Cloth nappies

[Babylj2015]

I've got ages yet but have been thinking about cloth nappies . This will be my first and I'm really interested in using them but not completely sold . Has anyone used or is using them . Give me pros and cons? One thing that puts me off is using them out and about ? Carrying dirty nappies around ect. Any advice

I love them, it took a bit of getting used to with the fit. When out and about you can use a wet bag to contain any smells and moisture getting out.

The pros outweigh the cons in my opinion, no landfill, saves money in the long run etc. and they look adorable!

I will say they mean clothes may come up a little smaller. You can also look at hybrids like g nappies, as they have a disposable insert and a reusable cover and the insert is biodegradable.

We use them. No problems. No hassle.

We started when DD was about 3 months. I hired the trial pack from the local authority for 3 weeks. £10. Quickly found out what we liked and what we didn't. I bought some new and some preloved from eBay and FaceBook cloth nappy sites. We have the Tots Bots nappy pail with the locking lid. The nappies go into the pail in a mesh bag and I lift the bag straight into the machine so you never touch the soiled nappies. A few drops of tea tree oil keep the pail smelling fresh!

We also use cloth wipes. I think they are just brilliant. We have saved so much money. We use 'Cheeky Wipes'. I carry 2 double wet bags - one for face wipes and one for bottom wipes/nappies when we go out.

I only have one warning - it can be addictive I have way too many nappies these days! Just sold 20 on eBay to fund more!

I love them. They're easy to use, look super cute and they save money (less landfill too). They're not a bother when you're out - you just stash them in a zip wet bag, no leaking/smelling. You can generally flush the liner (and any poo), so you're not really carrying around poo anyway.

I use a few different types, but I'm a big fan of the BumGenius flips for out and about - a smallish liner inside a cover that you can reuse, so v little to carry around.

You can buy varieties that dry very quickly, or are organic cotton etc. it's worth talking to a shop or someone who has a load so that you can look at some and see what you think will work for you. We bought a few at a time until we built up enough to not need disposables - it didn't cost that much at all. I think we've already covered it in terms if savings on disposables in six months of using them.

Pros:

Cheaper in the long run - I've spent maybe £200 on nappies (not including the ones I've sold on) compared to I think it's £3000 estimated on disposables? My nappies will be used on hypothetical baby 2 as well

Cost per wear for brand new mainstrem reusables (the types available in supermarkets/Boots) is about 4p in cluding the washing. The cheapest disposables I've seen are 7p each.

You don't have to drag a screaming baby round a supermarket to buy them

You empty the bin at your leisure, not the council's, meaning you don't have to put up with the stink unless you choose to

The resources used to produce and wash a cloth nappy are still far far fewer than those needed to produce the equivalent amount of disposables

They can be used as an item of clothing in their own right. I use wool covers most of the time for ds and his nappy cover and trousers/shorts are the same thing. Wool only needs washing every 4-6 weeks (urine+lanolin=soap so they're self cleaning to a certain extent) which has massively reduced my regular laundry load, even though I'm still washing nappies - I'd be doing that anyway!

Disposable nappies smell of chemicals. This is something that isn't noticeable until you're used to having your child in cloth then go back to sposies for whatever reason. Pampers honk!

Cons:

You have to be organised and wash them

You have to find somewhere to store them

You have to have space to dry them

People ask questions about them All The Time, but woe betide you for answering with enthusiasm or they might think you're criticising their choice on here anyway. In real life people are just polite IME

Your mother and mother in law will be HORRIFIED. Until you show them how pretty and easy modern ones are, anyway

It's very easy to fall into the trap of buying a large amount of one type in a special offer bundle, finding they don't fit your baby, and deciding Cloth Nappies Don't Work. Best thing to do is buy one or two of several types - lots of councils have trial schemes, or find a local nappy library - then stock up once you know what works on your baby. Nappies are like jeans, the brand that's amazing on your best mate will probably look hideous on you!

DS has been in pretty much full time cloth since he was 5 days old. Different brands and types of nappy have worked for us at different stages, and I've bought nearly all of them second hand - and sold a fair few on once we didn't need them any more too. I've done a rather long post here, feel free to ask any more questions though

Oh yeah, reusable wipes! I must have saved pounds and pounds!

