Stupid newbie question about reusables and wraps

[YompingJo]

I am planning to use reusable nappies and have a stash of lovely fluffy bamboo ones. I know that they are not waterproof so you need to put a wrap on top. My stupid newbie question is this: Why do people go on about how cute and fluffy reusable nappies look on babies bottoms, if they always have to be covered with a wrap? The wrap is not cute and fluffy, it is uncute and plastic. Can the wrap sometimes be left off?

Caveat: I am going down the reusable route partly because it just feels like a better thing to do and partly to save money, not because I want my child to look cute - but the whole uncuteness of the wraps is bothering me, am I missing something?

Thanks in advance

You can buy masses of reusables that don't need a wrap, that's probs what people are talking about. I bought some gorgeous flower power tots bots that dont need a wrap, super cute!

Plus you can buy a lot of the main designs for aio's in wraps too, so even if you need a wrap it doesn't need to look plasticky

Hth

It sounds like you've got some fairly boring wraps (so do i, they're cheap) I mostly have Cotton Bottoms. Tbh, they go under clothes so won't be seen!

Have a look at Holdens Landing, Wee Notions, Gen Y and Blueberry for some seriously cool wraps and all in ones (AIO)

I have a spotty pocket one (waterproof outer, fleece stay-dry inner, you stuff padding down the middle to absorb the wee) that is fluffy - the outer is made of minky that has a plastic backing. Now i just need a baby to put them on! (7weeks to go)

You can also get fleece or wool trousers (shorties and longies) which work the same but also double as outer wear :)

The bum is cute in fluff because it is so big! As others have said, there are some lovely wraps around, and all in one or pocket nappies too.

Do not leave the wrap off as thinks will get damp.

OK, so I'm gathering that I do definitely need the wrap but I can get nicer looking ones.

The trouble with this is that I already had to restrain myself from buying totally gorgeous but hugely expensive all in ones such as these , had to give myself a firm talking to and remind self that the money-saving aspect will be somewhat lost if I buy all the cute stuff, and forced myself to buy a set of plain two-part nappies. If I start buying funky wraps instead of the plain ones it will also compromise the money saving element of reusables. Baby is due imminently (in fact, it is a day late now, hurry up baby!) so maybe funky patterned wraps would be a good thing to ask for as xmas presents...

Thank you for the advice :-)

My gen y guitars (only "pretty" I've bought so far) was preloved and cost £9 :)

I've had two in reusables, both well out of them now. Don't be tempted to go daft on expensive nappies or wraps.They nappies and wraps are under clothes so rarely get seen. Another thing worth considering is that many clothes from regular kids brands/supermarkets will not fit well over cloth nappies - I would recommend saving your money to buy lovely clothes from frugi which are designed to fit over the bigger baby bum and are generally quite gorgeous

You do not need to spend a fortune as you do not need many wraps at all. If you get ones that fit birth to potty then they will not owe you a penny. You could use plastic pants like you use with terrys if being mega frugal. Remember to make some fleece liners.

You could always make your own wraps? Also I would not worry about clothes not fitting that well. Yes the bum will be a bit bigger than with a disposable, but with my DD that helps as clothes fall down if she has not got cloth on. Pjs are a problem as the boosting makes bum very big, but with the modern bamboo nappies I find they give a pretty neat fit and do not need to buy dreadfully expensive cloth nappy clothes. If you have a girl, dresses are not an issue obviously.

ValiumQueen - hope you don't think I'm being negative, but myself and other friends with 'chunkier' babies do and have had problems with regular clothes. It all depends on the size of your baby as they develop and if they are on the bigger side, having a cloth nappy can make it really hard finding things like leggings/tights/sleepsuits/bodysuits/trousers. It's just something that needs considering. Items like dresses and tops are of course no problem, but the other stuff can be hard to find! I always had to buy much bigger sizes for my eldest dd (a chunky baby who wee'd for Britain, so needed massively padded nappies) and she either looked like Nora Batty with wrinkly tights or had trousers with impressive roll-ups! The more expensive cloth nappy clothes can be worth getting in this case. But as I said, every baby is different and the OP may not have this issue.

mama I do not think you are being negative at all. As you say they are all different, and also can change over time. I remember being frustrated that first size clothes did not fit over nappies, And sleep suits and vests were too short (you can buy vest extenders which help) thereafter I just bought bigger and wisely. That was 6 years ago, and find things are better now, largely since bamboo. I get my clothes for my kids from charity shops and am handy with a needle too which no doubt helps. Buying cut for cloth clothes has never been an option for me as I have found them very expensive, but have not looked for 6 years either. I find cropped trousers are best for my DD2 as she has her daddies short legs. There are also clothes out there, next for example, that usually have adjustable waists. Both my kids are average build.

That all sounds good to me. I'm the same - raid charity shops, use ebay etc. I also used terry squares for a while and bought most of my nappies second hand. I think I've only ever bought one or two 'cut for cloth' items for both my children. I guess my point was that it's better to spend your money on nice outerwear than buying fancy nappies and wraps But it can be very hard to resist, especially when pregnancy/post-partum hormones are in control of your mind.....

yomping those nappies you linked to are awesome, but shockingly expensive!! You can get some very cute one size pockets called Alva Baby 3 on eBay for less than £4 from china, including postage. The seller I use is best cloth nappies or similar, sorry cannot link.

So true mama. My DD refuses to wear clothes with some of her fancier nappies, like the cow and giraffe. It is like living with a little Tarzan, or being at a red hot chilli peppers concert .

This is all great food for thought! When researching reusables, I remember reading that lots of cheaper baby clothes do not fit over them, but had managed to forget this since. Obviously we do not know size of baby yet but we have built up a stash of disposables for first few weeks while we get our heads round how the hell we keep a newborn alive and keep our sanity, so hopefully the newborn and 0-3 month stuff we have will fit fine over the disposables, and once we are feeling a bit more competent and decide to switch to the reusables, we will be a bit more clued up about what size clothes we will need.

ValiumQueen, thanks for the Alva Baby tip off, have had a look on eBay and they look great, and cheap, so I'll buy a couple of those and add to the reusables collection, can try them out at our leisure then. Currently think 3-part system (with wrap, nappy and liner) is the way to go for us but would be good to have some pockets for babysitters/parents who are not used to 3-part system (and when I said two part in my last post I think I meant 3-part)

Mamabanana, I had discovered Frugi and am trying very hard not to buy stuff from them already! I also find Love It Love It Love It equally dangerous!

yomping cloth is addictive, and to do it frugally takes a lot of self control. However, if you work out how much you will save on nappies and wipes (if you use washable wipes) and creams etc, you can set aside a nice little budget to satisfy your urges. Plus you can sell them on eventually, which you cannot do with disposables obviously, and is also a good reason to have more babies!

Coming a bit late to this thread but my tip is h&m vests - my DD has always been 95th-98th centile for height and weight but is in h&m vests (in the right size for her age!) even over a big cloth bum. Same for their jogging bottoms. All organic cotton and not too pricey. Just been looking at frugi website though - gorgeous! Time to write dd's christmas list maybe...?!

Wool nappy covers are great, as you don't have to use plastic at all, and longies, shorties and skirties can be used as clothes anyway. Then you don't need anything apart from your nappy and then the wool cover over the top. I love the ones at www.littlepants.co.uk, and they also do Baby clothes cut for cloth, including some special tuck in vests.