What Nappies? Disposable/washable?

[Pinky333777]

It seems we have a decent choice when it comes to choosing what type of nappy to use on our precious one's little tooshie.

I've no experience yet as I'm only pregnant, but I have dreams of using washable nappies mainly with perhaps disposables on holidays/day trips or if I'm just too darn tired to put on yet another hot wash! (I'm not too naive)

I just wanted to know what nappies others have tried and which you found best to use for your families?

So... what nappy is best?

The best one is the one that works best for you.

We used mainly washable (after about three months), and they were great for us in terms of money saved and looking super cute. It's also possible to get a kind of hybrid of disposable or washable inners and a waterproof wrap (these are prob my faves).

It depends on your situation I guess but for me I struggled just to keep up with the laundry and housework in general when babies were little (still do hahahahaha), and that was with disposable nappies! I suppose if things were really tight financially or for moral/environment reason I can see the benefits but you really don't know how much work a newborn is until they're born.
You could always try both and see how it works out I suppose.

Will you be going back to full time work? I had DT's and worked full time so it had to be disposables.

Practically speaking I'm quite lucky.
My partner works weekend evenings mostly and is at home most of the week doing bits of work on the computer, but lots of housework.
Currently I'm not allowed to do laundry as he "has a system" lmao so keeping on top of it shouldn't be a problem for him.
I work as a nanny - all charges will be in school as of September so I'm hoping to go back part time to provide put of school care.
Baby likely will come to work with me - I'll have the option to use laundry facilities at work too if needed.
I just really like the idea of reusable, partially because of the environment and I also think they look cool
So why not use them if we can manage?
We'll see what DP thinks to the extra washing!

I bought quite a few packs of washables on sale in mothercare, was really keen to use them mixed with disposables, but unfortunately they gave my DD nappy rash. I would often put them on her just for 1-2 hours after dinner (once she'd done a poo...) and she'd have a really sore red bottom just in that short time. I tried a few creams but reluctantly gave up, I could really only stop the rash by putting her in pampers for a day or 2. Once I stopped using washables totally she only had a couple of incidences of rash, usually when teething.
Funnily enough she's now potty trained and in pants she is getting eczema on her bottom so I think it must be related to the textiles or my washing powder, rather than the nappies per se.
My mum was so keen on me using washable but she is absolutely amazed at how dry disposables are and how DD and DNiece don't have constant nappy rash like me and my brother did in terry nappies. (They are nothing like modern washables though!)
Good luck whatever works for you, I would just say don't invest tons of cash in washables before they're born.

If your DP is the one doing the laundry it's probably a question you should be asking him! Lol

I use washable nappies as both dh and I have sensitive skin so I thought baby might too. Bought little lamb 2 parts of eBay. It actually saves me washing because unlike my friends with dc I never (1 time in 9 months) have to change clothes because of leeks. Ds does have sensitive skin and put him in disposable for a weekend away and had an awful time trying to shift nappy rash.

Downsides of washables
Poo nappies are harder work as you have to deal with the poo but it's not to bad
Clothes - baby clothes are designed for disposable and cloth adds bulk so you size up earlier on dungarees/trousers so buying an outfit does always work as you need one size jumper/tshirt and another size trouser. I overcome this by buying a similar pair of trousers in the next size to make the outfit last. Or buy separates. Vest extenders are great (little lamb) frugi is clothes designed for cloth and are beautifully made/great resale value. Leggings fit well (blade and rose) or often from the girl section as most companies don't put them in the boys section
Going out for a day requires a second bag to shove spare nappies in as they are bulky

^Leaks no vegetables either

I use washables and think they're great. It was really important to me to use the more environmentally friendly option. Also, they are just so much cuter than disposables!

I really wanted washables. Until my mum pointed out we lived in a small flat with no access to a garden and no tumble dryer...

So I had disposables. They were fine and DS1 pooed 10 times a day for several months so I was glad we had disposables then! He also had severe reflux so I was doing enough washing with mine and his clothes.

We've almost never had leaks and have always used supermarket own brands.

Both boys were toilet trained by 2.5.

