Fuming I can't even buy nappies.

[GAW19]

Me and my partner both work in a supermarket.
For over a week now we have been trying to buy nappies for our 16 month old. Cannot get 1 pack.
Went in today to do our shop and the whole aisle was empty. Was absolutely nothing. Non in the warehouse. Nothing.

It really does anger me that people can be so selfish and greedy. There is no need to stupidly panic buy.
I have now had offers from relatives to send us some in the post from where they live around the country.
I just find it very sad that at times like this, people still can't be thoughtful of others
Sorry for the rant!

@PleasantVille

Is your area weirdly full of similar aged children, I really find it hard to believe that there are no nappies in any shop at all and you have to resort to having them sent to you. Surely that postage cost is loads, why wouldn't your order from Boots and get enough for free delivery.

Very odd

I can't attest for now but certainly last time even the hugs supermarket was empty of nappies in the middle sizes and some brands of formula. My friend's son has a v sensitive bottom so only wears one type of Asda nappy and collectively we tried to keep her in nappies and soya milk without screwing over anyone else . This time surely as it's only for a month or so people won't buy tons. Certainlyly at £8 a box of formula and say 10 boxes a month in my house, I can't afford to

It's worth remembering that everyone might need to isolate for 14 days at a moment's notice, so lots of people are keeping an extra pack at home who might not normally. If they didn't prep before and only just realised the gravity in your area then there'll be a little supply hiccup, but it won't last beyond the next one or two deliveries. You'll just have to go to a different shop, sorry.

One shop running out of nappies can happen in normal times from quirks of shopping; we had to use a different brand twice last year due to random supply issues, but could get them with PIL wine food delivery during the last lockdown. We've always bought 4 packs at a time because we only go to Asda for nappies and jalapenos, so we don't want too many trips.

I went to sainsbury's and M&S yesterday evening and neither appeared to have shorgages of anything. (Although they were stripped bare of loads of things in Sainsbury's in the first lockdown). Maybe some people have realised it is buying extra that causes it?

Some cloth nappies and reusable wipes would sort this and you’ll never have this problem again

We had the same problem with tins of baby milk the first time around..so annoying.

Why don't you switch to reusable nappies? Might make future lockdowns easier too.

I'm a big fan of cloth nappies but not everyone can afford them, perhaps the OP can't. I know I spent £££ on building up a full time stash, and one cloth nappy (even secondhand unless you get a good deal) typically costs at least twice a pack of disposables. I know there are cloth nappy libraries but my local one is booked up for months (I know this as I'm a lucky recipient of one of their kits!). As I said I'm a big fan of cloth nappies but it isn't a magic solution for everyone unfortunately.

OP - if you are interested in cloth nappies and wipes see if your local council offers a grant. Mine gives a £40 voucher which would allow you to buy a few to try, and/or some cloth wipes. Worth a try if it is totally free, and might ease the pressure when there are disposable shortages.

For all the people moaning at me for only checking 1 shop, of course I have checked others.
However, I don't live in a hugely built up area, I am currently 20 weeks pregnant, have a 16 month old and me and DP both work full time.
DD also has very bad reactions to pampers, Aldi and Lidl. I am not just being fussy.
I agree that it is the supermarkets and the government. But, where I live is mostly elderly people, so this time I do believe is it purely greediness.
We are not allowed to buy shopping on our breaks, so by the time either of us finish work there hasn't been any stock for us to buy.

People are trying to mostly offer solutions to you tbh from what I can see - and you are getting annoyed at them for it.

Continuing to giving out/moan about greedy people buying all the nappies won't sort your problem.

Cloth nappies don’t have to cost ££s just buy some towering by the m or cut up old towel. The wrap on top could be a cheap plastic one or just make one out of an old fleece. There are iTunes on how to fold/pin them. Honestly you are at home why would you use disposables??? As for people using 500 disposable nappies a week!!!. Stop it.

It's awful, my friend had newborn twins that couldn't breastfeed last time and literally couldn't find any formula for them locally. We had to post her supplies. Even her health visitor couldn't source any for them. Shocking. People are so selfish and out to look after themselves.

@5zeds

Cloth nappies don’t have to cost ££s just buy some towering by the m or cut up old towel. The wrap on top could be a cheap plastic one or just make one out of an old fleece. There are iTunes on how to fold/pin them. Honestly you are at home why would you use disposables??? As for people using 500 disposable nappies a week!!!. Stop it.

