Now I am not a raving greeny but I enjoy the outdoors and would like to keep it as it is. We know have a 3 month old daughter. I have been really shocked by just how much of the Wheeliebin is now full each week with disposable nappies.

We have now on 2 occasion’s gone looking for reusable nappies but are completely bewildered by the choice and faced with the possibility of spending £200 on something that might not work out keeps putting us off.

Anybody used any and can report back on what i think are the critical areas – washing, drying, life span, fit & ease of use.

Cheers Ben.

We used cotton bottoms on our first and found them to be easy peasy. its like everything when you first have a child – it seems unsurmountably difficult to begin with but after a couple of months getting into a routine its fine.

If you look at some of the comparisions done between carbon footprint of reusables and disposables you will find they are about the same. The main issue after that is the landfill one. You can get biodegradable disposable nappies form most places these days and i know a lot of people who have gone down this route.

It’s been a long time since I did this calculation as both our daughters are in their twenties but when they were in nappies I insisted to Mrsjova that we use terries and not disposables as much as possible.

Over the period of their combined usage; given the initial outlay, washing, drying, neutralising chemicals etc I calculated that the terries cost less than 25% of the projected cost of using disposables and doesn’t include the negative effect on the environment of thousands of non-degrading disposables.

Of course, back in the 1980’s no-one had heard of carbon footprints.

had the same bewilderment here, the wife has beenasking about and a few people have sent us samples but I guess it’s hard to know what to use before the baby arrives

interested to hear some user reviews!

Ah, at last my specialist subject…

We used them for 2 kids. We bought a lot second hand. ebay (possibly for pathetic reasons of squeamishness) don’t let you sell them there now but there are other second hand nappy sites available – Google them. My wife bought a few different ones to try and eventually we ended up with mostly Motherease ones with popper, rather than velcro fastenings as she thought they fitted better (ah yes it’s all flooding back… as Kurtz said “the horror, the horror”) We used to get the liners from Waitrose and bought in bulk as they weren’t easy to come by everywhere. You also need a nappy bin (with tight fitting lid!) to keep them in until you have enough to wash – the online advice seems to be to leave them to soak in that with a drop of tea tree oil, but we didn’t bother and just left them dry in there and washed a load every other day I suppose.

We also managed to sell some second hand when we’d finished with them (although in fact I think we still have a few knocking around somewhere – mail me and if we’ve still got some I’ll send you a couple to try). You may find too that your local council runs a disposable nappy scheme and will give you a rebate on any you buy new. I seem to remember getting about £40 back.

BTW they are only environmentally friendly if you don’t wash 2 at once then shove them in the tumble dryer.

Also we weren’t totally obsessive about using them (unlike some of our friends) and did carry on using disposables when we went on trips etc.

We used ours for our eldest daughter, our 2nd came along 16 months later so ended up reverting to disposables when my wife and I started drowning in a sea of nappies to be laundered. From a practicality point of view they’re easy – as said above – it’s just a matter of getting into routine.

I think ours were Tots Bots. The expensive bits are the ‘body’ of the nappies and the plastic outers – the liners are just fleece strips (sh*t doesn’t stick to fleece!). We were actually told it wasn’t worth shelling out on the official fleece liners but to go to a fabric store and buy it by the meter.

I’m sure we’ve got all our reusable nappy bits and bobs in the loft – cost us north of £250. I’ll have to check where they are but if you’re anywhere near to the Sussex/Kent border you’re welcome to come and take the lot for £50 or so (again, have to make sure my wife hasn’t any ‘plans’ for them). I know we’re not going to be having any more kids anytime soon and could do with the storage space back…

Over the period of their combined usage; given the initial outlay, washing, drying, neutralising chemicals etc I calculated that the terries cost less than 25% of the projected cost of using disposables and doesn’t include the negative effect on the environment of thousands of non-degrading disposables.

