To think cloth nappies are hard work

[Mummyof287]

So I'm privileged to be benefiting from a months free cloth nappy trial from a local organisation.
It's only day one, so early days and would like to give them a good go.

All started well this morning, the nice lady dropped them off, then i spent awhile getting to grips with them and watched the video about how to use them.
Felt the pocket ones would be preferable, so popped one on DD and was pleasantly surprised by how much comfier they looked than disposables, and loved the colourful designs too.

Went out to the shops though, and part way through took 8mo baby out of her carseat to find that poo had leaked all out the top at the front and was all over her dress, in her tummy button etc (which i get can happen with diposables at times also) but the nappy itself was absolutely covered too (the thin disposable liner I had put in was all crumpled up inside the pooey nappy!)

I spent some time with her on the grass area in the retail park carpark trying to sort it all out, and now am panicking I won't be able to remove the poo stains from the blooming nappy (it's currently in a cold water soak in an old bowl ready to go in the washing machine....obviously don't want to use chemicals on it.

I thought I had fitted it right, and that the liners would catch most of the poo so it didn't end up in the washing machine, but maybe I used them wrong? I also thought that the padded removable parts would just need to be washed after being weed on, meaning I wouldn't have to wash the whole nappy, but doesn't seem to be the case? If so it would never be affordable for me as I'd get through loads before wash day.She has only just started eating a fair bit of solid food, and is still breastfed alot, so her poos aren't particularly well formed yet.

Am I missing something/not using them correctly, or are they actually rather a faff and that's the price to pay for a healthier, environmentally friendly product?

I would say you are not being unreasonable but my mum would say you are as she used terry nappies for all of us and is adamant that it caused her no problems. That said she didn’t have much to compare them with as disposable nappies weren’t as readily available as they are now.
When I was a baby reuseable nappies were a square of terry towelling that you folded with a liner inside, fastened with a nappy pin and wore with plastic pants over.
Mum kept two buckets in the bathroom one for wet nappies and one for dirty and they were all soaked in a solution of Napisan then rinsed in the washing machine the next day. She is adamant that she never used washing powder of any description and that she only ever used the rinse programme.
The nappies were hung on the washing line whatever the weather and mostly ended up stain free. All this seems very unhygienic to me but we apparently never had nappy rash and none of the family suffered with tummy upsets.
I did vaguely consider reuseable nappies when I had my last baby but that’s as far as it went. The initial outlay and extra washing put me off
Derekthehampsters point about potty training is an interesting one - mum is firmly of the view that babies were out of nappies far earlier when I was little than they are nowadays

They are harder, we used in the day but not at night just because we had lots of leaks and a bad sleeper. Once we got I to swing of it, it got easier.

My brother and I were vert close in age, my mum had has both in Terry toweling nappies with the high pins - this was before disposables were invented. She kept all our nappies separate to avoid cross contamination, she has absolutely no idea why. But just thinking of all those nappy buckets and separate washing makes me realise how much easier everything is now.

Don't give up, maybe a bit of both. Think everytime you don't use one that's 1 less 1 in the landfill.

It depends on the nappies you use. Old inserts will have lost their absorption and some designs are much better than others. Sometimes user error wrecks absorbancy (eg using too harsh chemicals for soaking or soaking too long).

I would buy new or a set that you are certain have been used on one Baby only.

My bet is that the trial ones have been stuffed by over-use and bad washing technique.

I used one new set of 18 nappies for three kids. But they were at the end of their usefulness by the time DS was potty trained, that's for sure!

Yes my kids potty trained WAY earlier than their peers. DD was 15 months.

They're a bit more work but you get into the swing of it. I felt really gullible that I'd been sucked into using disposable nappies - such a waste of money if nothing else!

I found them ok once I got in to a laundry routine and got to know which nappies I liked. I found the pocket nappies much more likely to leak than the two part ones, which could hold more or less anything. It sounds like those would be a better choice for you as you can get away with not changing the waterproof bit every time.

Don't worry about staining. I am rubbish at laundry but the nappies always seemed to come out looking ok.

I moved in quite crunchy circles as lean that way myself usually - so many of the "potty trained at x months" kids still had "accidents" more days than not... it just became easier to change joggers and pants occasionally than nappies. Often put on the potty every hour too!

We used disposables in the hospital and then it's been cloth ever since then and DS I is 14 months, though the nursery use disposables. We're having a bit of a time as he gets nappy rash from the disposables, and by the time we've got it sorted it's time for him to go back to nursery. Though we've never had a poonami yet!

Not every brand suits every baby, some are better for babies with longer bodies or chunkier legs etc. We use TotsBots mostly as they're easy to get a good fit on, and we can reuse the wraps when we swap the pad out. They're having a sale at the moment too so if you don't mind what designs you get you can get stocked up for a good price.

Oh yes, disposable at night and for newborns is a sensible compromise. Still doing a massive favour for the environment.

