Thinking of switching from pocket/all in one nappies to two part system. Advice please?

[rrreow]

I've got a 20mo boy and he's been in reusables since about 11mo. My stash is made up of mainly Mio Solo nappies, which is a pocket/AIO hybrid (the insert is attached but comes out of the pocket for easy drying).

I absolutely HAAAAAAAAATE stuffing these nappies after they have dried. The nappies themselves are not absorbent enough for 20mo boy wees so I also put a bamboo booster inside. I'm OK with the nappies' performance (occasional wee leaks around the legs, but great poo containment, at least for solid post-weaning poos) but I cannot stress enough how much I hate stuffing them in order to make them ready for use.

So consequently I've been considering getting rid of the pocket nappies and going for a 2 part system (shaped inners with a wrap over the outside). Both because it would be less faff after doing laundry and also hoping to get slightly better wee containment around the legs.

I'm also expecting DC2 in June and was thinking a two part system might be better for a newborn with regards to breastfed poo containment (that and the Mio Solo isn't really suitable until about 12lbs).

So if you use a two part system, please let me know what you use and what you like/dislike about it?

And if you use pocket nappies and LOVE them, please let me know as well? (I accept I may just be really fussy with regards to not liking the stuffing, or maybe it's just that the Mio Solo are more difficult to stuff than other brands??)

Would especially love to hear experiences from people who have (had) a toddler AND a pre-weaned baby both in reusables a the same time.

I use little lambs cloth bits- the bigger size is quite massive, but i don't know if it would do a 20mo.

the little lambs ones are a proper nappy with velcro, and then a booster is sewn in. you can put more boosters in if you like.
the bamboo ones are more absorbent, but they take weeks to dry. we have found the best are the cotton ones.

I think it's a lot more flexible to use a two parter.
we have some little lambs outers/wraps, but we have some other kinds as well.

have a look at kittykins website - that's where we got most of ours from. (look especially in the sales section - cool wraps for cheaper prices, and they do most brands)

for liners, we use the ones that came with the little lambs nappies, they're fully washable too, and the poo (unless it's nasty poo...) just drops off down the bog.

yes, two parters are definitely better for small babies - i use the wraps with gussets in the legs (they just seem to fit better)

you would need to get two different sizes, normally, but that's okay, because what large size you get for DC1, you can reuse for DC2.

we use a little lambs size 2 for DD now, at 13 months, and we used size 1 until she was about 9 mo. (from newborn)

for the wraps, we bought changeable size ones from kittykins, and they have the adjustable poppers, and she's still using them now over her size 2 little lambs. we also got some medium ones which are a size now, and small ones, she grew out of. but large ones are still rather big on her.

oh, my friend used mother-ease nappies, and they have poppered boosters. she lent one to me once, and they're a good fit.
but as they are poppers anyway, they might not be so well fitting for all sizes (but better for larger bums i guess)

another note about the little lambs cloths - she's in size 2, but it's wrapped right over with the overlap velcro, so plenty of space for growth.

doesn't look like they've got many of the nature babies ones with the velcor/aplix left -they're my favourites.

but the thirsties are excellent too.

here's a direct site for nature babies

Thanks for the detailed reply nickelbabe Which actual nappies on the Nature Babies site did you mean were your favourites?

oh, sorry

it was the classic wraps.

we used to have loads of different nappies, but for the cloth part we are all little lambs now. :)

i love some of the nature babies wraps designs.(that's why we went through kittykins because she had loads of designs)

What about the BumGenius FreeTime? No stuffing required.

Oh nice one stargirl I hadn't come across those! They don't score very as high on containment as I'd like, but they might be ideal for nursery as am a bit reluctant to ask them to use a two part system.

I mostly have the BumGenuis V4 but I have one FreeTime. They take slightly longer to dry than the V4 but absorbency seems to be the same.

I use MioSolo as my AIO (DS currently 8mo) and I agree, they are just not that absorbent and the wee does wick around the legs!