Was that your pitch to the Mrs. 😀

FWIW – mine are also way too old for nappies & I’ll probably be the next one in this house with them 😯 but we used to use disposables during the night & terries during the day unless it was really bad weather [we didn’t have a tumble dryer]
Much easier on a night to change a disposable than to do all that folding stuff

We are about to have twins, so I say stuff the implications, we are doing disposable. Waaaay too many other more important things to concentrate on!

If you look at some of the comparisions done between carbon footprint of reusables and disposables you will find they are about the same.

But these are figures provided (or funded) by the baby industry – they make ludicrous assumptions like – you will buy all new and far more than you need, you will boil wash them and tumble dry them.

If you use them for more than one child, wash at 40 degrees and air dry them then they are far better environmentally (not even counting landfill/disposal issues) and they are a lot cheaper in the end

Check out your local council, lots give grants to people planning on using cloth. Also have a look here http://www.treehuggermums.co.uk/articles/clothnappies/article.php?article=39 for general advice. But from my friends experience it seems trial and error as to which work for them, so they have tended to buy a few of lots of types before settling. I believe there’s also a good second hand market for them as well.

We’ve got a 8 month old and been using washables since about 2 months. But still use disposable at night coz they’re more absorbent.

My wife got about 30 nappies for £55 from the local paper and nearly-new baby sales in the local area and we buy nappy-liners (200 for £5) which makes them easier to wash. The liners can be composted. Disposables are about 10p each so the cost works out about the same over a year when you factor in washing-soap and wear+tear on the washing machine and your time. Bear in mind you need to change washable nappies more often because they don’t keep moisture away from the skin as effectively

Our daughter now getting to the stage where she needs the next size nappies and unless we can find some more second hand, we won’t be continuing since a few will still fit – we’ll just use a combination of disposables and washables.

I’d recommend avoiding ones using velcro as a fastening as this can wear out and reduce the nappy life span. We used ‘nappy nippers’ to hold all ours together and they have done both our kids and are now being used by the sister in laws new arrival.

Real nappy network

We are about to have twins, so I say stuff the implications, we are doing disposable. Waaaay too many other more important things to concentrate on!

Why is it that some people are not only happy to ignore important issues, but also need to wear their opinions on their sleeve? Are you not embarrassed about that? – you should be. Why don’t you print this forum thread out and you can show it to your kids in 10 years and ask them if they agree?

We are about to have twins…

for twins it is much more economic to use washables since you don’t need to buy many more – you need a washing machine load (about 16-20) plus a day’s worth (about 7 per baby) to use while the others are drying.

as a ‘middle way’ 200 quid will buy you a years supply of bio-degradable nappies

Our council does a re-usable nappy service too.
A disposable nappy can take over 100 years to bio degrade ( so really it doesn’t bio degrade).

I congratulate all those who are using.

Bio degredable go straight to a land fill site and are not much of a middle ground given the environmental costs of manufacture.
Used them for two kids and stil using them on one…my wife sells them as part of her business. Not a style/makle we have not tried, Velcro , popers, stuffers , terries etc. All seem to work and you get used to them quite quickly.
We are just North of Manchester if you want some free advice (e-mail as it is a business) or she may visit depending on how far you are away from Chorley.
She has a trial kit so you can try a number of different styles and see what you prefer.(cost to this but not sure how much)
PS You can get washable liners and the disposable ones are also washable about 5 ish times or thereabouts.
Also get washable (fleecy) liners and also wet wipes (small terry type) amasing how many of these you need and the enviromental cost of these.

My e-mail in profile if you want more info/help (partly free advice but my wife does do it for a business though iam not (entirely) touting for extra business.

lollipop nappies

Have been considering this debate myself, as I’m due later this year. Have looked in the biodegradable disposable nappies and they’re not as green as they’re made out to be.

I’ve made the decision to stick with cloth nappies and wash them although as to which brand I’m as yet undecided, trial and error and time will tell on that one.

Obviously with all the freebie disposable you get I’m not going to bin them, but will save them for trips away when cloth may be less than practical, but I’m not going to go out and buy any.

