I guess, as with disposables, some brand of nappy will be perfect for your baby’s shape and some will leak. If you are on a tight budget and would financially be better off getting the “birth to potty” sets, how do you choose which brand to go with? It’s mind boggling!
Can you buy newborn trial nappies (so maybe one of each brand)? But what if your chosen brand is fab for newborns but when they get a bit bigger and it starts to leak? You would have wasted all that money.
Sorry for sounding so thick!...I’m just trying to get myself a tiny bit prepared (albeing 8 mths early!! Lol!) x
I bought muslins and flat terries to start us off for the first few weeks, so as we could see Leni’s shape we could see which nappies would suit her best.
Having flat nappies is endlessly helpful anyway as they last for years and are multi-purpose.
i actually collected loads of different types- look out for second hand, ex-display, sale of “last seasons colours” etc. I found, as well as changing with age there were some which were fantastic for long journeys in the car, others for night, some were very absorbent but took forever to dry and vice-versa so some better for a day out or camping (have to take less with you) and others just don’t get dry in winter weather. The one wrap which seems to suit most is the Motherease (I guess they must still be making them- we’ve been out of nappies for a good few years now!) with a good-fitting wrap the inside nappy dosn’t matter as much.
Gill
x
I did lots of research pre-baby and found that loads of people really rated Tots Bots bamboozles and Motherease Airflow and Rikki wraps, and they were available second hand at very reasonable prices so we went with those for size 1 (and were very happy with them). Then when DD had outgrown those I had the confidence to experiment with a few different types/shapes/brands to find what suited her best. As I now have a few ‘birth to potty’ nappies in my stash I’ll be interested to see how they fit on a newborn.
I have a friend who saw the Bumgenius v4 at a baby show, fell in love with them and bought a full kit brand new, which I always thought was a bit risky. Although I know some places will buy back any unused nappies if you don’t get on with them. Another friend bought a whole kit of Pop-ins and really didn’t get on well with them at all - I think she ended up buying a whole new set of another brand after a while!
But as we never spent very much on ours I never really worried about if they’d fit DD! I don’t think we would’ve saved much if any money by getting a birth-to-potty set.
If you’re happy buying second hand then you could pick up one of each of a few different kinds and then decide after a while which ones you like. Or our NCT branch has an incredibly extensive nappy library which you can borrow from for hardly any money. Great if you want to try a different type. I’m sure some online stores will do some kind of trial packs too.
Some parenting group/sling meets etc will have nappy libraries where you’d be able to borrow a selection to try - our AP group has one. Otherwise just get a few muslins or cheap second hand nappies to tide you over until you know what shape your baby is - then people will be able to advise you better about what to buy long-term.
I do agree though that different nappies do different jobs - not so much for tinies, but by the time grace was in size twos I had night nappies, car nappies, day napped, emergency nappies….. If people know you use cloth they will often pass on their stash, so you end up with a variety anyway.
This is fab! Just showed DH though and it boggled his mind even more! Bless him! Not sure I’ve totally convinced him yet - he thinks it will add to what we (or more to the point I have to do!) and he thinks it will work out lots more expensive too.
Tried to suggest the second hand nappies and he just looked horrified at the whole suggestion!
We used disposables with my first two as we tried cloth but only bought the one brand (can’t remember which…bambino mio or something like that I think) and they were awful so it’s put him off totally. But I know they have improved drastically since 9yrs ago! I have changed some myself at work and they were fab (although it never occurred to me to find out what the brand was!). Some had poppers, some had velcro. They had a washable pad you fold up and a disposable liner. But I guess that could be ANY brand really.
The cost of keeping a baby in disposable nappies is about £800 for the first two years - more likely to be around £1000 total unless your child is a very early potty learner. You’d have to be a serious cloth addict to spend that much - and then you’d only spend it once, not the same cost every child….
The Fill Your Pants scheme looks good, but there aren’t enough nappies there - only 8 in total and 2 wraps. That probably won’t get your baby through one whole day, never mind the washing and drying time.
