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Have you considered using cloth or reusable nappies for your little one?
Not sure where to start?
I've got some information below to help, including details of our local nappy library and a cashback scheme that the council runs.
Benefits of choosing reusable nappies
Reusable nappies can cost half the price of disposable nappies, saving up to £500 for your first baby. Reuse your cotton nappies for a second baby and save even more money! You can also claim £25 back when you spend £50 from Central Bedfordshire Council.
The cheapest option, even taking into account the cost of washing powder, energy and depreciation of the washing machine, is buying your own reusable nappies and washing them at home.
Variety of styles to choose from
From prefolds to quick fastening velcro, there are a wide range of reusable nappy types to choose from, so you can select the best style for your baby and your individual circumstances.
Kinder to the environment
Disposable nappies create huge amounts of waste and can take up to 500 years to rot away in a landfill.
Reusable nappies create less waste and by following these simple tips you can help reduce their environmental impact even more:
- use washable fleece liners, rather than disposable ones
- use low temperature detergents
- switch to reusable wipes and help reduce the amount of waste potentially sent to landfill
- buy more nappies initially and wash full loads
- look at the label and try washing at a lower temperature
- air dry outside rather than tumble dry where possible
- purchase electricity on a green tariff
Suppliers
There are many suppliers to choose from to purchase nappies and CBC have links on there site.
You could also check out the Facebook groups, there are so many and all give great advice, It is also nice to talk to others who are using them.
Consider hiring a nappy kit from Bedfordshire Nappy Library, a volunteer run group based across Bedfordshire. This is a great way to trial a variety of nappies in a very inexpensive way. They have two types of kit; newborn and Birth-To-Potty (BTP). The newborn kit has a range of different reusable nappies in the smallest size that will allow you to have baby in reusables until they are big enough to fit into BTP nappies, which start ~10 lbs/4.5 kg. This is a longer term loan of 3 months. The BTP kit, which has a range of cloth nappies that are currently available to buy (or can be easily purchased through the second hand market). This is to allow you to try different types and shapes to decide what works for you before you buy your own nappies. This is a shorter loan of 4 weeks. Kits include around 30 nappies, a nappy bucket, wet bags for use when you're out and about, boosters for increased absorbency, and liners to protect the nappies and draw liquid away from your baby's skin, essentially everything you will need when using reusable nappies. A kit hire fee is £15 with a fully refundable deposit of £60 to cover any loss or damage.
The below are some answers to commonly asked reusable nappy collections that the previous site manager Leanne put together.
Will I be washing nappies constantly? NO, How often you wash depends on how many nappies you have and which types. Most parents using cloth only wash them every other day or even every 3 days! They can be tumble dried on a low heat setting or hung outside on the line or indoors on an airer. I wash mine roughly every three days and I have around 25/30 most of which I passed down from my toddler (saving even more money)
The initial outlay seems expensive, what makes cloth the cheaper option? Real nappies save you money. You can save up to £500 for your first baby if you home launder washable nappies from birth to potty training, whilst reusing your cloth nappies for a second baby can save even more money. There are many Facebook groups for selling second-hand nappies. Some people chose this route when starting out to keep costs down and to reduce their environmental impact. You may also be able to use these sites to recoup some of your initial outlay after potty training.
What am I supposed to do with all that poo? Pre weaning nappies can all be washed in the machine, the machine will clean them all but do make sure you pop your machine on a monthly empty hot wash to give it a good clean. Many people aren’t aware of this but babies and small children excrete many viruses in their faeces including hepatitis A, rotavirus, shigella, salmonellosis, amebiasis, live polio virus (from vaccines), and typhoid among others. Therefore solids should be tipped into the toilet and flushed away. Fleece and disposable liners make this far easier as the nappy can then be stored in a lidded bucket or zip bag until wash time which may potentially be far less than the two week time frame that disposables may potentially remain in your domestic waste bin. Do not flush any type of liner as even though the packet may suggest it is flushable it wont do the environment any good.
Won't my baby be wet or uncomfortable? All modern cloth nappies have either a built in stay-dry layer or the option to add a fleece (or other material) liner to keep babies' bottoms nice and dry. You can buy these or even make your own! Also changing your baby often will help with this.
I hope you find this helpful,
Leanne
