The Nappy addiction - it's very real!

As many of you reading this will know, once you buy those first few fluffy gems for your little one and find they work well on their bums there is no stopping you from buying more and scanning the cloth chat groups, as well as the preloved groups on Facebook. If you don't know this yet and are taking the first few baby steps into the cloth world then a huge welcome and hold on to your hats!

The only barrier tends to be finances but what do you do? You sell some in order to buy some more. Lets face it. Reusable nappies are an addiction and quickly lead to reusable wipes, amber anklets for baby and other zero waste products such as cloth sanitary towels and wipes to replace toilet roll in the household. I don't know many ladies who have committed to ditching the loo roll but why not eh?

There is an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction knowing you are helping the planet but more importantly your own pocket in these hard economic times. Yes the initial outlay can be a fair amount but once you have your stash you are good to go and almost all brands of nappy are guaranteed to last from birth to potty training and if looked after, for more babies to come.

My stash building - photo taken May 2014 of my original stash before Toby arrived. This has changed a lot and grown!!

When pregnant I started to buy a few of each brand to try out on the recommendations of a few ladies I knew who already used cloth. Tots bots, Charlie Banana, Bambooty, Little lamb bamboo (for overnight) Close pop in and a few gnappies in small to use after my newborn ones. I was also gifted some preloved wraps and tots bots bamboo for overnight use. I would sit and play with them all but obviously had no little bum to actually try them out. In the end I let some of my friends who had babies try them out and report back to me. That was a positive thing to do as most now use cloth on their babies too :-)

I was added to cloth groups on facebook and that's when the addiction really took off. I found the world of preloved and went crazy buying so many different types from some lovely ladies. Thanks if you ever sold to me in the past. I don't know what it is about prints but they draw you too them and you can spend a pretty penny very easily. I, on the other hand was more interested in trying out all cloth nappies known to man, not just for my own interest but so I could also give my advice to others if considering cloth. I still haven't tried all brands but I know every type of nappy out there and I also learnt that what works for one baby may not work for another. This is why if I ever see a mama who is about to buy a BTP (birth to potty) set of nappies in one brand I shout NOOOOOO don't do it! It could be a huge mistake.

On that note this is why nappy libraries were invented. You can trial various nappies for a very tiny fee and find out what is best for you and your baby. This is harder to do when your pregnant but remember cloth nappies hold their retail value very well if looked after and so what you don't get on with you can sell on. The nearest libraries to me are Ely and Peterborough but you can find yours through this link greatbritishnappyhunt.co.uk.

Also make sure that you check whether your local council have an incentive scheme as you could save some money. 

Now I have found the few brands that work for us, I have calmed my spending down a little and sold on most of what I don't like. I'm still always scanning the selling pages and I have just invested in some  very pretty gnappie prints all the way from America that a very good friend is bringing back with her. Cheers Emma :-)

I would be interested to know how far some ladies have taken this addiction. Has anyone got any shocking stories relating to how your stash came about?

I also use reusable wipes which I cant praise enough but I will save that for another posting soon.

Thanks for reading and keep sharing the fluffy love.