Nappy services

[zenifa]

Hi everyone!!
As I'm due to have a caesar tomorrow with my first baby, I have been offered a nappy service as a gift from family.
I wanted to hear your experiences - have you used a nappy service? How long for? We're looking at 6 weeks to start with while I recover from c/s.
Was the service good? Any tips/recommendations? We live in Brisbane and I can only find two services. How much do they usually cost?
Any info and opinions welcome.
Thanks Zenifa

[aardvark]

I bought myself a 12 month nappy service before I went on maternity leave with baby #2, and it was brilliant. I continued it even after I returned to work, just reduced the number of nappies so it was just enough for night time and the days I wasn't working. Daycare provided nappies while she was in care.

I'm now pregnant with #3, and planning to buy myself 12 months nappy service before I stop work once again.

With baby #1, we washed our own nappies, and it was no real drama, but with the bigger family now, I think I'd struggle to get through all the washing, especially in winter (I hate using the dryer) if I was also washing cloth nappies daily, too.

The prices have not really gone up in Melbourne in 5 years. It's still about $1400 for 70 nappies per week for 12 months, according to the quote I was given recently. It's cheaper if you take it for longer, generally.

Often they will recommend you get 60 nappies for a newborn. Some places will recommend 60 for a girl and 70 for a boy. I found I used pretty close to 70 for my daughter for most of the 12 months. Get extra if you want to use them as chuck rags, or put them under baby's head in the cot.

[jembelina]

i also had a ceasar and my mum organised nappy service for me also for 6 weeks... it was fantastic. I'm not sure how much she paid, but i know it was quite reasonable. they drop nappies ( i would advise towelling not flanalette as they absorb more) off on a particular day of the week in a deodorised bin and you just dump the wet/dirty nappies back in as you use them, then they collect and drop off fresh nappies. it just makes life soooo much easier in those early days, particularly with the ceasar. usually they can organise a special drop off to suit when you are coming home from hospital if it doesn't coincide with their normal delivery day and they don't usually need much notice either.

[zenifa]

Thanks for your replies
We got home from hospital yesterday and our nappy service arrived. It costs around $187 for 60 cloth terry nappies/week for six weeks with delivery/pick up on Mondays/Thursdays. They told us, if we use less nappies, we just put the unused ones next to the bin and they adjust the cost accordingly, so you can extend the length of your service instead. I thought the cost was quite reasonable and although we are changing Romilly more often with cloth nappies, so far we are very happy. I was very surprised that the hospital used disposables, am I the only one to think this? Off to catch some zzzz Zenifa

[zenifa]

Thanks for your replies
We got home from hospital yesterday and our nappy service arrived. It costs around $187 for 60 cloth terry nappies/week for six weeks with delivery/pick up on Mondays/Thursdays. They told us, if we use less nappies, we just put the unused ones next to the bin and they adjust the cost accordingly, so you can extend the length of your service instead. I thought the cost was quite reasonable and although we are changing Romilly more often with cloth nappies, so far we are very happy. I was very surprised that the hospital used disposables, am I the only one to think this? Off to catch some zzzz Zenifa

[Vanessa]

Congratulations on the birth of your little baby! Great news about the nappy service. Hope bubs lets you rest up as much as possible!