Cloth nappies- really cost effective????

Hi ladies,

I need some advice. DH and I have just bought a new car on finance and hence are wanting to tighten the belt a bit or a lot....

Anyway for the last few weeks I have been thinking about cloth nappies and trying to figure out whether or not to go there. I was put off by the poo bucket, but most of all by the big outlay to begin with.

So I'm wanting to know from those that have experience.... Are they cheaper in the long run? How do they go with nappy rash (DS can only use Huggies due to sensitive bottom)? and also which is the best brand to give me the least mess and the longest usage times.

Also where is the best place to buy them?? I'm thinking EBay would be cheapest but just let me know if you have found different...

We are planning on having another bambino next year so I would be going for the adjustable size ones, but I would just love some infromation ands advice about where to go from here....

Cheers girls

hi there!
firstly - IMO dont buy off ebay. Unless it is a reputatable MCN seller store (ie sometime Baby beehinds sell on there).

You bascially get what you pay for - the cheaper they are then nastier and less useful.

Perhaps scout a few of the second hand nappy sites like buy for baby or nappycino or ask if anyone on here is passing anyone to start with?

They definately have saved us money though - now we are parttime - i loathe handing over $$$ for sposies.

As for reactions - you probably find bub is reacting to the chemicals in the sposies.

I've also heard alot about the nappies with the bamboo insert thingys can someone please shed light on them and if they are as good as cracked up to be???

Definitely cost effective - especially if you do have more than one bub. I think I have spent $800 - $1000 all up on nappies with the 2 girls but would have saved thousands of dollars on disposables. I still use sposies if we go away and I always balk at how much they cost - they add an extra $30 or so to any holiday!

As PP said - I wouldn't shop on eBay. If you can get to a baby expo or the like you can see them in real life and get an idea. Many of the threads here can help with preferred brands and styles. You can also get one of a couple of different styles or get some second hand ones to try before you buy.

Personally, I like the pocket style with adjustable studs as they are trim, suit my girls body shapes and dry quickly in a cooler, damper climate.

The bucket isn't bad as MCNs dry bucket so no soaking poo and you can get a little squirt to get it off into the loo. Once bubs starts solids most poos just roll off the nappy into the toilet.

They are most definately cost effective! Make sure you buy quality and don't get caught up in the "show off" nappy hype. Though some particular nappies have great resale value!

Bamboo is a great fabric. It's highly absorbant and compared with cotton you need less of it to hold the same volume of fluid so it's less bulky. It is slower drying though. Hemp is a great fabric too and is in the middle of cotton and bamboo for absorbancy.

Be very wary of ebay sellers. I don't think they are all bad but don't buy a whole stack off one seller. Get one or two and see what the sewing quality is like and how they perform. It's worth paying a tad extra in postage so you don't get caught out buying junk.
I'd give the same advice for any nappy though. Read the forums and google search for reviews by all means but seeing as babies come in different shapes don't buy too many of the one type straight up JIC the don't suit your bubba.

Thanks for replying girls... what brands do you use? I've been having a look and so far beehinds and fuzzibunz seem good, but I don't know can you give me some suggestions?

Iv'e only just started using cloth myslelf.

I was lucky a friend lent me some to try to find out if they workded for dd.

But I love my itti bittis and bbh (baby beehinds) magicals for day use. And using bbh bamboo and covers for night, so far working well. I have brought all second hand, check out nappy addict. And for under $500 dollars well end up with 36 nappies, just waiting on some to arrive.

Good luck

I am fairly new to cloth cause like you was reluctant to spend the money not knowing much.. But here's my answers to your questions.

I still use sposies at night and the smallest pack (I think about 22) can last nearly a fortnight, so it is a huge saving on the weekly grocery bill.

DH will only use the ones where he has to put one nappy (AIO, Pockets, Ai2's), not a nappy and cover. So they don't go onto the shelf until I stuff them. I however will use fitted and covers. I am still deciding what brands I like with them.

As I started when DD was a little more than 12 months, I opted for OSFM so that I got use with 2nd bubs (but I haven't tried on baby yet as he is still cooking, LOL), and so far my fav are Pop ins and Green kids.. I haven't had leaks with either of these brands.

