We opted for the “real nappies” route with Emma and found choosing which ones to go for pretty confusing. There seems to be too much choice out there. Having first bought a set of Tommee Tippee cotton bottoms, we then asked for a rep from babykind to come out and talk to us. This was great as she brought along a selection of nappies that she’d used herself with her first baby. The website is also full of very useful, unbiased information about the nappies that they sell.
In the end, we bought two fluffles by totsbots with a motherease plain waterproof outer and four wonderoos from babykind. The fluffles look and feel lovely and are still fairly soft, even after quite a few months of use. We’ve used them at night and are very happy with them, although they seem to be too hot if it’s over about 23 degrees centigrade. The wonderoos have been less of a success. They have leaked for us pretty much every time we’ve used them, and they now sit at the bottom of the pile, to be used only in emergencies. It may have something to do with the shape of our daughter and the phase she’s going through. We’re hoping they’ll come into their own when she starts walking.
Having used these three types of nappy for over two months now, I’d recommend the cotton bottoms to everyone. They’re reliable, easy to use and way cheaper than the shaped nappies like the fluffle or the pocket nappies like the wonderoos. They also dry quickly on the line, which isn’t true of some shaped nappies, although the fluffles are pretty quick to dry. If you buy them from the Tommee Tippee website, you can get 12 pads, 4 pairs of waterproof pants and 200 liners for just £18. The pants do a few nappy changes (especially when you get to the stage where most nappies are wet rather than dirty) and we wash the liners if the nappy has been wet. They must survive a few washes, although I’ve never worked out how many. Compare this with the standard price of around £8.50 for a fluffle and you can see that they’re definitely good value.