Cloth nappies from newborn - advice please

[jkklpu]

I'm expecting no3 in April. Having had 2 autumn/winter babies in the UK, I'm now preparing for a spring/summer in a hot country baby and thinking that having it sweat away in paper nappies might not be a good way to go. (And they are bloody extortionate here, too.) So I'd welcome any advice from people who've used cloth from near the start: which brands do you recommend, how easy is it to use them on tiny babies, any special tips to bear in mind?

I'm sure this thread will have been done before but couldn't find it after looking for a bit.

Muslims, nappy nippas and wool soakers/shorties are the way to go for a newborn :)

Believe it or not wool is surprisingly cool in summer as it allows for evaporation of the wee which cools...

Bambino mio is what I used on my newborn :)

Gah! Typing one handed sorry = fabric muslin not religion muslim

hmm...small size motherease with wraps might be sweaty

or coolababy poppers though they aren't great for tiny babies, that bit goes pretty fast and they are very light...

i used muslins on mine when they were born, then terries, then switched to my vast collection of varying makes!
mostly MEOs, fuzzi bunz, ella's house, wonderoos

never had a problem with sweatiness using a pvc wrap

I wimped out of the muslin and wraps system and we use all in ones- bum genius v 4. I think they're great- have been using them since dd was about 12 weeks (would have been sooner but she pooed about 100 times a day so I would have needed too many!). They expand as baby grows so are a birth to potty nappy.

I love Bummis cotton prefolds - so absorbent and wash so well. I use motherease airflow wraps though wool may be a better choice if it's really hot.

Top tip: nappi nippas - super easy to use to attach.

Practice folding - again, super easy once you've had a bit of practice (the Nappy Ever After website has good info on folding)

I have friends who swore by muslins, though didn't use them myself.

I also use bumgenius (though v3) and I'd say they're not great for from newborn. I used them from about 6 weeks with DS but he was quite a big baby and even then they were quite leaky with the runny newborn poo. The prefolds and wraps were, on the otherhand, bombproof

I only used muslins until she was big enough to go into the bungenius - about 8 weeks. They really didn't fit until then, and she wasn't tiny (went down to 7lb 9)

I just used terries nappies and fold them according to the baby's size, never had leaks.

I use Tots Bots Bamboozles, they have a size 1 which is good for when they are less than about 6 months, and size two is "birth to potty" but really no good until they are about 12lb.

Muslins here too- very easy, they dry in no time, cheap so you can have loads, and of course useful as cloths once they're grown out of as nappies. They'll be nice and cool when it's hot, too.

Thanks everyone for all these replies - will go through them in detail. V good to have so many positive reports of muslins, though not sure I'd be brave enough at the start.

We used Little Lamb size 1 microfibre nappies from day 1. They feel lovely and soft. For the first week or two dd's wees were so small we found we didn't need the wraps, when we started getting wee soaing through we used the Little Lamb wraps, they fit well and didn't seem sweaty (we didn't use a liner, so it was just cloth against dd's bum).

Dd was 8'3 when born, and the size 1 nappies fitted fine. Not sure if they would have with a tiny baby though. They've lasted really well despite daily use for 8 months. I'd really recommend them.

We have been using Bum Genius nappies since our DD was a month old, love them, they are really easy to wash and come in lots of nice colours which makes the washing more interesting! That and I find that disposable nappies smell awful in comparison, like there's a chemical smell or something. DD has not had nappy rash since we switched to washable nappies, I would definitely recommend them.