If I think of anything else, I will come back..

You will save literally thousands of dollars by using cloth, esp with more than one bub. However, in asking for preferred brands, it is really up to the baby and their fit. Like someone said, don't buy 24 of one brand as they may be a poor fit on your bub. For eg lots of people love Green Kids but I don't like their fit at all on DD and am glad I only bought 2. In fact I only have one or two of most brands as I try them out for some time before buying any more. Check out some website for info on the types of nappies you want- fitted, pockets, all in ones, all in twos etc then go from there.

I'm slowly building a small stash.
I've gotten nearly all mine on sale, or clearance. Right now we are pretty broke. DH is finishing up his job this week & has been lucky to do more than a day - 3 a week lately. I'm so glad I went cloth coz we don't have the money for sposies. I get $5 ones (B&G) for DD2 over night & still having trouble coming up with that much extra. I had her in cloth til a severe reaction to one &infected eczema (cheapy off ebay). & I just can't find them big enough.
Bamboo is great. I love it. I can have his nappies on for as long as a sposie & they won't leak, but he is sensitive, so I change more often. Every 2 - 3 hours.
I got a couple off ebay. Don't waste your money unless its a resold well known brand name. One that was bought & not used or something. I did get 2 cheap ones off there. They are ok for desperate times. They only last an hour or so though. No bamboo or hemp in them.
I love them. If your bub reacts to anything in them, its probably the powder used to wash them. I've just started using bi carb soda. Nothing else.

Thanks for replying girls. It's so nice to know that elp and advice is out there when it's needed.

After much researching I think I'm going for Blueberry's to start with but am thinking of having a nappy party so I can browse all the different types!!!

my reccomendation if your after something affordable, large size range and will last is baby beehinds bamboo fitted nappies. You can layby (and Charmalea on here sells too) with them too I think. They are our main workhorse nappy, I have some that are 3 years old and still going :)

I second these nappies- I think they are one of my favs and one that I always go for first. And their absorbancy is like no other. A great price too. But you do need a cover for them.

I agree, don't buy off ebay unless they are a brand.
Keep an eye out on the used nappy sites. I am due with bub in January, I have been keeping an eye out online and have purchased all up 15 nappies and 6 covers (OSFM, mixture of quality brands) and I have paid no more than $200. They are used but in excellent condition, and if i purchased new (I would if we could afford it) it would have cost over $500 so far. Most of them also came with extra inserts, I even bought nappies that were not used, only washed in preparation and were about a quarter of the new price. I will at times use disposables for a break, but I can not justify paying $35 for a box of nappies, plus we can't afford it!!!

Hi Ella,

I know it seems daunting when you are looking at $25 + per nappy and it seems like an excessive amount to spend on a nappy but in all honesty it save HEAPS. if you check out the Austrsalian Nappy Network website they have some cost charts there to look at but the basic saving we worked out using huggies was approx $3000 per child saving after speading about $800-$1000 on nappies. Clearly you don't have to spend that much but this was just our calculations

If you use the one size fits all you will probably get 1-2 yrs worth of wear out of each nappy and you can use them on more then one bub at a time so you can grab it and adjust depending on who needs a nappy change. By using sized nappies you will generally get more wear out of them (in that they last longer before they start to loose elastic etc - simply because babies outgrow them you put them away until the next one and use them again rather than continuous wear of the OSFA)

Basically if you look at your childs clothing, you pay what about $30 for a full outfit which will last maybe 3-6 mths before they outgrow it. Your nappies will cost about the same, can double as pants in the summer time, will either grow with bub to toilet training - or if you use sized can be put away for next bub and they actually serve a purpose and save you from having to fork out more money each day on disposables.

As for which brands are best. Wow there are so many available these days! majority of them are all fantastic quality, good workmanship and great customer service from where you get them from. Probably more important then brand is style. Do you want fitteds (cheeper but need a cover over them - essentially a 2 step system) pockets (more expensive generally than fitteds but a one step system, need to be stuffed with insert but most people find this only takes a couple of minutes when folding or putting on) or AIO/Ai2 (generally more expensive than pockets and fitteds but need no extra putting together) You can also look at fabrics (natural vrs synthetic) if bub is having trouble with nappy rash it you might want to experiment with babmboo/hemp inners - bamboo has a natural antibacterial properties or it could be from wetness so try a microfleece inner - it works like a stay dry liner.

