Where to start with cloth nappies?

[notalwaysalondoner]

Hi all, I am 5 months pregnant and very keen to use cloth nappies. I've done the Nappy Lady survey, which was helpful, but still not sure whether to (a) bite the bullet and buy a full set (b) hire some trial kits (c) try and buy second hand...

I would like to do birth to potty sizing, but know that they often don't fit for the first 6-12 weeks until baby hits about 10lbs. I'm not sure whether to hire a newborn kit, buy a cheap muslin/terry set for the first few weeks, or use disposables until they're big enough (would rather not do this as think there's a risk we wouldn't then bother with reusables). What did you all do?

And then for the main set, did you buy a full set of a certain brand, or buy a few different ones to try? Did any of you do a trial hire kit of different brands, and was it useful?

Thanks! Even though I've got some friends who've used them, they weren't particularly helpful, as one got given a full set by a friend and another went for terries the whole time, which I think would be too complicated for DH and nursery.

I bought second hand BTP and second hand Sandys in XS and S when ds was born - the Sandys then went to 3 other babies before I sold them for what I paid for them :-) We didn't use any disposables at all, though later I did buy some all in ones for fun

Hi! I'm using reusables (mostly!) with my 13 week old.

There's a nappy library near me that lends out kits of either birth to potty or newborn. We hired a newborn kit and she was still too small for that for approx the first two or three weeks, and she wasn't unusually tiny when she was born (7lb5), so we ended up using disposables for that time as all the reusables leaked as we couldn't get a tight enough fit. Maybe she's a slightly funny shape?!

We're still using the newborn kit now and it still fits her well at over 12lb so I'd say it's well worth hiring one. When she doesn't fit it, we'll be hiring a BtP kit as it's (IMO) a great idea to see which nappies fit your baby better and you find easier etc. We'll hopefully have the BtP kit for a couple of months, see which nappies we like best, and buy second hand from the reusable nappies Facebook groups, thus saving lots of money and being greener.

But in terms of which nappies we preferred, for example, the kit we borrowed included some pocket nappies, some shaped terry nappies with waterproof wraps, some all-in-ones and some wraps and pads, as well as some flat nappies, and I would have guessed before having our baby that the all-in-ones would be best, with the pocket nappies second, but actually, we massively prefer the terry nappies and wrap (and not all wraps are equal, one is great and some of the others are rubbish at stopping leaks and fitting comfily!). So what I would have bought pre-baby is not the same as what I'd buy now!

Hope these ramblings help a little, ask away if you have any Qs

Had three through resuables and what worked best was good Terry squares and a good wrap, fits any size baby. Not for everyone but dried quickly, no leaks, much easier to fold than you think.

I would suggest looking at whether you have a local nappy library as you can hire kits from there much cheaper than some bigger companies. The UK Nappy Network is a good place to look for this.

I’ve been using cloth for my 15 month old since she was 4 weeks old.

My main advice to you would be don’t buy a load of all the same brand because you will likely find that you like to use lots of different ones.

If I were in your position now, I’d get flats and covers to use in the early weeks / months then you can change to all in ones / twos and/or pockets when your baby wriggles more. I’d recommend Buttons Flat nappies - they are very absorbent and also slim. My favourite covers, personally are Thirsties duo wraps, Petite Crown catchers and Motherease Airflow wraps for night use.

Babies change shape a lot from birth to PT. The second hand market for cloth is really good so if you find that your child doesn’t fit a certain brand you can sell it on and recoup most of your money if the condition is good.

I used pocket nappies with both of my children and found them really good, they were bumgenious ones. I just bit the bullet when they were on offer and bought a full set. Pocket nappies are good for nursery too as they’re pretty much like dealing with disposables, except when you take them off you put them in a wet bag.

One thing I will say is that it’s fine to mix disposables and cloth if that works better for you - it’s still less nappies in landfill. A lot of people seem to struggle with cloth so if you find disposables are easy for nighttime’s or days out then do what works, it doesn’t have to be one or the other.

I am expecting little cloth bum number 2. I have bought some second hand newborn nappies, they aren't used long so will hold their value and I can hopefully sell them on for what I bought them for.

I have chosen to go for totsbots teenyfit because they are all in ones - I can't be bothered with the faff of pockets or terries with a newborn. For my DS, I used pocket BTP nappies for 2 years before he potty trained. They were all second hand, so I'm hoping they'll still be in resaleable conditions after being on a third (or more!) little bottom.

I didn't start cloth nappies till he was 5 months old and then went full time with them and loved them! Having a newborn is hard so give yourself a break if you want to use disposables. However, lots of people use them from birth (I am hoping to be one of them) so it definitely is possible if that's the route you want to take!