We recently made our first large baby purchase, buying a bedside cot from Aldi! Shortly after that, the opportunity arose to buy some second hand reusable nappies. In this article we’ll explain why we decided to go down the frugal reusable nappies route and the potential benefits it can bring.

Preparations

As we continue to prepare for the arrival of Baby Way, we’re thinking about what we will need to buy. Our intention is to continue to live as minimalist a life as possible.

As new parents, there is severe pressure from advertisers to buy all sorts of gadgets for your baby, playing on your vulnerability and willingness to provide the best start for them.

We’re convinced most of the conventional baby purchases are unnecessary and we’ll continue to question these decisions at every stage.

Reusable Nappies

The most recent area we have been researching is the joyous world of nappies!

For us, the decision to try reusable nappies was an easy one. There are clear benefits in terms of cost, environment, less leakage/smell and more natural materials etc.

Our research started online, looking into the different types of reusable nappies and how they work. We soon found a link to our local ‘nappy library’, where reusable nappy kits are available to hire. This is a fantastic service where you can ‘try before you buy’. Different babies will fit different brands etc so this can be a really valuable tool.

Miss Way attended a nappy library meetup and was thoroughly impressed. Our intention at this stage was as follows:

• Stage 1 – Newborn – Hire a ‘newborn’ kit from the nappy library for the first few weeks/months. Use disposables as a last resort if we don’t manage well.
• Stage 2 – Growing – Hire a full size kit (adjustable to suit all ages up to potty trained) and see which brands we liked/worked for us and Baby Way
• Stage 3 – Buy our own, preferably second hand, based on the result of Stage 2

If we decided at any point reusable nappies weren’t for us, we could easily send the kit back and move on to disposable nappies without much financial loss. This seemed like a good compromise.

We ended up following a slightly different path, which we will explain later! First, let’s explain the different types of reusable nappies available.

Types

There are various types of reusable nappies, which can be incredibly confusing to newcomers like us. Essentially, they are split into these broad categories.

Terry Nappies (Squares of Fabric)

Terry nappies* are what most people picture when you discuss reusable nappies. They’re the traditional squares of material which you fold to meet the shape of your baby.

They’re cheap but require a bit more “faff” to get them to the right shape and size etc.

All-in-One

All-in-one nappies*, as the name suggests, are one piece. They’re very easy to use but do take a bit more washing/drying due to this.

Pocket Nappies

Pocket nappies* are similar to all-in-ones but the outer waterproof cover is separate to the absorbent part. As the name suggests, there’s a ‘pocket’ in the waterproof outer shell which you can insert absorbent pads into to soak up fluids.

Fitted Nappies

Fitted nappies* will be the best fit around your baby, minimising leaks. The downside is that they will quickly outgrow them, meaning you have to buy more and more.

Two Part Nappies

Two part nappies have an absorbent inner part and a waterproof cover.

*Affiliate links – we earn a small commission if you buy through any of the above affiliate links marked with a star.

Our Choice

Having seen all of the above in action, Miss Way was most impressed by pocket nappies.

They’re flexible because you put an insert into the ‘pocket’ which absorbs fluids. You can put in as many inserts as you want, based on how ‘wet’ your baby is, or how long you’re out and about for between changes.

As well as this, pocket nappies are relatively easy to use compared to cloth squares etc.

Our Frugal Find

Having done all of this research, we had a eureka moment. Or rather, one of our friends did!

They sent us a link to a full set of pocket nappies, along with reusable inserts, reusable wipes as well as wet bags and other paraphernalia. Essentially everything bum-related we would need to get Baby Way all the way to the fabled ‘potty trained’ stage.  Thank you “Frugal Friend”!

Having had a quick look at the photos, we were very interested in the set. The items all looked to be in good condition and were only located 5 minutes from our house!

Mr Way was the more sceptical, as he finds it hard to make any decision without months of research and numerous spreadsheets!! This seemed like a deal not to be missed so to justify it to himself, Mr Way created a list of what all of these items would cost us ‘new’. To find out whether this particular set was worth buying, he also added up the individual costs of similar second hand items.

You can see the numbers for this exercise below, but in short, we ended up buying them!

Costs

Probably the biggest factor in wanting to use reusable nappies was the environmental impact of disposables. But if the finances didn’t make sense, we would have found this difficult to justify.

As it happens, nappies are one of the few areas where making the right environmental decision is also cheaper. A double win!

Nappy Library

Because of our purchase, we are unlikely to use the nappy library now. We still wanted to highlight the costs of this for others considering using a similar service. There are nappy libraries all over the country so it’s well worth researching yours!

