to think reusable nappies are a lot of faffing about...?

[Wigglewoo]

Hmmm. Willing to be converted...

My ds is 5 weeks old and I decided to buy a range of reusable nappies to give them a go... Tots bots, little lambs, fuzz bunz, smartiepants....

So far they have sat unused on the side. I am tempted to return them.

I love the look of them and I'm not bothered about getting closely aquainted with ds's poop but I just find myself reaching for the disposables everytime I change his nappy as it just seems somehow easier.

I'm not even sure its cheaper... The little lambs took ages to tumble dry when I pre washhed them so that has to cost a fair bit... And the actual nappies themselves cost quite a bit now esp the all in ones!!! But then I guess you do buy them once ...

What do others think? Just being nosey really.

I use ones that don't need stuffing. And the babies still need to be changed, so where's the difference in putting a 'sposie in the bin and a reuseable in a wet bag? Ohh.... wait... the difference is that the sposie is sitting there ranking and stinking for weeks until bins are collected, whereas the reusables will be washed and dried and ready for use again in a couple of days.

And, to be honest - i have five kids, three of them are in cloth. My washing machine is on most of the time anyway, so a couple of extra loads a week doesn't make much difference.

And then theres the resale value... i sold one t'other day for £36...

Wouldn't give you tuppence for a shitty 'sposie...

yes, the ones that need stuffing are just weird- if they poo, you've stil lgot to change the whole thing ,and if they wee, the feeling of replacing the stuffer is yeuck.

so we use the two parters.

You need to find the right reusables. I did not get on with all-in-ones as they took longer to dry. I used shaped ones and waterproof covers, and some terry squares.

Some people spend a lot of money on all the fancy ones, but I didn't see the point in that as they are mostly under clothes.

It saved me lots as I bought cheaper ones and used them on two babies.

I did use disposables when we went caravanning as there was no washing machine! I did not like the smell of them, or the leaking.

I've not seen stuffers?

I use two parters, routine is disposable overnight (very heavy wetters) then straight into pre-prepped reusables in the morning. After bathtime back into disposable, baby to bed, chuck nappies in the wash, by the time I'm ready to go to bed the nappies are clean so take down dry nappies and fold them ready for next day and hang up the wet ones.

If it's sunny I save the wash load for first thing in the morning and hang them up after I've cleaned up breakfast.

It is a bit more work, but once you are used to the routine really it is no big deal.

Having had ebf babies who scoffed at the idea of sleeping of feeding at any regular time I've always liked that there is something else to give structure to the day.

Stuffers - pockets? I can't be faffed with pockets tbh. Mainly use Tots Bots Easy Fits or Orange Diaper Co fitteds with a Wee Notions wrap over them.

www.babiesnappies.co.uk/2008/06/19/scary-sposies/ - a good reason to avoid disposables, they are loaded with horrible chemicals. Add to that the landfill issue, and the cost of buying disposables, and I think we are all better off with cloth.

I love my cloth nappies, yes ok there are more parts (I have a mix of tots bots fluffles and terry squares but once you are used to them they don't take any time at all to change. I'm on dc3 with the same nappies so I am definitely saving money now! The only extra is a couple of washes a week. I don't tumble dry.

Yeah, it's a grim thought that every single disposable nappy ever made is still here, festering away in landfil, isn't it?

Totally, dee.

Another vote for Totsbots Easyfits. I have never had a poo leak using them and if you put a bamboo booster in they will go several hours if necessary. The new versions have a microfleece inner and they dry overnight on an indoor drying rack.

DC2 was allergic to disposables, so we used cloth. I had two in cloth for most of 4 years.

No faff, I was working FT and managed with ease, and I am a lazy fucker

Terry squares were best for us, with AIO for CM and grandparents.

I loved them!

Oh, he was also allergic to fleece and paper liners. Had to use bamboo or silk.

Toerag.

Ok I might get them washed and give them a go then.

I think the other thing holding me back is they are more bulky so I wonder if hey will even fit under ds's clothes!

I was surprised how well the one size adapt ... I thought they would be much more suited to older babies but they do size down quite well.

I like the idea of the bag that goes in the wash as well I might look for one of those.

