There are normally two main reasons for parents considering cloth nappies – cost, and the impact on the environment (and for many, just how cute the cloth nappies are).

The debate has raged on the first point – are cloth nappies really cheaper than disposable?

The question relies on a number of factors – what type of nappies you buy, how many you buy through the course of your child’s nappy years, and how often you wash. There are a multitude of options available out there, from pockets to flats to WAHM (Work at Home Mom) nappies which are often custom-made in small batches, which increases the cost.

The initial cost of cloth nappies is obviously much more than disposables, as people tend to buy the latter as needed. However, just as many people ask their guests at their baby shower to buy one packet of nappies, the same concept can be applied to cloth nappies. This is what we did for our son – we asked every couple who came to our shower to buy just one cloth nappy, and we ended up with 21 nappies, which is actually enough for a stash if you wash every day.

It needs to be noted though that cloth nappies do come in two stages – Newborn and Standard. Newborn fits until baby is about 5kgs, and from there, Standard will fit until about 16kgs. Newborn nappies are also available in different types, and if you decide to do cloth from the start of your little one’s life, this will be more costly.

For clarity’s sake, I’ll give a brief explanation of a few of the more common types.

  • Pockets. These come with a waterproof shell which is then stuffed with one to two inserts, depending on baby’s output.
  • All-In-Ones (AIO). No need for stuffing these nappies – the inserts are attached to the nappy, making a great grab and go option. These do tend to take longer to dry.
  • Night nappies. Typically made from bamboo for hemp, these are OSFM (One size fits most) and are designed to absorb and hold as much liquid as possible, to keep baby comfortable for the maximum amount of hours. Typically, these are not waterproof and will need a waterproof cover – you get these in PUL or fleece varieties.
  • Flats. Exactly what they sound like, these are flat pieces of material which come in smaller sizes for newborns and larger for growing babies and toddlers. These can be folded in a variety of ways, and different folds can assist with maximum absorption for boys, for example. These too, require a cover. The dry extremely quickly but need to be moulded to their original shape while damp so they don’t curl up at the corners.

There are many different statistics on what disposable nappies cost. After a bit of research, the general consensus is this – if your child is fully potty trained by day at the age of 3, you’ve spent around R25000 on nappies, and will still be spending if your child requires night nappies for another year or so.

If you keep your cloth collection small (but manageably so), and you don’t go too nuts on custom made, then you will, long-term, save thousands on what disposables would’ve cost you. This is taking water, electricity and laundry soap costs into consideration as well. We found that there was no noticeable increase in any of these costs that would’ve made us reconsider cloth.

If, for example, you decided on a stash of 25 pocket nappies, all with two inserts each – one bamboo, and the other hemp, the cost of these nappies (just the shell), would be around R85 per nappy. Add in 25 hemp inserts at R46 each, and 25 bamboo ones at R30 each, plus 25 reusable fleece liners at R11 each, you’re looking at an upfront cost of R4175. This would be for the standard size (from 5kgs to around 16kgs) – and this would be your entire cost, unless you added in night nappies, which is something we did later on. It seems like a large cost upfront, but if you do as we did and your baby shower guests to buy one nappy with the inserts, you can get almost an entire stash without spending a cent. If you have a second baby, and reuse these nappies, which is something many cloth parents do, your overall savings goes even further.

Then there’s the environment factor. Most people who use disposable nappies don’t know this, but you’re supposed to remove solid waste from the nappy, flushing it down, and only then dispose of the soiled nappy. The majority of people simply dump the nappy in the bin as is, which means human waste is landing up in our landfills, poisoning the soil and ground water. Not only that, but it can take up to 500 years for one disposable nappy to decompose. Multiply that number by the number of babies in the world, and how many nappies they go through until they’re potty trained, and the mind boggles at the amount of waste and litter. Disposable nappies are also bleached, and full of other potentially harmful chemicals, which your little one then absorbs through their very delicate skin.

Cloth may take a little more effort in terms of care, washing, stuffing and packing away, but for me, the cost is insignificant compared to the cost to the environment and the overall financial cost of disposable nappies.

Did I mention how cute they are?