Just my 2p’s and it all may change once I have to deal with it – but I’d prefer to do every bit I can to reduce the amount going to landfill, especially after spending a weekend with a family who not only used disposables, but wrapped each in it’s own plastic bag before binning it – and he easily got through 4 in the first few hours in the morning. Not my idea of responsible.

didn’t read the above but we have done well with the following:

1st babe – used the local delivery service to start (lady comes around once a week with a laundered set and a nice smelling bin) – takes the fear out of starting and still less money than huggies. Once we’d got the courage up we switched to tots bots and nappy nippers with motherease outers (jargon!)

2nd babe – carried on with the above selection

We use waitrose biodegradable disposables for night time as the washables can mean sore bots. (and for travel as the washables take up loads of space / mean carrying a bag for keeping used ones)

Get used to getting up close and personal with copious sh1te!

The environment agency report in 2005/6 concluded there was bugger all difference environmentally between any of the systems.

Saying that bio-degradable is bad because you have to ‘manufacture’ isn’t the complete story when comparing them against a system that requires washing and drying – unless you’re cleaning them with rocks in your local river 😉

The 550Kg of C02 output for manufacture is equivalent to the manufacture and washing+drying of non-disposables which also I think works out to be similar to driving 4000 miles – so easiest to ditch the motor for a few trips first!

Why is it that some people are not only happy to ignore important issues, but also need to wear their opinions on their sleeve? Are you not embarrassed about that? – you should be. Why don’t you print this forum thread out and you can show it to your kids in 10 years and ask them if they agree?
What do I have to be embarrassed about? Certain people have certain views on what is good and bad for the environment and I can listen to arguments from either side. I choose to believe that any environmental benefits, although apparent, are not enough to make me decide to use re-usable. And if my kids think I should have done – good on them for forming their own opinions on something.

for twins it is much more economic to use washables since you don’t need to buy many more – you need a washing machine load (about 16-20) plus a day’s worth (about 7 per baby) to use while the others are drying.
But as you will probably be able to understand, having two babies to look after means even less time to do other things such as eat, wash, sleep etc so to spend unnecessary time washing/drying seems daft. Add to that the thought of having one screaming baby being changed and another screaming because it needs changing and I am sure I will want it done as quickly as possible.

Don’t get me wrong – I am impressed by people that feel they can cope (r have proved that they can) with re-usable nappies and hats off to them. I just think it would be too much trouble in our circumstances.

EDIT: I have considered looking into them when they are a bit older and we are into a routine with them.

Sorry, might end up repeating some bits.

First check your local council don’t do a voucher this for reusable nappies. We got £55 (I think) off some. The Missus wanted bamboo ones first of all, so got them. They were meant to last until 9 months, but our girl grew out of them by 5 months.

We now use some that I can’t remember the name of but they’re excellent. They have poppers that mean they can be made the right size for new borns, but then expand as they grow. Our little one is 8 months next week and there’s still loads of room left for her to grow in. We have a friend who has a one year old who’s used them from birth and they’re going strong.

They also dry very, very quickly. Almost dry when they come out of the machine.

£15 or so each. We got 12 and had two free. That’s plenty for her with washing done every 2 to 3 days or so. We also use bio degradable ones as backup or when we’re away form home.

BTW, we use reusable, not only for environmental reasons, but also cause they’re nicer on her little botty. Aparently we’re geting some eco balls instead of washing powder for financial and eco reasons.

I’ll try to find the manufacturer out later if you want.

Congratulations tinker-belle.

I’m guessing as more and more people use these washable nappies then the price should go down.

