smug with buying reusable nappies...how sad am I

[Honeybunnie]

Just ordered some reusable nappies of the net, tots bots nappies and motherease air rikki wraps. To ecomomise, I have also bought some fleece liners and boosters, what does everyone think of these? Just asking have I bought the some duds or are they ok. What has everyone else bought, and which ones do you recommend?

Somebody else is up at this G--forsaken hour!! Another excuse not to catch up on work....

I find Totsbots ok (can be drying nightmare, though), and definitely the ME wraps are great. The TB will have decent-good 2nd hand value, if you decide you don't like them after all. The only shaped naps I really like I bought in the USA & they are no longer made, alas.

Fleece doesn't suit all babies. Never worked with my first baby because his motions were too messy, but they are fine with 2nd baby (who seems to deposit leadshot & beach pebbles into her nappy).

If you really want to economise find a street market & buy some fleece fabric, cutting it to shape yourself for liners.

Good for you - I felt the same when mine came! I love the rikki wraps but find totsbots too bulky - I am a big Kissaluvs fan myself. But I know loads of people who love Tots. Fleece has been really useful for both my kids - it keeps them so dry. I would also suggest a fleece wrap of you are going to be using them at night - like a tots redwrap or one from Nappysaurus (www.nappysaurus.com) - they are more breathable and better for the skin when on all night.
Have fun - I LOVE my nappies!!

ds2 has been in totsbots since he came home from hospital at 2days old. I love them. The wraps are great too. I dont find it a problem to leave him in his for 12hours overnight, no nappy rash probs at all. Boosters are essential overnight, especially for my boys, +++pee!! I find fleece liners ok too, even for the most explosive diarrhoea nappies. Just dunk then in the loo to remove the worst of it. A little messy perhaps, but better than blocking up your waste pipes with supposedly flushable liners (apparantly any waste drains over 50yrs are likely to have kinked and liners/wipes/tampons etc can catch on the lip and gradually cause a blockage.. its happened to a friend of mine ...not pleasant) Besides I used to use paper ones and they'd break up. HTH

I used sam-i-ams and paper liners with ds1. Now I'm having fun with ds2- I just love fleece liners (wasn't around when ds1 was little). I'm using the sam-i-am nappies again (with an occasional earthwise and weenies thrown in) but having real fun trying out various wraps. I just love stacinator or whatever they're called wraps- especially the big bum fleecy ones. I'm in nappy heaven. Booseters are essential (I like the thin php ones as you can add as many as you like).

Well done to you all for using washable nappies, I would like to follow you but every time I look into it it just seems like a minefield and so expensive. DS1 was in disposables and I followed suit with DS2 as we were staying in a flat at the time and the drying facilities were not great. Now that we have moved it is more of an option.

DS2 is eight months (about 20lbs in weight) and it looks like it would cost just about £100 to kit him out in cloth nappies, that would be fine but it looks as though I would need to do the same again in a few months time when he grows a bit more, have I maybe left it too late now or do I have the wrong understanding of how this works? It is sooooo confusing! If anyone could be of any help I would be really grateful!

Oh and just another thought, when you are using re-usables do you find that their bums are too big for alot of clothes? This may be a problem as DS2 wears alot of DS1's hand-me-downs and obviously this would be an added expense if he were to need a whole new wardrobe.

Ds has been in reusables for the last 14 months, and he is still using the same size! I really recommend you look at the nappy lady site here and fill in their questionnaire, it will help you through all the problems swirling around. I haven't had to buy clothes in any bigger sizes either, and ds wears a lot of hand me downs from ds1, so I would be a bit put out if I had to spend extra to accommodate a nappy!

Thanks lou33. I had been onto her site but didn't realise there was a questionaire, I have now filled out all our details and await the response.