My two part system is Motherease wraps (Rikki up until now, but we are about to go up a size and switch to Airflow) with Bambinex teddies for daytime (microfibre, separate insert) and Bamboozles stretchies for nighttime (microfibre/bamboo mix, poppered insert plus a bamboo booster). Even before he was weaned, I never had a leaky poo problem (and he did some monster poos!), and the only the time the wee has leaked, I think it was because DH didn't make sure the wrap was fully covering the fluff.

I think the size 2 nappies start from around 10lbs (might be wrong there) so you may need to get some size 1s for DC2 to start off with. However I found DS grew out of the size 1s before he actually reached the upper weight on the label - but he was prem and therefore a bit of a funny shape!

I used MEOS stay-dry with my girls (and sandys for dd2 when she was tiny, and XL sandys for dd1 when she was too big for the MEOS).

used with airflow wraps, they were pretty bombproof. I didn't find the popper aspect affected fit too much. dd1 was a huge baby (well, tiny born, but then grew huge fast) and dd2 was a tiny baby and they suited both well.

I now use Charlie Banana pockets with ds (and sometimes MEOS overnight). I like the pockets - I don't tend to prestuff all in one go, just take the lot upstairs and grab what I need when I need it. the inserts are totally separate, not fixed at one end.

with the 2 part system, I found that once the dds were even a bit mobile, it was like fitting 2 nappies on at each change - wrestle themto get the nappy bit on, then wrestle again to get the wrap on. and making sure all the nappy was tucked inside the wrap while wrestling, etc.

with the pockets, I can stuff one while ds wriggles on the mat a bit, then whip the old one off, wipe, and new one on - on thing to do up, no hassle.

having said that - I do feel happy using the MEOS too (and obviously did for a good few years!) - partly nostalgia, I think , and you really can't beat them for absorption/bombproof-ness (but then they really are old faithfuls - been through 4 children now!)

oh, ds is nearly 6 months old, and I have a mixture of onesize and medium CBs. the medium seem to fit him better, I htink. he weighs about 7.5kg.

I've not really had a problem with leaks - the odd wee leak, but this is mostly a bit of wicking from when in his car seat - unfortunately we have al ong school run each day so he is strapped in quite a lot of the time. this has happened with the MEOS too, so not specifically a CB problem.

have also used some Real Easy nappies which re like the ones you describe - pocket, but with the inserts attached. I find these more annoying to stuff than the CBs with separate inserts.

have also got a Bumgenius flip - not as good as it shoudl be considering the price, imo, but it is still quite new, so absorption might increase.

the Real Easies take an age to dry.

Just wanted to thank you all for your replies! I've managed to get some pre-loved MEOS from eBay ridiculously cheaply together with some Airflow wraps, so I'm test driving these now. So far I'm impressed! I got the cotton ones and with the snap in insert they are lasting a long time (it'd gone for 4.5 hours when I changed DS before bed tonight!). I also love the fact that after they've dried on the airer they just go in the drawer WITHOUT ANY STUFFING OR WORK. Yay! I get the feeling I'll get on much better with the two part system. Although DH is taking a bit of convincing... (I distinctly remember though that when DS was a newborn DH used to take about 15 minutes to change his nappy.. and this was with disposables )

Now trying to get some Bamboozle Stretchies to test drive, but they're a bit harder to find at a cheap price (which I guess does bode well as an investment as they seem to hold their value pretty well).

I've been using Little Lamb nappies from birth with DS - they are amazing!

Bought size 1 v cheap second hand(mix of cotton, bamboo and microfibre types), and they were so good I stocked up on the size 2s brand new! I use the bamboo ones (amazingly absorbent) but I also dry them on a rack up above our Rayburn, so drying time isn't an issue... (24 hours they're dry)

Little Lambs do amazing special offers via their Fbk page if you've liked them, you get 2 days exclusive notice before the offer goes public.

I also used their washable bamboo breast pads - silky soft and much cheaper than horrible sanitary-pad-style paper ones!
Good luck with the ones you've bought xx