I couldn't use washable nappies with ds as we didn't even have a washing machine in our tiny kitchen and the laundrette just down the road wouldn't let us do them there. When we moved and I had dd I looked into them again and decided against it after talking to friends who used them, mainly because:
-I already do 8 loads of washing a week and don't need more!
-I don't drive so like to travel light and my friend with two in nappies has to carry an enormous bag as the nappies a so kudu bulkier and obviously aren't binned along the way.

• The bulk of them limits clothes choices. I fingers jeans hard wearing over 1 and they just don't fit over them. My friends ds is always in jogging bottoms.
• Nappy rash. Seems much more common among friends dc in washable nappies.

Do you have a diaper service in your area? Our plan is to sign up for a few months of the service and see how we like the cloth diapers and then decide how to proceed from there. My DH seems pretty committed to reusable, to the extent that he says he'll do all the washing if that's what it takes, but I think we can't really know in advance how it'll all work out, so using a service as a trial makes sense.

If you're interested in washable nappies you may want to speak to your local nappy library www.goreal.org.uk/finder
In my experience nappy rash is actually less likely when using washable nappies than disposable ones, but it depends on your laundry routine and how sensitive your baby is.

We had aspirations of using reusables but with one thing or another didn't do it.

Our middle class guilt led us to 'eco nappies'. Not entirely convinced of the eco credentials but I would say that they are very gentle on DS' bum and he's only had 1 episode of nappy rash so far in his life (he's 17 months atm). We use moltex during the day and naty at night (they go up higher for our tummy sleeper but are very expensive for all the time use). We buy in bulk from ethicalsuperstore.com whenever they have a deal on.

Both grandparents put him in Aldi and they don't cause any problems either!

Also, once you get beyond korma stage, you can flush poo from a disposable nappy down the loo to minimise the human waste going into landfill.

listen to me justifying myself. fuck it! I had a kid and screwed the planet!

I used reusables full time from 6 weeks to 15m, then part time to 2y8m ish (childminder didn't like them but used at home). He is now in disposables as we were having issues with eczema in his groin area which cleared up when we put him in a disposable. I feel bad but at least we saved a lot from landfill. Hoping he'll potty train soon so we will only need them at night.

Maybe wait until your baby is here then make the decision depending on how you're coping. IMO it's always worth using disposables for the first few weeks to give yourself a break as much as you can (you could use more eco disposables if the environmental aspect bothers you), and it allows you to then buy a cloth brand suitable to your baby's build. It also means you can just buy birth to potty nappies, rather than needing size 1s too, as B2P won't actually fit from birth unless you've had a 10lb-er.

My experiences: I bought one brand (thankfully second hand!) in advance on DC1's birth, but her skinny little legs caused them to leak even once well past the lower weight guide for the sizing. One nappy questionnaire filled out later and I was recommended a different brand which was fantastic and we used until she potty trained. I used disposables for the first couple of months for the reasons above, and continued to use disposables when out for a few months after I started cloth until I became confident with it. After that I only used disposables for day trips (dirty cloth nappies are bulky and heavy to haul around) and holidays, or on the rare occasion the cloth wasn't dry in time. I didn't find the washing an issue an all.
With DC2 I used disposables for the first couple of months too. I've reused the same cloth nappies, which aren't such a great fit this time around (they are different builds) but I'm not spending more on a different brand now, so I make do! I've found keeping up with the washing much harder this time around so I do a 70:30 cloth:disposable mix.
I've had no particular issues with nappy rash etc using cloth, and on the whole have been very happy with it. Getting the washing routine and methods 'just right' took a bit of practise but once you've cracked it, it's easy. I've done it for monetary and environmental reasons, I don't personally get the whole 'looking cute' or stash collecting things.
I'd definitely recommend cloth (and even more so reusable wipes. Two words: poo traction) but ultimately as mentioned upthread, the right answer to disposables or cloth is what works for you personally or rather what works for your OH who's doing the washing!

I'm due to have DC1 in a few weeks and just had our cloth nappy set delivered yesterday. They look straight forward enough but will probably have to buy some extra bits as there's only 20 nappies in it. I'm optimistic about using them though :)