I wanted to be eco-friendly when I was pregnant with my son, but I didn’t find it easy to start using washable diapers right from birth. I switched to using re-usable nappies when my son was about three months old. But to start with we used these Pampers New Baby disposable nappies, and though they cost a penny or two more than the equivalent size in Pampers Baby Dry, they are specially designed for little babies and I really found the extra was worth paying.

Why?

Well to start with they are really easy to fit – they have lovely stretchy legs and feel soft. With the delicate skin of a new born that’s excellent – they don’t leave any red marks yet they are effective at preventing leaks. The tapes have loads of give on them, so even if you are an incompetent first time father changing your first nappy, you won’t get it wrong.

The really great thing about them though is that they are designed to absorb runny, new baby poo. And this they do really, really well. Newborns don’t wee in the quantities that an older baby does, so you don’t need ridiculous amounts of capacity there, but you do need to mop up the squidgy mustard-coloured stuff (those of you who have breast fed, especially, will know what I’m talking about.) Somehow they do this. and it works. No leaks (before these were invented I remember my oldest son exploding one down his leg and all over grandma’s sofa…) Seriously no leaks; not a single one in three months!

They are shaped well to fit scrunched up tots and come in three sizes.

This is my only complaint, my son was 9lb 8oz at birth and we never used size one. Size two lasted us about 6 weeks and then there was only size three. Sadly he grew out of size three (maxi) before I really wanted to change the nappy we were using as he’s only just started on solids. A size three/ maxi plus for huge great heffalump babies would be fantastic!

Price wise, in the UK where I live, Pampers Baby Dry minis cost around 11p (20 cents) a nappy (depending where you shop), and New Born minis cost around 15p (30 cents), so it is more expensive, but in my view it’s only for a few weeks and those first few weeks with a new baby are tough enough without poo all over your clothes!