Asked would I like to review some cloth nappies, after telling everyone for as long as I can remember that I would NEVER use them, my initial response was no thank you.

I have never liked the idea of them and ever since watching a friend bag one up, poo included, and pop it into her handbag for later, I was thoroughly convinced they were not for me. People say they flick the poo before they take the nappy home (urr where?) and that tea tree oil masks the smell in the buckets they keep them in until wash time… I’ve always thought yada, yada, yada… I don’t want a poo (smeared or in tact) in my bag and tea tree oil mixed with poop really doesn’t smell all that grand, it just smells like tea tree oil with a mixture of poo!

It’s not that I don’t want to save the environment but I want to pick my battles. Re-usable nappies has never been a compromise I’ve been prepared to make, instead we don’t drive to the supermarket.

Did you know that disposables from Pampers will biodegrade at the same rate as biodegradable nappies (as with most brands). They don’t as it happens because they all go to landfill. The thing is, biodegradable nappies don’t biodegrade either. They all get sent to landfill too. A friend told me our rubbish (as in where I personally live) is actually burned and the burning goes into producing energy which is definitely preferable to landfill but again, ALL the nappy waste, no matter what brand, is treated the same… And if you use cloth… You have to use your washing machine a lot! For me, it’s swings and roundabouts!

So I said no thanks, it’s not for me… I don’t have a garden or anywhere outside to hang nappies to dry either. They need the sunshine to help bleach the poo stains away apparently (oh dear, that’s not a convincing argument ‘for’ as far as I’m concerned)… I have enough washing in my house without adding to it but the PR girl persuaded me by offering a compromise… She said if I tried the G Nappies I could use biodegradable disposable inserts rather than the toweling re-usable ones. I didn’t know anything about them really but because it meant less chance of me ever having to drop a poo inside my handbag I said ok then… (I mean, if I wanted a poo in my bag I’d get a dog and let me tell you, that’s not gonna happen ANY time soon!)

So… I was sent a G Nappy to try with a load of disposable inserts. I have friends who have used G Nappies before and they’ve always been very happy with them. Happy with them but then they have been very happy with the whole idea of cloth nappies in general and when they’ve told me they have to change their child every couple of hours because they don’t stay dry, it doesn’t seem to bother them either. I on the other hand adopt the approach that if it doesn’t smell, it stays on. An option fully open to me if I use disposables because even after a full over night of 12 hours, they may be heavy and hanging down with wee, but they are dry as a bone to the touch! I certainly wasn’t looking forward to having to change more regularly but I was prepared to give it a go and I assumed with the disposable inserts they wouldn’t be quite as wet quite as quickly…

So… I admit I went in without much of an open mind but I did give it a fair shot and we used them for a few days. My verdict? Well… I’d say they’re ok. Better than I thought they’d be actually and if you’re REALLY concerned about the effect nappies have on the environment, are prepared to do a lot of washing and use energy that way, have a garden and a compost heap and a very deep pocket – plus a really big will to use them… Then go for it. For me… They’re still a no go I’m afraid.

For me they are extremely costly, cause me more washing (even WITH the disposable insert) than I would otherwise have, still get a large proportion binned and they don’t last long enough. They last longer than two hours but not much and no where near the time of a disposable meaning I use way more of them and to boot they gave Jimmy a rash… (Have to point out a friend says her baby gets a rash when using disposables because of the chemicals but never does when using G Nappies, I guess it’s all dependent on individual skin). So here are my findings and how I can justify why I’m not keen…

The G Pants come in sizes varying from newborn to start (6-10lb) and up to Xlarge (34lb+) with small, medium and large in between. You can buy bundles with different sizes in them.

These are the disposable inserts. I wasn’t prepared to use the cloth ones on account of knowing from friends how often they have to change their babies (about every 2 hours) and I don’t want the extra washing but thought this could be a good compromise.

You can dispose of the inserts when used and as long as nothing gets on the G Pant or plastic part they can be re-used with a new insert. I didn’t get anything on the pants (in a whole day of use) but newborn poop is a whole different ball game to toddler doo doo… I would imagine with a newborn the pant needs changing more frequently.