Some clothes are a bit small with cloth bums. I have a problem with 2 pairs of gorgeous Next dungarees for ds that just ping open at the crotch when he sits down with his big nappy on. But other than that no problems. My ds went into this size of nappy at about 5 months (kissaluvs size2) and until about a month ago dd (3 next week) was wearing the same nappies to bed, with some room still to spare, when she decided to be dry. So a size 2 nappy now should do to potty training. You might need to buy bigger wraps later but not the nappies. HTH

Hope they get back to you quickly Demented.

Susanmt, do you think it is because of the nappies? I have always found Next clothes to come up very small, and my suspicious and cynical mind always assumes it is so you have to buy their brand more often!

We've used Tots Bots since about 5 months, (Mothercare shaped before that) and have been really happy with them. Hopefully ds1 will be out of them before number 2 arrives in the summer so we can save even more by using them on two children. I think there are a few nappies out there which fit from birth to toddler it is just the wraps that you need to buy in different sizes, but we just about get away with 3-4 wraps, and again if you have more than one child you can use them again. I've nevr bought anything in Next so don't know about the fits, also have a long skinny boy so grateful for the extra bulk that the nappy provides. When he does use a disposable his waist ends up round his knees.

HI All

New here and lovely to find another nappy page!I use a huge range of cloth depending on my mood and what Ds is going to wear!

Look forward to chatting again

I think that Next clothes are pretty small anyway, and I'm also not keen on the quality, but that is all down to a dress I bought for dd splitting in the wash and them being rude to me whan I tried to take it back. I reckon these 9-12 month dungies (he is 1 on Monday) would have fitted for a bit longer if it wasn't for the bulky nappy - but I am more interested in having reusable nappies than I am in having Next clothes, so I'm not that bothered. I wouldn't buy them though.

My kids are so scrawny that even Next clothes, even with fat cloth bums, still fit them fine...LOL.

Lou33, thanks again, I have contacted the Nappy Lady and she got back to me today. A nice phone call first of all to say that an e-mail was on it's way (mind you I was rushing out the door for a dental appointment at the time so didn't have much time to chat) a very detailed e-mail that has taken me most of the evening to plow through and weigh up the pros and cons and I have now e-mailed her for a sample of some of the nappies she has recommended. I have asked for three to start with (thought I would ease into it and see how we got on). She has recommended Tots Bots size 2 and I have gone for the Aplix with a large Air Flow wrap, this is the bit I am not sure about, don't know if I should have gone for this one or the Rikki wrap, I think the difference is that the Air Flow has poppers and the Rikki has velcro, some fleece liners and a fleece booster. Can't wait to try them!

Arrgh, Susanmt I have just read that you find the Tots Bots too bulky, this was one of my concerns that I mentioned when I enquired with the Nappy Lady. I have just noticed that a few of you that have posted here use the Rikki wraps, I would be grateful if you could tell me what you think about them and if you know anything about the Air Flow wraps (still think the whole thing is v confusing).

If anyone else is thinking of changing to cloth with a slightly older baby one useful thing the Nappy Lady did say that it was an ideal time to switch as DS2 (8 months and about 20lbs) was big enough to move into the size 2 nappies which hopefully should do him until potty training.

BTW I wonder if anyone could tell me roughly how many nappies I would need, she is suggesting 14 but also says in her e-mail that a baby in a cloth nappy should need changed no more often that a baby in a disposable and at the moment this is only 3 or 4 times a day (oops doesn't sound alot, but he has never had nappy rash and is always changed straight away when dirty). If this is the case do you think I could get away with 8 or at the most 10 nappies?

Sorry I am rambling tonight, I didn't realise I could get quite as excited about nappies!

I have 12 nappies and have to wash every other day to make sure i dont run out , so I dont think thats too bad. Glad the Nappy lady was helpful!

I personally find totsbots too bulky although they are lovely at night (very soft and absorbent). I now use Motherease Sandys - much easier than 'traditional' Motherease and cheaper, although they are a two sized nappy. But they are a 'pretty' nappy, with soft elasticated waist and legs in unbleached cotton. I also now use terries a lot.

