5 Great Reasons Why You Should Give Reusable Nappies a Go!

As a Mum who has used both single-use nappies and reusable nappies, I can hand on heart say that reusables win hands down. There are many, many reasons why and I could easily waffle on all day giving you lots of comparisons but I don’t want to bog anybody down, I want to make things feel simple, easy and straightforward which you will hopefully see from other cloth nappy blogs I have on my site. So, instead of overcomplicating, let’s take a look at 5 reasons why you should give reusable nappies a go.

Comfort for Your Child

You may have thought I’d start my reasons off with environmental issues, costs and so on but as a parent one of the main things we want for our children is for them to be comfortable and reusable nappies provide just that. Because they are made from mostly natural materials, breathable ones and very soft ones (hello fleece!) your baby or child will be able to move freely, they will have a soft feel against their skin, and they should hopefully rarely, maybe never, get nappy rash (no chemicals means nothing nasty to irritate their skin).

(Almost) Plastic-Free and Chemical-Free

We often refer to reusable nappies as plastic-free and there is a little truth in that if we compare them to their disposable counterparts. Disposable nappies are classed as a single-use plastic as this is what they are made of. Throw in some chemicals such as dioxins and bleach for good measure and you have a nappy that we are told is safe to have next to our baby’s skin and genitals… I’ll let you make your mind up there.

As I mentioned above, a reusable nappy is mostly made up of natural materials but of course, plastic does feature because they need to fasten and they need to be waterproof. The difference here is that the plastic does not sit directly on their skin and the biggie is that it isn’t a single-use plastic which is the one that is highly damaging to our environment. A plastic laminate lines the outside of modern cloth nappies which helps to keep that moisture locked in and fastenings such as poppers and velcro are also made using plastic. Nothing can be 100% perfect, plastic does have its positives and place in our world. What doesn’t have a place in a reusable nappy are any chemicals which means you can feel assured that your baby is in a nappy that is good for their health.

Cheaper

In the long term, reusable nappies will cost you far less than disposable nappies. They aren’t cheaper upfront, they are an investment but considering most children will wear a nappy from birth until around 3 years old or more, over the course of these years, a reusable nappy will save you money. As I write this my son is 4 1/2 years old and he still wears his nappies at night as he isn’t dry yet. I dread to think how much I would have spent by now if he had stayed in disposables (we switched to reusables when he was 6 months old).

Now, there have been many workings done on costs over the years but as new brands come out, prices alter etc it can be tricky to always get this spot on. We also need to factor in that you could buy all of your reusable nappies secondhand or maybe lucky enough to have someone give you their stash for free – In that case, snap their hand off! Don’t forget that you may also be able to take advantage of the voucher scheme if it is available in your area.

I took a little look for an updated estimation and came across this from Moneyhelper.org

“Over the course of an average of two and a half years before babies are (often) potty trained, using reusable nappies can save you a whopping £1475 or more, including laundry costs. Plus, you can sell your reusables once you are finished and make some of your money back.

The number of nappies you need will vary as every baby is different. Based on an average of two and a half years’ worth of nappies, which comes to about 4000 nappy changes, and £100 of laundry costs:

Average overall cost for own brand disposable nappies: £1875

Average overall cost for reusable nappies: £400

Average overall saving: £1475″

No Running Out

This was a big draw for me. Having used only disposable on my first child (I didn’t even know reusables existed!) I remember that panic of running out or running low and having to get to a shop… And why is it always at an inconvenient time?! With reusables, as long as you can keep up with your washing and drying, you will never run out. That’s one less thing to have to worry about as a parent at least!

They Look Fab!

And lastly, they just look amazing, don’t they? The wide variety of styles and designs means that you can have a little bit of fun each time you go to put a new nappy on and you certainly don’t mind them flashing these around from under their clothing.

That’s it, a short but sweet blog on reasons why you should give reusable nappies a go. Have I got you intrigued yet? If so, you may want to check out some of these other articles too:

• How Many Cloth Nappies Do I Need?
• How Cloth Nappies Are More Convenient And Beneficial For Both You And Baby
• How To Get A Reluctant Dad On Board With Cloth Nappies
• Where Do I Start With Cloth Nappies?
• Talking To Childcare Settings About Cloth Nappies… And Getting Them On Board!

If you have any questions that you can’t seem to find an answer to just drop me a comment below.

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