Reusable nappies....pros & cons

[Masha31]

I can't imagine I'm the first person to ask about reusable nappies on here but I can't find another posts.

To those who use or have used reusable nappies what are your honest opinions? Pro and cons please? Did you find yourself constantly washing? how many did you have? I'd love to use them from an environment point of view but my OH said he'd prefer disposable for ease. Thanks

Pro's
Save money
Less chemicals against baby's skin
Very cute
Less waste going to landfill , no bin full of nappies sitting there for 2 weeks
Cloth wipes do a better job than disposable wipes

Cons
One off cost of getting them
Extra load of washing every 2-3 days
Baby can look like Michelin man trying to get a night nappy solution!
Can need changing more frequently than disposables
Carrying used ones around when out for the day

The washing doesn’t bother me, it’s just an extra load every 3 days. Be careful which ones you chose if not much drying space though. I like it that we don’t have to remember to buy nappies and wipes, and that our bin isn’t full of disposables. It does take a bit more organisation, and I’ve found my daytime ones need changing more often to avoid wee leaks - around 4 hours or so. My nighttime ones are fine for 12 hours where disposables when they’re not fully weaned regularly leak. Reusable wipes are an absolute winner though, so much easier to clean up with.

In addition to above pros and cons:

Pros:

Soft landing when learning to walk
May lead to earlier potty training
Less nappy rash
No chemical smell
Save even more money when used on subsequent children or sold after

Cons:
Addictive
Can be a more fiddly nappy change depending on style

It's not all or nothing ..you can use both. Dh would only use reusable ones if he couldn't find a disposable one . You can use reusable at home and disposables if away etc.

My reusable nappied dc toilet trained way earlier than my disposable nappied dc.

I had 20 nappies and did a load every 3 day, used disposables at night though as my daughter had really strong smelling pee and walking after a stretch literally made my eyes water!

Pros:
Look lovely on the line
Less environmental impact
Cheaper (IF you can avoid buying new, different brands/styles/prints)
Probably feels nicer for baby

Cons:
You need to be organised, especially for days out
Carrying used nappies around can be a pain
Expensive outlay - suggest using a nappy library trial kit first.

Depending on the style they can be as easy as a disposable, All in One nappies are just a disposable style but made of cloth. Chuck under bum and velcro or button shut. Easy :)

We started reusables at around 6 months with each and still used disposables at night as my children were epic pee-rs and would wet thru reusables. The good thing is, each time you use a reusable, that is one less disposable in landfill. That is the tack we took and like pp didn't beat ourselves up about it. DCs potty trained themselves quite early too so that was a plus.

Daycare may not take reusables. Our daycare isn't happy if I forget and send DD in a reusable, so she was in disposables 5 days a week, and then I ran out of energy for reusables since somehow it was always my job to wash them and never DH's and I don't like scraping poo off nappies.

I love them. 10 years as a nanny using disposables and much much prefer reusables on my own DC now. I wash every 3rd day or so. They aren’t a faff to clean at all, and reusable wipes clean so so much better than disposable. You could start with just reusable wipes with disposable nappies if you want to ease yourself in gently. I have been bought so many packets of disposables ‘just in case’ and they all end up being donated after sitting under the bed for weeks.

In addition to all the other pros above: I've never changed during the night as I could put in enough booster to get my DCs through the night. This in turn meant they were easy to settle after feeds too. 😊

Cloth wipes actually really do a better job. Very true.
Weekends away are a little tricky, but then again you can choose to get disposable ones for that, can't you?

Another pro - a good fitting reusable nappy has much better containment. Poonamis are a thing of the past in my house!

Con - as above, can be an expensive outlay, particularly when finding the type that suits you and your baby.

If you are interested, The Nappy Lady website does an excellent questionnaire thing to guide you as to what might suit you best.

It is also Real Nappy week this week I think so lots of sellers will have promotions if you want to buy. Cheeky Wipes have 25% off site wide at the moment for example.

We've been using reusables on DS since he was about six weeks and I LOVE them! All the pros and cons as listed above but they're not necessarily balanced. For example, the feeling of what good we're doing the environment vastly outweighs the initial cost of the nappies/wipes. Plus, DH really likes them, he's totally on board and even uses the wet bag for out-and-about and remembers to fold in the velcro before putting the Bambino Mios in the nappy laundry bin!

We put them on a 30-minute wash which we've found works just fine, but every two weeks I will do a long 2-hour wash. And being able to dry them in the sun is fab! That said, we do use compostable liners so the majority of the poo doesn't end up on the nappy.

It seems daunting at first but you quickly get used to the routine. It is absolutely worth doing! I agree with a pp though - they're addictive to buy! I have more than enough but if I see them on ebay I can't help myself!

Yes, I'm a total convert too. Environmentally friendly, especially when you consider the landfill with disposables and if you're able to line dry. They look good and we rarely have a leak, even after a good 12 + hours at night (admittedly I don't think DD is the biggest pee-er)
I'm not a terribly organised person and I worried about keeping on top of the washing, but it's really straightforward. I'd also really recommend a nappy library if you have access to one - you quickly realise what works for you before you buy.