What about buying smaller packs from a range of different places? Little Lamb do a 5 pack for £40, Tots bots do a trial kit of three of theirs plus a wrap for £45, bambinex do a trial pack of three plus wrap for £40 and you can pick up individual nappies from various places , especially on clearance for between £4 -£12 ish each. Maybe have a look at some of the large trial packs (which seem to range between £100 and £200), set yourself a budget within that and challenge yourself to get as many different ones as you can for your budget! I bet you get way more than 8 - 10 nappies, which is what the trial packs seem to contain!
If you don’t get on with specific ones, they seem to have good resale value on places like usednappies.co.uk, so you could recoup some of the cost and re-invest in ones you do like. Maybe even suggest to your husband that you will take *half* the cost of keeping a baby in disposables, and just spend that on reusables - you could get a seriously good stash of brand new nappies for £400-£500!
BTW, most of those trail packs seem to come with disposable liners, which I found a real faff - cheaper and easier to get a metre of fleece from a fabric shop (whatever’s cheapest - it’ll be inside anyway!) and cut it into rectangles to go inside the nappies. Then you just chuck the whole lot (poo and all in the exclusively breastfed days) into the washing machine, with no faffing about trying to pick out pooey liners from your wet bag after a day out! They double up as wipes too, so you can really cut out anything disposable - I just used to open the wet bag and plonk it in the machine - they all tumbled out pretty quickly (I’m not a big fan of touching poo!)
The cost of keeping a baby in disposable nappies is about £800 for the first two years - more likely to be around £1000 total unless your child is a very early potty learner. You’d have to be a serious cloth addict to spend that much - and then you’d only spend it once, not the same cost every child….
The Fill Your Pants scheme looks good, but there aren’t enough nappies there - only 8 in total and 2 wraps. That probably won’t get your baby through one whole day, never mind the washing and drying time.
What about buying smaller packs from a range of different places? Little Lamb do a 5 pack for £40, Tots bots do a trial kit of three of theirs plus a wrap for £45, bambinex do a trial pack of three plus wrap for £40 and you can pick up individual nappies from various places , especially on clearance for between £4 -£12 ish each. Maybe have a look at some of the large trial packs (which seem to range between £100 and £200), set yourself a budget within that and challenge yourself to get as many different ones as you can for your budget! I bet you get way more than 8 - 10 nappies, which is what the trial packs seem to contain!
If you don’t get on with specific ones, they seem to have good resale value on places like usednappies.co.uk, so you could recoup some of the cost and re-invest in ones you do like. Maybe even suggest to your husband that you will take *half* the cost of keeping a baby in disposables, and just spend that on reusables - you could get a seriously good stash of brand new nappies for £400-£500!
BTW, most of those trail packs seem to come with disposable liners, which I found a real faff - cheaper and easier to get a metre of fleece from a fabric shop (whatever’s cheapest - it’ll be inside anyway!) and cut it into rectangles to go inside the nappies. Then you just chuck the whole lot (poo and all in the exclusively breastfed days) into the washing machine, with no faffing about trying to pick out pooey liners from your wet bag after a day out! They double up as wipes too, so you can really cut out anything disposable - I just used to open the wet bag and plonk it in the machine - they all tumbled out pretty quickly (I’m not a big fan of touching poo!)
Angie
Thanks Angie..still struggling to convince DH. We worked out how much we would have spent on our other children using disposables and it came to around £400 ish for the 2 yrs they were in nappies so bearing in mind cloth will cost that at least PLUS the extra washing I’m not succeeding very well.
I do really want to use cloth but I am also worrying as we are going to be on a SUPER TIGHT budget and right now have no bulk money to pay out all at once on the cloth set up…so even if I convince him I’m not completely sure how we would go about it without begging to family (which he absolutely will not do).
Have even been looking at Terries as they seem to be the only ones that we can buy for a teeny budget…but pretty sure he’ll just completely put his foot down to that one.
