Which nappy?

Your baby will get through a lot of nappies; six to eight nappy changes a day, for three years or so, adds up to thousands of nappy changes. So it's well worth getting organised!

Reusable or disposable?

Some people feel very strongly about this issue. Disposable nappies linger in landfill waste for years, but we need to balance against this the energy used to launder cloth nappies. You may find you need to use a combination of both.

Reusable nappies

Cloth nappies now come as shaped nappies with outer covers as well as the traditional squares of terry towelling. Some shaped nappies need to be replaced as your baby grows, while terry squares can always be folded to the right size.

Two-part nappy systems

These have an inner nappy and a separate outer waterproof wrap. The inner nappies can be bought as flat or shaped nappies.

Flat nappies are the simplest, but they need folding to shape. Pre-folded nappies are not quite as bulky as terry squares. They are made of cotton or flannelette stitched into a rectangle with the centre panel thicker than the outside edges. These are usually the cheapest to buy.

Shaped nappies are the right shape to fit around your baby and most have elastic around the legs and waist. You do need to buy a larger size as your baby grows, which increases the cost. One-size nappies have Velcro or poppers on them. By changing the row of poppers used, they can be adjusted as your baby grows. That makes them economical, although they can be rather bulky on newborn babies. Nappy wraps cover the inner nappy and are waterproof. They may be fastened with poppers or Velcro, or just pull on over the nappy. You'll need four to six wraps.

One-piece nappy systems

These have the waterproof outer wrap fixed into the nappy. They are easy to use, but slow to dry, because of the thickness of the nappy. They are also quite expensive to buy.

Paper nappy liners

These allow moisture through but then keep it away from your baby's skin They can also be flushed away down the loo and are biodegradable.

How many?

You'll need 18-24 reusable nappies, but if drying is a problem, you may need more. Reusable nappies need washing two or three times before you use them to improve their absorbency.

Some local councils promote reusable nappies by offering money-off vouchers for the purchase of nappies.

Reusable nappies

For further information contact:

Real Nappy helpline

0845 850 0606

www.realnappycampaign.com

 

Comments

Submitted by luckypannu on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 14:33.
i m worried about my baby skin rahses,,,which nappy is ok for my baby .....
Submitted by crc1 on Thu, 06/10/2011 - 13:52.
The link is incorrect - it should be www.realnappycampaign.co.uk, or www.goreal.co.uk...I decided to try huggababy nappies and I think they will be great!
Submitted by dougalhog on Wed, 14/09/2011 - 21:57.
I use washable Mio nappies with wraps. A freind gave me them . so cost me nothing. I love them Started to use them on my 2 week old baby boy. Never looked back. Used disposable on holiday . he got sore bottom. As soon as I returned to the washable cotton nappies. His bottom was great again.I love pegging them out on the washing line all the nappies, they smell so fresh.It has to be so much better on there skin pure cotton with all that fresh air blowing through them. This is my 3rd child. I always used disposable before. I wish I had used Mio nappies then. .I use disposable at night time, only to find they leak. So I now put a double washable cotton nappy on at night.They are not as hard as people think to use. I find them just as easy as disposables.
Submitted by Tatalina on Wed, 27/07/2011 - 07:03.
I intend on using the re-usable Mio nappies as although there is an initial outlay, you save so much money in the long-run which to me is worth it in the end - not to mention helping the environment. I have however bought some disposables for ease or in case I don't cope with the re-usables (but I hope I will!) I just wanted to say that I've read good comments on here about Huggies, but whenever we look after my Husband's Grandson, he wears Huggies & they always leak - his Mum 'bulk bought' as they were on special & she said she'd never buy them again - she recommends Pampers. I also wanted to say to some of the people who talk about needing nappies for 3 years, I know every baby is different, & believe me, I am under no illusions as to how hard potty training will be, but my Mum had me out of nappies by 10 months (daytime) & 13 months overnight, so it can be done. I lived in Asia for a while too & all babies are out of nappies by 6-8 months old as they simply cannot afford them so they persevere with potty training from a very young age...& it pays off! Who wants to be changing nappies of children (not babies) who are eating proper food....not me ;0)
Submitted by isasi2010 on Wed, 16/03/2011 - 21:21.
i forgot to mention that the little rash my baby got in his bum was because the wipes, not because the nappies.
Submitted by isasi2010 on Wed, 16/03/2011 - 21:14.
hello everybody here,my baby use pampers, huggies,wilkinson own, and they are really good, but my favourite are pampers, i think they are the best, they are more soft for my baby little bum, and i clean him only with cotton wool and water since he has born,and after cleaning his bum i put little vaseline sometimes , then when he was growing up i changed the vaseline for sudocream,and he did not have problems with rash, until we went to the house of my mother in law and we were using wipes,because was more practical not being in my own home,and she said is ok to clean with the wipes, and to be sincere i cleaned before my baby when he was baby sometimes only sometimes with wipes and was fine, but in the house of my mother in law his bum started to be a little sort,because there most of the time we cleaned him with wipesss, so when we went to the health center i mentioned about his little bum to the doctor and she recomend canesten cream, and like magic in few days the bum of my little baby was very good, i would say excellent,and now always i use only cotton wool and water for clean my little baby.always with my tools haha jar of water, my big bag of cotton wools,my changing mat,nappy,my little pack of plastic bags for dirty nappies and vaseline or sudocream,and my son he knows when i am going to change his nappies, because i always ask to him, have you made wi wi for mami? have you made caki for mama? hahaha, and he smiles like saying oh yes mami haha,then i said to him ok baby we are going to change your nappies, i am going to bring my tools, one minute, hahaha,and he smiles. Once he did a lot of caki and i use wipes and was a such a mess for me, i think i use like 10 wipes hahaha, but with the cotton wool and water is so easy to clean his little bum when he does caki I hope my long message helps to new mamis hehe
Submitted by Jokesa on Tue, 08/03/2011 - 11:32.
I'm due late june/early july and i've decided to use disposables. Huggies has been a good choice and i think i'm going for it.
Submitted by cazmando on Mon, 21/02/2011 - 21:00.
I found huggies best for my daughter.. all my friends had boys and they were pampers... or asda's own..
Submitted by FionaJones2011 on Wed, 16/02/2011 - 01:07.
I am due in june and I want to buy nappies and wipes soon as I nearly have everything else I need. I definately want to use disposable, but which ones are the best to use for newborn? The pampers ones look quite thin and not very good.
Submitted by Alis123 on Mon, 31/01/2011 - 10:08.
We're using terry squares! We ordered our kit last night, can't wait!Very excited about it, and we'll save a fortune! I'm a not a big eco fan, but the eco credentials are a plus too. We are going to use disposables when bubba is first born in hospital, as neither of us want extra stress of folding squares as soon as bubba arrives. x
 

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