£300 to spend on reusables - What would you get?

[strawberrypie]

My OH entered a council competition to win £300 worth of real nappies and won! What would you real nappy gurus advise us to get? We have a choice of a few suppliers that sell most brands. I was thinking of a birth-potty system....

We are expecting a girl and are average hight parents. Absorbency and no leaking are priorities but the baby will be looked after in nursery or by family after 6 months so ease of use is also a consideration.

I was thinking along the lines of bumgeneuis/charlie banana pockets for daytimes and totbots stretchies (size 2) with motherease wraps for nights....what do you think? :)

I would go for a set of Birth to potty Pop'n'Gros.

I would recommend Charlie Bananas over Bumgenius.

My favourite pocket nappies are the pop'n'gro pockets but they come in two sizes so would take you over teh £300 limit for both sizes. So my next best recommendation would their birth-to-potty nappies.

I love bumgenius, very good and so easy to use.

Mind you this is based on using one just once when I ran out of nappies at a friend's house so had to borrow one of hers! I have a collection of terry squares and motherease wraps, fabulous but can be a pain with childcare though most people get teh hang of them fast enough. You'd be hard pushed ot spend £300 on them though!

Thanks Sal and Indith!

What are the advantages of pop'ngros Sal? I'll have to have a look at them. I read somewhere that the charlie bananas have better adjustability than the bumgenius and fit better around smaller legs....have you used both?

Indith I think you might be right about using terry squares at nursery being a problem (who am I kidding- it will be me who struggles!)

we use itti's at home, wonderoo V2 at nursery (i find them V absorbant and I thought nursery might trash velcro) and BumGenius for the grandparents as they dry quickly. We relucantly went disposable at night but found the tots bots bamboozle stretch great when we used them.

Thanks Hevster, do you mind me asking why you only use bumgenius for grandparents? Are they not as reliable as the itti's? Thanks very much for your advice :)

I didn't find the BG as reliable or as absorbant as the itti's but I do have a baby with thunderthighs and I know other people who say the opposite! I also love the look and feel of the itti's, particularly in the summer under a dress on DD2

Bumgenius were great for skinny dn, leaked rapidly on ds who is stocky. Conversely Motherease, ittis and Blueberry and Kushies were all very good - I got the Kushies AIOs and ittis/Blueberry stuffables for nursery as despite trying they kept getting the Motherease on wrong or breaking the nippas!

She could stock up on liners too as you'll want those after weaning. I find Imse Vimse ones thin but strong, and they survive the washing machine well too. More expensive than paper-towel-like ones but worth it.

Don't buy 'a system' - buy a few different types/brands and have fun! Have a look a Cheeks and Cherries and other websites for ideas and advice.

Thanks everybody- lots of food for thought! just to throw another name into the mix- has anyone used smartipants?

just got 1 today, looks a bit cheap but it's very slim fitting and so far performed well, was on for nearly 3 hours without being prewashed and no leaks. It seems bigger than a bumgenius and is certainly slimmer fitting

I'd say buy a few brands as you may find some fit better at different stages. I like Tots Bots Easyfits (V2s) and Itti Tuttos for reliable BTPs. I'm using Tots Bots Bamboozles at nighttime with Blueberry Coveralls or Thirsties wraps.

I had Bumgenius but the crappy aplix really hacked me off. I also had a lot of leaks with them but I know they also work really well for a lot of people.

We used TotsBots (Fluffles, Bamboozles, traditional and applix) with Motherease Rikki wrap. Fitted my slim and above average height boys really well with virtually no leaks.

Well, except when dh forgot to put a wrap on top of the nappy one night before putting ds1 into his grobag. Oh how we laughed .

nappies with poppers look better for longer as velcro gets tatty looking. pockets or ai2's are good for when other people are looking after them. I've used motherease sandies until my dd's were weaning as two parters are better containment, now I'm using itti's, bum genius, and rumparooz, which are a poppered pocket. I would suggest getting some sized ones for when they are up to about 15lb as one size ones can be bulky. I'd also buy a couple of swanky ones that I wouldn't spend my own money on, and I'd recommend a monkeyfoot wetbag!Lucky you!

I must admit find this 'two-parters are better for containment' thing quite mystifying. DS1 (now seven) and DS2 (now five) were in two-parters and were both far less well contained than DS3 who is two and is in a gorgeous range of pocket nappies and all in ones - Ittis, TotsBots Easyfits, BGs, Blueberries... They are a million times cuter and I find they all contain everything just as well if not better.

Aside from at night when the Bedbugs and Stretchy Bamboozles with fleece or wool kick in.

I remember some horrible poo escapes from back in the day. Not had ANY of those with DS3.

I also found once they were out of the gorgeous XS Sandy's, Sandy's barely contained a wee.

I love Itti Bitti D'Lish nappies - they last for ages and are the ones that go to nursery as they are so easy to use.

Thanks again for all the replies, I think the general consensus is that it is hard to tell which nappies will work best until we actually meet the new arrival and see what suits her! Therefore I am going to try to incorporate all your advice and get a selection of pocket type nappies (with poppers) and all in two's and see which we like. I can see now how nappies can become addictive! :)

Good plan. But don't rule out velcro. The velcro/aplix on my BGs has gone fuzzy and foul but the stuff on my Easyfits anf Blueberries is still fine. I often prefer velcro - it is really easy to use and get a good fit with. I love my velcro Blueberries, I only like my popper ones.