I do know that if I put my foot down to it, he would go with what I want - but I also don’t want to leave us out of pocket as I will be a SAHM so losing my income will be a major impact right now as it is. I want to do the right thing by the environment but I also have to be realistic as to what we have to spend (ie £15 a month MAX - and that would include anything extra we have to pay on detergents and bills).
We have a while to sort things out so I will carry on looking…in the meant time - has anyone used terries successfully? x x
I suggest you do a nappy trial first. Most nappy advisors will organise that for you. I do bespoke trials (whatever you want to try) and can even do it by post if necessary. That way, you can try out as may or as few as you want, and you can select what nappies you want to try. IIt just makes sense to tr before you buy.
As regards the cost of disposables, £400 for 2 years seems incredibly little, even if you haven’t included the cost of nappy sacks and wipes. Not being cheeky, but are you sure you did the sums right? Also, have you taken into account the fact that washables are more efficient than disposables. You may find 2-3 extra nappy washes a week actually doesn’t add that much, as you’ll have less baby clothes and bedding to wash, because you wont have the leaks you get with washables. Also, your council may well give you something towards buying the nappies in the first place, and if you have any more children, your nappies will be free for them, and f you don’t you’ll have some to sell 2nd hand.
One of the biggest savings is using washable wipes as well
I’m on a tight budget and bought terries, but also muslin squares for while she’s tiny. I searched ebay and second hand nappy sites for second hand wraps, and bought a variety. I bought too many but when you can get them for 99p each, or bundles that work out cheaper, at least I knew that if some didn’t fit or work for my baby, I’d have enough that did, and I know that I can sell on the ones I won’t use, and the ones she grows out of, and probably get my money back so I can buy the next size up when she gets bigger.
Most councils do the real nappy scheme where they reinburse you £30 if you spend £50 on nappies. To do it cheaply I would second Angie’s recommendation for usednappies.co.uk for buying wraps or ask your midwife if there are any baby groups/sales going on where you could ask. Our bf group had a summer sale and there were loads of real nappies for sale dead cheap. We got a birth to potty set from a car boot for £15 but it’s prob a bit late in the season for that now, could wait until spring though. But your mw might just know of other cotton nappy users who might be willing to lend or sell younger baby ones or know of someone….
As for terries I think they are best anyway we tried loads of different ones and almost always go back to them. Versatile for shaping and easy for washing, quick drying, and useful for general mopping up mess/wees as they get older. We also take one as a changing mat and use them for cleaning now she’s on the toilet.
Hope you get something sorted, oh and keep an eye out here-I think there was someone selling wraps a few days ago…
I doubt that a birth to potty set will be an economical option, TBH. The often include thongs you won’t need, or could get cheaper elsewhere, and anyway, needs change as your baby gets older, so what may work very well for the first 6 moths, is absolutely hopeless once your baby gets mobile. You may need a completely different system then, and if you’re stuck with a birth to potty pack of nappies and don’t use all sizes, it’s a total waste of money. Do a nappy trial, before you buy anything, and then just buy what you need at the time. Your council may give you help as well - a lot of councils have Real Nappy Incentive schemes, and give you cashback, or vouchers or free nappies. I have a list of such schemes. If you’d like a link to it, to PM me.
try used nappy.co.uk
get a few different types and see what you like and fits of course.
luckly my babies are sort of the same shape so they have fitted all !!
I bought all my nappies second- (or third-) hand from the Real Nappies Yahoo group. I’d be surprised if I paid more than £200 for the lot of them, and I’ve probably recouped nearly £100 by selling them on.
You might be able to get a few nappies of different kinds by asking on your local Freecycle or Freegle group…
Good luck, whatever you decide! If you do go with washables, you’ll be amazed at how much smaller (and lighter) your weekly/fortnightly rubbish collection is!
x
we tried loads of different ones and almost always go back to them. Versatile for shaping and easy for washing, quick drying, and useful for general mopping up mess/wees as they get older. We also take one as a changing mat and use them for cleaning now she’s on the toilet.