washable nappies questions from a first time mum with no idea what to expect

[KnockedUpMell]

Hi all, apologies if these are silly questions but it's my first and I have really no idea what to expect.

I have been keen on the idea of going with washable nappies (17w at the moment), but saw an acquaintance doing a nappy change for her 9 month old, and was completely put off by the mess (and volume of poo), and couldn't help wondering if maybe disposables may be more convenient. But at the same time I don't like the idea of generating so much waste. So had some questions to ask and would be very grateful for advice. I like the idea of the convenience of an all-in-one, and was thinking of the Bumgenius for this reason. I am also planning to EBF.

DH has expressed concerns about how 'hygienic' it is to put a dirty nappy with poo in it in the washing machine. I was under the assumption that the paper liners would catch most of the poo and that we could just flush those away, but with an EBF baby, isn't it mainly liquid poo? And does this just soak through the paper liner? I am assuming if it is a very heavily stained nappy I can rinse it out before putting it in the washing machine. Are these reasonable assumptions?

I was going to start off with a trial pack of 5 nappies, and assuming we get on with them, get another 10. Will these last me a couple of days? I was hoping to do the laundry every 2-3 days.

Any advice?

Hi, when I started using cloth I used disposable liners so it caught most of the poo, but when DD2's poo started firming up I didnt bother with them and just shook the poo down the loo. You can also get reusable liners that are made from fleece and cotton or even silver (which are good for nappy rash). Alot of the nappy manufacturers recommend you wash the nappies at 40 degrees which is meant to be fine but I always wash at 60 so I know the bugs are gone, you can also get nappy sanitiser, lollipop do a good one called clean and fresh, or there are alternative methods such as bicarbonate of soda.

It is also usefule to remember that breast fed poo will completely break down in the machine. You will get staining on the nappy but I have to say mine have been heavily poo'd in but they all wash up really good. I always make sure most of the poo is off them then I dry pail them in a laundry mesh so I dont need to touch the nappies when transferring them to the machine, I then do a cold rinse, then a hot (60) wash with a small amount of non bio and a rinse at the end if they are still soapy.
Bum Genius are great nappies but I would advise getting a few different types also to see which fits the shape of your DC, you can buy 2nd hand nappies from sites like Uk parents lounge and cloth nappy tree, dont be put off byt the fact that they are 2nd hand, most of them are like new as people really do look aftewr there cloth nappies.
I also wouldnt advise that you put your paper liner down the loo (we had to get dina rod out due to this).

You will need approx 20 mappies if you are washing every other day, when your baby is little you may find you get better containment with a nappy and wrap system rather than an all in one nappy (I found I got better containment this way even against disposables)

I rambled on here hope it makes sense lol.

Regardless of nappy type you will have to clean lots and lots of poo off your baby (and sometimes off you too). I agree with Ellielou that washables are better on containment than disposables as they're more adjustable (especially if you use a 2 part nappy and separate wrap as there are 2 barriers)

You will also discover that a) newborn baby poo, especially if breastfed doesn't smell and b) your own baby's poo doesn't smell vile like someone else's baby's poo - basically you're genetically programmed to deal with it.

If you do flush liners, make sure your plumbing is fairly sound and try to tear the liners as you pop them in, and also don't flush loads at the same time.

Washables are a lot more convenient in that you just wash them and reuse - you won't run out and have to take baby out in all weathers to get more, and there aren't bin bags and bin bags of rubbish to put out for the dustman. They're also very much cheaper, you could easily save £500 and reuse them if you have more babies.

I can recommend Totsbots Flexitot nappies. They're brilliant but here are the facts:

1. You change more wet nappies with washables because there's no chemical gubbins sucking up all the wee.

1. You will use at least 10 nappies per day

1. You may want to use disposables too - eg at night and when you go out. However, in the early days you probably won't be out long enough and your baby won't sleep through any way.

1. I've never had to deal with an up-the-back-poo which necessitates a full change of clothes as well as nappy when using flexitots.

1. You'll be washing poo, sick and wee off all your clothes. Don't worry you soon get used to it

1. Dry pail. Then you can drop the nappies in and the lid clips on to prevent nasty odours leaking out.

1. Fleece liners are really good for bf babies. I found the paper liners just couldn't cope until dc was eating solids. You either scrape the poo off into the loo or hold them under the flush.

1. I love our washables. Dc never gets nappy rash wearing them.

Best of luck with it all

Basically you get used to the poo

I used flushable liners which normally got the worst of it, plus a fleece liner for dryness. I put used nappies in a lidded bucket, no water, and washed the bucketful every 2nd day as a load on its own. IME washables don't Stink like used disposables do in the dustbin, yuk.

I found it no hassle using washables, but then I was at home all the time, not sure how a nursery would have coped.

I guess washing nappies in the machine, is a bit like that new "germy soap pump" ad . The germs are really nothing to worry about, because the very next thing you are going to do is wash your hands, (or in this case nappies!) There won't be any germs left in the machine after you've done the washing,because they've all just been washed out! However, there WILL be lots of germs in your bins, if you use disposables, and as out bin only gets emptied fortnightly, that's a LONG time for germs to breed!

Once your baby is a few weeks old, if you're lucky, ebf babies often only poo once every 4 or 5 days! Like someone else said, whatever you use, you'll have to deal with poo. Would recommend a two parter for the first six months, I use motherease sandys, they're fab. I can deal with poo, it's stringy boogers I hate!

You've got the right idea to start off with a few and work up from there. We used BumGenius for DS to take to nursery and really liked them.

At home, we used pre-folds. I think we had about 24 in each size and about 5 wraps. Post-weaning, we settled into a twice weekly washing routine but pre-weaning we washed more often...it's a bit hazy now but probably now more than 3 times a week.

Paper liners are great but don't contain everything. We used to wash at 60 degress with tea tree oil to disinfect. For really nasty ones, I'd put them on for an extra rinse.

If you are worried about keeping your washing machine fresh, you can do the odd 90 degree wash on an empty machine to get rid of any nasties.

You can also get NapiSan etc to put in the wash. We had some nappy sanitiser stuff but you are not supposed to use it on wraps and it got to be too much of a faff to seperate wraps out from everything else so never used it.

Please also consider washable wipes. They are brilliant, and no extra hassle if you are washing nappies already.

fleece liners, also firm poo from 6 mo plus are what is referred to in our house as 'rollers'.
You could youtube 'diaper spray' , a diy simple plumbing element that can attach to the loo supply for poo rinsing.
We have a bidet and tbh when LO is very young I dunno how you cope with 'that type' of poo without one.
Truth imo is washables aren't as convenient as disp but better all round on all other factors. You have to pretend disp dont exist and kinda get on with it.
Every week / month gets easier.
Good luck