Nurseries and washable nappies

[raspberrycheesecake]

Not sure which topic this should go under so will post in 2 categories (the nappies category as well).
I am expecting my 2nd baby in May 2010 and expect to have to return to work around Christmas 2010 due to money issues, both babies to go to a nursery (which my first 15 month old already attends and likes).

With my first baby we have used disposables, mainly because of the culture shock / adjustment of becoming parents, and also because we were in rented accommodation and the washing machine was a little unreliable, but I had wanted to use washables.

So now I am seriously looking into washables for my second but wanted to know if there is anyone else out there who has done this ("this" being as described below) and whether I am setting myself up for a real challenge or whether in your view it is do-able

(1) Definitely returning to work with 2 babies so will need to be even more hyper organised in the morning than I am now, if you work with 2 babies I am sure you know all this already but I currently get up at 5.45am to get to nursery and arrive in work at 8am. So I am factoring in the extra time which might be involved in washables in the mornings - are there lots of nappy buckets / must soak in X or Y solution etc etc

(2) Laundry loads. Currently do about 5 loads a week for myself husband and baby 1. How many extra can I expect washing washable nappies? Realistically with the drying times (we don't have an airing cupboard) how long will it take to dry them and will I need double the ordinary number of washable nappies because of lack of drying facilities to ensure there is always a dry nappy

(3) Nursery schools. Obviously only the nursery I am planning to use can answer this question but in your experience do nursery schools generally accept washable nappies? So far what I have seen of the 2 nurseries my 1st baby has attended all of the children only use disposables. Are washables really only realistic if you can afford a comes-to-your-house-£££ nanny?

Candid frank views and any practical tips from working mums with 2 babies extremely welcome and thanks in advance!

on 1) no extra work in the morning as can be done in the evenings, changing a washable is no more work than a disposable

2. I'd put it at 2 or so more washes a week (perhaps more if eldest was in nappies). Key is to put nappies in with other clothes (and not worry too much if they become grey/pink/blue

3)They accept it but ime don't really like it. Two issues, you get handed a smelly bag full of dirty nappies when you pick up your baby (i had real problems with this). Also they don't change the nappies enough to prevent nappy rash. My feeling is that washables are by far the best for this but only if they are changed every 2 hours or so. This does not happen in nurseries

I'd mix and match, do washables at home and send babies to nursery with disposables. every little helps and all that

I have a 15 month old in nursery 4 days a week and another on the way in August.

The 15 month old has been in washables since he was born. He started nursery at 10 months and the staff are happy to use them.

I think it's only him that used washables, all the others are in dispos, but the nursery is fine with that.

He gets a nappy change at 10.30am and then at 2.30pm, so only twice a day and to be honest that's fine. He never has nappy rash and even if he was at home with me, and on the days that he is, I wouldn't change him anymore than this. No nappy rash ever. We use Bumgenius btw.

We have 20 nappies and wash them about every 3/4 days. We wash them in the evening and leave them out to dry over night on an airer (and some on the radiator so they are ready first thing in the morning), so there is no extra work really.

With 2, i'd probably buy another dozen nappies and still wash every 3/4 days - that's the plan anyway.

I mean changing him twice during nursery hours - not changing only twice a day!

My son's nursery didn't have a problem with him being in washable nappies. He was in all day, and changed mid-morning, early-afternoon, and just before collection (obviously he was changed more often if dirty), and very rarely had a sore bottom. We would take 4 nappies to nursery each day (and kept about 4 disposables there as well, just incase they were needed). We did an extra 2 or 3 washes a week with the nappies, and had 20 of them. We used the TotsBots cotton ones, and they did take a while to dry (on the washing line on a sunny day it was fine, but over a clothes airer inside it generally took about 2 days. Also, we're in a really hard-water area, and they ended up with the texture of cardboard if they weren't tumble dried (even 30 minutes made a difference to the softness)).

As somebody who works in a nursery I can give you an inside view.
We don't mind washable nappies.Just make sure you show the staff exactly how to fit them. (Some only have experience of disposables)

You probably will be handed a bag of dirty nappies at the end of the day. Most nurseries don't have the facilities or staff to rinse them or wash them.

As for changes, most baby rooms do 3 scheduled changes with extra changes when soiled. If this doesn't work then you are perfectly entitled to request extra changes.

Ds has been at nursery for six months and in washable the whole time. In the baby room we had a bit of an issue as they would wrap up nappies, poo and all in nappy bags and send them home! They were disgusting to clean. In the toddler room they're s bit better at cleaning the poo out. He gets three changes a day which is fine and he never gets a rash.

One thing tho, I only have just enough nappies so end up having to do washes and waiting to hang them out before bed so I don't run out! Make sure you gave plenty.

Meant to say that I collect my DS at 4pm, so before normal collection time, so they prob would change him again if I were to pick him up later.

1. They don't take any longer to change - we take DS's nappy off, flush the poo down the toilet and bung them in a bucket. Then don't worry about them until laundry time.

1. We have about 20 nappies, and do a load every other day. This works well with just drying on radiators/airers/washing line.

1. Our nursery is fine with cloth nappies, I give them four a day in his bag, plus a wet bag for them to come home in.

DS is at nursery 4 days a week and they have no problems with reusables. They change him 3-4 times a day, and we use paper liners so the nappies we get back are generally not too horrendous, although to be honest we just bung the bags straight in the machine - no physical contact required! He very rarely has any rash at all.

I don't soak the nappies in anything - they just go in the bucket or the bag until we wash - we probably do 2-3 loads a week.

Drying - they dry quite quickly on a radiator, air drying takes 12 hours or so depending on sunlight/temperature etc.

Would also say that we found far fewer leaks with reusables when DS was small, so the nappy washes probably take the place of the extra clothes washing you would do for a newborn - 6 months in disposables.

Definitely agree with that - when DS was in disposables I was constantly scrubbing stains out of his clothes. Haven't had to do that once since changing to cloth.

I will never work in a nursery that uses reusable nappies.

With disposables it's just a quick scrape down from front to back and 95% of the poo has gone leaving a quick wipe round needed.

Reusable ones are bulky, unhygienic, smellier, leak more, make children walk funny, not much greener and generally more disgusting in every way.

Tiggy D - sorry but you are completely wrong. Wiping the poo with the disposable nappy and disposing of the nappy with the poo still in it is totally disgusting. With reusables the poo gets easily flushed away, especially if you use flushable liners. Did you know it's actually illegal to place human faeces in household rubbish due to hygiene reasons? Disposables are waaaay more smelly than real nappies, ask any real nappy user. Yes cloth nappies are bulkier but so what? DD crawled at 7 months and walked at 10 months so it hardly impaired her development! For 0-6 months, cloth nappies are more reliable than disposables, after that I'd say there was no difference. I'm not sure about the walking funny claim - up until 20 years ago, all babies wore cloth nappies and I remember my mum putting my younger brother in a disposable and us all saying 'oh I don't like the way he walks in the disposable nappy'. It really doesn't matter!

Nurseries should be supportive of parents' nappy choices. We're not asking you to wash them, just change them regularly and flush the poo away, which you should be doing with all children regardless of the type of nappy they wear.