ONE LIFE NAPPIES - NOT FOR WRIGGLE BUMS (Onelife Nappies)

Member Name: LadyS

Product:	Onelife Nappies
Date:	23/07/09 (58 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use system, with nappies that you can use for the whole time from birth until potty trained

Disadvantages: Expensive inital outlay and leak more than disposables

I have always been dubious about using resuable nappies - the thought of all the extra washing and the smelly nappy buckets was enough to make me think that I would use disposables. However, when I became pregnant a friend convinced me that actually there wasn't that much extra work involved, made me feel guilty about the numbers of nappies going to land fill and given that the cost savings would certainly come in handy, I thought would give them a try.

I researched a few options, but decided upon the Onelife brand, as I liked the idea that the nappies were used during the whole time your child needed nappies. This works by the nappies themselves having a clever popper system which means you just adjust the poppers used as your baby grows. You also need a liner (which come in rolls of 100) to catch the "solids" (delicate terminology don't you think?) and a water proof outer cover which come in different sizes.

The scary part is of course the price. The nappies themselves are £10 each, and Onelife market a days worth ie 5 nappies, liners and 3 covers at £75. One big problem is that with only 5 nappies you will forever be washing and don't really get a fair idea of how they work. If you are determined to go down the reusable route then you need to bite the bullet and buy the full set in one go - Onelife offer a hamper of 20 nappies, plus 12 covers in all the different sizes plus sanitizer and liners for £295, although you can find it substantially cheaper through Amazon. Another place to look is Ebay, where people who have spent out who have then been tempted away by disposables sell them on to get some cash back.

The nappies are easy to secure and the waterproof covers work well. There is no getting away from the fact though that disposables do leak less and need changing less often. We soon learnt to use the reusables during the day and disposables at night, to try and get a bit more sleep in with less nappy changes! We tended to do a wash every second day so it was easy to keep on top of and we didn't run out.

I must admit that at the moment, I can't use the reusables at all as my boy is such a wriggle bum that trying to get one layer of nappy on him is a challenge and to attempt two was getting impossible. I am hoping when he calms down a little to go back to using them in the day time, but whether or not I manage to do this remains to be seen!

So, am I pleased with my purchase? On the whole yes and I would recommend them to others. As with any brand of reusable nappy though, I would add the proviso that you need to be realistic and will probably need to use disposables as well at some stage.

Summary: If you want to give reusables a go, then Onelife is a good system to use, but disposables are easier