Gilly - you didn't drop it!!
- Nappies: well, this is what we found...
Essentially you can either go for a one-part or a two-part system. The one part means that the waterproof is attached to the absorbant bit - quick to get on and off, but the problem with them is that they take longer to dry than the 2 part systems - because the absorbant bit can't dry through the waterproof bit.
What we used was a two part system - ie an absorbant bit with a waterproof wrap over the top.
We got a large box of lots of different sorts of nappies that we hired. We did this so that we could try out lots of different types of nappies and find out which ones fitted ds best and that we could cope with.
We surprised ourselves by agreeing that pre-folds were actually surprisingly easy - these are squares with added absorbancy sections sewn in down the centre, and you fold them and just place them in the nappy as an absorbant rectangle (except you fan it out a bit) where required. We had a few terrys too, although we tended to do the same fold on them as the prefolds rather than trying to attach them to ds. We also got a few shaped nappies - a couple with pockets that you stuffed for extra absorbancy and some with an extra absorbancy pad sewn in but effectively loose (Totsbots style). We tended to use shaped when going out.
We got some fairly inexpensive (and actually not very good) wraps so that we had quite a few at this stage.
When ds 6mo and going to nursery, we purchased a reasonable number of TotsBots size 2s and some new, nicer wraps (Nature Babies) - at home we tended still to use prefolds with shaped when going out for extra security.
The great thing about having prefolds is that they dry more quickly - and they are a lot cheaper - so that you don't mind changing more often than you would have done if you were trying to eek out your shaped nappies (of which we had a limited supply) or disposables.
For night time we always used fleece wraps - we found that these were no good for ds during the day as they would quickly start to wick if there was pressure on them - fine at night though, and they are that bit more breathable. We got Totsbots Bamboozles for nighttime - these take longer than the normal totsbots to dry but were more absorbant for nighttime. We did end up boosting these with a prefold on top, so very large night-time nappies... But they don't need to walk then, so who cares!
If you want to know any more about washables, please ask - can only tell about my experience, but if it is helpful...