reusables vs disposables - which is best for baby?

[squilliams]

My ds is 7 weeks old and has been in disposables since birth. I've just received a trial pack of reusables from my local council, and am currently working my way through the different types. I was surprised by how wet the nappies got, having got used to the disposables soaking everything up and am not sure how comfortable this is for him. The reusable nappy websites say that this isn't a problem for babies, but I'm not sure that this is unbiased advice as they are trying to sell you reusables - has anyone else switched between disposables/reusables and have you found that one type is better for baby?

I started off with good intentions with 2nd child. I bought myself a good mixture of reuseables (Motherease, Tots Bots, Wonderoos) determined that I wouldn't go down the disposable route. However, I found that the Tots didn't suit dd's bum shape (always looked like hipster nappies!) and the Motherease were HUGE on her.
After about 2 weeks of not giving up, finally gave in and went and bought Pampers. Never looked back. TBH - by the time you've spent the money on washing powder and electric for the tumble dryer, it's not that eco friendly.
Everyone is different and will have their own experience with nappies. Don't let anything I have said put you off - try them and they might suit. One piece of advice - don't just buy one type. Buy lots of different cloth nappies and when you find one that works for you - buy in bulk!
Sadly, I sold all mine so I can't send you any, but good luck.

I switch between using both on dd. From birth to about 3 months she was in disposables because the reusables just looked so huge on her. From 3months to about 8 months she was always in reusables (unless we were away for the weekend). From then on it has been a mix - reusable when I'm not working and overnight, disposable when she's at cm or nursery.

I love the reusables, motherease are great.

dd's nappy this morning was absolutely soaking, she must have had a couple of kilograms of wee in there. She wasn't in the slightest bit bothered by it though.

If you use a piece of fleece next to his skin it wicks the moisture away from him and into his nappy. Nappy gets saturated, ds stays dry.

If you used one with a fleece lining like a pocket the wet is drawn away from the baby so they dont feel it - saying that my ds doesnt seem bothered when he does when we use a 2 part system on occasion either. The arguments for disp over reusable go on and on. I am using cloth on my 2nd having used sposies on my first, i am happier using it, my bin is emtier so therefore the landfill will be emptier (every little helps!). Yes i am a seller so of course i am biased but i only became a seller because i was so impressed with the alternative to sposies. Lots more people seem to be making the switch. Good luck anyway with your search and if you want any tailor made advice feel free to google me.

DD (15 months) has been in reusables since she was about 4 months. Over night she is in a FLuffle with 2 boosters and I could wring wee out of it in teh morning it is so wet, but she doesn't seem to mind. I use a fleece liner as well and her skin is never wet, maybe a bit 'clammy' (that's the wrong word, but it's not damp, just not dry)

On the few occasions I use disposables she gets really dry wrinkly skin, so I think they keep them too dry, plus the fact she always cries when she sees the disposables coming out makes me think she prefers the reusables!

it's not a problem

personally I don't like finding little crystals from disposable nappies sticking to dd's skin whenever we are on holiday/ weekends away

I have heard on other boards people finding their babies eating said crystals

I don't like the way they smell of petrol

absolutely agree with advice about fleece liners

Oh, the smell. Had forgotten about that - disposables - Yuk!

Reusables
Couldn't bring myself to be so environmentally irresponsible as to use disposables,filling ground with chemicals and untreated shit to poison the earth and water supplies.

Once you get used to reusables they are very easy. I washed a load when the machine was full which was every 3-4 days.How hard can that be???

I think thry help them toilet train earlier too.
Both minew were dry by age of 2.

BabyDragon gets hideous nappyrash in reusables so she can't wear them at night at all and has to be changed really frequently in the day. And they smell worse!

It is a difficult choice. My ds is genuinely not bothered if he is in a soaking wet cloth nappy, but I also use disposibles sometimes and find that if he is in them for more than a few hours they make his testicles really red. I read somewhere that the may be because the super absorbant gels which are in disposibles actually draw moisture out of the skin. I don't like using disposibles very often mainly because of the chemicals used in them and the fact that no one knows what effects these may have on the skin. Also I am worried about the amount that get sent to landfill, particularly as we are running out of landfill space. Whatever choice you make obviously their will be some impact on the environment and your child. I personally would reccommend using cloth most of the time and then disposibles if you are on holiday or someone else is looking after your child. I will ad though my ds is now nearly 2 and when I say we're going to change his nappy he will always pick a cloth one over a disposible. So I take it that they are his favourite.

