Real Nappy for a First Time Mum

[Victoria1984]

Hello Ladies

I am after some advice on using real nappies (I am sure there are posts on here asking the same questions as me) but I have developed carpal tunnel (how delightful) and my searching skills aren't what they once were! My DP has banned me from the laptop due to this so I am typing on the desktop with a hotwater bottle under my wrists :)

I am due in mid feb with first baby :O and am increasingly confused about real nappies.
Can I use them from birth, which brands are best and how many do I need to buy? etc.

Your advice will be much appreciated, I am assuming because of the carpal tunnel (have been assured that this will stop after the birth) I should use ready shaped nappies?

Thanks for any advice

My carpal tunnel stopped almost immediately so hopefully yours will do the same. I didn't use cloth for DD1 but am for DD2 and I would say from my experience that it's quite a good plan to use disposables for the first couple of weeks until you are a bit used to being a mum! Most people suggest that you try several different nappies until you work out what suits your LO best and good way to do that is either by getting a trail pack from someone like Fill Your Pants or buying second hand from cloth nappy tree. Lots of the nappy websites have advice things where you can fill out a questionaire or ring someone and they will help you choose what nappy might suit your lifestyle. Everyone I have dealt with in the 3 months I have been using them has been really kind and helpful - good luck

I second what Hevster says, I would personally plan to use disposables for the first few weeks to give yourself a chance to get on your feet.

My favourite nappy site is www.babykind.co.uk, I have bought loads from them as I have two in cloth nappies and their service has been brilliant.

They do a nappy trial service which a few of my friends have tried (wish I'd known about it when I had my first), details here www.babykind.co.uk/nappytrial.htm As Hevster says though, other places like Fill Your Pants do similar trials.

For one baby I would say you need between ten and eighteen nappies, depending on your circumstances. For example, I had some lovely bamboo nappies but they take an age to dry so I bought a few more so that the turn around time for my laundry/drying wasn't as tight (had limited drying space). I then realised that I'm crap at keeping up with laundry so bought a few more spares to keep myself going!
I now use microfibre pocket nappies that are super quick to dry and love them.

The nappies I would look at if I were buying now would be:

Bumgenius Pocket nappy Version4 (or 3)
Close Parent Pop In
TotsBots Bamboozle Stretch + a Rikki wrap
Iti Bitti D'lish
TotsBots EasyFit
Motherease Sandys + Rikki wrap

I too have ended up buying more as I was ashing too often, my stash is made up of itti bitti d'lish, wonderoo v2 and tots bots bamboozle stretch and wrap for night time

My first is 7 weeks and we are slowly increasing from disposables to reusables. Like you we have limited drying space so I have little lambs - virtually dry out the machine and very cute! The LL wrap is not so good though so I am looking to get a motherease wrap to try. Early on I also used folded muslins with nappy nipper and wrap - great for tiny bum!
I have now ordered bumgenius and the FLIP so will se how that goes.
The best thing we did was to get a trial pack from the council (we are in wiltshire) it's free and really helped us to choose - ie bamboo took forever to dry and bumgenius seem great.
Use disposables first though, there is enough to do without washing nappies!!!
Good luck!

I used cloth nappies for DD2 from birth and never had any problems, i have 3 children and managed to wash ok even with a newborn, only takes 5 secs to put a wash on lol.

For the first 4 weeks i used a muslin folded and fastened with a nippa and a nature baby wrap. This worked fab and was easy enough to chuck in the wash! After this i used tots bots cotton shaped nappies and the wrap until my baby was about 3mths then i started experimenting with different nappies. I did use bumgenius when she reached 9lbs and found these great also, plus DP found these easy to change as they were aplix. Every baby is different so buy a few different to start with so you dont waste money if they are not right and youve bought 15 of the same nappy!

As for the amount of nappies i changed DD2 every 2-3.5 hours (once or twice through night) and washed every two days so i got enough to last for that. I now wash every 2-3 days now DD2 is almost 8mths, bumgenius are still a firm fave but i now love terry nappies too!

Have you been to a demonstration? Something like the nappy lady?. It really helped me work out what to look for,

I would suggest using a two-part system (ie cloth plus a separate wrap). Motherease wraps are great - I prefer the ones with poppers to those with velcro.

We used Easy Peasy bumbles birth to potty nappies and they fitted from when DS was 8 weeks and still do now he is 2. We also tried tots bots but they didn't fit his body shape. Little lambs were also good.

20 nappies were fine when I was on maternity leave (around 8 per day, washing every other day and line drying overnight). When he went to nursery we got a few more because the spares needed to be in two places.

We use Itti Bittis with DD (our only DC) but I used disposables for the first week or so while we got used to everything. I had 6 outers and 10 sets of inserts and this wasn't really enough (I've now bought two more outers & inserts ready for DC2!!). I was washing nappies every day but this wasn't really a problem as I was on maternity leave. At a guess, you'd probably want 10 or so nappies to get you through a day and a few spares so you don't have to wash every day.

I chose Ittis because a friend had them. They're really compact (so can lack a little absorbency) but they're really easy to use and I knew DH would be fine with them. Ittis are sized though so you'll probably need to get small, medium & large but buying secondhand can save you lots of money. That's why we only have a small number of outers but I reuse them with clean inserts if they're still clean & dry.

I use TotsBots at night as they're way more chunky and absorbent but I also use disposables at night too. The TotsBots aren't any more complicated but because they lack colour-coded poppers for the inserts, DH is less confident making them up. Because they're quite bulky, we have to use larger babygros/PJs so they go over her bum

We had a nappy trial and it was great to find out what we liked (and what fitted DD the best). I would definitely suggest this.

Hi,
I have just started using cloth nappies on my 1yo and am due another in feb too. Used disposables with my first but decided it would save a lot of money with 2 in nappies at the same time. I borrowed bumgenius v3 and a fip. They were okay but I personally found them a little bulky. I know others swear by them though. I decided to go for an all-in-one nappy, birth to potty so I could use them for both lo's. I ordered a 5 pack of totsbots easyfit v2 to try, from www.naturalbabyshower.co.uk (good prices & free delivery). So far I have been really pleased with them & just got a 20 pack. They take a good few washes to reach maximum absorbancy and because the material against the baby's skin is bamboo, which holds the moisture, I ordered some reusable fleece liners for a stay dry layer. For night time I use an extra booster (you get 4 free with the 20 pack) and it easily goes 12hrs. I like the fact that I can't loose the inserts. Dh also gets on well with them and they aren't bulky at all. Would definately recommend for an easy cloth nappy newbie! hth. Hannah