The disposable insert is not incredibly bulky which is a plus; another of the things I don’t like about re-usables is that they can make the child’s bum look ridiculous under clothes and cute as the nappy may be, all anyone sees is a big bum waddling – it looks uncomfortable! Friends who use them have complained to me that they have to buy bigger clothes to accommodate the nappy meaning they fit on the bottom but are too big round the waist and in the leg – what a faff! Not the case with a G Nappy, they are not much bigger or bulksome than a regular disposable.

In theory the insert is a good idea and excellent compromise but I had reservations… Firstly, it was the same size as my normal nappies? If I’m disposing of the insert, might I as well not dispose of a whole nappy? After all, I know that classed as biodegradable or not, they are all disposed of in the same way…

G Nappy do say you can dispose of the insert on your own compost heap. I think with normal biodegradable disposables you are NOT allowed to do this but I assume this is different? The inserts can only be composted if they are wet (pooey ones have to be binned)… Ok… I see the point but we don’t even have a garden let alone a compost heap!

Do they work? Yes but not for long and it’s not enough for me I’m afraid.

Perhaps it’s because Jimmy is a boy but all the wee wee gathered at the front of the nappy and hung down low extremely quickly which must have been uncomfortable. I am used to nappies where the wee distributes evenly, doesn’t really puff up and stays dry on the skin. As a result Jimmy got very rashy very quickly. He’s not used to that… And I was changing him what seemed like every five minutes. I didn’t even attempt an over night with the G Nappies, they felt so wet it just wouldn’t be possible!

The other thing is that Jimmy wasn’t keen on wearing them!

Despite the velcro fastening at the back Jimmy still managed to take them off. Repeatedly. He didn’t find them comfortable and they left marks on his skin despite being quite loosely done up. All in all I found them a bit of a pain.

The one thing I will say is they are cute! Here Jimmy wears ‘Good Morning Sunshine’ – £14.95!

They come in loads of different colours and prints. No one sees them of course but I do like cutesy things and apparently they can be found with ruffles on the bottom for girls which is very sweet for summer dresses! (Of course with Florence I just bought ruffly pants to go over her nappies thus providing the same aesthetic).

To conclude:

I think we all know they’re not for me.

They are expensive. Some of the G Pants are nearly £20! And yes you re-use them but what if you have a child that growns really fast and you need lots of different sizes?

A starter pack, which comes with a pack of disposable inserts and 2 pants comes in at £31.95 or a newborn bundle comes with 12 newborn pants, 6 small pants and 80 biodegradable disposable inserts. This is what I would recommend although you will need to buy a hell of a lot more inserts. 80 will NOT go a long way! At £109.95 I think this set is pricey especially as I think you would need to buy more pants to go with it too.. Yes it will take you through the newborn stage and beyond but ALL that washing and drying (especially if you live in a house without a garden like me) is going to cost money…

And then there’s the cost of the inserts, which if you don’t have a compost heap yourself, despite being biodegradable, will be wasted in exactly the same way as any other nappy in the UK… For the size Jimmy is wearing, a pack of 128 disposable inserts costs £30.95. That’s just over 25 pence each. Eeeeek! Full price, Pampers, which are generally the most expensive disposable brand, cost around 22 pence each… The Aldi brand that I am using right now were bought full price and cost me just 9.4 pence each. And remember, I use waaaaay less nappies than I have had to use G Nappy inserts which are the same size if not bigger!

Financially it just doesn’t make any sense.

Environmentally it doesn’t make much of a difference as far as I can see so unless you really can compost them yourself I’d say it’s no better and if you use the cloth inserts you will have your washing machine going round the clock – again, not better for the environment just different!

All in all I think you REALLY have to want to use them… I’m not saying they won’t be for you but they’re certainly not for us! I’m not a convenience parent, I’m actually quite natural… I breast feed and practice attachment parenting which offers the impression I might be a cloth Mummy too but G Nappies would never work for us.

I was sent a G Nappy Pant and a box of disposable inserts for the purpose of an honest review.