Reusables.

No crystals, and very very very few babies are bothered by wetness - it stays body temp, so not like its cold and clammy iyswim. If you can use fleece, then they stay all dry and lovely anyway.

I can't ignore the washing angle - no, no, no, no! With the right amount of nappies you wash every 3 days... 2 extra washloads a week. Also if you have the kind of child who leaks from disposables, then your washing isn't changed at all - you're just washing nappies rather than changing and washing clothes every few hours.

Compared to the amount of disposables one child uses in its lifetime, and what happens to them afterwards it is still more ecofriendly and the land is not being taken up with them.

One pack of brand name disposables is slightly less than one cloth nappy/wrap. If you were to use a birth to potty nappy and wash every 3 days that is about 16-20 nappies needed (depending on the type you use/how you dry etc) and 12 wraps in total (4 wraps of 3 different sizes).

You are going to get through many more than 30 packs of disposables before potty training, and you can reuse the nappies on subsequent children/sell them on afterwards.

I do agree to try out a few before settling on a whole load.

If you want to talk more about different types etc then feel free to email me bumfluffnappies at gmail dot com.

I use both - disposables at night/holiday and reusables during the day.
DD1 reacted to every disposable apart from pampers so reusables were the way to go for her (4.5 months until potty trained. I also found her playing with the crystals from the disposables which gave me a great shock.
DD2 I moved to reusables at 6 weeks. She would be fine in any nappy but I already had the nappies from DD1 so I didn't have to buy any.
The fleece liners keep their bottoms dry and I think they look really cute in their enormous night nappies. Also reusables don't leak poo down their legs and up their backs.(sore point at the moment)
Another plus for reuseables is that they have kept my two entertained for hours (when clean) by piling them , putting them on toys etc, with little input from me!

reusbales are fab. i have just had dd3 in dispoables the last few weeks due to massive amounts of normal laundry due to my hosue being upside down. she was taking them off at every oppertunity and costing me a fortune as she would fling them everywhere. she woke up with pooey hands after managing to get her hands down the back of the dispoable. yeeeeach.

washables,, well i wash them every 2-3 days, they take up a chest of drawers, cost me the electric of running a washing machine twice a week, and less than scoopful of powder. i line dry where possible, as dont like using my dryers if ican help it. wetness against their skin? not so bad if you change regularly and use fleece liners. no pooy hands instances yet as she cant ger through a wrap and nappy. and irritaing magicalls all in ones make great training pants hahahaa.

The argument for disposable over reusable will never end, but we each must make our own choices. I like cloth because:

1. Disposables contain chemical mixtures that are not subject to any government controls or regulations , such as sodium polyacrylate, which was removed from tampons in 1985 because of its link to toxic shock syndrome but is still used in disposable nappies.
2. I have a son, and I am worried about the link with disposables and adverse boy?s testicular development
3. Cloth uses less non-renewable resources, and doesn?t fill landfill (so had less of an impact on the environment which, lets face it, our babies will have to deal with when we?ve gone!)
4. Cloth is cheaper than disposables - the total cost of home laundered nappies over 2.5 years is £182.50 for terry nappies and £359 for shaped nappies. While using disposable nappies for 2.5 years will cost between £622 and £934. (Home washing costs £1 a week )
5. Disposables smell worse than cloth

Also, apparently babies in cloth get used to feeling wet when they wee, so are easier to potty train. Although my DS is only 13 months, so I can?t say on that score!

I know you think about the bias of nappy agents and other cloth advocates, but think of it the other way too - the companies that make disposables advocate dry as good, but the chemicals in disposables are desiccants and will dry out your baby?s skin before they wee, hence the dry wrinkly skin. Fleece is so much nicer, and does act as a stay-dry liner, if you really are worred about baby feeling wet. But, they honestly don?t mind!

And yes, I am bias (big )

The bias of nappy agents... none of us are in it to make our millions - the passion is always first and foremost

lol! millions - i wish! I think i go the other way just so i can see and touch every nappy on the market and then i hum and har about it and somehow justify trying another brand on my boy!! Its defo about the passion! I think we need to get some pop stars/ celebrities to don there children in cloth for awareness - must go email mylene klass as she is pregnant mmmmmm, how do i do that....

