when can you start using washable nappies? Are there good newborn brands?

[titferbrains]

Planned to use washable nappies DD. next baby due sept. Am likely to need a csec. will be getting help in first 6 weeks.

Seems it would be sensible to start with disposables as they fit reasonably snugly and then move on to washables once baby is 8 or 9 lb. Having seen my NB niece recently, I have clearly forgotten how tiny newborns are! even an nb nappy was difficult to get on properly!

Want to order a starter pack in the next few days. We have a tumble drier and I wash at least one load a day.

I always do nappy only washes, just a habit really but don't fancy putting other things in with them, somehow it seems wrong.

At first the newborn poo is really runny so if you use a fleece liner it will just stick to it so it will all go in the wash together. If you use paper liners with a newborn get nice soft ones because they can be quite irritating on their bums.

I wash muslins or terry cloth on 60, any bamboo nappies or wraps on 40 with half the recommended amount of Fairy Non-Bio, no softener as that can reduce the absorbency of the nappies.

Yes, you would always need a wrap as the wet will just wick through onto whatever they are in, trousers, the carpet, anything!

You can get wool and fleece wraps though I think as well as PUL wraps, though I've never used them.

Yes always use a wrap, have I mentioned ME airflows . We have also used wool shorties at night, which take a bit of getting your head around but actually work really well.

Newborn poo is so very liquid you pretty much don't need liners, the washing machine can cope with it all. I did do all nappy washes - because there are so many anyway. Dry pail the dirty ones and wash every other day. Wash at 40-60, with a third of recommended detergent and NO softener. Newborn poo stains like the devil, but sunlight is excellent for bleaching it out. If the nappies loose some absorbency then do a stripping wash (wash hot with a small amount of washing up liquid). If you want extra sanitizing (especially if baby has any sicky bugs or diarrhea) then you can use some Napisan in the wash, but I didn't as a rule.

If nappies just have wee in them I would wash with other things - but only if not using softener.

Ahhh wool covers, the most wonderful things! We had shorties and longies that were worn 90% of the time :D.

I would put pee nappies in with towels on a 60 wash, bf babies poo more and have more poo explosions (disposables didn't always contain them either!) Often leading to poo covered clothes and they'd go in too. As said, sunlight, even overcast, is amazing for naturally getting out most staining.

Ahhh wool covers, the most wonderful things! We had shorties and longies that were worn 90% of the time :D.

I would put pee nappies in with towels on a 60 wash, bf babies poo more and have more poo explosions (disposables didn't always contain them either!) Often leading to poo covered clothes and they'd go in too. As said, sunlight, even overcast, is amazing for naturally getting out most staining.

Titferbrains, I'm new here and unsure if it's against the rules to mention (in which case if it is, please delete this post) but there's a cloth nappy addicts forum you can google where there's a whole herd of women who can link you up and talk nappies until it takes over your brain :D

nope not against rules to link to a website! is it nappylady or some other one?

Just want a nappies for idiots site really, whenever I come across info it all sounds a bit complicated....but will watch a few more videos as they make things really clear.

What is best kind of liner to use then for newborns, or should you just go without as their poos are so runny?

I went without due to runny poos, but I did buy some fleece ones that were washable later on. If you are going to bf then the poo isn't all that thick or anything.

Clothnappyaddicts.co.uk - I spent far too much time on there lol, you can ask for beginner's help on there, there's probably already threads along similar lines on there. You can buy pre-loved nappies there too, just be warned it is addictive! There's a whole world of WAHM made nappies out there ;). If I were you I'd just information gather, maybe buy a few tiny nappies to have a look at and figure out if you really want to invest more in them, and avoid spending big on the fancy nappies until you're sure if you want to.

I went without due to runny poos, but I did buy some fleece ones that were washable later on. If you are going to bf then the poo isn't all that thick or anything.

Clothnappyaddicts.co.uk - I spent far too much time on there lol, you can ask for beginner's help on there, there's probably already threads along similar lines on there. You can buy pre-loved nappies there too, just be warned it is addictive! There's a whole world of WAHM made nappies out there ;). If I were you I'd just information gather, maybe buy a few tiny nappies to have a look at and figure out if you really want to invest more in them, and avoid spending big on the fancy nappies until you're sure if you want to.

Ooh and feel free to message me or anything like that on here. When is your baby due?

We used Itti Bittis with DD from about 3wks. Newbie parents so we stuck with disposables until we realised we weren't going to injure her however it also meant the nasty meconium poo went straight in the bin rather than all over my pristine Ittis We didn't use liners until DD was weaned and pooing more substantial poos. As a baby, DD's pooey nappies went straight in the bucket and straight in the wash. We still just do a nappy wash, partly because of poo residue and partly because I don't want to overload the drum as the nappies get very heavy when wet.

Definitely DON'T use fabric softener, it stops your nappies absorbing which is not what you want! It'll take a few washes to get your nappies up to their max absorbancy too, so I'd suggest pre-washing some a few times.

I agree with others that the best way to keep them gleaming is to get them out in the sun; it's great at bleaching out stains - so great for all your baby's clothes.

Ooohhh... I did a nappy trial too, which was really helpful. I'd already decided on Itti's after seeing a friend use them, but we had to use fatter nappies for night-time. It didn't cost much and allowed me to see which nappies fitted DD the best, and which were the easiest for DH to use!

If you're not sure on a brand, I'd recommend a trial. I did ours with BabyKind.

I use Bumgenius v3 with DS since he was 8 weeks old (his legs were skinny so the nappies were not tight enough before).

I use additional bamboo boosters at night as DS is an heavy wetter. I never used a paper liner as they give DS a red bum.

I don't separate them and just put them in the wash at 60C. I use Bold washing liquid. The nappies and microfibre inserts dry in less than 12 hours and the bamboo ones take around 24h. I do a wash every 2 days.

I didn't a trial but so a nappy advisor who was able to show quite a lot of what was on offer

we used washabloes from 1 week old. DD was 5lb 13 at birth andI couldn't find the teeny tiny size disposables anywhere. In a normal newborn sized disposable (tried 3 brands) we had poo explosions a lot and almost every wee ran ou of the leg holes so we went to washables to keep the wee inside

From what I learned last time with DS, I'm going with disposables for first week or so, then going folded muslin with Nappy Nippa and Motherease Airflow wrap.

After 3/4 months, when they don't hack it, I've got a stack of regular terry squares I'll switch to, and then when they're getting annoying and she's crawling etc. I've got some Bumbles.
I bought Eco Bumbles which you stuff yourself, with the terry squares!
Airflow wraps with all. I've also got some wool wraps, but they can wait til no more night changes/poos.
I've got fleece liners that I'll use with the terry squares when poo gets solider after 6 months, until she's in the Bumbles, as they have fleece inners anyway.

If I was buying from scratch, I'd go for muslins to start with, moving straight into normal Bumbles, all with Motherease Airflow wraps.

I have been reearching Terry flat folds and have foudn the nappy lady site quite informative for folds etc, does'nt seem as scary as I first thought.

as Nappies Demo video of using a muslin for a newborn seems quite easy and clear.

I like the idea of Terries becasue they are much cheaper than shaped nappies, dry much faster and can be re-used if you don't like them.