Cloth Nappy Cost Savings

Save over £400 with reusable nappies!

Amongst the benefits of using cloth nappies – saving money is an important factor for many families.  Depending on the type of nappy system chosen, significant savings can be made by using reusable nappies rather than disposable nappies. 

It is an inevitable fact that around 4000-6000 nappies are used for each child in the UK between birth and potty training and even factoring in laundering costs, savings of several hundred pounds can be made for a first child and significantly more for subsequent children.

So – how do the figures break down?

For a disposable nappy system the costs over 2.5 years (a typical age that children potty train) can look like:

• Premium Disposable Nappies (Huggies) – £920
• Supermarket Own Brand (Tesco) - £767

Extras many parents use with disposable nappies include:

• Wet wipes – £153
• Disposable nappy sacks - £51

Over the same period of time reusable nappy system options (including liners, boosters & laundering costs) could include:

• Birth to potty set 2 piece nappies (Motherease One Size & Motherease Wraps) – £523
• Birth to potty set pocket nappies (BumGenius One Size v4) – £520
• Sized 2 piece nappies (Tots Bots Bamboozle Stretch size 1 & 2 & Motherease Wraps) – £727
• Basic terry nappies (Cotton Terry Squares 60 x 60cm & Motherease Wraps) - £361

Extras for a washable nappy system can include:

• Nappy bucket - £13
• Nappy mesh - £5
• Wet nappy bag - £5
• Washable wipes – £16

It is worth also mentioning that when purchasing cloth nappies many councils run incentive schemes whereby cashback of £10-£75 is possible.  Others offer a subsidised nappy pack where parent can try out a range of nappies either free or for a nominal fee.

As you can see from these example calculations it is possible to make significant savings when using reusable nappies rather than disposables for your baby with savings of  upwards of £400 easily achievable for a first child. 

As cloth nappies can be reused on subsequent children £600 or more is acheivable for each additional sibling. 

Further savings on additional items (wipes & nappy sacks) are significant with £165 saved for a first child and £200 for each additional baby.

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In calculating cost savings we have made the following assumptions:

• Potty training takes place at 2.5 years
• 8 nappies per day are used for the first 6 months and 5 nappies per day for the following 24 months – a total of 5110 nappy changes
• Premium disposable nappies (Huggies) cost 18p per nappy (Aug-10)
• Budget disposable nappies (Tesco super fit) cost 15p per nappy (Aug-10)
• Disposable wet wipes 3p per wipe (Aug-10)
• Disposable nappy sacks 1p each
• Motherease one size nappies £8.95 each
• Tots Bots Bamboozle Stretch Nappies size 1 £9.75, size 2 £10.75 each
• Cotton Terry Squares 60 x 60cm £2.20 each
• Motherease Rikki Wraps £10.75 each
• Absorbent boosters £2.00 each
• Reusable fleece nappy liners £0.80 each
• Washable wipes (terry/fleece) £0.65 each
• Nappy Bucket £12.99
• Nappy Mesh £5.00
• Wet Nappy Bag £5.00
• Home laundry costs (energy, detergent & water) £1.00 per week – £130 over 2.5 years (nhs choices website)