Nappies?

[MegACT]

Hi,

Im trying to work out DP's and my finances before we fall pregnant so we can hopefully get ahead.
The one thing I know nothing about is nappies! How much do they cost? How many do you go through a week? What are the price differences between disposable and cloth? Whats involved in using cloth nappies?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Meg

[FourAngelKisses]

Hi, welcome to Bubhub. :D

I use cloth nappies on my son (just the flat, terry towelling square ones) during the day and I use Aldi brand disposables on him at night.

I don't bother with a nappy bucket, I just toss them into the laundry tub, and then every 3rd day I soak them in napisan for a few hours then just wash them in the napisan. I use Aldi brand napisan too. One $2 container of it will alst me about a month or so.
You will need about 2 dozen cloth nappies (if you decide to use cloth) and they will set you back about $40. It's been 9yrs since I brough mine so they might be more expensive now.
If you use liners, the cheap ones are just as good and are a third the price. So they will set you back about $3 for cheap ones, or $9 for Johnson & Johnson ones. You get 100 per box, so they will last about a month.
Pilchers.....I just use the PVC ones from Big W, they are about $2 for a pack of 3, you will probably need about 3 packs of those.


Disposables can vary anywhere in price from $7 a pack to $45 a box, depending on the brand and size of the pack. Aldi ones which a lot of ladies here use, are about $15. You will go through about one pack a week.


I think cloth is the way to go personally, it is so much cheaper and it isn't that much extra work. When you are doing 2-3 loads of washing a day, what is one more load every 3 days??

[Mum&bubs]

It all depends on what brand you use & what size.

When my DD was a new born i used Huggies newborn which cost about $15 for a pack of 52 (this usually lasted a week)
For a box of 108 is usually around $35 but my memory could be jogged :idea:

[Oscar's mum]

Check out this site - It has great info regarding cloth nappies. It will tell you everything you need to know regarding cloth nappies!;)

http://www.allaboutnappies.com/index.php

If you have any questions just ask!

[Smurfette]

Hey Meg, I have just converted from disposables to cloth for a host of different reasons, cost being one of them. I love them as they are so different to the terry flats that used to be the only option.

Try the nappy section, there are plenty of 'experts' there to help you out.

Here is a thread to get you started.

http://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/showthread.php?t=8712

Hope this helps

[whatwasithinking]

http://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=99

this is the nappy section Meg - it will help imensly.

As for me, I used disposables and for years used Huggies and Snugglers (snugglers cause they were cheaper and huggies for newborn size) - but over the last 4mths I have changed to the Black and Gold or Babylove brands and I love them - have had no problem - and they are anything between $6.99 and $13.00 for big baby love packet.
(my fil has just bought me a packed to huggies for my 10mths old and I have to say I don't really like them).

The Huggies for newborns though is all I ever used both times.

Never used cloth nappies as I'm probably to lazy. (wanted to when I was pregnant but changed mind when bubs arrived).

Anyways welcome, good luck with ttc and hope you find some helpful advice from bubhub - hope to see you areound more.

[MegACT]

Thanks Girls! :thumbsup:
Your advice has been invaluable as I really had no idea on the costs!! Im really into budgeting even though im sure we'd survive without cutting costs everywhere but my theory is every cent counts.
Im thinking more towards cloth nappies, well im willing to give it a go anyways. We are purchasing a brand spanking new washing machine where i press the button, set it to nappies and it does the rest so hopefully that will help.
If it doesnt work out for me than I have the option to switch.
Thanks again for all your help and I look forwarding to getting to know everyone better.

Meg

[Cheeky Little Monkey]

Hi

I think cloth nappies (modern fitted or pocket style) are the way to go.
After the initial outlay you will save lots on not having to purchase disposables.
If you do go the cloth way, I would recommend getting a "LITTLE SQUIRT" which is an attachment you hook up to your toilet so you squirt off the poo/vomit/whatever on the nappies before you wash them. I got mine from Bunnings Hardware for under $50.
If you need any advice or have questions about cloth nappies feel free to PM me and I can tell you about my own experiences with different ones. There are also plenty of us out there that are using cloth and would be happy to assist you in this regard.

But if you are going to go the disposable way, I would think you should count on at least $20 a week for premium nappies (new borns tend to do lots of poos and being a new mum I think most of us tend to change them more often than more experienced mums do at first).

Good luck

[Ange&Seth]

We use Mamia brand nappies and wipes which are the ALDI ones mentioned above. They are fantastic. DS is in the 2nd or 3rd size at the moment (Large I think they are) and they are $17 for 50 and we go through a pack about every week to week and a half. So far, we've had no trouble with this brand, or with BabyLove either (which IGA supermarkets have GREAT specials on sometimes) but we had endless trouble with Huggies.

My advice to you, if you're going to go for disposables - try Mamia and BabyLove first up. Eventhough I don't use cloth, I'd like to, but we just can't afford the initial outlay to get started on them (and I'm lazy :laughing: ). I worked it out the other day and we have already spent more on disposables in the past 8 months, than what we would have spent if we'd bought cloth to start with.

[FourAngelKisses]

One thing to remember too...........if everyone waited until they could have kids, no one would be having them. You learn to cope with the costs and then you wonder what on earth you used to spend your money on.

[sam's mum]

When using cloth nappies with liners I wash the liner if it has only been a wet nappy, and toss it if was poo. this means going through less liners and they stand up to a few washes before they fall apart.

[aardvark]

Eventhough I don't use cloth, I'd like to, but we just can't afford the initial outlay to get started on them (and I'm lazy :laughing: ). I worked it out the other day and we have already spent more on disposables in the past 8 months, than what we would have spent if we'd bought cloth to start with.

I'm using cloth, and it doesn't have to be expensive to get started. I have flannelette flats, and use fluffies pilchers. I hardly ever get a leak, and I just dry pail them, and bung them through the wash on a hot cycle. We have no problems with nappy rash, either.

A dozen flannelette nappies was $40 last I looked, and fluffies pilchers are under $7 each, too.

[cheezelkat]

I brought cloth when pregnant - $40 for 2 dozen flats and I got given loads of pilchers. I have also started investing in fitted cloth at around $20 - $30 a nappy.

I have used disposables mainly. Huggies cost around $20 for 6 days worth (excluding the cost of wipes). We needed about 60 nappies a week.

[SassyMummy]

I don't use cloth because I am just not the "cleaning/washing" type of person...I do it every few days, and I know that if I had cloth nappies I'd have to be a lot more diligent with my washing (which I know I wouldn't be). For me, disposables were the obvious (and easier) choice.

I get paid fortnightly and so I do a big shop every 2nd weekend. I use about 3 boxes of Woolies nappies every 4 weeks. I also buy scented bags every now and then (to put the nappies in) and I use the Huggies wipes (so far, they are the best I've discovered. They're not extremely soft, but their thickness means there's less change I'll get poo on myself). Every fortnight I'll buy 2 packs of 80 wipes. The costs are as follows (in approximates):

Box Woolies Toddler-Sized Nappies: $20
Huggies Wipes 80-wipes: $5.50
Nappy Bags: $5 for 200 bags.

[jessgray]

we use fitted cloth nappies during the day and huggies at night. we average about 1 pack of the bulk boys crawler size every 7-11 days depending on ds lol and we use johnson and johnson wipes we used to buy huggies but they started to give DS nappy rash and he hasnt had it since we switched :) and i use brauer nappy rash cream :) and i have nappy sacks too :)