A few have mentioned that diapers are a lot more expensive here than in the US. I am trying to really understand the cost differential.

Here is a link for diapers, I can't read German yet but it looks like for 76 CHF you get 4 packages of diapers with 62 diapers in each package? Is that correct?

http://www.babyjoe.ch/shop/herstelle...-4x62-stk.html


If not, and the 76 CHF is for a single package of 62 diapers, I think I am going to have to teach my baby to use the toilet ASAP.

Also, where do most buy their diapers -- is there any place that is more economical? For comparison, in the US you would pay approx 13 CHF...

The link from BabyJoe is for 4x58 pampers, so 232. That's for 3-6 kgs. Plus delivery costs. You can only really compare the same size and the per unit cost - so get out your calculator/phone. As a guide -CHF .27 per diaper is a good price for Pampers, but in some packs the price goes up to CHF .45 and .55!! They have different sized packs just to confuse the consumer.

Denner sells the cheapest Pampers when they are on special, but you can't always find the size you need. You get about 88 pampers for CHF 26 (size 4+) . The come in smaller packs inside a box.

Aldi ones were even cheaper and were less prone to leaking for us than Pampers when my son got bigger. They were about CHF .17 per diaper.

I gave up buying brand name nappies and now get mine from Aldi. My kids are now in size 7-15kg, so I don't know the prices of the smaller sizes, but I get 80 nappies for about CHF 17. They're good quality too.

We use the Lidl nappies now, but previously used Aldi ones too. They are great and we actually get less leaks with them than we did with Pampers! If you can get them when they're on offer too you can really save some money

Thanks - i'm about to start needing nappies again with baby #2. I've seen the Lidl ones, but they start at 4kgs. What do people recommend for little Newborns? I've only seen Huggies at Migros that say for 2.5-4 kgs.

I'm sure I've bought Aldi newborn nappies when I was in Australia, worth checking out if they do them here too.

Seeing as you only need Newborns for a couple of months to start off with, I've always (well, 3 times) splashed out on the Pampers Newborns. They just fit the best on such tiny bodies!

At the moment we're changing between Huggies Little Walkers, Huggies Pull-me ups and Pampers Green or Purple - depending what's on offer. We usually buy 3 for 2 packs - either from Denner, Coop or Migros; we don't have the space to store any more. Adding to that, you don't really know how fast the little ones are going to grow out of the size you may have bought 100s of...

We used Huggies -- expensive but excellent -- and have continued to use nothing but. NEVER had a single leak! (23 months now.) I have seen Huggies for newborns in my local Migros MMM.

Hopefully the posts above have set your mind at rest a little. But be prepared, prices for almost everything in Switzerland are much higher than you're used to in the U.S.!

I just wanted to recommend the Migros brand in the green packet. We've been buying 'maxi' size since our son was 8 months to now, and he's almost 2...

I have a bit of an issue about buying expensive brand nappies, back from when we had our first two children and were on a really tight budget - counting 50c for each nappy, as it goes into the bin, against the *need* to change your baby, many times a day...

Tempting to leave your kids in nappies way too long, sending the message that it's OK to be hanging around with all that moisture and extra weight (and don't tell me it doesn't feel wet and 'squishy, when was the last time you tried wearing a nappy ? )...so go for the cheaper brand with no guilt about the cost (well, except to the environment, but that's another whole area of debate)...

I heard that in the US they promote a diaper that can hold 1L of water...well that's an extra 1kg that the poor child has to lump around as they are trying to crawl and walk...is that a good thing ???

I second Swisspea's recommendation of Migros diapers; they're fantastic. I get the purple ones for daytimes and the new maxi sized for at night and think it's totally worth it.
I always found Pampers and Huggies overrated and overpriced here

(I should point out that I'm fortunate in being able to purchase Huggies over the border, at a fraction of the Basel price.)

We used Pampers Newborn and they are excellent, the driest (they have a dry layer that keeps the skin away from the gooy wetness, they started adding this layer later on to all Pampers, not only Newborn) as we tested all, our kid was supersensitive to any excessive moisture. Huggies and Fixies and anything else leaked, we had a thin long been-poly baby. Pampers also make Preemies diapers, in case you need them. We changed our kid cca every 2hrs the longest, but it was about 16 times a day at the most peed through early days, if I remember correctly. I also hate the kilo sack under their bumms of unchanged little babies . We usually bought our diapers for half the price back home.

Btw, there is a philosophy of early potty training, it actually is never letting your kid getting "pamper" trained, since they all are naturally prone to potty train early. It's a little too hardcore for me, but an interesting idea. It is called Elimination Communication or Diaper Free.

I was going to post something about this as I had a friend in Japan who used this for her baby. It was a good thing she had no carpets.

I was really bothered about the garbage created by disposable diapers when my 1st baby was born so I used cloth ones, initially. It was a ton of work, all that washing. Going out was such a hassle that I found myself using disposables when I knew we were going out. Eventually I just gave up on the cloth diapers. Years ago there was a diaper service that picked up the soiled cloth diapers. Perhaps if that were still around I might never have gone to the disposables.

There's also that argument (which I'm happy to subscribe to, and I'm sure you also considered) that all the washing of cloth nappies ... diapers ... diappies is extremely detrimental to the environment.

Question away from the original post -

Should we go cloth-nappy way or disposable-diaper way for our newborn?

-GS

I've done both (three children) and the cloth nappies definitely take a lot more time/effort and energy...on the other hand, plastic nappies have a lot of waste in the garbage bin. In Switzerland I think all rubbish is burnt, so you are putting all that plastic and gel and stuff into the air...where i come from it goes to landfill...that's a lot of landfill...

Cloth nappying is definitely an 'art' which is being lost, as hardly anyone uses them these days...

Either way, you have to learn lots of tricks/tips - and for that I'd recommend nurturing a friendship with a few more experienced mums who can give you ideas/opinions so you can choose your options...

Also consider accessibility of washing machine: if you live in a flat with washing only 1/week, I would definitely do disposables as holding on to dirty nappies for a week can become a messy business

Ciao
K

We live in an apartment with washing machine/ dryer so washing is not a concern... What I have been hearing is that baby's skin needs to be exposed to fresh air quite often and cloth nappies do that very effectively as diapers are all polymers and like.

Also, initially, for the first few weeks that is, diapers should be avoided to see the quantum and color of urine and poop discharge!

Any views on this?

-GS

I prefer Aldi diapers too, quality is so far so good and cheaper