nappies: reusables or disposables?

[catus]

Hi everybody,
This is my first post. I'm due to give birth to our first child mid-july, and my DH appears keen on using reusable nappies. I never really thought about it before, but why not? So what do you think are the advantages/disavantages of each kind of nappies? Thanks.

I switched to reusables when DS was a few months old and I honestly don't think they add considerably to washing. I dry pail, and when the bucket is full I chuck the nappies (and wipes) in the machine for a cold rinse. Once rinsed I fill up the machine with other washing and wash as normal. The bucket has a few drops of tea tree oil in it and doesn't smell. I remember when we used disposables and put them in a special nappy bin and it honked, was horrible!

I think you need to try as many nappies as possible to find out what suits you. I have never paid full price for any of my stash, all have been bought second hand. Personally, I love pocket nappies and don't use 2 part nappies.

Ah yes - washable wipes. I reckon that's going to save us a bit more cash. Current calculation is that our washable nappies will give us an overall saving on our first child of nearly a grand. I'd rather have the cash than fuss about a bit of extra washing. Tisn't as if washing is that much effort in real terms. After all it's only moving the contents of a bucket, turning a knob and a couple of hours later, spending five minutes hanging things out.

I used Nature Babies disposables with DS1 but with DS2 finally got round to trying washables when he was about 7 months - we now use a mixture as we use disposables at the childminder and at night.

I got some 2 part nappies and wraps off Freecycle and used those for a bit while I was buying others, but now use pocket nappies - we have 4 types.

Itti Bitti snap ins - these are my favourites - furry and cute but on a practical note they dry really fast.

Blueberrys - fun animal print designs but take ages to dry and are much more expensive than the other 3

BumGenius - simple to use and dp prefers them to others but take longer than Ittis to dry, rather boring colours and they're the same price or more than the Ittis.

Nature Babies - separate from the disposable brand - nicer prints/colours than BumGenius but they seem to take far longer to dry and I hardly use them now.

I also use washable liners which contain poo quite well when it's more solid.

I normally do a wash at 40 morning and evening, whites one end of the day and blue/similar at the other. Nappies and bits of nappy just go in with the relevant bits. I hardly ever use the dryer, am now line drying but in winter put the inserts on the radiator and the outer bits of nappy with plastic bits on a rack thing which fits on the radiator.

I've used both, depending on the weather/how overwhelmed I'm feeling, etc.

I must say that as soon as ds1 was old enough to be able to express an opinion, he always chose reusables.

Most disposables gave him a rash too, even the eco/relatively chemical free ones.

My favourite compromise when we could make it work (i.e. when his pooing became regular and predictable) was to put him in a disposable when he was likely to poo and in reusables the rest of the time.

ah, ib My DS too prefers reusables. When I put him in a dispie, he invariably sayd "No mummy. Want soft nappy"

Washable wipes are wonderful - nice bit of terry gets poo off way more efficiently than any of the disposable wipes I've tried.

Ds used to say he wanted a 'proper' nappy!

We use Itti Bitti washables for our twins during the day. They're fantastic. We do do a nappy wash every day, but dry on the airer instead of using the tumble dryer.

No nappy rash ever here either - they're 8 months now.

Try just one of any you like the look of before you buy loads though!