Get Started With Newborn Cloth Nappies

Why use newborn cloth nappies?

Newborns go through a LOT of nappies, around 10-12 each day! If your rubbish is collected weekly, that’s around 80 disposable nappies in your bin to be taken to the landfill each week (probably enough to fill a whole rubbish bag alone!). That’s a lot of stinky rubbish sitting around all week. And also a lot of hard earned $$$ being thrown away each day.
Newborn skin is super soft and delicate, so wrapping them in a cloth nappy made from soft, natural fabrics is much more comfortable and kind on their skin than a plastic disposable made up of a large number of chemicals.

 

How many newborn cloth nappies will I need?

For full time use on newborns you will need around 24-30 nappies. Newborns need around 10-12 nappies per day so that gives you enough that are clean and dry and ready to use while the previous day’s worth of nappies are washing and drying, with a few extras just in case (and it’s worth having those extras, as newborns seem to have a knack of pooing in nice clean nappies that have just been changed!).

Is it worth using dedicated newborn cloth nappies?

Dedicated newborn sized nappies fit so much better than One Size Fits Most (OSFM) nappies on newborns. Some larger newborns can get away with OSFM reusable nappies, but on the whole, newborn nappies fit newborn babies a lot better. When nappies fit better, the containment is a lot better. And when we’re talking about a little person who’s on a liquid diet, containment is SO important!

And when you’re dealing with less nappy blowouts each day, it’s always a bonus – less outfit changes, less laundry, less mess!

Newborn cloth nappies can be expensive, is it worth buying them?

Some newborn nappies can seem pricey, but they are also likely to be more reliable and more absorbent. And when you’re using so many nappies in the first couple of months alone, the money savings can be surprising. If funds are limited for newborn nappies, try out prefolds or flats as they are economical options and can also be used later when your baby is older – prefolds make great boosters for other nappies, and flats should be able to be used until your baby is much bigger.

The other advantage to using newborn cloth nappies instead of going straight into your one size fits most nappies, is that you save a lot of wear and tear on your one sized nappies. They're then more likely to be in better shape for subsequent babies, or if you decide to sell them when you're done.

A breakdown of the costs

• Cloth Nappies

24 Cotton Prefolds + 6 PUL Covers                                             $213

Newborn Full Time Pack (12 Bambams and 12 bamboo prefolds or bamboo flats, 6 PUL Covers, 4 snappis + bonus Candie Ai2)                                                                                                                                                     $569

• Disposables Nappies (based on 4 months use, on average Bambams fit until this age but you may find you can get a lot more use out of them beyond this age)

1488 Disposable nappies @ 0.40 cents                                        $595

As you can see even when using a more expensive newborn option, you’ll be spending a similar amount to buying disposables. The bonus to cloth nappies is that you can either hold on to them to use with any subsequent babies (and get even more savings!) or you can sell them secondhand. Of course there will be a few extra costs with power and detergent to keep them clean but the prices are pretty comparable. Also keep in mind that the costs of disposable nappies vary greatly depending on the brand.