Are reusable nappies worth the effort?

GRRRRR!!! This article seems only to discuss expensive (£17!!!), and fiddly cloth nappies, and the difference in expense was marginal - my experience was much different. I bought a nappy kit, brand new, from an internet trader - it included 20 Motherease one-size nappies (which you can buy singly from Waitrose for about £8), 20 fleecy liners, 12 wraps (3 different sizes), a wet nappy bag, nappy bucket with lid, 20 cloth wipes, and a roll of disposable nappy liners all for £230.

I used the nappies on both of my children saving even more money, and at one stage I had both children in washable nappies at the same time. When the kids were really small (they are now five, and three), I was probably washing every other day at most, but as they get older this drops to once a week as they wear less nappies. They did have a little nappy-rash occasionally, but that's also true of disposables sometimes. We used disposables when we went on holiday, but I found, although these were good at staying dry, they were a nightmare at keeping in a really runny poo - never had that problem with a washable. I would recommend washables to everyone, especially when you consider that EIGHT MILLION nappies A DAY are sent to landfill in Britain alone!

Me and my siblings had a gauze like material for nappies in the 50s and 60s. They were simply laundered. I still have some which I use for dusting and wrapping crystal.

You can make your own washable nappies,soaker pads and wipes from recycled garments such as cotton t shirts. I made loads for my daughters babies with a free pattern from the internet. You can also use wool or polar fleece pants instead of plastic. There are lots of knitting sewing and crochet pattens for these on the 'net too.
It does not matter what colour the nappies are because you can cover them with clothing.

Yet another superficial look at something. I use reusables and I would argue that they are no real extra work at all, about the same as folding a load of washing. I also got most of mine free from freecycle so have saved a small fortune.

What is wrong the terry towelling nappies used up to the late 60's or later. I used them on both my babies but I guess that washing nappies is too much like hard work for today's mothers. What looks better than a line full of white nappies blowing in the wind.....I got them nice and dry through the winter too. Piles of white bouncy terry nappies. Cost - used cigarette coupons, so cost nothing. (Green shield stamps, anyone?)

What this survey hasn't taken in to account is that; If subsequent babies use the re-usable nappies then the cost is substantially less. I know that they have changed in style my 1 year old granddaughter is put in re-usables, but we are using the old fashioned Terry nappies as rags ( they were used on my children who now have kids of their own).

Why the fear of washing? I love my son's fluffy little bamboo nappies and a 30 minute quick wash every day is really no bother. If doing it again I would buy some flat foldy squares for quicker drying. Sadly as I work he has to have disposables at nursery but there are biodegradable ones available at not much extra cost. Us mummies and daddies should be bringing our children up eco aware by showing good example.

£450 pounds? I spent about £120 only from birth to potty. Yes, I used my LA incentive scheme to buy 3 fold inserts (they look like a padded towel which you fold and tuck into waterproof covers). Got additional nappy covers second hand and used reusable fleece liners made from a fleece blanket from the £1 shop. Not a single nappy rash and 1-2 leaks in over 2 years. And guess what? When I was done with the nappies I gave away some to a friend with a new baby and sold the rest. I bet you can't do that with disposables! LOL

Terry nappies are cheaper even factoring in washing costs because if you wash them and put them away you can reuse them for future children thereby reducing the cost. If you boil the nappies there is no need for any disinfectant. When I had my three the all used the same nappies and they where put in a bucket to soak then given a hard and long boil to make sure they where well and truly clean not only that but in summer when the weather is very warm you can lay them across the pram or cot so that they can cool down. When you have done with the children you can then use them as dusters hand towels for wahing the car and other such things

I used terry nappies with all five of my babies, which meant that given age differences I had two/three in nappies at any given time, a heck of a lot of nappies but one boil wash load a day done immediately after bath and bed time got everything back up to date by the morning. Yes you did have to be organised and have a routine but you need that anyway with babies and young children just to keep on top of all the clothing and bedding laundry, bath times, feeds, play time, story time and all the rest so one extra laod of washing a day is nothing. My only concession to disposables was for days out and holidays the cost of using them all the time would have put me in the bankrupcy court.

I used washable nappies for my son and preferred them to disposables. I did not spend as much as the lady mentioned in this article - maybe about £200 on 2 sizes of nappy (not all at once) plus the occasional pack of flushable nappy liners. The liners kept my son's skin fairly dry and meant I could flush away the nasty stuff without having it filling my bin! I didn't have a tumble dryer at the time but they were a microfibre that was very quick drying and didn't make life too difficult. We used disposables if we were out for the day or overnight, but I was happy to put the washables back on, partly because they helped keep his trousers up! Now he is toilet trained and I have sold them 2nd hand, so that has helped too.