The other choice is fastening, side snaps, front snaps or velcro. All work for different people. Some people prefer wide crotch nappies, others narrow. This is the great thing about MCN - you can tailor them exactly to fit your bub!

Ones we have found that are relatively cost effective and long lasting absorbabcy:
Abbygro AIO (microsuede/microfleece inner, front snaps, OSFA), Bumgenius pockets (microsuede inner OSFA) and OSFA AIO (organic cotton inner) Haute pockets (OSFA, microfleece inner) Swaddlebees OSFA Pockets or sized AIO (cotton velour inner) Happy Heiny OSFA pockets (microfleece inner - cna stuff with either hemp or microfibre), Fuzzibunz OSFA (microfleece inner) there are so many I could go on and on but these were our staples. However I had a chubby thighed, fast weight gaining bub who suited mostly wide crotch nappies, snaps over velcro (she would undone velcro) and was a medium to light wetter.

Good luck, hope you find something that works just right for you!

I was very old fashioned with my first baby and only used terry and flannel flats. My mother made the terries and I bought 2 packets of flannel nappies... so had about 40 - 50 nappies in total. Mum also made me terry boosters and sent down washable nylon liners. A friend gave me her stash of Bigg Fluffies covers. I bought pins and Snibs. So I managed to "nappy" my first baby for over 6 months for under a $100. She was over 6 months before she wore a sposie... but even then she only wore them very rarely. She wore flats right to the end. When she was about 2yo she started to wear sposie pullups which were sooooo expensive. I used the same set of flats about 50% of the time with my 2nd child and about 30% with my 3rd child.... roughly speaking. It was mainly in winter when my 2nd and 3rd babies wore sposies because I also hardly ever used our tumble drier.

I feel confident that we have saved several thousand dollars by using flats. Not many people like them but they dry very fast and one size fits all babies from birth to 2yo. I believe it's worth the hassle but I was a SAHM all that time too. A working mum would struggle I think.

I used terry flats for about 16 months with DD so spent about $30 on flats, $10 on snappis and about $50 on PUL covers and that was it for that time. We are now on 'fancy' nappies MCNs which I love and will do new bub so I could say that I have spent way less than ever on cloth nappies and I think their value goes way beyond monetary value as well.

My brother spent $250 for 12 BAby Beehinds bamboo nappies.

I worked out at once point that the cloth nappies would have paid for themselves after 7 months of using them most of the time. That's compared with buying disposables.

Since I wanted nappies that were easy to use, that I would keep on using, I have certainly not gone cheaply into it. I tried prefolds briefly, didn't like them at all (though my sister uses them and loves them).

The main part of my stash is 12 bumgenius pocket nappies, plus 4 baby beehinds bamboo fitted nappies. We also have a few fitted nappies, as I find that the baby beehinds minkee magic-alls work well for us (especially when DH or mum is changing the nappy), so we have 2 of those in the small size, 5 mediums and have recently bought 6 large sized ones that I have yet to use. (You can see that I'm liking them more and more.) I've come to realise that since we hope to have more than one child, it makes reasonable sense to buy sized nappies, as they will get used for all the kids, and they are a bit better at each size than a fitted nappy all folded down for a tiny baby, etc.

One thing I'd add is that by far the most cost-effective thing we've bought, is washable wipes. We have about 30 of these, some cotton and some bamboo. You wet one, use it to wipe the dirty baby bum, then toss it into the bucket with the nappies, to be washed. They are a hassle to hang out on the line (30 small pieces of cloth would drive anyone nuts - it certainly does me), but totally worth it because they paid for themselves in, get this: 2 months, and that's given that went and spent $75 on expensive organic cotton etc (pregnancy hormones got me - plain cotton squares cut out of a piece from Spotlight would have worked just as well). Disposable wipes cost a fortune compared with reusable ones, and think of the savings to the environment, as well as the fact that pain water is much better for your little one's bottom than the stuff they put on the disposable wipes...

