Real Nappy Comparison Chart, which one is best for you?

Here at the Natural Nursery we are passionate about real nappies and we want to make it easier for you to find the very best ones for your family.

Sizing

Real nappies may be sized, to cope with growing babies or one sized/birth to potty, meaning the same set of nappies should fit from around 8lbs to 35lbs, roughly the size of babies/toddlers when they are in nappies.    

Flat Nappies

Terry squares or pre-folds - rectangles of fabric that can be folded in a number of ways to ensure the perfect fit for your baby. They are highly economical, hard-wearing and are among the easiest washable nappies to care for. The Flip Nappy System is particularly popular as it is so simple to use and comes with a range of inserts.  

All-in-One Nappy

A nappy that contains both the absorbent part and the waterproof part in one, so it goes on and off the baby much like a disposable. All-in-Ones can be sized or birth to potty and can fasten with hook and loop tape or poppers. They can be very convenient to use, but are more expensive than other brands and may not last as long as the whole nappy has to be washed and dried each time.  

2-Part Nappy

A nappy system where the absorbent and waterproof parts are separate, meaning they can be washed separately as the nappy wrap does not need to be washed each time it is used. A 2-part shaped nappy can be sized or birth to potty. The birth to potty versions are more common and normally adjust using rows of poppers to ensure a neat, leak free fit.  

Pocket Nappy

A shaped nappy that works much like an all-in-one nappy except that the absorbent part is stuffed into a pocket in the nappy, between the lining and the waterproof cover. This means you can add as much or as little padding as you need, and it comes out for easy washing and drying. Again, they can be sized or birth to potty and once they have been assembled they are as easy to put on as a disposable nappy.  

Making your own disposable baby wipes

It is easy to spend a fortune on disposable baby wipes, when it is very simple to make and use your own washable wipes. Even families that use disposable nappies often use reusable wipes as they are so soft on the baby, save hundreds of pounds and don’t contain any nasty chemicals. Washable wipes can be used for all sorts of clean ups – on hands and faces, not just on bots.

I just dampen my wipes under the hot tap before using, but you could make up a special solution if you liked. The wipes can then be popped in the nappy bucket ready for washing or just washed along with your normal laundry if you don’t use cloth nappies.
Making your own fleece washable wipes is very simple, I made mine out of an old fleece blanket. If you don't have one, you can pick one up cheaply at charity shops, car boot sales or discount stores in town. I chose a tartan pattern as it is easy to cut out – just follow the lines. As a rough guide, you want the wipe to be about the size of your palm, say around 10cm x 15cm but it is really up to you. To make your own fleece baby wipes:

1. Lay your fleece fabric/blanket out and cut along one of the lines to make a strip of fabric your chosen width.
2. Cut the strip into your chosen lengths.
3. My fabric is a picnic rug, so I had to unpick the blanket stitch edging.
4. Snip a small triangle off each corner as this will make wipe easier to hold.

These fleece washable wipes are really very simple to make but if you would rather buy them, The Natural Nursery sells Devon made fleece liners in their online shop www.naturalnursery.co.uk

Caring for your cloth nappies

You will need to wash your new nappies a few times before you use them to ensure they are fully absorbent. We suggest that you just wash and use a few nappies first to make sure they suit your baby as you will not be able to return any used or washed nappies. When you need to change your baby, flush the disposable liner down the loo and pop the soiled nappy into your nappy bucket, ready for washing. If you are using a 2-part nappy system, you can wipe the wrap out ready to be used again, unless it is very soiled. Please refer to individual manufacturers’ guides for specific instructions - you will find more information on our website at www.naturalnursery.co.uk/reusable-nappies-advice.html

To wash your nappies:

• Flip any solids off the nappy and into the loo before you put them in your nappy bucket
• There is no need to soak your nappies - dry pailing (without water) is much easier
• Wash at 60 degrees (or lower if you like)
• Use only 1/3 of the amount of detergent normally used
• Make sure you use a non-bio detergent that does not have perfumes, dyes, whiteners, brighteners or enzymes
• Do NOT add fabric conditioner, baking soda, bleach or vinegar
• Where possible, line dry your nappies but many can be tumble dried on low if necessary

         

Why I chose to use real nappies

Hi, my name is Lisa and you might know me from www.lactivist.co.uk. I'm now the mum of an 8 year old but I clearly remember the nappy days and my reasons for choosing cloth rather than disposable. When I was pregnant I planned and was lucky to get a natural homebirth, breastfeeding was a given (I'd lived in Asia and seen the very dodgy marketing of Infant formula over there, and having spent almost 9 months growing this baby I didn't want to put anything in it that I hadn't made myself) so cloth nappies seemed to fit in with the whole crunchy parent thing. I was really lucky to win a months free nappy service which meant I didn't have to think about buying anything at all for a while, then I started to cut down the amount of nappies I got from the service and I bought my own wraps and nappies - I found that my son went through phases of heavy wetting that the services' prefolds (layers of cloth sewn up to make them more absorbable that you put inside a waterproof cover) just couldn't cope with. I have to admit I became very nerdy about nappies, I still know that a motherase nappy can hold almost a pint of liquid and I became literate in nappy speak - aplix, poppers, gusseted legs....... Buying nappies was fun although today the range of funky nappy wraps is much wider than it was back in my day. When my son was about 9 months old I bought some eco friendly disposables for a camping trip and I found them so much hassle, I was always looking for bins, with the cloth nappies I got into a really easy habit of carrying just what I needed to go out, a couple of nappies ready folded, with liners, in wraps, a wet bag, a couple of cloths for washing and some bum cream. When I changed him I just popped the dirty stuff in the wet bag, job done until I got home and it went in the bucket or in the machine if there was a full load. Being horribly competitive I used to race disposable mums in changing rooms, I always won, I was quicker at popping a real nappy on my wiggly son than they were with disposables. I think people are sometimes put off by the choices of real nappies and the idea that they are a hassle - the choices are fun because you can get exactly what you want for your child, and they are definatly not a hassle! If you are just starting out on a cloth nappy adventure, have fun, I can't say I'd like to do it again but I do have nostalgic thoughts of happy times. Lisa