes it clear, then, that the approx €200 you'll spend buying reusables are well worth it...and that's only for one kid. Keeping in mind you can use the cloth nappies for multiple kids and the cost savings really adds up!

Have you estimated how much the cleaning of the reusables cost, in terms of hot water, drying, detergent?

I guess it also is worth factoring in the cost of disposal of disposable nappies if you pay per bin or pay by weight.

The modern disposables are pretty degradable - not like the plastic-covered things of even about 10 years ago.

I have always suspected the envoronmental cost (water, detergent, etc) of reusables is creater than that of disposables.

3DataModem

Some info below (from Wikipedia). I've bolded the bits of interest:

In October 2008, "An updated lifecycle assessment study for disposable and reusable nappies" by the UK Environment Agency and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs stated that reusable diapers can cause significantly less (up to 40 per cent) or significantly more damage to the environment than disposable ones, depending mostly on how parents wash and dry them. The "baseline scenario" showed that the difference in green-house emissions was insignificant (in fact, disposables even scored slightly better). However, much better results (emission cuts of up to 40 per cent) could be achieved by using reusable diapers more rationally. "The report shows that, in contrast to the use of disposable nappies, it is consumers’ behaviour after purchase that determines most of the impacts from reusable nappies. Cloth nappy users can reduce their environmental impacts by:

• Line drying outside whenever possible
• Tumble drying as little as possible
• When replacing appliances, choosing more energy efficient appliances (A+ rated machines [according to the EU environmental rating] are preferred)
• Not washing above 60 °C (140 °F)
• Washing fuller loads
• Reusing nappies on other children."[20]

There are variations in the care of cloth diapers that can account for different measures of environmental impact. For example, using a cloth diaper laundering service involves additional pollution from the vehicle that picks up and drops off deliveries. Yet such a service uses less water per diaper in the laundering process.[21] Some people who launder cloth diapers at home wash each load twice, considering the first wash a "prewash", and thus doubling the energy and water usage from laundering. Cloth diapers are most commonly made of cotton, which is generally considered an environmentally wasteful crop to grow. "Conventional cotton is one of the most chemically-dependent crops, sucking up 10% of all agricultural chemicals and 25% of insecticides on 3% of our arable land; that's more than any other crop per unit."[22] This effect can be mitigated by using other materials, such as bamboo and hemp.
Another factor in reusable cloth diaper impact is the ability to re-use the diapers for subsequent children, sale of used diapers through diaperswappers.com[1], craigslist[2] or other online communities, donation of used diapers through recycling groups such as freecycle[3] or to charities such as miraclediapers.org [4]. Many reusable diaper users take advantage of these resources and may even join communities like livejournal's clothdiapering[5] in order to find ways to make their diaper-washing routine more efficient or get feedback about different types of reusable diapers. These factors can alleviate the environmental and financial impact from manufacture, sale and use of brand-new reusable diapers."