Except I use flannels, pack of 6 from the 99p shop. And store the clean ones wet in a freezer bag, then bung them in the wetbag with the nappies after use. So 15 months of wipes have cost me £3.96 plus a bottle of lavender essential oil

I have a lidded kitchen bin (£4 from Wilko) in my bathroom with a mesh laundry bag (£6ish for 2 in Lakeland) where the dirty ones go. I have 2 drawstring wetbags (bought in the babykind sale for under £2 each) that go in the nappy bag - one in there and one spare for when the first is dirty. I have a big zipped wetbag that used to be for the living room when ds was smaller. Now he's a toddler, all changes are done in his room or the bathroom so that one is for if we're away.

I wash every 3-4 days. 60* cycle with prewash using 1 tbsp powder, no softener, then a couple of extra rinses. I bung them in before I go to bed, then rinse in the morning to go on the line for the day.

I'm really interested in using them . Where's best to buy ? A trial pack would be good . I don't know if they do that around here . The ones I've seen from company's online are like £50+ which is bit pointless as I may aswell buy a few for that price . I'm not too sure on the wipes I hand rear for RSPCA well did before I was pregnant and always used baby wipes to cloths as found it so much Easier so may need convincing on that one

the nappy lady is a good site to start on, sorry i can't link I'm on my phone and can't remember if its co.UK or .com!

There are cloth nappy libraries that'll post to you for a deposit. Phone the recycling/waste dept of your LA though - they may run an incentive scheme.

I'd second going to a cloth nappy library to discuss options and hire a trial set. It'll help you work out which ones fit your baby best.

Also look for Facebook groups. Lots sell preloved nappies. I've bought preloved then resold for pretty much same price a few months later when I upgraded a few.

They sometimes come up on Freecycle as well; definitely try your local Council. And ask at ante-natal classes?

Mine were mostly 2nd hand, did 2 kits, saved me a fortune, and were Freecycled to save someone else a fortune!

Did 2 kids I mean

We use Bambino Mio pre-folds (piece of cotton cloth that folds up inside a waterproof cover). These are a fairly cheap option and ideal for us because we live in a tiny flat with no tumble drier - they dry quickly when unfolded. They also can be folded to fit the size and shape of the baby. However they are fiddly and take a while to get right- not great if you might want other people to change them - grandparents, childcare etc.
If you don't want to carry dirty nappies around then you can always use disposables as well, however I don't find it a problem to just pop the nappy into a bag and get rid of it at home. I do use disposables when away for more than a day for obvious reasons!

Norah I sucked miserably at prefolds in the early days. Then I discovered the joy that is stuffing them in pretty Ebay Cheapy Pocket nappies! All the prettiness of groovy nappies, the ease of an AIO because you can stuff them all in advance and all the quick-drying and cheapness of prefolds :o

I now bikini twist them with a nippa under wool. But I'm a bit more experienced these days and the toddler doesn't like bulk when he's running around!

To begin with they always leaked wee out of the legs, but then I discovered I was folding them too wide.
I got one cheapy (Amazon) pocket nappy which is all kinds of useless and I was gutted - it's so pretty!

dudeybaba brand are great, love mine. i've heard good things about babyland3000 and alva too. little lamb have an excellent reputation and are due a sale in the next couple of days according to Facebook

Oh, reusable wipes: I wasn't going to bother but wet wipes fill me with mad rage because you pull one out and out come half the packet. And cloth wipes can be used with warm water for your delicate little flower's sensitive bottom... When I see the price of chemical-free-gentle-as-water wet wipes I come over all smug.

I use disposables on my daughter, but the child I look after has always used cloth.
So to give an alternative view....
I hate them because;
Unless you change them LOADS they stink of urine. So more frequent changing needed.
Cleaning pooh off cloth nappies is yuck!
The house has constantly got dozens of nappies/ wipes drying,hanging all over the place; in winter mostly obviously.
They are huge and bulky on a child. Their bums look enormous! They can't wear certain clothes cause you can't get them over huge nappy! I don't like the way they look under clothes.
So I'm not a fan!
Obviously just my opinion and I'm not intending to offend anyone who uses them. Just offering op an alternative view.:)

I LOVE them. DD is nearly 9 weeks old and has been in them since she was approx 4 days. We use mainly Tots Bots, which fit her right from the start (7lb11 at birth) and Little Lamb (which have just started to fit her in the last couple of weeks - she's now 10lb14). Both makes are really easy to use, dry exceptionally quickly after washing, and wick the moisture away from DD's bottom so she feels dry even when the liners/boosters underneath are so wet you could ring them out. My DP and I find them easier to use than disposables and much more comfortable for DD with less chance of her developing nappy rash as everything is wicked away. They also last far longer if a couple of liners/boosters are used.