I have a compromise of one disposable overnight for a dry sleep and Little Lamb Cotton & Bamboo Nappies for the rest of the time. I wash a load every other day after dinner, put them on the radiatior overnight and they are usually dry by the next day though I stagger the washes so I always have over a days worth (about 4/5) of nappies sitting ready to go (I have 20 nappies in total). I love them and in the summer when I pegged them out on the line they looked just lovely! Even with 2 adults, one baby, a dog and two cats my wheelie bin is usually only half full every monday on collection day! As for nappy rash my wee man has only had that whilst he was teething and even disposables made no difference during that time!

We have twins, and use terries. We tried out a few systems and terries are definitely easiest. They go in the machine last thing at night (about 20 per day), hung up in the morning. Where is the difficulty?

The babies' skin can be a little wet when they come off, but they let us know when that is the case, and they don't sit around in a chemical drying agent. A bit of sudocrem keeps the rash at bay.

I am constantly amazed that disposables still sell.

I hope you have fed, washed and brushed yourself and baby up. On parade, get yourselves down to the war memorial and pay respect for fallen men.

I would recommend them, I'm a dad and found them easy to use, stick them on the line in summer and the sun bleaches them, press stud fitting, a bit of conditioner and they always smell nice, and according to my wife (who's better at this sort of stuff) has saved us a bucket load of cash, some council's offer an incentive too (our's was £25) which doesn't sound like much, but it all helps!
We're trying for a 2nd, and guess what....no nappy costs this time

I changed from disposables when my son was 1 because he was always getting nappy rash and after a trial of real nappies it disappeard and never came back! im using the same nappies on my 6 month old daughter now and she has never had nappy rash. I'm still sure i saved money even though we were a year using disposables esp when u take the wipes in to consideration.

i spent around £450 on a set of nappies, washable baby wipes, wet bags etc and the nappies are still in great condition im sure they would do more babies (if i have any)! I have not even bought a packet of nappies or disposable baby wipes since i started using washable ones, there is always a nice warm tap nearby (much nicer than cold wipes) and i have a water spray if im caught out - I have different colour wipes for face and bum, bum ones go in with nappies and face in our normal wash! I dont even buy liners as use fleece ones which are easy to rinse if soiled with runny poo (otherwise it just drops off down the toilet) and they are nicer on babys bum.

Really once you establish using them its so easy and many local councils do incentives such as vouchers, trial packs or nappy lending kits its worth looking into as its a lot of money to spend if it doesnt work out.

also its not about soaking, rinsing, dangerous pins and nappy san, you just need to break them down put them in a 60 wash and put them back together again (which you can do in front of the telly).

not fogetting my nice clean wheelie bin which was always overflowing and stinking before,

i also think its good for my washing machine pipes to go on a hot wash now again (thats just me tho),

my nursery and any other child carers found them no bother to use as they are fitted - i just get them back at night ready to break down into the nappy bin!

i found most of this out myself by using them but now im always happy to share my love of real nappies to anyone who will listen

I could go on and on...

A real mother only needs:-----1). A sink to wash soiled nappies. 2). Elbow grease. (in short supply, these days). 3). Zinc and Castor oil. 4). A kiss and cuddle for baby, and repeat. Worked for me.

I used washables for my son - leant to me by a friend. Cost NOTHING! When he was potty trained I passed them on to the next family. Washing is only a problem if you are a prissy princess.

We use cloth nappies during the day and disposables at night.... There is a little extra effort, but it's not that bad at all... I'm really glad that we switched to cloth... I'm surprise her babies bum was wet when she changed his nappies, our little girls isn't, we do use fleece liners to protect her bum, so maybe that's why... I would most definitely choose cloth over disposables any day...
x

When I had my son I looked into all of this purely with an idea to save cash and realised all the stuff about it being cheaper was rubbish, it's only cheaper if you buy the cheapest washable ones you can find vs the most expensive branded disposible nappies. the washable nappies are extremely expensive, you have to pay even more for a one size for all, or just keep buying new ones when they grow out of it, I was advised you need to have at least 12 on the go, so if you don't buy the one size fits all ones (cheapest I've seen them is £24 each) thats at least 33 nappies you have to buy that are £6+ but at that price it's just the pants you still need to buy the pads, cheapest of course are the terry ones, but then you need the washable pad and if you want the non-eco plastic liners to stop leaks.

In the end I asked my mother about it all who is old enough to have had children before the introduction of the disposible ones, there are good reasons why people turned to them, it wasn't just the ease not having to wash them and scrap the poo off em, they leak less, smell less and your child is many times less likely to get nappy rash and for want of a better word poo explosions.

My son is now 18 months old and I still have over half a tub of nappy rash cream I bought before he was born, plus I buy non-brand nappies that work out to around 10p each.

Plus I throw away many plastic tubs and things that can not be recycled in my area, I still use disposible sanitary towels, disposible razors, I don't drive but I've seen people get in their cars just to go to the letter box, I use many household chemical cleaners and the like, to subject my son to a less hygienic nappy that costs more to do my bit for eco friendliness just seems a bit pointless in the great scheme of things.