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

I mentioned to my colleague that I was planning on investing in reusables and she was horrified at the thought of having pooey nappies in the house. Infact - she refused to discuss anything else baby related for the rest of the day. (Her youngest is just out of nappies too).

How much do people find they've spent on reusables? How many nappies do you find you need?

You don't have to spend a ton of money on reusable. You can buy 2nd hand on selling groups, or there are plenty of cheap generic brands working out at about a fiver each on Amazon. Buying a combination of cheap new and 2nd hand, we spent total less than £100 - and currently using on our 2nd child.

We have 18 I think, wash every 2-3 days and this is sufficient.

Re nappy rash; we planned on using disposables for the first couple of months but DS developed nappy rash at a few days old. Switched to cloth and he hasn't had one since - he is now 6 months! They were ridiculously bulky on his wee newborn bum but they grow so fast that it's not a problem for long. I agree with a poster above about clothes; we have found a size up often fits better.

I've got twenty of them, bought them second hand for under £70. The amount you'll save only occasionally using disposables is brilliant.

I wash every three days or so. Rarely have a leak. Not taking up landfill space or having smelly nappies sitting in my rubbish. DS likes them. I just bring a couple wet bags if out on the go to throw them into when used and disposable if traveling overnight or longer.

I found them fine-
a bit bulky on the baby and potentially expensive initially.

I didn't find them hard work- use fleece liners, shake and flush poo in the loo. Dry pail the nappy in a net in a lidded bucket with a bit of bicarb and or white vinegar. Twice a week lift the net into the washer.

You need drying space.

I found them easy and much cheaper. I used the prefolds and separate covers, I had 4 covers per size and 24 inners - I washed 2-3 times a week (4 for a short time because both of mine were in them!). Sold them for more money than I purchased them for!

This kind work well.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/LittleBloom-Reusable-Pocket-Cloth-Fastener/dp/B00E6BJLEU/ref=ascdff_B009X46P1C/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309891304463&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4078926427209295352&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046395&hvtargid=pla-681560472869&th=1

We've been using them since 4m, I intended to start from birth, but looking after a new baby hit me like a sledgehammer and my Mum was doing all our laundry for the first couple of months. I actually got on really well with single-use nappies I did find them easier, it was just the guilt I had every time I lugged our bin out that I hated.
Washable nappies will be cheaper in the long run. We have about 20 day nappies and 6 night. I wash every other day, and sometimes it does feel never ending. I'm going to buy more in real nappy week, so I can wash every 3 days. Then I will have a day off between putting away and washing again. We don't tumble. I think the pegging out, putting away etc takes about 15 minutes a day.
You do need to be more organised. I used to carry 5 single use nappies everywhere, and just replace what I'd used each time I got home. We don't have enough nappies to do that now, and I'd need a huge bag, so i only pack what I think I'll need plus one spare. Also I keep forgetting to replace the wetbag when I've washed it.
If we go away for more than one night I will use single-use.

With a newborn, I actually found it a lot less faff using cloth as unlike disposables they almost always contain even the worst poosplosions (much easier washing a bucket of nappies every few days than dealing with poo on babygros, king bed sheets, sofa cushions etc etc multiple times a day!)

I LOVE them. I’ve found they leak far less than disposables. They’re really not a faff - it’s just chucking a mesh bag in a washing machine every 2 or 3 days, and then hanging out. Max 5 mins work.

And I agree with all posters who say washable wipes work far, far better than wet wipes.

Only real downside is the upfront cost. See if your council offer vouchers.

We loved ours! Like other posters said, fewer poonamis/leaks, very little nappy rash, they smell less!

I do appreciate that it’s not for everyone though. But once you get the hang of it, they are fab!

Do you have a nappy library near you? Ours was worth it’s weight in gold! We hired a kit of different brands for 4 weeks to test them out. The lady who ran the nappy library was super helpful, giving us lots of info and demos. We hired when our daughter was 2 weeks til 6 weeks and then took the plunge.

Like all things baby-related, you do have to get used to them (fitting them, what you need to take out and about, and getting into a washing and re-rolling routine). But you will find what suits you easily enough. (Our method for washing and rolling was putting them on a timer so they would be washed when hubby got up for work. If he had time he would gang them out and if not I would. We had a Lakeland heated airer, which was a godsend in the winter months! Rolling them up again we would do in front of the telly in the evening)

Our chosen brand was close parent pop-ins and we found them excellent, but that’s our personal choice.

The poo issue isn’t as gross as you think it will be: breastfed baby poo is water soluble so can go straight in the washing machine (or so we were told!!) when you start , it is a bit more gross but it’s generally easy enough to shake the waste off into the loo (we had fleece liners that caught most of it).

As other posters have said, we had a lot fewer issues with nappy rash with cloth nappies. But they do need changing more often than disposable as the little ones get older.

It also feels great to think how many nappies you have stopped going to landfîll!

Good luck! And feel free to private message me if you have any specific questions.

I’ve been using reuseables with my 5 month old. Due to the nature of my husbands job, we’ve been travelling all round the country, never spending much more than a week in one place. We’ve managed really well with reusables, you just need access to a washing machines every couple of days. We bought a kit so it came with a nappy bucket, out-and-about bags and disposable liners. Some councils and companies will do trial kits you can borrow for a couple of weeks before you invest so you can see what works for you.

I loved mine and had a heavy heart when I packed them up to donate to a nappy library. Other people have already said the things I would have said about them. Poonami containment was definitely a plus for me - I found them much better than disposables.

I would definitely second the PP who said they were addictive. I got sucked into pretties: custom nappies with embroidered designs on them. I had a dragon, a treasure island, a mandala, a batman symbol. They were beautiful.

Just tried a kit from a local nappy library for my 3 month old. Really wanted them to work but they just weren’t absorbent enough without boosting a lot! This made them massive on his tiny bottom! I was having to change his nappy every 1.5-2 hours and was told this is normal. Too much of a faff I’m sorry to say.

We also tried reusable wipes which we loved and have bought ourselves!!