PS congratulations bigsurfer and also Tinker-belle 🙂

we use a mixture of disposable and re-useable.

there is a nappy laundry service near us so we subscribed for a month to see if it would be practical. it wasnt feasible as a full time option so we do a bit of both.

we use the square cotton liner with the plastic velcro covers. the popper ones we have are more fiddly to do up and dont seem to fit as well.

the missus spent about £60 on the re-usable stuff and we have enough to fill up the machine and have a couple left over. We use disposables when out and at bedtime as its easier as you dont need to change em as much.

we looked at the eco nappies but they made the nipper really sore where they rubbed as the ‘cut’ is awful. they also leak crap everywhere.

report rebublished due to flaws and concluded

In essence how you wash them /dry them is the critical point

The average 2006 disposable nappy would result in a global warming impact of approximately 550kg of carbon dioxide equivalents used over the two and a half years a child is typically in nappies. The global warming impact from disposable nappies use has decreased since the previous study due to manufacturing changes and a 13.5 per cent reduction in the weight of nappies.
The report highlights that the manufacture of disposable nappies has greater environmental impact in the UK than their waste management by landfill. For reusable nappies, the baseline scenario based on average washer and drier useproduced a global warming impact of approximately 570kg of carbon dioxide equivalents. However, the study showed that the impacts for reusable nappies are highly dependent on the way they are laundered.
Washing the nappies in fuller loads or line-drying them outdoors all the time (ignoringUK climatic conditions for the purposes of illustration) was found to reduce this figure by 16 per cent. Combining three of the beneficial scenarios (washing nappies in a fuller load, outdoor line drying all of the time, and reusing nappies on a second child)
would lower the global warming impact by 40 per cent from the baseline scenario, or some 200kg of carbon dioxide equivalents over the two and a half years, equal to driving a car approximately 1,000 km.
In contrast, the study indicated that if a consumer tumble-dried all their reusable nappies, it would produce a global warming impact 43 per cent higher than the baseline scenario. Similarly, washing nappies at 90°C instead of at 60°C would increase global
warming impact by 31 per cent over the baseline. Combining these two energy intensive scenarios would increase the global warming impact by 75 per cent over the baseline scenario, or some 420kg of carbon dioxide equivalent over the two and a half
years.
The environmental impacts of using shaped reusable nappies can be higher or lower than using disposables, depending on how they are laundered. The report shows that, in contrast to the use of disposable nappies, it is consumers’ behaviour after purchase that determines most of the impacts from reusable nappies

FROM
http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=WR0705_7589_FRP.pdf

And the figures assume a second child using the nappies. I assume that would mean a fraternal sibling that could re-use the nappies at a later date. We will not be having any more children (at least do not plan to) so the second child scenario will not happen. And of course the weather situation is a good one – assuming 50% of the year you can dry outdoors the figures would suggest there would be (approximately) a break-even.

In essence how you wash them /dry them is the critical point

And really you’re likely to have a good mix of 60′ washers and air dryers and 90′ washers and tumble dryers so there still is bugger all difference between washable and disposable, and even in their best possible scenario you save the equivalent C02 of driving 600 miles.

Besides, my father-in-law supplies linings for landfill sites and I don’t want to do him out of business.

😉

Surely the comparison of the impact on global warming is only half the story. The main environmental benefit of using washable nappies being they don’t get sent to landfill. I remember reading that disposable nappies make up around 3% of household waste.
Also I would think anybody that goes to the bother of using disposable would be pretty savvy about the impact of washing at 90deg and tumble drying.
PS.My first post on STW and it’s on the subject of nappies.

What do I have to be embarrassed about?

Well you did say this:

I say stuff the implications, we are doing disposable.

And actually I’m not criticising you for making the decision to use disposables. I’m criticising you for glorifying ignorance and macho posturing.

And really you’re likely to have a good mix of 60′ washers and air dryers and 90′ washers and tumble dryers so there still is bugger all difference between washable and disposable, and even in their best possible scenario you save the equivalent C02 of driving 600 miles

most /all nappies can be done at 30 degree wash these days and is what we do with a sanitiser added (tee tree for the hardcore hippies 😀 )
I suspect most users are greenies or organic types and probably dont wash at 90 and tumble dry but we have no way of knowing how people wash them.

Fair point re car use but every little helps surely but if we want to reduce our carbon footprint we can only really do this by changing our behaviour.

