Educate me please

[frakkinup]

I have no clue about reusables beyond the fact I want to use them once baby is a couple of weeks old.

I'm so confused by all the different brands and components. I can get my head around Terry squares because I vaguely remember my brother having them (and obv I did too). But the rest is beyond me and things seem to have moved on a bit.

What's good for hot climates? I see fleece liners mentioned - doesn't that make baby hot?

What's the minimum I need?

Shaped or not? Pros and cons please.

Is there a good idiot's guide somewhere?!

Having only used them briefly before abandoning them due to DCs getting nasty wet eczema, I don't know much either but a lot of people on here will put you right.

I have used terry towelling old fashioned thingies with plastic pants, which were difficult to use but cheap.

I have also used modern wraps with liners and a nappy laundering service but had problems with leaks and baby's skin.

However I do know you can get better wraps now, and silk liners that are also fab for nappy rash, but that many people start off with a couple of packs of disposables before moving onto the reusables.

We use motherease onesize on dd. She was in disposables for the first 8 weeks or so just cos I had enough on my plate! Honestly they are the best money we ever spent. She is much more comfortable in them and they are no bother really. We use fleece liners and they work a treat and they didn't seem to bother her in summer. (Mind you living in Scotland, our summer is probably more like your winter )

The Nappy Lady website is really good and they have a helpful answer your questions where they will help you figure out what to get. You can buy tester sets and some councils do starter packs for reduced price/ free, so worth looking into that! Also we just bought loads of Asda basics flannels and use theses rather than wipes with just water.

Think all babies are different but these nappoes really suit dd and she has had no nappy rash since we have been using them.

I would say get the paper liners to start with and then try fleece (apart from anything else you'll need to wash the fleece a lot before its ready to use)

If using fleece get it from a haberdashery and cut it up yourself- its miles cheaper than buying ready cut ones!

We have 20 nappies and that involves a wash every 2 days. You may need more if you don't have a tumble dryer.

Personally I would go for shaped cos theres no folding, just pop in the liner and fasten and put on the wrap and thats it!

The Motherease wraps are excellent and breathable and many of the mums I know use them with other brands!

Hope this helps, I know its a bit of a guddle! Any other questions I will try to answer /help.

A word of tropical warning:

I tried to use them for DS1 and had to give up fairly fast, because he got so hot in them it was unbearable for him. I tried again at various times over the first 3mths (between March and June) before giving in.

I was v disappointed.

In the moist heat and high temperatures where you are, you'd need to try and find a type of nappy that is not too hot.

With dc1 I used mothercare shaped nappies after about 3 weeks (started with disposables as he was tiny) and then went on to terry squares with plastic pants and Boots booster pad at night.

With dd I had pretty much as above and then pink tots bots and motherease airflows with wraps.

With ds2 I went a bit mad and bought some stuffie nappies as they had cars on, fuzzi bunz and blue tots.

I still have some if you want to try them at a reduced rate.

If I had a baby now I would use fuzzi bunz and tots bots.

Bugger, that's what I was afraid of Auld. They just seem to come with so many bits and layers that I can't see how it would work, yet there are people who do it

Maybe the answer is to leave the air-con going all the time!

Yes, we didn't have air conditioning, so that might make quite a difference, if you think it's OK healthwise to have it on so much.

But even in June, at fairly high altitudes, I found he was sweating like nobody's business. And I didn't try anything remotely resembling a fleece liner.

In a car seat, even with air con, kids get very hot out there.

You could perhaps have some for when it's possible, and use disposables the rest of the time?

I think they are available where you are, though. Just as I was leaving, a crèche opened which was trying to be eco-friendly, providing organic food, and using cloth nappies. I think it was in the East somewhere (Ste-Marie? St Benoît?) If it is still going, they might be able to give advice about which brands are not too heavy.

Or you could maybe try asking on Living Overseas whether anyone in a hot climate has found good lightweight makes of cloth nappy...

That's the thing, isn't it? I'd rather not have the aircon going the whole time because it's not the greatest thing healthwise especially if you're going in and out from cold to hot, although we won't be able to survive without it at night, and we're so much lower than you were so it'll be worse BUT I worry about the huge amount of waste disposable nappies generate and they're so expensive here.

A mix of disposables and washables might well be the best compromise.

I saw an ad for an Eco/Bio festival-type-thing this weekend and I think I saw washables mentioned so might be worth checking out.

Now I just have to persuade DH it's not all hippy stuff!

I have no experience of using reusable nappies in hot climates at all ..... however thinking about my current stash of nappies (and I have A LOT) I think that bumgenius Flips maybe your solution or at least worth trying. When I first saw them I was very sceptical as I was a big pocket nappy fan but my DD2 can't tolerate disposables so I looked at them again as they are very lightweight and I thought they would be a good option for holidays and not take up too much space in our luggage. I now keep one in the car and I usually choose to take them out and about as they don't take up much room in my change bag either.
I haven't tried the disposable insert but I use both the stay dry and the organic cotton one. The organic cotton one is like a prefold and the stay dry looks a bit like a straight edged pocket insert but has a stay dry bit on top of microfibre so the wee soaks through and the baby's skin stays dry.
The reason I think these might work for you is that there is much less thick stuff in these nappies compared to a shaped nappy or a pocket nappy that is fleece lined. There is the absorbant bit in the middle (between their legs) but around the sides of their body it is just the wrap that is against their skin. This makes less fabric to make them hot (and for me I find it is less bulk making them nice and slim fitting for under trousers).
Weehuggers are sort of similar to Flips but made by Blueberry and come in prints and plain colours with velcro and popper fastenings but they come in 2 sizes whereas Flip come in just one birth to potty size. Weehuggers have a bit more fabric inside which is designed to keep the insert in place. This may make it hotter for your baby. The weehugger inserts are bamboo although I have also used the flip inserts in them and some plain cotton prefolds as well.
Anyway just thought I'd add my tuppence worth.

Most of my family live in Australia, very hot but dry not humid. They report flat nappies are fine with breathable plastic pants/wraps (which is any modern type). You don't have to use fleece liners, there are other sorts (cotton, bamboo).