Nappies make up a huge chunk of the cost of bringing up a baby, you can expect to change a newborn up to 10 times a day!

There are so many brands to choose from, whether you opt for disposable or cloth nappies, the Mumknowsbest.co.uk team have used both types with equal success.

Disposable Nappies:

Few can fail to have heard of the likes of Pampers and Huggies, the two major brands with ever developing, state-of-the-art abilities, keeping your baby drier for longer and longer. But, however sophisticated a nappy is, remember that apart from when your baby is sleeping through, it should always be changed roughly every three hours or as soon as your baby has done a poo of course.
Aside from the better-known brands, there are some excellent supermarket varieties which do the job just as well and you can also get ‛green' disposable nappies made without chemicals and which biodegrade more easily. The Nature brand, available at Sainsburys, Tescos and Waitrose is brilliant.

Pros of Disposable Nappies
Convenient, especially when out and about
Less work than cloth nappies
More absorbent

Re-usable or cloth nappies:

Washable nappies have improved immensely over the years and now come with shaped and fitted wraps without the need for safety pins.
There's no denying that re-usables are more work but there are many reasons why parents are turning to cloth nappies, and not just because of environmental concerns about waste.

Pros of Re-usable nappies
After an initial outlay, they are cheaper in the long run and you can save up to £900 per child from birth until they are dry
Often contain poo better as they are a snugger fit than disposables
No chemical gels (used in disposables to soak up moisture) next to baby's skin
Need changing more regularly which is better for baby's skin
Can encourage your child to potty train earlier as they feel wetter
It's possible to buy a terry towling nappy kit which will meet the needs of your child from birth until they are potty trained for around £50. More sophisticated brands can cost up to £300 but is still much cheaper than the long-term use of disposables, even when taking into account the energy bills for washing and drying.

Mumknowsbest.com Tip
We've found that using washables in the day and disposables at night or when out works as a good compromise.

Spirit of Nature - At Spirit of Nature they specialise in natural and environmentally friendly products. They range from washable nappies made from organic cotton and environmentally friendly disposable nappies to clothes made from organic raw materials and organic cosmetics!

Extra Info:
The Women's Environmental Network estimates that in Britain we throw away 8 million nappies a day and disposables are the largest single product category in household waste. It isn't known how long they take to biodegrade but it could be up to 200 years.

A recent Environment Agency Report found that disposable nappies had no greater environmental impact than cloth nappies. However, the report has been criticised because it failed to evaluate the problem of land fill and assumed that all nappies would be tumble dried (which needn't be the case, especially in summer). It also made energy calculations on the basis that cloth nappies would be washed at 90 degrees rather than at 60 degrees as recommended by manufacturers. This would reduce energy consumption by 24%.

Source: http://www.wen.org.uk/nappies/facts.htm

For more information on 'green nappies' check out our 'Green Living' pages ...

or visit: greenmums.co.uk