Cotton on to real nappies

Alison was still on maternity leave when she bought her nappies. 'This suited me very well, because I didn't return to work, and when the maternity pay ran out, I didn't have to spend out on nappies every week.' Using real nappies, you can save an overall £600 on the cost of nappies for your first child.

This increases with second and subsequent children, where you can use the same nappies. Realising that shelling out a lump sum up front for your nappies doesn't suit everyone, some nappy suppliers have introduced payment plans to spread the cost, making it even more affordable.

But you don't have to buy your real nappies, you can use a laundry service instead. This is real luxury. Laundry services deliver a pile of freshly laundered nappies to your door every week. They provide bins and bags for the soiled nappies which they take away.

This has got to be up there with disposables, in terms of convenience. Added to that, laundry services have been shown to be the most environmentally friendly nappy option.

We're all aware of the problems caused by landfill and incineration of waste, and an amazing 50 per cent of the waste from a household with one baby is made up of disposable nappies.

For Eric Schneider, a biologist and house husband from Peterborough, reusable nappies were the obvious choice. 'I am active and concerned with environmental issues so I wouldn't have considered using disposables. Laundering isn't a problem. Our second child, Katie, is now two and, although we don't have a tumble dryer, I find that drying racks, radiators and the airing cupboard work well.'

Health concerns are also turning more British parents away from disposables. A disposable nappy is not a benign environment for babies' bottoms. It contains chemicals, 'superabsorbers' and plastics.

Traces of Tributyl Tin, a chemical compound which is known to disrupt sex hormones, have been found in disposable nappies on sale in the UK. In addition, a recent study by doctors from the University of Kiel, in Germany, has raised concerns regarding the temperature of disposable nappies.

They have been found to maintain boys' testicles at a higher temperature than cotton nappies, which may have an effect on their fertility.

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