What should I buy after a cloth nappy hire kit goes back?

What should I write down before the kit leaves?

The kit’s useful output is a shortlist, not a feeling that “cloth was fine”. Once the box has gone, you will not remember which pocket leaked at nursery or which night nappy lasted until 6am.

1. 1
   Name three winners and three rejects Write brand, style (pocket, all-in-one, all-in-two, fitted, flat) and one reason. “Fitted plus wrap, no leak at nursery” is enough. Liverpool Cloth Nappy Library builds birth-to-potty kits so you can decide what to buy; that only works if the decision is written down.
2. 2
   Count how many changes you actually cloth’d Full-time is not the same as “weekends plus nights”. Real Nappies for London sizes a stash from age and from part-time versus full-time use. Your hire week is the sample.
3. 3
   Photograph the storage you are about to lose Most kits include a bucket and at least one wet bag. Central Bedfordshire’s library kit lists around 30 nappies, a bucket, wet bags, boosters and liners. Those accessories go back. Note what you used as the home pail and what you took out.
4. 4
   Keep the discount codes, ignore the bundle pressure Tj’s Cloth Collective and several postal kits send brand coupons. The Nappy Lady’s try-before-you-buy offer drops the net hire fee if you place a £150 order. A coupon is useful after you have a list. A £150 basket built to unlock a £5 hire is a different purchase.

In what order should I buy after the return?

Buy in this order so you can keep washing the day after the courier leaves. This is a post-hire list, not a “which nappy type is best” guide.

How many nappies do I need once hire ends?

Real Nappies for London is the UK planning page to copy numbers from: 6–8 to start (24 hours), 18–24 to go full-time with a wash every two to three days, and about 24 if the baby is under six months. An average of 20 — 15 day and 5 night — is the figure they call “good”.

Do not buy 20 of a style that sat unused in the hire box. If only pockets and one night fitted worked, buy those. If you were part-time in the hire week, stay on 6–8 plus disposables until a second week of notes says otherwise.

Liverpool’s full-time birth-to-potty hire kit is 20 changes; its mini kit is 10. Those are loan sizes, not your shopping list. Your list is the winners inside them.

Storage first: bucket, wet bags and liners

RNFL’s “what else will I need?” list is short: a sealable nappy bucket with a mesh bag, or a wet bag, for used nappies at home, plus a wet bag for going out, and optional reusable wipes. Used nappies are stored dry — RNFL says there is no need to soak, and that soaking can damage materials.

If the hire bucket was the only pail in the house, order storage so it arrives before or on the return day. A hanging home wet bag can stand in for a bucket in a small bathroom. The out-and-about bag is a different size — one that fits in the changing bag, not the 30-nappy pail.

Voucher schemes, including Real Nappies for London’s own voucher, often exclude buckets and wet bags. RNFL lists what a voucher can be spent on: nappies, wraps, boosters, liners, grips, training pants, or a trial laundry service. Plan to pay for storage separately even if a council voucher covers nappies.

What can wait until month two?

• A second night system if the one night nappy in the kit already lasted. Extra night fitteds are expensive and unused if days are the leak.
• Cloth wipes kits if disposable wipes still work for you. They are not required to keep using the nappies you just chose.
• Every brand that was “fine”. Fine is not a winner. Buy more of the one you reached for first.
• A retailer £150 follow-on basket built only to unlock a cheaper hire fee. Price the winners at more than one shop, including pre-loved, before you fill a cart to a threshold.

Which? (June 2021) lists trying before you buy, then buying second-hand, as the two steps that stop people paying for nappies they do not use. The hire week is the try. The shopping list is the second-hand or new restock of those nappies.

Using hire discount codes without a panic order

Postal kits often include a first-purchase percentage off or brand coupons. Tj’s Cloth Collective says coupons come with the kit so you can shop the brands you preferred. That only helps if the code is still valid after you have lived a week without the loaned bucket.

Write the expiry date on the same note as the winners. If a code dies in seven days and you do not yet know nights, buy the 6–8 day nappies and storage only. Add nights when the first owned week is on paper.

In shortIn short: winners, then storage, then more of the same until wash day is comfortable. A 6–8 starter and a pail beat a 20-nappy mixed bundle you did not wear in the hire week.