For us, the biggest advantage of this is the chance to ‘try before you buy’. There are so many types of nappies. Once you’ve chosen a type, you still have the different brands to negotiate. These decisions are very difficult when you still have the unknown of which ones will actually fit your baby comfortably!

For our local nappy library, the full kit costs £20 plus a £40 deposit for 4 weeks. We think this is very reasonable!

We decided to take the plunge and hope the ones we bought are OK, but nappy libraries are well worth considering if you find decisions as difficult as we do!

The other big advantages are:

• Easy – you can simply hire a kit with everything you’ll need. This can be a real plus when there are so many other things to think about at this time!
• Advice – these services are usually ran by very knowledgeable people who are passionate about reusable nappies. Make the most of their knowledge!
• Community – you’ll meet other like-minded parents through your nappy library
• Costs – as above, it’s actually fairly cheap

Second Hand

We ended up buying our nappy kit for £100 all in. We’re pretty happy about that, as it’s almost everything we will need for a fraction of the cost of buying new.

The Money Advice Service estimate that disposable nappies cost £1,875 from birth to potty trained.

In the table below, we’ve summarised the comparison Mr Way did when deciding whether to buy these nappies. We’ve also tried to explain what each item actually is!

Item	Cost - New	Cost - Used	Description
24x Pocket Nappies	£80	£30	Pocket nappies!
14x Microfiber Boosters	£15	£4	Inserts to collect 'fluids'!
22x Bamboo & Charcoal Boosters	£50	£15	Inserts to collect 'fluids'!
12x Fleece Liners	£10	£4	Liners to collect 'solids'!
19x Cotton Liners	£15	£5	Liners to collect 'solids'!
13x Night-time Fleece Nappies	£100	£30	More absorbent, not 'pocket' nappies
1x Night-time Wrap - Size 2	£10	£4	To cover fleece nappies
5x Night-time Wraps - Size 1	£50	£10	To cover fleece nappies
Large Waterproof Bag	£8	£3	For wet/smelly stuff!
Small Waterproof Bag	£4	£2	For wet/smelly stuff!
Reusable Wipes, Box, Bag & Oil	£28	£10	For cleaning up! Also reusable, bonus
2x Mesh Nappy Bags	£6	£2	To hod stuff together in washing machine and avoid tangles/damage
3x Nappy Clips	£5	£2	Clip the fleece nappies together
Roll of Biodegradable Liners	£3	£1	If we fancy an easier option - can be binned
Total	£384	£122

As you can see, buying second hand reusable nappies is an incredibly cost effective solution for new parents, saving us over £250 on buying them new. Even buying new would bring a significant saving over disposables, so second hand is effectively doubling down on that frugality.

Don’t be a Fashion Fool!

A point worth noting on reusable nappies is the tendency for some parents to get entirely carried away.

We’ve seen stories of parents collecting hundreds of reusable nappies in all different colours and patterns. Obviously this is a silly obsession and can really hurt your bank balance as well as the environment, undoing all the potential good this journey can bring.

Don’t do it! Your baby doesn’t care what pattern their nappy has and it will probably be covered up a lot of the time anyway!

Environment

The biggest downside to reusable nappies is the amount of washing and drying you end up having to do. We haven’t yet decided whether to buy a tumble drier, but this would obviously add to the environmental impact.

While this significantly increases water and energy usage, it’s still significantly better than buying disposable nappies.

Reusable Wipes

On the same basis as reusable nappies, we intend to use reusable wipes. They can simply be used, rinsed clean and washed with the nappies.

Ease of Use?

Probably the biggest reason against using reusable nappies is the extra hassle. With a newborn, you’re going to be lacking sleep and any shortcut to save time may well be tempting!

For us, the benefits of using reusable nappies far outweigh the expected extra time and effort we may have to put in.

Of course, we may change our minds and are keeping our options open. You certainly aren’t a ‘bad parent’ if you do use disposables, but we want to at least start out with good intentions!

We intend to have a small stash of disposable nappies to use as a backup or in emergency situations. This shouldn’t become an extra stress when times are already hard!

You Do You

Above all, it’s important that people make their own decision and do what they’re comfortable with. We just wanted to highlight our choices here in case it helps others to make a more informed decision!

We’ve seen many of our peers simply use disposable nappies on auto-pilot without really considering the alternative. Hopefully putting this information out there will help others to assess their options.

If you have any interesting experiences with nappies we’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Other Resources

The Nappy Lady is a great website for researching the different types of nappies available

The UK Nappy Network website helps you find your local nappy library. It might not necessarily have them all, but it’s a good start.

BBC News article about the environmental cost of nappies

A quick cost comparison on a reusable nappy website