Cloth nappies...

Wow that is one big question I think it would probably be easier if I just gave my story:

I used to use disposables just because "everybody did". At one particularly tight time I used old fashioned flats (white squares) for cost effectiveness but I found them a pain to use and not very absorbent. DH hated using them because of the pins - he was so careful to avoid pricking the girls that he often pricked himself

Then I was invited to a demo for FuzziBunz and was impressed because they looked easy to use and they were compact enough to still fit nice pants etc over top. At first I staggered at the price (about $30ea) but then sat down and figured what I was actually spending on disposables in a year. So I decided to get FB. At first I just got 6 of them, so I was going FB/disposables half-and-half. I was so happy using and washing them etc that I decided to get more and go FB full-time. When I did that, the whole thing got heaps easier. I put a load of them on basically every day but it's all part of my routine now.

When I weigh up pros and cons of disposables and FB (and most other modern cloths), having to wash pooey cloth nappies rates pretty close to having disposables waiting for rubbish day - then count the cost and I'm sold!

I saw modern cloth for the first time when Han was about 9 months and fell in love. The colours and how soft they were!!! But that was also fortunate timing as I was getting terribly sick of the nappies in my bin

I love that you can flush and rinse everything away and then throw it in a bucket... then throw that in the wash and you are back to fresh and clean!

They are customisable too. Hannah went through a stage of wetting through absolutely everything at night - including huggies disposables which were the only nappy that didn't leak at day time too! Then I decided to get serious about cloth and was able to find a solution to deal with super wees. (Then she stopped being wet at night. So frustrating!!!)

And did I mention how depressed I am now that Hannah is toilet training? I can't justify buying nappies for her anymore!! Good thing one of my friends is preggo

Ah, and the cost. I was spending just under $20 per week on sposies. That's a serious dent in the pocket. Even with the outlay to get cloth - that's a huge saving!

Disposables are convenient, that's what you pay for. But the benefits of cloth far outweigh that for me and I find them just as convenient now! (Well, did.)

I have to be honest and say that to disposables do not seem convienent!

- you constantly have to buy them
- i found they were more prone to leaks
- I found they didn't contain poo explosions as well
- You end up spending so much money on them that could be spent elsewhere!
- you have stinky nappies clogging up your rubbish for a week at a time
- there is a higher incidence of nappy rash in disposables rather than cloth
- The absorbant crystals in disposables can leak out and cause a reaction on baby's skin that many mistake for nappy rash.
-disposables are nowhere near as attractive.
- and of course they are totally clogging up our environment!

On the other hand with cloth we've found

- way cheaper (unless of course you end up with a cloth nappy addiction!)But for example over 2 children you can save around $6000!! and that's even taking into account the washing!
- better containment and we've never had a leak
- they are better for baby's skin, we've only ever had a minor nappy rash that has cleared up within a day.
- they are so easy to clean and we've never found the washing a problem
- We've also found they actually seem to contain the smell a lot better too!
- Hubby is always saying that he finds cloth a lot easier to use than wrestling with the disposables.

And as B always says - would you want to wear plastic undies??

I second what Toni said...check out The Nappy Network and they have reviews of all the different types of locally available nappies so you can really see what the different systems are all about.

I bet once you go cloth you'll never look back!

Good luck!



Edited by Paws

Wow! thankyou ladies im definately going to give the cloth ago as im all for new things!
And i will definately be checking out that website Toni and Paws thankyou so much.
Just another question(s) - to start out how many will i need to buy???
Can you get them in cute patterns???
Do you need to use liners with them???

Liners depends on what type of nappy you get. Pockets and AIOs usually have a staydry layer of microfleece or suade cloth (hrmmm that spelling looks really wrong!) or velour. Most fitteds don't come with a sty dry layer so need a liner, but snazzipants definitely do, as do some swaddlebee fitteds.

With prefolds and covers you will need a liner if you want a stay dry layer

Edited by nikkiwhyte