Love the idea of using eco nappies but not sure where to start or put off by the thought of all that washing? Here is an honest gNappies review from a very busy Mum of 4!
I recently discovered gNappies and decided to try out their lovely eco nappies for baby N, our fourth child. I have always been a big fan of cloth nappies and our eldest wore them pretty much exclusively. When number 2 came along only 18 months later, it was a much tougher reality to get the cloth nappies washed and dried along with the mountain of other washing, especially since we didn’t have a tumble drier and the British climate isn’t favourable to drying clothes quickly! She ended up only wearing them some of the time, and by baby number 3 we had pretty much given up on them completely.
When I heard about gNappies I was really interested because they are a new and innovative type of cloth nappy, using disposable inserts which are biodegradable and can even be composted (wet ones only!)
We started out using the tiny gNappies which were simply adorable on N’s newborn bottom and held onto that newborn baby poop extremely well due to the inner shell and soft elasticated area around the legs. He soon outgrew those as he is quite a big baby, and we moved onto the small and then medium sizes pictured above.
The tabs fasten with velcro at the back, which is very handy for babies who might like to try and undo them!
Having found them SO easy to use and reuse, I was delighted when we were then offered these beautiful prints to try out too (I’m such a sucker for pretty baby things!) The nautical themed “Gone Sailing” is a limited edition print which looks gorgeous with the blue and white stripes, which I often dress N in.
And the really special gPrince nappy was designed in celebration of the new royal baby (along with a wonderful, frilly bottomed princess edition!) I just love the pale blue and white gingham and the little crown motif over the bum too. These two nappies will look particularly lovely in the summer, worn with just a little t-shirt on top.
So, in summary I would definitely recommend these for the busy parent and those who want to be green but find it can be time consuming or harder work. These gNappies are fairly effortless, taking just the same amount of work and energy as usual disposables, but without any of the guilt. The upfront costs are obviously going to be more than disposables, but then the running costs are much less and the waste is next to nothing.
The disposable liner doesn’t last as long as a disposable nappy so you do need to change the baby more frequently, however, I think this is probably a good thing as I can definitely be prone to leave baby to long in a disposable sometimes.
The outer shell can be re-worn for the whole day, providing it hasn’t got wet or soiled, simply changing the inner disposable pad. This means adding only one or two nappy outers to the family wash per day, which makes almost no difference to the overall chore that is Mount Washing! You can also go one step further and buy the reusable inserts too, if you want these to be fully washable and reusable, which is brilliant! That also completely cuts out the cost of replacing the disposable inserts and makes them a very affordable option indeed for long term use.
And just LOOK at the gorgeous array of colours available (plus lots of prints too!)
Which to choose, which to choose?!
For lovely updates and regular competitions, you can follow the great gNappies Facebook community page too.
[This post contains Amazon affiliate links for your convenience. I was provided with products to review but all opinions are my own.]