The Nappy Gurus Newborn Nappy Incentive Scheme Review

*please note I am not receiving any payment or reward for this content. I am simply sharing my personal opinions *

What is it?

Cloth nappies often receive a bad rep, and I’m hoping to play a small part in changing that narrative. There’s a whole range of reasons people are put off by cloth, but that’s a post for another day (probably during ‘real nappy week’ if I can get my act together!). We’ve always wanted to use reusable nappies and we used cloth from birth with Bertie, and hope to do so again. One of the main benefits of cloth is that it can be used again and again on subsequent children, however, I sold a lot of our newborn-sized nappies to fund birth to potty nappies as Bertie grew. So I was on the lookout for newborn cloth when I found a wonderful incentive from The Nappy Gurus.

Now, a lot of councils offer cloth nappy incentive schemes – some offer a trial box, others discount vouchers or Cashback schemes. But, sadly, our council doesn’t offer a thing. This is where The Nappy Gurus new incentive scheme comes in! They are offering a range of nappy packages to suit every budget with huge discounts and further discount vouchers once accepted. The only criteria are as follows (and you must be willing to show proof if requested):

• you must live in the UK
• you must have a child under 12 months or currently be pregnant

So, what did we receive as part of the £30 (plus postage) newborn pack?

Little lamb fitted bamboo nappy (£11)

Although people panic about 2 part nappy systems, this is one of the easiest ways to be introduced to cloth – the nappy is shaped just like a disposable and attaches with a hook and loop so you really can’t go wrong! All you need is to add a liner (some use disposable liners, we use fleece, but I’ll talk about that more another time) and a waterproof wrap around the outside to create the waterproof layer.

We didn’t use these the first time, but they feel super soft and the ease of use will make them perfect for middle-of-the-night, bleary-eyed changes! I’m not sure I’d make an entire stash of these – particularly in the newborn days (where it’s non-stop changing!) but having a few in the rotation is going to be great as I can already tell they’ll be super absorbent!

Muzlins cotton prefolds unbleached newborn (pack of 6 £12.95 – received 1)

A variation of the 2 part nappy system. This is something we did use with Bertie. We think muslins are perfect to use with a newborn – quick to dry, quick to change, can double up easily for extra absorbency, cheap to stock up on, and easy to use! Again, you’ll need a liner and a wrap, but the wrap can be reused multiple times throughout the day so it helps to keep costs down.

With Bertie, we largely used a pad fold (the final picture) where we simply folded the muslin into 3 and popped it into the wrap. This is great – quick and easy – but, it doesn’t do a great job of catching those explosive newborn poos! Obviously, the wrap captures these well (as long as you have a good fit) but it would have been much less messy if we’d used a simple fold like shown above. Don’t worry too much about folds though – gone are the day of nappy pins being stuck into children’s delicate areas! Nappy fasteners (these I purchased separately at £8.40 for 3) are now available, as seen in picture 3, that grip onto the fabric and save any pin mishaps – much easier!

Little lamb wrap newborn nappy cover (£11)

The final part of a 2 part nappy system. So, this is an example of the wrap needed for the two nappies above (pictured over the little lamb fitted nappy). This one has hook and loop fastening which we find easiest for a newborn – to be honest we find it easiest full stop until Bertie learned to undo it for himself and we moved onto poppers! Wraps can be reused (as long as they aren’t soiled) and we tended to use 2 per day on a rotation – allowing one to air dry while the other was in use.

These are ultra-thin and waterproof (as long as you get a good fit!) and the double gusset on these (as can be seen in picture 1) mean you can get a nice tight fit around the legs to keep all the moisture locked inside. They can’t be used alone and MUST be used with a fitted nappy, muslin, flat nappy, Terry, etc. for the absorbent part. These have poppers on the front to aid the fit as well – these are known as risers and are super simple to use to make sure you get a perfect fit. Simply popper them down for a smaller baby, and release them as your baby grows.

Bellz bums newborn pocket nappy (£9.95)

Pocket nappies are another super simple way of cloth nappy-ing, though in my opinion, they take a little more prep time, the actual putting them on the baby is possibly the easiest. Although we used pocket nappies with Bertie, these aren’t a brand we have tried before, though I hear people rave about them online and I’m in love with the design.

These are made up of an outer layer with a pocket (see last photo) which you can stuff with as many absorbent layers as you need. This can feel time-consuming, but once stuffed, you can put the nappy on like a disposable. Again, there are riser poppers on the front so this will fit some of the teeniest babies up to those which are a little bigger. We mostly used pocket nappies once Bertie had outgrown the newborn sizes – they were perfect for nursery as they didn’t need to think about anything except putting it on correctly.

Baba and boo newborn pocket nappy (£14)

Another pocket nappy is used the same way as above. We had a couple of these in our rotation with Bertie and we tended to use these after things like swimming when we wanted a quick and simple nappy that looked super comfy.

These are a slightly more expensive cloth nappy (especially if you’re planning on doing it full time!) in the newborn stage because you’d need a lot of nappies to keep up with all the changes babies need, but the resale value is often decent and they will easily last a second, third, and even fourth child!

Poppets Mega 6 pod sample pack (£6) plus 2 cloth wipes (£?)

These pods are something we didn’t use last time. To be honest, they weren’t even on my radar, but they look and smell great! Previously, we would wet our cloth wipes as we went (either at a sink in the changing room or I always carried a spray bottle) but this could be a real game changer!

These pods are to be dissolved in water that you then soak your wipes in so they have a lovely scent. I probably won’t be using these in the very early days (when the baby’s skin is extra sensitive) but I think these will be a fabulous addition in the coming months.

Cloth wipes are also incredible – they clean up so much better than throw-away wet wipes and are better for the environment. Simply throw them into the wash with the nappies and they’re ready to use again!

Summary

All in all, I think this is a fantastic scheme! People often ask what type of cloth nappy they should buy and I always suggest they buy a range to find what works best for them and their baby as what works for one could be an epic fail for others! By using the scheme you get a discounted chance to try nappies you might not otherwise have thought of (I probably wouldn’t have bought the little lamb fitted nappy as we were happy with muslins, but now I’ve got one I can see us buying more!). The value for money really is exceptional. We purchased the newborn kit for £30 (plus £4.95 postage) and received nappies and accessories to the value of approximately £54! A big thank you to The Nappy Gurus who spotted a gap in the market and are filling it well.

Leave a comment below to let me know which type of nappy you’d like to try, and if you’re going to have a go at using the amazing scheme too – don’t forget, switching to just 1 cloth nappy per day saves you 365 disposable nappies a year!

Check out links to our other cloth nappy posts coming soon