I'd agree, you can use terry nappies very cheaply.

How is it that supermarkets haven’t altered their buying models?
They don't have storage space for extra supplies. One of my local supermarkets got in trouble due to how they were storing stuff at Christmas a few years ago.

Why doesn’t the govt liaise more closely with our food suppliers?
This government can't even tell its MPs what is happening so no chance.

I went to Asda yesterday and managed to get nappies and formula. The aisle was fully stocked. I was expecting not to be able to get any so I went to top up our supply earlier than normal to allow time to keep looking in case I couldn’t buy any.

I’m making sure we have enough in case we need to isolate at any point (DD1 will still be at school so we could still catch it) but I’m not bulk buying.

I know in the first lockdown though that people were buying formula in bulk for their baby but also because they couldn’t get long-life milk. I don’t want my 6wo DD to go hungry so I have made sure I have a couple of boxes extra. It’s a vicious circle.

Cloth is saving me money

I haven’t spent much at all to start up with it

When are you at work next, do they get deliveries daily? I work at a supermarket and if I didn’t have access to our warehouse and put the odd pack of stuff aside to buy on break then I would have gone without a lot of things during lockdown. Don’t know how lenient or how large your store is but get friendly with warehouse colleagues and get them to put aside for you before putting out for sale

Just seen your update, can you put aside to buy after your shift? You are a keyworker after all, not fair for you to go without

I dont agree the supermarkets need to police this. WE DO!

My DS worked during the last lockdown and honestly people were making excuse after excuse as to why they needed to buy 3-4 packs of loo roll. Buying for others etc etc. When one chap was told why couldnt he split the pack he said the women he was buying for preferred to have a full pack and didnt want seperate rolls from someone else's pack.

Its pathetic. We need to do better. People were coming in seperately from the same family and buying their own 'allowance'.

Costco is the seven circles of hell to me. Who are those customers who think buying 50 plus or even 100 toilet rolls is sensible or not very very selfish!

Who are those customers who think buying 50 plus or even 100 toilet rolls is sensible or not very very selfish!

I want to know where they’re storing them. I haven’t got the space for 100 toilet rolls.

OP have you tried Boots online? I had a quick check and they have size 5 nappies in stock, a bit low on Pampers (but that might be as Pampers have been on offer within the last few weeks). If you need eco ones as your LO has sensitive skin (brands like Naty or Kit & Kin), try online retailers like Ethical Superstore or Big Green Smile. Boots own brand nappies are good. I found them better on skin than Aldi.

Cloth nappies are another option, but make sure you research them well get the right brand/fit as I had them during the last lockdown and they leaked most of the time and I did so much extra washing in clothes, nappies, sleeping bags and sheets.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy!

I don’t think any of it is panic buying, it’s simply that people are picking up one extra of stuff, No, in some places it really is panic buying.

At no time do any of our supermarkets have queues outside the doors. During lockdown there would occasionally be a 6 or 7 person queue.

At the beginning of lockdown and again this weekend there were queues that wound down the sides of all of the local supermarkets. People queueing for an hour or more before they opened. They weren't going to pick up an extra one of anything.

We drove past looking on, wondering why?

@BashfulClam

This is awful. Do you know anyone in Scotland who could send you some. We aren’t locked down (watch this space)! I got accused by a neighbour of panic buying loo roll. I bought one of the big packs of 18 and there are only 2 of us but this is my normal buying pattern. I buy a huge amount once we run low, takes several weeks to get through. He claimed he was only joking but he wasn’t.

I've been accused of that too. Except that I've been bulk buying loo roll for the past two decades.... I haven't changed my shopping pattern, it's just cheaper to buy the big packs plus it's the only thing that I drive to a different shop in the next village for so buy three large packs at a time. Did that in the years past, don't see why I would change it now. Nobody cared until 2020.

Threads like these don’t help as the encourage more people to panic and go and buy.

Like now; you’ve reminded me to buy some more nappies!!

Try amazon, where we get ours from usually

I love our cloth nappies. I appreciate that they are quite a bit outlay if buying new and enough to do a couple of days but you can buy second hand for much cheaper and just give them a really hot wash before using them or slowly build up a collection. We started when DD was a couple of months old so didn't have the issue during the first lockdown that some of my friends had and they have saved us a fortune overall (plus will be using for a second child if we are lucky enough and will sell on afterwards)