The difference in wraps is that one has velcro and one has poppers, Born (excellent shop in Bristol) recommend the Motherease with velcro, I've got some of each and the velcro is definitely easier although sometimes I worry its a bit hard around the waistline.

I have 14 nappies and wouldnt mind about 4 more as I find I do have to wash a lot at the moment. Nappy Lady recommends 3-4 wraps but I like to have more - I've got 6.

Enid, can you tell me your method for using terries - how do you fold/fix them? And how old is your baby?
I'm trying to make the change but can't afford shaped nappies and would welcome any advice about the best way to use terries for a 14 month old.
Thanks

Elliott, I've got a photocopy that a friend gave me with lots of different folding techniques, if you contact mumsnet for my email and send me your address, I can send it to you.

My baby is only 16 weeks so its been easy to fold them so far, can't tell you how easy or not it would be for a 14 month old, although it should be fine.

I have 10 nappies but have just ordered another 5, because I found that it wasn't quite enough for 2 days and nights, so I was washing every day to get enough, and doing little washes. So I ordered a few more. I have 5 wraps, and this is more than enough for us. I have 2 Rikkis, 2 Bumpys and a nappysaurus fleece for night - I rinse it out every morning, stick it on the radiator and it is dry in time for night. I like the rikki wrap as I have popper nappies and didnt want a popper wrap as well - mainly because dh has trouble with the poppers (although he can do it, ds is not very amenable to nappy changes at the moment). But ds can, very carefully, now remove the wrap! Mind you half the time he is just in the the nappy, he hates clothes! You shoudl try the tots and if you dont like them you can always try somethng wlse an keep them for nights when bulk doesnt matter.

I use the motherease sandys too and think they are excellent. I have no idea what wraps I am using though, but they have poppers!

Oh Goody a nappy discussion!

I know what you mean Demented...believe you me... it could get a lot worse!!! Just pop your head into the Cloth Nappy Board at UKP...nappy addiction galore...

You cannot believe the amount of different types of nappies you can get, patterned, shaped, coloured etc etc... not to mention some of the WAHM nappies you can get! You want fairies and ballerinas stamped on babies bot! You got it!

At the moment dd has a rather fetching Nature Babies Popper wrap - purple gingham! Very cute!!

At the moment I have got 12 fuzzi Bunz (in all sorts of colours!), 5 kissaluvs (lovely ice cream colours!) and 2 ella's house hemp nappies! I've gone for the slimmer fitting nappies and all of these are great for that... luckily dd is not a huge weeer, so I've never needed to worry about soaking through etc... I've also got a motherease popper and velcro wrap (with little whales all over them!... (rikkis? Air flow? Who knows!) and the afore mention gingham nature babies wrap

It's really hard not to go mad! I've got a Cuddlebuns nappy which was made by a WAHM and came from the USA - very cute!! but as I was going down the slimmer fitting nappy... not so practical!

Twinkle twinkle has a terrific range of nappies and Miranda who owns the site is really helpful!

twinkle twinkle website -here

Happy Nappying!

LOVE Totsbots myself. SOOOO much better than kooshies which I used first time around. Motherease never stayed done up on my ds1, always leaked, and were too bulky on ds2. Gave them to SIL who seems to like them. I have 4 wraps which seems to be enough for us. I also used terries when knowing I'd be at home for a while cos they never stayed done up with a nappi-nippa and quite often leaked. It was summer at the time so didnt really matter, fewer clothes to get soggy. Now that ds2 is more mobile I find velcro invaluable. The quicker the fastening the better, although prefer the popper wraps as they allow more breathability. I have 12 2nd stage totsbots, (plus 12 first stage) but if you go for just 2nd stage, I'd get a few more for the early months especially if bf.... lots of pooey nappies!

Don't find Totsbots bulky at all on my ds2 (now 10mo). At least not compared to any other nappy that I've tried (kooshies, motherease, bambino mio, terries). I have air rikki and motherease popper wraps and I dont find any difference really.