cloth nappies...tell me honestly are they cheaper?

[sungirltan]

i used unbleached terries when i had dd but when she grew out of the little ones i didnt buy anymore i wanted to think it over (i am using the ocmpost disposables atm)

however dh and i are going through a not great cash flow patch so am thinking i should reconsider cloth nappies. i had one of those nappy adviser consultations who prescribed bum genius ones. i think i would like to buy maybe 8 of them and use them during the day only BUT i cannot line dry where we live and only have a washer/dryer which is expensive to run.

with this in mind is it really cheaper?

tyia

Try the coolababy pockets, they are quick drying on an airer and about 1/3 the price of bumgenius. You can get 10 for about £60 I think.

Mine are fine in the tumble dryer, inserts dry quickly and the outers are really quick on a low heat though are so quick to dry on an airer that I rarely tumble them. Over winter I didn't dry outside at all but had no problems with them.

Also, DH and I are geeks and worked out how much it cost to wash/dry the nappies inc the electricity used per wash cycle, water meter cost per wash, cost of detergent per wash etc etc (told you we were geeks!) and it was still considerably cheaper than buying disposables.

don't know about cost, but we have bumgenius. We hang on an airer in the morning, by evening they're dry. Plus our house isn't that warm, thermostat is set at 15oC

octo - ah yes but i needed your geekiness!! thanks! i will look at the coolbaby ones

thanks also climber - i can airer dry but then i have to have enough to wait all day i suppose. still thinking it over

I have bumgenius V3 and coolababy and theres not too much difference between them in drying time if im honest. I never tumble dry cos we dont have a dryer, i put mine on airer and very occationally the radiator. Coolababy are cheaper to buy as said above but may need extra boosting if you are going to use on a toddler over 2. We worked out costs with bumgenius V3 and it worked out much cheaper than disposables so coolababy will make even further savings. If you wash sensibly in regards to temp and detergent youll notice the difference!

We only use Bumgenius during the day and have never needed to tumbledry them even during the winter, simply hang over the clothes horse or bannister and they're dry by the morning. If I thought I was running low then I would dry a couple near a radiator.

If your heating's off then even over the back of a chair in the sunshine through a window would be good.

Also the BG come with 2 inserts, a larger one and a smaller one that either for newborns or as a booster. As DS is only 17 weeks at the moment, he doesn't need a booster, so I'm using them as washable wipes: use to wipe (can fold over at least 3 times so avoids ick on hands) and then wash with the rest of the nappies- more money saved, hurrah!

HTH

yes as long as you dont become addicted to fancy fluff.

Definitely check out buying them second hand to save some extra pennies. Plus, I don't think ours cost too much to dry in the tumble drier either - I often put them on the airer by a radiator/sunny window and finish off in the drier if I'm running out of dry nappies! As long as you've got radiators and space for an airer (and maybe an airing cupboard) you should be fine.

I honestly think it has been cheaper for DD and our initial outlay on DD's Itti Bittis was quite high too. I often put the nappies on a quick 20min wash cycle to get the poo off and then fill up the wash with other clothes to try to be a bit more economical. I think our electric bill has gone up mainly due to me being at home with the heating and TV on!

I have found it lots cheaper, especially when I reused them on the second child. Until recently I had 2 in cloth and no tumble drier, it was fine with airers/radiators.

Now DD has potty trained so I seem to have a lot of nappies but I think they are still cheaper even if you do get addicted, just watch out for blueberries and weenotions as they are extremely cute.

I use a mixture of 2 parters(Bumbles/fluffles with Rikki Wrap) and Bumgenius mostly, with a few extras. Bumbles are very good value and very hardwearing/explosion resistant but take a while to dry.

Real Nappy Week starts tomorrow so there will be lots of bargains to be had too

thanks everyone - reckon i will go second hand on coolbaby/bumgenius and see what i can get. dd is blw now and going through her nappies like there is no tomorrow!

purple - i had 3 ittis and they all leaked. kept ending up with lap full of wee so couldn't get on with those.

i don't understand all the lingo though - whats a wrap? i thought you bought complete nappies that come apart??

There are different kinds of nappies. See www.babykind.co.uk - has great info on the different kinds of nappies, differences, pros & cons, how they hold their value .

We'd tried a number of different nappies and settled on using two-part nappies (nappy + wrap) at home and all-in-ones (aka. 'complete nappy')when out and about.

We are really happy with our TotsBots FlexiTots nappies! They are relatively quick drying, stay soft in the horribly hard London water, and are excellent at containing even the newborn poo. My DS was fully breastfed until he was 7 months, so we've seen our share of large amounts of runny poos (sorry for TMI). That's part of the reason why two-part (nappy + wrap) nappies worked best - better containment. Another reason for my preference for two-parts is that you don't wash the waterproof outer every time you wash the nappies - I read that the PUL material can really wear out quickly from frequent washing.
Recently, we started using fleece wraps - they're softer and while they're not waterproof they do just fine during the day, when DS is playing around.

When out and about, we use all-in-ones (TotsBots EasyFit, we have the bamboo version) - they're more convenient.

thanks elk - just going through the babykind info - gosh you could do a degree in washable nappies!!

If you stick to the cheaper ones and buy second hand it is loads cheaper just stay away from the fancy ones! I would suggest getting washable wipes too saves a fortune on baby wipes.

Cloth nappies are definitely cheaper i.m.o. I agree with staying away from the fancy stuff, especially if you're on a tight budget like me. I've always used terry squares. They're fairly cheap to buy (although I was lucky, my sil gave me a load), easy to wash, and dry quickly even if you are limited to an airer. I also use traditional plastic pants, despite the critics. The new style so called "wraps" are so expensive. I reckon plastic pants have improved a lot in recent years. You can buy a pack of five from Boots for £2.99, which is very cheap and they are still good quality. They have nice soft leg and waist openings, so avoiding those nasty red marks normally associated with plastic pants. I've never had any leaks. The trick is getting the right fold and making sure all the nappy is covered by the pants. All in all terry nappies are very versatile and can be used on successive DC.

Terries terries terries !! You can get youself completely set up with 24 nappies for £40 from Boots and they will last you through to potty training. You can get stuff at NCT sales; two motherease Rikki wraps will cost you £15 and you can get nappy nippas for £1.35 (you only need one).

I couldn't be bothered with the prefold stuff like Bumgenius. Too much faffing wtih different sizes and then having to buy bigger ones as they grow ? No thanks. I love terries, once you get used to them they are really easy and imo no hassle whatsoever.