Wow. Talk about a blog title which lands you well and truly in parenthood. Mopping up the poo of another human being without complaint. Just another aspect of parenthood. I don’t want to consider myself finally grown up, but naming a blog post “what nappies are best for my newborn” probably officially qualifies me as a boring adult. Sigh.

Baby poo weirdly quickly becomes something you just aren’t that bothered by, in my opinion (sick on the other hand – eurgh. THAT smell I am not keen on, permeating clothes, bedsheets, muslins…).

The squirt is now just over a month old. And boy were those first weeks hard! I have now graduated to occasionally being out of pyjamas, and surreptitious trips out of the house (shock horror! He is actually much quieter when we go out! Babies love to work the ‘I’m a perfect angel’ angle when you’re out and about, and save their monster screaming for the middle of the night, I’ve found…)

Before I had the squirt, I dallied with the idea of reusables. How hilarious. What was I thinking?! In the first two weeks I barely had time to wee myself between mammoth feeds, never mind faff about (even more than I already do) with copious amounts of Colonel Mustard nappies. As well, it’s not like reusables are completely environmentally friendly – the sheer amount of washing you’re going to have to do, at high temperatures, ensures that. That’s what I tell myself, anyway. If you are up for handling reusables, I salute you, mummy. You are winning at life. So, my newborn nappy appraisal doesn’t cover reusables. There’s only so far I’ll go in the name of a blog.

So…I opted to try to stick to eco/biodegradable disposables. THANK GOD.

But, like any good bargain hunter, I obviously didn’t turn down anything free. This meant all of those (Pampers sponsored) Emma’s Diary and Bounty freebies were going to get used too. So I will obviously include them in the appraisal!

I’ve been weed on, and so far narrowly escaped being covered in poo-pocalypse (touch wood), in these first 4 weeks – so – what nappies are best? Here’s my review so far of the newborn nappies we’ve trialled. Hope it might be useful to mums wondering where to spend their mustard money!

So…what nappies are best for my newborn?

Pampers 

These guys are indisputably pretty good for avoiding leaks. They also have that really useful yellow stripe up front and
back, which changes to blue when baby has wet it (they could TELL you that – we found out by being idiots infront of the midwife in hospital!) But nappies, used by only 5% of the population, cause a third of the waste in landfill! So, yeah, I’m pretty keen to avoid. Plus, there is something to be said for a nappy you have to change relatively regularly – if baby sits in his own urine or poo for hours on end you’re clearly much more likely to have a candidate for nappy rash. We didn’t get anything nasty, but definitely a bit pinker after use (chemicals as well as time sat in it, I guess). VETOED.

Kit and Kin

Look at that tiny tiger bum! Lovely Kit and Kin gifted me a set of their nappies, plus some lovely toiletries I’ll blog about at a later date. They’re massively cute (and a bit hipster – not sure how necessary an animal face is on a nappy, but it definitely reeled me in). Emma Bunton is the face behind the brand – and you know Baby Spice is guna be a baby expert. (right? Geddit? Cos ‘baby’? Nevermind.) They have animal faces on the bum (we got foxy ones) which help make sure in your sleepless, addled state you don’t plonk it on back to front. We only got a sample bag, and used them in the first week or two. We got lots of leaks, but we were, as mentioned, sleep deprived, and also learning the ins and outs of nappies as new parents. I’m definitely up for giving these another go, and will be purchasing some I think. At £9.99 for 40 they aren’t the cheapest but they aren’t bad either at about 25p each, for an eco, bio-disposable nappy. Instead of 500 years, they take 3-6 years to biodegrade! Winner. WORTH A TRY.

Mamia

Mamia nappies are Aldi’s option. At just 7p per nappy they are a great budget choice, and very similar to Pampers (they have resealable tabs and the yellow “wee” stripe to let you know when they’re wet). I’d go for them any day over Pampers – but again, we reckon they were the cause of a bit of red/soreness. They aren’t eco-friendly or biodisposable. For mums on a budget, I would definitely definitely recommend them over Pampers, which appear to offer exactly the same, for more money. Pretty leak-proof, too. BEST BUDGET OPTION (but not environmentally friendly).

Eco by Naty

WHAT are these nappies. I feel like they were made to fit a doll rather than a human baby. They are completely square – not long enough to cover the squirt’s body adequately without that gape which ensures wee squirts RIGHT out of the nappy at you. Or your arm/bedsheets/the new babygrow you just put him in. They are also so wide that they don’t fit his groin – there’s far too much material between his legs. It’s great that they’re eco-friendly, but when you’re getting through one an hour, and having to whack both you and your baby’s clothing into the wash each time too because of leaks, they no longer become that environmentally (or otherwise) friendly. Out of a whole pack, we only had 1 nappy which didn’t leak. Can I possibly be that bad at putting them on? Is there a secret method? I desperately want to be convinced because I hate hating on eco-friendly brands, but…so far, these SUCK. VETOED.

Beaming Baby

I got a job-lot in late pregnancy for a reasonable price (I think!)  – they are £9.99 for a pack of 20, I think, but cheaper to bulk buy. They promise to banish nappy rash within a week or your money back (amazing!) and fit like a dream. I’ve been using these most, because I bulk bought as I mentioned (I think I paid £37.99 for 180 nappies (?!) but I may be wrong – that works out as 21p each!) – and so, of course, have had the occasional leak – but barely any. As eco-friendly and bio-degradable as well as pretty leak-proof, I’m sold. At least in the newborn size. WINNER.

So, overall, if you’re wondering what nappies are best for your newborn as I was, I can’t recommend Beaming Baby highly enough. They do send a lot of marketing emails, which can be a bit annoying – but I think at the core they’re a nice company with a good ethos, and sell nappies that work to boot!