Biodegradable or reusable nappies, which is better?

Question

We are going to be having a baby at the end of June. We had planned to use reusable nappies, but are thinking that the new biodegradable nappies would be better, both environmentally as no washing, and for the baby. Any ideas/experiences?

Answer 1

Biodegradable ones without a doubt. I couldnt bear the thought of reusing the same terry towel on my daughter so used Pampers Sensitive or Asdas George nappies. Disposable nappies can be relatively cheap to buy - approximately £2.45 for a pack of 45 from Asda's George range. As a new mum it is very hard juggling your time ie) washing nappies, making feeds etc so this makes disposables ideal really. I remember my mum using terry towling nappies on my sister when she was a baby (in which I sometimes changed her too) and found it to be messy and very fiddly. With the biodegradable ones you can just wrap it and bin it.

Answer 2

I would use a service personally. I used a service for the first 6 months with each of my children ( I lived in different countries for each of them and found services in all 3 places) Then I bought the reusable ones and did the wash myself. My daughter now 2, as of yesterday, is potty trained during the day and we are only using a nappy at night...even though she has always woke up dry. Biodegradable will be nice and easy, but cloth makes them potty train quicker...it is also cheaper to use cloth I paid $230.00 US dollars and I was done for the rest of my time. If I buy biodegradable or organic disposable I pay $17.00 a week to 10 days. Will not take long for the $$$ to add up. Good luck with your decision.

Answer 3

Reuseable definately. We use cloth and have a high efficiency washer and dryer. i have spent less than $200.00 total to diaper both my children in cloth. It costs about $5.00 a month to wash them, which i do once or twice a week.

Reusable only has to manufactured once, but can be reused until it is a rag and then used as a rag.

My son has cloth diapers that were his uncles' 14 years ago, then his 10 y.o. sister's, then a couple of ther friend's in between.

Manufacturing paper diapers (even if they are biodegradable) requires a lot of water, chemicals and energy and they can only be used once.
Plus, the waterproof part is not biodegradable, only the insides.
Also, unless you compost them at home, there is little chance that a paper nappie will degrade. Most people put them in plastic bin liners and then tie them up. If they are buried in a landfill this way, they will never breakdown.

you could always use the paper occasionaly, but cloth is the true environmental winner!-)

....Or you could try EC (elimination communication) Just give it a google !-)

Answer 4

We use disposable, normal nappies so in 100 years time someone will probably be living in a house built on the side of Poo mountain.

Re usable ones just aren't practical for us, although they are much much better than when I was a kid.

The best option seems to be the service you can pay for where they collect, clean and deliver them. There are some local authorities who offer a grant or a free trial.

Have to go now baby is eating his Sudocrem

Answer 5

lets just say that i have 6 neices and nephews and i babysit A LOT , the reusable nappies are cheaper but more hassel . I like the biodegradable nappies because there easier and enviromental friendly . and you donthave to wash them after all the nasties

Answer 6

i looked after triplets that wore reusable nappies. they had the nappies washed by a special firm and worked out about a pound a day. see if you can surf the net and find anything like that, they also picked them up from their house then deliverd them back. hope this helps. xx

Answer 7

I used reusable nappies its been proven that biodegradable are more friendly.Congratulations on your baby.

Answer 8

i would say the biodegradable 1s!!! b'coz you can jus fold up put in a nappy bag and bin them where as reusable 1s u have to wash and clean yuk lol! sorry if no help!

Answer 9

i use the disposable kind. with a newborn it is really hard to find the time and energy to do the extra washing. usually the baby does just fine with the disposable kind. my mom had to use the cloth ones because i was allergic to the disposable ones. but with all of my children i have had no problems with the disposable ones and have used those.

Answer 10

I don't wear any!!! xxx