Terry Nappies

[angelaanson]

I am 19 weeks pregnant and when I went to my midwife appointment and asked her, "how many of your pregnant ladies are going to use terry nappies"? She said no one. I said that we are.

How many of mumsnet members are using or going to use terry nappies?

How much do disposables cost for a newborn for a week?

Angela

Are you planning to use Terry Squares or some other type of washable nappies?

I would start with something easy to use tbh and 2nd hand to find out what works for you and fits your baby's shape

We are planning to use Terry nappies but it seems that we are doing this alone.

Terrires require folding and pins or nippas, which is what put me off them. We use little lambs Microfibre washables for day with Motherease wraps and they are leak proof and dry overnight hung indoors. Amazing and have saved us a fortune. Bamboo for night are more absorbent.

I'm planning on using terries, alongside other reusables such as TotsBots Easyfits, Bummis prefolds, etc. I have regular sized standard ferries (which I got in a set from Tesco for a bargainous £7) as well as some 50cm bamboo ferries by Little Lambs. I've been practising the folds and using the nippas so am feeling quite excited to try it on my baby, rather than a teddy!
I have a big selection of wraps as they have such differing reviews and I didn't want to go mad on one particular make before I was sure that we got on with them. I have Motherease Rikkisand Airflows, Nature Babies, ImseVimse, Bummis Brutes, Minki as well as some gorgeous cashmere longies that I got in a sale!

Im 34+2 so not long until I'll be getting to grips with the bat fold for real!

Bummis brites! Not brutes!

Thank you for telling me the alternatives. I have got some nappy gripper things. My husband would be devastated if he stuck a pin in our baby. I don't have a teddy to practice on. Only an unwilling cat but I value my skin so I wont bother trying to practice on her.

It is the cost of disposables that have really pushed us to want to use the old fashioned nappies. Also they are less bulky. Both Daddy and I had old nappies and we survived.

I would look at getting bamboo squares as the fabric is more absorbent so less bulky. Motherease wraps are the most reliable by far - the popper fastening ones.

Bulky cloth bums are an issue when it comes to getting trousers to fit so again be warned about buying clothes until you work out what will fit and what won't.

I used terry squares amongst many other types and would recommend easy peasy bumbles - they do an economy one that you could stuff with the squares you have already got.

Have a look to see if you have a Real Nappy Network or support group in your area. Lots on Facebook or just google. Or sites like Cloth Nappy Tree.

There is so much choice with real nappies nowadays, and a network may have a kit you can hire to try out or types of nappy for you to look at. There is also a strong pre-loved / for sale community and loads of advice.

I used real nappies with both my DC (now 6 & 7) and made some really good friends through it. You really won't be alone. And it's refreshingly normal folk who use them too. Plus you will save a fortune.

I agree with the other posters!

There are lots of names for the kind of nappies you're talking about - "terries" is just one of them... "real nappies" "washables" "reusables"... you'll find a lot more people are out there using "reusables" than you think. You're definitely not alone.

Definitely consider finding out a bit about the modern types of reusable nappies. There are types with velcro or poppers, types which are all in one, where you don't need "plastic pants" (also known as "wraps")... so much to find out about, and loads of fun, too, believe it or not!

Where we live, our county council actually gives a grant of £30 to ALL families when they set themselves up for using washable nappies - definitely worth looking to see if your council offers something similar.

There's loads of advice and support on here too.

In terms of cost, you can save yourself about £600 by using washables instead of disposables. That's just for the first child - if you hand them down to any other children, you're saving more every time.

I use reusable nappies, check to see if their is a nappy library in your area and you could be able to try a few different types

I do use terries but also use shaped nappies like little lambs that use wraps. But terries are cheaper, they dry quicker and once you get the hang of them they're really easy. I like to use wraps/covers that have added leg gussets, if the nappy isn't on brilliantly the wrap will catch the majority of leakages. My nappies are now in use on my second child, so big savings there.

You can also buy them second hand which can be a cheaper way of trying out different types of nappy.

I used disposables with my first as a newborn, and a mix of disposables and cloth with my second newborn. Cloth is bulkier, and can mean sizing up on things like vests and trousers earlier but it's no big deal really.

I use pocket nappies throughout the day and a disposable nappy at night.
I'm using little bloom ones which are great value for money and easy to use with no folding or pins etc.

Ah, see I disagree that terries are quicker drying... our microfibre all in ones that we used for DD2 were almost dry when they came out of the washing machine. We used terry-cloth shaped mappies on DD1, and I am sure they took longer to dry.

That's why it's a great idea to have a go with a few different types if you can get hold of a loan kit.

We have a mix of microfibre and bamboo inserts and the bamboo take ages to dry, the microfibre ones are dry very quickly as are the outers.

Yes, bamboo is really absorbent but takes a long time to dry (good for overnight though), whereas microfibre is slightly less absorbent (not so much as to cause a problem) but v. v. quick to dry...

thread hijack, sorry OP!

Ah yes, I don't really use much microfibre apart from the odd booster, I prefer bamboo and hemp. Good point!

Check out bumgenious and the nappy lady website which has really good reviews of the different options available. A lot depends on your drying plans- if you have a tumble them bamboo are probably the best to go for, we don't so had a selection of microfibre ones that dried very quickly. We didn't manage to exclusively use reusable nappies - a mixture and always pampers at night, but I feel good to have saved a few hundred disposables from landfill.

But be very aware that although your nappy bill will be significantly down if you use reusables your energy bills (for washing machine and tumble and/or heated aired that we have) will be up!!! Still very worthwhile IMO.

I used terry squares for both mine ...loved them.
Kite fold and nappi nippas with various wraps (tots bots mainly iirc) until they went onto solids and poo was less runny then used them folded like prefolds and in wraps with pouches (ellie pants - don't think they still exist )
I folded them when dry so they were always ready, not as I needed them no hassle. Quick to dry - folding is strangely therapeutic if you do it sat down, watching TV and not in the middle of the night with a screaming baby!
Private nursery had no problem with them for DD1 (taught two of the nursery workers how to do the kite fold ones (took them folded) but as prefolds I sen them in the pants so no more tricky for them than disposables -they even used to rinse the shitty nappies out for me )
The terries were given to me -they'd done two babies and did my 2 too . Made more worn ones into reuseable wipes for DD2. Some worn ones I still have - use them for rags for DIY etc...rest passed onto to someone else...they have done another baby!
Also used them for changing mat liners for managing poonamis, covering bed/pram sheets/shoulder for a refluxy baby, for lying them on for a kick without a nappy - honestly don't know what people without them use (muslin squares?)