And thanks for the facebook group :)

We used cloth with DS from when his meconium stopped until he was about 18 months old. We stopped because he had a foreskin infection that we just couldn't shift, and found after experimenting a lot that eco disposables (beaming baby) and cleaning with water and cotton wool were they only way we could get it to heal and not come back. Some people find nappy rash etc heals better in a cloth nappy, some don't. We never had an issue with "proper" nappy rash, just the penis thing.
We always used eco disposables when we went away (laundry issues), or if we were going out and expecting more than one nappy change (to save bulk). He had cloth at nursery too. It has still saved us a fortune, and I found the routine of washing was fine once I got into it. Never tumble dried, put them on the radiator if the weather wasn't good for outside or conservatory drying. When he was tiny we had 20 nappies and washed most days, but by the time he was 8 months we had long since moved into a size 2 (we used tots bots bamboozles, size 2 is "birth to potty" but they do a size 1 which is less bulky for newborns) we had 15 nappies and were washing every 2-3 days. I didn't use disposable liners while he was EBF, the poo was so liquid there was no point. I used fleece liners to keep his skin dry and paper ones when he started on solids. The Nappy Lady does some really good ones which are washable (and reusable) if they are only wet, and flushable if there is poo.
I am expecting DS2 soon, he will be using DS1's old nappies, which is brilliant as these are effectively free! It's also been really lovely getting the fluffy little nappies out again

I've worked FT since DD was 1 and she was in cloth fulltime. I'm a slattern and I managed to cope. She's still in cloth at night, though hoping that will end soon. I've kept many of them to use on a possible future child.

I used to dry mine in the boiler cupboard.

I bought a kit of reuseables.

Then I realised I didn't have the space or time to get our usual clothes / towels dry let alone terry nappies so I sold them.

I'm quite a lentil weaver at heart really, I feel bloody awful at the amount of nappies I've added to landfill over the years.

i find reusables easier, as you never run out really, i don't have to go to the outside bin, just the nappy bin...

broken washing machine did mean a hiatus, but now fixed we are back on..

and i found newborn skin did much better with cloth, rather than raspy paper.

though i am very used to using them and we are all set up for it.

The not running out is very useful. I can't get my head around buying in nappies and wipes now DS is in disposables.
Also lots of disposables stink when they are wet, that's grim.

I think it might depend on your baby - I had a super-pooper who could dirty a dozen nappies a day, plus he was very, very fidgety and seemed to find the much bigger washables a bit of a hindrance (I was using pre-folds I think they're called? Like a thick square, triple layer in the middle and you put a wrap around it) so I switched to disposables mainly, and just used the washables when they were nearer to hand/I'd run out of disposables until he grew out of them and I didn't bother to replace..

In my area waste is incinerated so they're not going to landfill anyhow.

I've been happy with the Bambino Mio ones. And if you have more DC you could double/triple the savings.
Also the clothes thing: I have had DD in larger sizes, but then have got more mileage out of the clothes when she came out of nappies and so was a smaller size again.

If you have drying space, I highly recommend washables from 6 weeks ish. One size will fit from then. I never used the dryer in nearly 3 years of ds on nappies, though did get through about 5 packs of disposables. Have used the dryer a few times with dd though and more disps, as haven't been make to hang on the line and the heat is off.

Both my babies get rash if they wear 2 disps in a row but are fine with washables. And I've not once had a poo up the back incident, so probably save myself a few washes there!

Got most of my nappies on Freecycle, from SIL or second hand, so about £50 for ds plus the disposables, and likely similar for dd who is 5 months.

You see with the clothes thing I found frugi (not sure if that's how you spell it) .... Cut4cloth or so they say :) but then I think if I'm buying new clothes just to fit the nappies then that's another way of spending more... And perhaps its not needed... As others have said just larger clothes may be alright.

I have to admit I'm not a particularly green / eco person... My main reasons for wanting to use them are from a cost point of view.. I'm the mum who writes a meal plan and shops at Aldi looking at the price of biscuits :).

But... I suppose the green issue can't be a bad thing. And I never really thought about the fact the dirty nappies are sitting there in the wheelie bin for 2 weeks before collections!!!! Yuck!!!!

My ds is 10lbs 4 now so the one size ones should be ok I think... I'm going to start tomorrow... Wish me luck!

I dint find them a faff at all, and till recently was working ft as well. Just an extra wash a day. I was using tots bots with motherease wraps but have moved on to bum genius now as they dry so quickly.

Good luck!!! Have you been over to Cloth Bum Mums yet?

I love ours, they are on their second kid and only take a couple of hours to dry. Pop-in dream dry or something like that? They are an expandable one so from new born to toddler.