Gift wrap your nappies for the binmen (Tommee Tippee Nappy Wrapper Tub)

Member Name: HonestBob

Product:	Tommee Tippee Nappy Wrapper Tub
Date:	30/09/08 (115 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Keeps nasty whiffs at bay

Disadvantages: It has to be emptied eventually

This is a bin designed to store used (i.e. dirty) disposable nappies. It has won various awards including the 'Parenting Editor's Award', 'I'm Pregnant Magazine Best Buy' and a 'Mother & Baby Award' for nursery equipment and is currently available for £9.99 (66% off!) in Mothercare or £14.99 from Kiddicare.com
I've managed without a specific nappy bin for the first four Little HonestBobs, the nappies were just taken straight off baby and out into the wheelie bin during the day or tied into a scented nappy sack and placed in a tied rubbish bin during the night. But Littlest HonestBob's Daddy is a lazy slob and I knew I'd be treading on dirty nappies left on the bedroom floor if I didn't provide him with appropriate waste disposable and an hour long course on how to use it, so invested in one of these bins.
The bin consists of several parts, a base vessel, much like an ordinary waste paper bin, a fitted top section with a lift up circular lid which opens to reveal a large rubber sphincter and small rotating handle/nodule. A cassette of is placed in the bin as per instructions supplied. This tape consists of a tube of fairly thick plastic bag material. You tie the end of the bag and push it through the sphincter into the bin. When required to do so, you place a soiled nappy into the top of the bin (please raise the lid first!), push it through the sphincter, turn the handle/nodule to twist and seal the nappy and close the lid again. Repeat with each soiled nappy until the bin is full.

Sounds simple, and generally it is.

The cassettes come in two 'strengths' one for babies under 6 months and one for babies and toddlers 6+ months. The first (pink) cassettes are for young unweaned (i.e. not on solid food) babies, and the second (green) cassettes are for older babies who are consuming solid food. This is because the addition of solid food makes baby waste produce smell more strongly and a more heavily perfumed bag is required to mask the pong. Personally I swapped to green cassettes as soon as the free pink ones I'd got when I bought the bin ran out. This was around the time Little HonestBob became bottle fed and I noticed a difference in nappy aroma.

I don't use the bin for every nappy, just the early morning and pre-bath time changes that take place upstairs. All other nappies go straight outside. This means that my bin does not fill very quickly and is therefore emptied less frequently than would be the case if used for every soiled nappy. The bin works well in that it keeps the smells trapped inside, despite nappies being in there for weeks at a time (it holds up to 180 nappies apparently, I've never counted the contents of my bin but I doubt it's ever been near that many!). The smell problem comes when you have to unload the bin. This chore has caused rows in my house as Daddy-Slob-HonestBob retches every time it's his turn to empty the bin. He makes such a fuss about it that I have, despite my incredibly mean nature, occasionally given in and emptied it for him. Once emptied the bin has to be thoroughly disinfected as the smell of several weeks worth of used nappies has a tendency to linger. This is not a pleasant task, but as it is done fairly rarely and I've changed over 4000 nappies in my lifetime (thus far) I have learnt to hold my breath and get on with it. Once disinfected the nappy wrapper goes back into service and stands faithfully in the corner of the bathroom ready to gobble up the nasties.

The bin is currently (September 2008) on offer in Mothercare for £9.99 and the cassettes are also on offer (a nice surprise) at £9.99 for 3. I think this works out at a fairly good deal. I'm not sure whether I'd bother buying one again but I do think they are particularly useful for people who live in flats and have a trek to the outside bin, or those posh people who live in three story houses and don't want to cart a dirty nappy all the way two flights of stairs at every changetime.

Summary: Useful but not necessary