I still feel a bit guilty about giving up on them with DS1 (and never trying for DS2). We did and do use reusable nappy wipes so it wasn't any issue with laundry squeamishness etc, but the nappies didn't work at all for us, with constant, constant leaking. Apparently the ones we had been given for free were the wrong shape for long and skinny DS1 and we should have tried out a few different brands, according to some slightly cult-like Facebook groups I perused, at which point both the potential cost and the hassle felt like something I didn't much want to take on with a small baby.

He toilet-trained at just turned two so I don't think the disposables held him back too much!

I hated the thought of soiled disposable nappies being in landfill for hundreds of years!.

My DS is 18 now but when he was a baby I used Terry nappies with fleece lingers and mother ease wraps, Dry pailed and washed every couple of days. The fleece liners were a game changer, they wicked all wetness away from his skin and solid just fell off into the loo. Once he went to nursery we used a pocket nappy because it s just like putting a disposable nappy on for the nursery staff, we just used the Terry nappy as the insert. He was out of nappies just after he turned 2.

One thing with cloth nappies is that you have to be a bit more organised. I had enough that I could have half in the wash, half ready to be used. Once they were washed and dried I took 10 minutes to fold them so that they were ready to use, that way I wasn't faffing with them at the point I need to use them. Once he was done, I was able to sell on everything for use by another family.

We weren't evangelical about cloth and used disposable for days out and weekends away, but other than that cloth all the way!

Once I found the brand that best fitted (second ones I tried from eBay bundle) I never had a single leak ever with cloth nappies so personally way less hard work than disposable poonamis! Pocket nappies, dry paling and cheeky wipes all the way here.

We took our set away on holiday too. Never regretted not using disposables once we started.

I’ve never had that happen OP, bad luck!

How old’s your baby? With all of mine I didn’t bother before 3 months. DD has just gone into them. I’m not bothering with night nappies this time around. It’s not all or nothing - every cloth nappy you use is a disposable saved from landfill. We’ll use disposables, most likely Naty, when we go on holiday.

Different nappies work for different babies too. For example DD is my 3rd baby in cloth, totsbots are really working for her where little lamb pockets and baba and boo (on the large side) worked better for my boys. Also boys wee up/to the front where girls were downwards(/up the back I am finding! Still not used to that!!!) so how you stuff the nappy makes a difference.

Not worth the faff.

It sounds like the fit wasnt correct as they very very rarely leak when fitted properly - maybe ask the library to check them or there are many dedicated Facebook groups.

I loved using cloth for my second and didn't find them hard work, and they don't smell of chemicals like the disposables. But it's not for everyone and that's OK.

I love cloth nappies and haven't had any issues or problems. I've used them for nearly 2 years.

Practice op,it is hard work but really worth it and you will save so much money.If you can afford to do so,work out the saved money each week on not buying disposable ones and watch it grow,you'll be pleased how fast it grows.
So much better for the environment too.
good luck.🌈😀

They are a bit more hard work, but so worth it. I hate thinking about DS wearing a disposable nappy for a couple of hours, that will then hang around earth likely longer than he does. DH and I both work long hours and we manage washing them fine. You fall into a routine, it takes a bit of time but washing them and hanging them out just become part of your day. Poo explosions are rare due to the tightness from the elastics - you likely just need a bit more practice fitting them. Pee leaks are more likely than disposables as they do need changing more often. The odd time DS has been in a disposable they have held pee longer. Second the recommendation of clean cloth nappies for washing advice. Good luck!

sorry but just not worth the faff

I never get how people get stains out in the sunshine between, oooh, October and March.

And I say this as the mother of an incontinent young man whose clothes and bedding do not smell great for 8 months of the year and the odd week in between. Maybe it's because I live further north.

I couldn’t get the hang of them, so many leaks for me, especially at night which was disrupting sleep even more than it already was. I so wanted it to work but tried at a time when baby life was overwhelming in so many ways, I couldn’t take additional stress that was unnecessary. Still got them all in a box in the attic to try again 3rd time round. Worth persevering I think but I have to agree faff from my experience.

I used Terry nappies back in the 80's. I used a papery liner. Wet liners went in the bin, soiled ones went down the toilet. Nappies put in a lidded bucket and soaked in Napisan as mentioned by PP. Then rinsed and washed in washing machine with normal detergent. Dried in front of gas fire when necessary! Outside when possible. Used for both DC.

My experience was rubbish to start with as I was given damaged nappies by the local nappy library. Reusables did not work for me for DS1. He was huge and just an odd shape. DS2 they worked great, I used them for daytime, but could not get any to suit for overnight, so used one disposable a day.

When my first child was born we used a local nappy service who would provide the nappies, liners and covers, a bin and bin-liners. They would collect the dirty nappies and get them industrially laundered. They were mostly very good but tended to leak after poonami's. By the time my second son was born the company had stopped collecting and laundering the dirty nappies and I didn't want the costs of 90 degree hot washes, so used disposables!