Washables are better for your child's hip development, due to the bulk between the legs.Nature intended babies legs to be held open. How do primitive women / primate animanls carry their babies? With their hips held open!
Paediatricians will tell you that cloth nappies are best.

ALSO, some research has proved that the temperature inside a disposable is 1 degree warmer than in washables, as the evaporation in a breathable nappy helps to cool. There is some investigation into whether this is adding to the drop in sperm count. I wouldn't risk it!

Disposable nappies go through as many as 300 wash programmes during production, many using chlorine and other nasties, so washing washables is no different, especially if you use an environmentally friendly produced fabric, such as bamboo or hemp, which don't need pesticides or lots of water to produce.

So quite apart from the landfill problems and cost of disposables, I'd say go for washables EVERY time! At least you're in control!

Message withdrawn

So Squilliams, have we convinced you yet?

I have used reuseables with DS since he was about 3 months old, he's now 17 months and i think they are great. I also use disposables if out of the house for a whole day, or away, plus he is in disposables 3 days at nursery as they provide them. Unless we are away then i use 3 nappies per week generally, as i put him in a disposable to take him to nursery.

Between the two i would agree witht he comments about him not minding the wetness, I mainly use the paper liners (he has fairly loose poo and fleece can be a bit grim) and they always feel dry to touch and they are the bit his skin touches so i dont think it is a problem for him.

The main benefits for us of cloth nappies are i guess the cost, even using some disposables i save a fortune. But also i feel happier knowing i'm not adding as much to landfill. The other thing is that i feel they are 'cleaner' to use...yes you have to pop the pooey liner down the loo and swill it out a bit but this is where poo is meant to go...much more hygenic than having stinking nappies festering in the bin...for up to 2 weeks if you are on fortnightly collections. When your LO is older and on solids you will be glad of this!!

Ive only read about the potential for increased temp in disposables recently so with a DS am glad he isnt in them all the time. Also the comments here about the gels taking moisture out of the skin seem logical. I have found crystals on DS nappy area too and cant see how this is a good thing.

Anyway i've waffled on enough, ultimately do what's best for you but i personally dont find the wetness an issue if using some type of liner.

I've been using reusables for about 2 months and really like them. I use fleece liners and so ds never has wet skin even though I don't change them any more often than I would a disposible.

I like that they are lovely and soft against his skin and he hasn't shown a preference one way or another tbh.

I do use disposibles now and again and am really struck by the weird smell now - I thought there was something wrong with ds last week because of it as I hadn't used a disposible for a while!

Also found that disposables might be linked to asthma:

1. Anderson, Rosalind
2. Mothering mag
3. The guardian

Ooh yes, to reiterate what someone said about hip placement, DD was breech and in a very odd position so she had to have some hip scans, but the first time the paed saw she had a cloth nappy on he said,
'Oh well I'm not too worried, if she's in cloth her hips will be fine. I do recommend it for hip placement'

And I was just being cheap!

Just wanted to add my thoughts.
I use both but am surprised that nobody has written about disposable ones that are bio-degradable. I use natures baby which aren't 100% bio degradeable but are better than the pampers in which I believe none of the nappy degrades - I think natures baby are about 60-70% bio-degradeable. They are similar price to other brands but not tend ever have offers on them which can then make them more expensive!
My son seems to be just as happy in both but I have to say I find the disposables slightly more reliable - he always wears dispoables at night.
THe re-usebales I have about 14 (most of them brought second hand) and use them about once a week (especially now I am back at work nearly full time - find it hard to keep on top of the washing!)
I personally think the fact that this government lets so many nappy manufacturers make nappies with no bio-degradeability at all is appalling, but hey maybe its just me!

There is no such thing as an eco-friendly disposable. Even the Nature Babycare Moltex or Bambino ones still go to landfill, and they are all intensively consumptive of energy and water in production, even if they do not contain chemicals or use chlorine bleaches. Nature Babycare are probably the best, and definitely the most economical - cheaper than papmpers and Huggies, and fit better as well, and they do a puul ups, and they are easily available.

But there's nothing to beat a bamboo or hemp washable with a woolly wrap, as far as the environment is concerned.