No real con’s if I’m being totally honest. I don’t mind washing them, especially as we have a tumble dryer so it’s the easiest thing imaginable. I bought them bit by bit during pregnancy so didn’t have a huge one off cost and now don’t need to worry about buying nappies ever again!

Taking them out and about is no big issue. You can either buy a wet bag or simply take a carrier bag to transport the dirty ones.

I think the stumbling block for a lot of people is trying to use them from the get-go, having bought some before DC1 comes. It's hard to work it out while also learning all the other stuff you need to fathom about having a baby.

I think it's better to use disposables until the baby's 3-6 months and you're vaguely sane again, plus changing a bit less often (DD was a frequent pooer, used to get through 5 at least per night, no way was I doing that much washing).

Get all the same type to avoid confusion. Have a good system and a nappy bucket. Use disposables where sensible (maybe when away from home and perhaps overnight). Pros outweigh cons IMHO

I use a mix. Disposable for out and about and night times, and reusable the rest of the time. They're being used for my second now so have made economic sense.

We use a combination of resuables and disposables. Reusables every night and during the day if we're at home or close to home. Disposables on holiday or away from home for more than a few hours so I don't have to carry dirty ones around with me. Absolutely love cheeky wipes to use at home.

Imagine what 5000 stinky used nappies looks like. Imagine them in your garden for 500 years. Then multiply for every baby born.

I still have fond memories of washable from 13 years ago. Looked so cute and probably felt much better. I am a bit of lazy arse and I found them not much work.

Cons:
extra wash every 2/3 days
Clothes are a little more difficult as cloth takes more space leading to a Frugi addiction so dugarees/rompers are a problem for us as I have tall skinny children too
If you out for a whole day it takes a lot of space up but can use disposable for the day

Pro:
I've never had a poo explosion or wee leak
Less washing as I don't go through lots of sets of clothes unlike when in disposable
Cheaper
Move environmentally friendly
No stinky bin
Less nappy rash (pretty much none)
Reusable wipes are much better than wet wipes

I use 2 parters little lambs with a mix of blueberry, little lamb and motherease wraps. Very like disposable to use just with plastic pants (wrap) to put on top. No folding or stuffing to do but they take longer to dry so I picked up loads second hand to insure I had no pressure to get dry. 25 is plenty especially if you have a tumble dryer for emergencies on wet weeks.

Pros:

• Look cute
• Less poonamis
• Lots of different styles to suit different shape/size babies
• Can add/remove boosters to suit absorbency needs
• Actually surprisingly easy to wash

-No weird chemical smell -Cost effective -Can buy secondhand and equally can sell nappies you don’t like or have finished with

• Cloth wipes are about a million times better than disposables

Cons

• Some take a while to dry
• Small amount of extra washing
• Can take a while to get the hang of
• Weaning poo is really gross to deal with (but technically you are meant to remove poo from disposables before you bin them too)

Can’t see that anyone has mentioned this as a pro but many councils offer free trial packs or cash back on reusables.

As a con I do find I have to change more often with reusables but we’ve only tried one brand so that’s probably why.

Second other posters saying it may be easier to wait a few months before you start on reusables. We use a mix of disposables and cloth, it works really well!

Cloth wipes are a great way to ‘practice’ as well, you’ll get a sense of the logistics and the washing etc.

We did a bit of both with our kids.

I've never seen as bad nappy rash as I have on friends with reusable nappies though. Everyone parrots the less nappy rash but the urine directly on skin can cause awful rash that we never got when using disposables.

Also containment issues - youll see pages on forums talking about dealing with heavy wetters and night wees and poo explosions as for many this is really hard with reusables and takes working out a system / getting used to it!

Honestly I moved in this circle a lot and people would swear blind it was easier and better for skin while I had to lend out changes of clothes and could see some of the poor bums!

However cloth wipes definitely clean better and it is lovely to see a nice cloth bum. Id go with an open mind and an awareness it might take a while to see what works for your child.

Aldo, theres no need to be wedded to it 100%. Be flexible. Especially if you get a really bad rash/have trouble at night or some tricky trips it doesnt make you a failure to use disposables sometimes. I think its the all or nothing mindset I struggled with as much as anything ( see also sling wearing and fear of ever using a buggy, etc!)

Definitely change more often with reusables as the wee is directly on the skin unlike disposables which wicks it away. You really need to be on it.

But as above people do get into a routine and look back fondly on it!

Using a fleece liner wicks wee away so urine doesn't hurt skin, also good for flipping poo into the loo...

Hi, we used tots bots bamboozels. We had 15 nappy s, 30 liners and 3 outer wraps. That was 12 years ago so I can't help on price.
We used 5 a day and I washed everyday, my DD got through up to 5 sets of cloths a day getting messy. In bad weather I dried everything on a cloths horse.
Only had about 3 leakes ever, many friends who used disposables seemed to have leaks all the time.