If you're breastfeeding, the poo is liquidy and pretty inoffensive, though you can get paper liners to put on the top between the nappy and baby's bottom, and then the poo and liner can just be flushed down the toilet.

I found paper liners useless with bf poo tbh, it's soluble so just bung them straight in the machine - if there's lots you can rinse the nappy in the toilet flush - and the sun gets the stains out. Flushable liners aren't really flushable btw, British sewerage systems are a bit antiquated! The occasional one won't hurt but it's best to bin them whenever possible - weaned baby poo generally plops off if you hold the nappy upside down over the loo :)

I love them, try www.thenappylady.co.uk/reusable-nappies.html I love these www.thenappylady.co.uk/all-in-one-nappies/easyfit-version-4-nappies-single.html and these www.thenappylady.co.uk/birth-to-potty-nappies/little-lamb-onesize-osfa-v2.html as they are super easy and super soft and comfy looking. I change them about every 2 hours. But overnight and when out and about all day I use naty nappies instead www.naty.com/baby-care/eco-nappies/ as disposable but biodegradable so a good compromise I think.
We have a little bin of nappysan on the go and just put pooey ones in there and every so often put them in a hot wash, so its really no hassle at all.I would defo recommend them. My ds is 10 months now but at the beginning I did use disposable ones too while getting used to the whole palarva, you can always do abit of both and do half and half or anything. They are defo worth trying, even if not at first.

Oh yes weaned baby poo is so much easier!

I am really looking forward to using cloth nappies after seeing my elder sister do so with her 2 DDs. My only concern is when to buy them. My Sis is lucky enough to have a cloth nappy shop in the next town over, but recommended buying from big events, like the baby show in London/Birmingham.

However, lots of people talk about different nappies having different fits and using a nappy library to see which is best. We do have a local scheme, so that would be easy to do, but this would mean that unless DC is born a few weeks before a show (I'm a planner...still TTC but compulsively plan in advance!), I won't be able to take advantage of show discounts to buy the best fitting nappy, and I tend to suffer from crowd rage, so might have to send in a proxy to such an event. I can't imagine going heavily pregnant OR with a newborn without murdering people around me.

I'm rather in love with TotsBots as it's what my Sis uses and I'm familiar with them, but don't want to buy them assuming that they will fit future DC and they don't, but also don't want to miss out on a show discount if they do! (In a perfect world, I buy them at a good discount and they fit perfectly...I can dream! )

When do people tend to buy their stash? I'm ok with using disposables for the first few weeks of grotty poo, but want to get in to cloth as soon as possible, without missing out on any great deals!

Buy second hand. Makes them way cheaper - can get a couple dozen for £20-40 and you can experiment with fit etc. And look at Freecycle and parents FB groups for freebies I've just offloaded a pile of Motherease nappies that have been through 6 babies and many will manage another baby or two before being recycled.

I think I've spent about £50 on reusables and the same on disposables, over two children. Add costs of washing twice a week for 4 years and it's still a bargain.

I bought a couple each of several different types when pregnant (second hand) then bought more when I had an actual baby to put them on. Cheapies from ebay were dreadful in the early days, I just couldn't get a decent fit and ds was in them for a couple of weeks then he'd be in between poppers for another couple of weeks so I sold all mine and bought more velcro ones - totsbots easyfits and miosolos. Then he got a nasty rash when his molars cut so I went to wool full time (went to it for nights at around 3 months as it's so bombproof and lets more air through than PUL). Now I'm leaning back towards the simplicity of cheapie pockets after he went to stay with a friend for a couple of days while I went away with work and I borrowed a load - which in reality meant I was given a load because a different friend decided she didn't like that brand!

I don't think I've spent more than £150 on nappies in 21 months, and I've had some new ones and a couple of WAHM pretty ones in there too. And I can use them on hypothetical DC2 in the future. So many people are so kind and generous when it comes to cloth nappies, and the cheaper types just don't make enough back to make it worth the hassle of selling, so they get passed on to a Mum You Know. Post on one of the big Facebook groups like Cloth Bum Mums to see if there's anyone in your area, and also look for local Attachment Parenting and Sling groups as reusable nappies often go hand in hand with those other things. Sling meets are a good and friendly way to meet more experienced parents and are accessible to pregnant women - I first went at 7 months because I live in a flat and needed to work out how to get baby, buggy and shopping up the stairs without leaving something in the rain in the car park I ditched the buggy bit completely so that might be a good place to start?

Thank you for your advice ladies! That's really helpful, and stops my mind spinning!