I am travelling at the moment, with a rather pooey baby (started solids recently), and boy am I missing my washable nappies. We're spending a fortune on disposables, some of which only go on for about 15 minutes before she poos again... it's driving me nuts!

I used flats too when DD was newborn - cotton terries overnight, and flannel flats (cut & hemmed by me from Spotlight fabric, a few $ per metre!) during the day. They require a little more work with folding and fastening, but a little bit of practice and you will be able to do it in your sleep! They are by far the cheapest nappy, with covers being the most expensive bit, and you only need about 4 of those as most of the time the cover doesn't need a wash. You can also use the covers over fitted nappies if you want to get a few of them for easier changes/extra absorbency.
Flats were brilliant the first few months as she was born in a Melbourne winter, and we don't have a drier! They dry even faster than pocket inserts. Plus two layers of protection (nappy + cover) against newborn liquid poosplosions... and you can use them for wiping up milk spills if you've got a chucker like mine! Every baby needs a packet of cloth flats :)
I'm now building a stash of all-in-ones and pockets. I found a lot of the supposedly 'one size' adjustable nappies didn't fit her even at two months; she was still pretty small, but I was glad we had the flats to use until she grew that extra bit. I got most of mine at the baby expo in discount 'trial' packs, which has been great for finding out what fits her best. But you can certainly get them much cheaper 2nd hand online.

I am also a bit of a newbie to cloth nappies, I have 4.5 month old twin girls. Sposies were costing me an absolute fortune, so I took a deep breath and bought some online. I think I have about 25 nappies in all, I use them most of the time on both girls, except at night time and on day trips. I am saving loads of money, one pack of 36 sposies are lasting me 3 weeks now as opposed to 3-4 days!!!! I can safely say that the clothies have well and truly paid for them selves with the savings I've made. I don't have a tumble dryer and we live in drizzly Tas, and don't seem to be struggling getting them dry in time for the next day. I have bought pocket ones, they can be turned inside out for quicker drying. I have found the baby behinds to be very good, but your baby needs to have chunky thighs for them not to leak, the legs don't have that a good elastic to keep the poo inside. When I first put them on my girls they leaked something chronic, but now they have beefed up a bit they aren't so bad. I've been buying from Angel Bubs on Ebay, I have found their nappies to be very good, excellent elastic around the legs and good quality, I haven't had any leaks yet. Good luck with your quest on finding some good nappies, it is very addictive once you start buying you'll want more, there are some very cute nappies out there!

DH & I always laugh when we see the 2 boxes of disposables in Woolies for $66 on special! We could get 2-3 cloth nappies for that and save that in a month!

I also recommended Blueberries, itti bittis and Baby Beehinds. These three brands make up most of our stash... But our DS has skinny legs and just about all nappies leak around his legs (BBH aren't bad as they gather a lot). Haven't found anything that's completely leak proof for him!

There's a nappy swap noticeboard on here somewhere - someone may have something to give you in return for something else.. - be a good cheap way of starting out!

I have 12 hemp BBH at the moment and am working my way up to 24 cloth nappies. I love them, not had any problems, the only down side is buying the covers again and again. I haven't used the pocket minkees from BBH but they're OSFA and obviously pocket nappies so you can adjust the absorbency, and they come with an insert. So although they're more expensive than some others (36 dollars each full price), if they work well for you then your initial outlay will be all you have to spend. I've not used them yet (still waiting for them to arrive, damn you Australia Post!!) but I'll report back when I have. I'm wondering if I should've just bought 24 of those.

Hey Jellybeanie


I wouldn't go all out and buy loads of one kind, buy a few of different ones then make up your mind which ones you like best. My twin girls are 8 months now and my favourite nappies are the Haute and Happy Heinys, all the inners come out for washing and drying and you don't need covers, they may not be all fancy and cute like some of them out there but they do the job and they aren't all that expensive. They all come with two inners and you could even stuff them with more if you're littlun is a serious wetter. What I love about them is they dry in no time because they just go right down to the cover once the inners are taken out.