which reusable nappy would you recommend?

[mellowmee]

DD is 16MO and we are moving over to reusables. Looking at the options out there my mind is boggled. Price/absorbancy/comfort are the main factor for us and I have been edging towards the Totsbots Bamboozle stretch as it seems to get good reviews. Does anyone have any experience of these and in terms of price are they at a similar level to others, or much higher? Also, how many nappies do I need to buy? I am thinking a pack of 15 would be sufficient...

Also, I am reading that people add extra to the nappies at night time, is this to increase absorbancy and is this definitely necesary even with the bamboozle where absorbancy is supposed to be very high?

Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks for answering my many questions! :)

I love love loved my bumgenius :)

thanks, i have sooooo much to look into.

Can I just ask some real basics!! So, reusable nappy componant parts seem to be 1. Nappy, 2. Wrap, 3, Liner, 4, Booster. Is this right? And do I need to buy them all - what is the liner and the booster? I understand that you can get 1 part nappies where wrap not necessary, or 2 part where you have nappy and wrap but confused about liner and booster!

thanks!!

booster = piece of cloth (terry / hemp / bamboo etc) that you insert to make nappy more absorbant (ie absorb more wee)

liner = something that you put on the top of a nappy to make it stay dry and / or make poo disposable easier.

some nappies (ie ones that are already made of fleece, or are fleece lined) dont really need liners as poo rolls off easily anyway, and fleece is stay dry

you can get fleece topped boosters which do the job of absorbing more wee and having a stay dry layer by babies bum.

You can get paper liners which are supposed to be flushable (but i know of far too many toilets / drains blocked by these flushable liners to risk flushing them down my loo) or fleece (and yes cutting up a fleece throw (or even an old coat will do) or even silk (which are great if baby has nasty nappy rash)

I always say its worth get a few different nappies 2nd hand to try as different bum/thigh shapes suit different babies better...

Best ever wrap (although boring) is motherease air flow!

Definitely second what Random said about trying a few first. Dd (2.3) recently potty trained, but we found Tots Bots bamboozle stretchies very good for night time, but honestly, I wouldn't recommend them for daytime, at the age your dd is now, as I found they went very crispy & hard after just a few washes, so wouldn't be very comfortable for a baby once they're on the move, in my opinion. Depending on the build of your dd, I love Itti Bitti snap in ones, as they're just so slim. We also used Bumgenius, but didn't find them as absorbent as Ittis.

With regard to liners, I'd say you only need these if you need to use nappy cream (as otherwise you'll ruin the absorbency of your nappies). Otherwise, I wouldn't bother, as I found poo just rolls off. However, fleece liners do provide a stay dry layer in nappies that don't already have one (such as Bamboozles).

Boosters should only be needed overnight, or for long car journeys, unless your dd is a particularly heavy wetter. No need to over complicate things!

Ittis & Bumgenius are both all in one, which I found simpler, as when you're going out, you just take however many nappies you need, & you're ready to go. Two part nappies are good for containment prior to weaning, but for your dd's age, this isn't an issue.

I'm new to cloth too!

I've bought a 10 pack of little lambs bamboo as they are on offer now (see link on thread a few below this one) and also am price watching Itti bitti's on amazon...

I've stuck a bunch of of them in my basket and the pricing seems to change daily, when they go under £9 I order one. I've not got a snap in one, all in one and a tutto to try. Which ever one works best over the weekend I'm going to buy more of. They seem really lush and easy- no wraps!

Thanks very very much everyone - this has been very useful and I am finding the websites less daunting now that I have a better idea of what is what!

Has anyone heard of Bambino Mio? Any good?

I'm wondering whether to get a couple of bamboozles with boosters for night time as everyone seems to rate their absorbancy, and maybe something else for day time.....if they do go crispy as petitemummy has experienced. any other experiences of this?

If so, maybe just totsbots easyfits/ itiibitis/bum genius/ bambiomio for the daytime....my brain is hurting with all of this!

I used Bambino Mio - they are quite bulky, but easy to use, wash etc. I found they were not absorbant enough to use at night for my heavy wetting dds.

Don't want to confuse you any more, but the number of nappies you'll need also depends on drying time (the longer they take to dry, the more you need). As an example, I found the Bamboozles took 24 hrs to dry, so based on washing every 2 days, I needed 3 (night time use only).

Also, one other thing I forgot to mention, which I would never have thought about prior to buying cloth nappies. Bear in mind that some brands have a better resale value than others. Ittis in particular hold their value really well. This may not be the most important aspect when choosing a brand, but you can recoup a fair amount of your initial outlay this way.

yep get a few and trial Happentot is in pop ins at the moment i have 6 so trying them every other day, they seem to work great but want to wait a month before a big outlay, we have already tried bumgenius, which were not right for my girls at all and motherease, wraps brilliant but not keen on the actual nappies.

Personally I like good old terry squares the best with a motherease wrap. I have a few others and I started out with a load of tots bots fluffles with dc1 but terry squares are cheap, easy, flexible as you can fold differently depending on the shape of your child so you can always find a way to make them fit well, they last from birth to potty and they are easy to double up for nights.

Excellent thread, thank you Mellowmee! I'm planning to use cloth from birth (due early December) and have a small collection af various second hand. Is there anything i need to think about with clothes? Will a cloth bum fit under a regular baby grow? Or the OP's DD's clothes?

It depends on the brand, some are better than others. You tend to find yourself moving up a size earlier than you otherwise would and rolling arms up on sleepsuits/legs on trousers. Girls are easier than boys as tights and tunics/dresses don't pose a problem (and are way easier than all the bloody poppers on sleepsuits for nappy changes). I find vests an absolute arse because if you move up a size it is all baggy around the neck, other clothes you can just roll up but not vests. Frugi stuff is ££ but very good, a few vests from there are a pretty good investment. If stuff is too tight around a cloth nappy it has the effect of wringing it out .