I say stuff the implications, we are doing disposable

The implications will largely be felt by your children and your grandchildren as they cope with the likely environmental issues if we dont change so (in the style of the Simpson character and to mis quote)
Wont someone think about their children?

Wont someone think about their children?

That’s something I haven’t seen in this discussion – which is better for the babies. I know from experience that a disposable will hold a huge amount of liquid without feeling wet (yes, yes, my incontinence pads 🙂 ) whereas a cloth nappy must feel pretty awful after a relatively short time.

so you change it more often and as they experience being wet they toilet train quicker but largely true about not feeling wet.
A disposable will hold about a litre of water iirc or thereabouts but fill one with water and then have a feel after you have left it for 20 mins not exactly nice as it turns to a kind of weird gel.
Nappy rash is caused by the reaction between urine and poo and is is just as prone in both types …exacerbated by say teething or other issues, infrequent changing , night time in one nappy …both babies /nappy types will get it at roughly eqivalent rates
Those who use disposable quote as you do and they have a point
Those against point out cotton /fleece in nicer and the nappy does not include any ” nasty ” chemicals… clearly a subjective view as neither nappy type is exactly harmful to children and equally safe.
My think of the children was largely tongue in cheek BTW.

Now off to bed which nappy will he pick for tonight my money os on teh stripey one!

Not got time to read all of the above.

But I’ve used washable nappies for both girls. Can’t stand the feel of disposables. We’ve camped with them, traveled abroad with them. I’ve even changed washable nappies in the tiny toilets on a plane. Once you get used to them they are no less convenient.

Not done the maths, but I reckon even with the washing they have saved a shedload of money over two children as we bought very little second time around.

No criticism of using disposables as such, but you wouldn’t catch me doing it.

I’ve use tots bots, huggles, bimbles, bumbles etc.. All good, and I prefer nippers when it comes to fastening 😀

To add to my previous post, we use Bum Genius.

They’re really very good.

And we now wash them with

Ecoballs

Our waste goes to an incinerater that generates power. So nappies from FB jnr & the recently added Little Miss FB give us electricity!

We used terry nappies for both of our kids.Disposables were use occasionally on day trips/holidays.
We were on a tight budget ,(Wife of Riley finished work to be with the baby)the thought of wasting money on disposables out weighed the covenience/green issues.
It was a long time ago,but I was a nifty nappy-changer,although I did stick the pin in my thumb on a few occasions.

Some £1 shops sell microfibre towels that are perfect as nappies. They dry very quickly and are very absorbant. Lots of ways to fold depending of size of child. You will need about 40 to 50

Get some paper liners to catch the poo – these can washed and reused a number of times if it’s just pee. http://www.mothercare.com/Bambino-Mio-Mioliners-twin-pack/dp/B0017TUCK6/sr=1-19/qid=1242858505/ref=sr_1_19/276-0227204-9716642?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A2LBKNDJ2KZUGQ&n=44532031&mcb=core

Get some Nappy Nippers to hold it all together. http://www.mothercare.com/Nappi-Nippas-Nippa-3pk/dp/B001CJAEQ8/sr=1-13/qid=1242858505/ref=sr_1_13/276-0227204-9716642?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A2LBKNDJ2KZUGQ&n=44532031&mcb=core

Get some outers. You will need about 3 -5 when they move up sizes.
http://www.mothercare.com/Bambino-Mio-Miosoft-Cover-Small/dp/B0017TOJ0K/sr=1-47/qid=1242858625/ref=sr_1_47/276-0227204-9716642?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A2LBKNDJ2KZUGQ&n=44532031&mcb=core

Also We wipe our babies using toilet paper and warm water instead of chemical infused wipes. Charmins is the best for this.

Best of Luck

Motherease are ace. Poppered and you can adjust for size.

Disposables at night, especially for a boy as they pee a lot!

2 years old now and he’s wanting out of them as the potty is going well.

Try your council as they should lend you some/do a deal on some.

Tim