OhGodOhGodOhGod! Cloth nappy choice blindness/inertia. Help!

[izchaz]

HEEELP! I have choice inertia! I'm pretty sure I want to go the cloth nappy route, and ideally I want an all rounder that can be used day and night, and will go birth to potty. I don't want to have to master lots of nappy styles, so would prefer to use a single system. Does this exist?

Secondarily, my choice is made harder because the entirety of my peer group are disposable users, none of them can advise, and those I've asked have told me I'm a lentil-weaving loon, even my mum, who used terrycloth nappies on me!

For me the deciding factor on wanting to use cloth is my dislike of giving such a swathe of money to a big nappy/baby product like Pampers, the rest (cost per unit/laundering costs/upfront outlay etc all strikes me as 6 and two 3s).

Anyway, I've worked myself into a massive tizz about it, can one of you wise types set me straight, find my miracle nappy that does everything I want AND give me a slice of cake/put the kettle on please? I'd be pathetically grateful...

We use little lambs. They do come in sizes but we only ever used size 1 and 2. Bamboo material will work day and night. ATM you can buy a full package on their website with x20 size 1, x20 size 2, plus wraps, nappy bucket, liners etc for £300. That's pretty good value for everything to last 0- potty IMO.
You might be able to get for less secondhand, but I think the above is probably cheaper

Bum Genius. Birth to potty. Microfibre insert so quick drying. All in one so only one bit to put on, just like a disposable. Only downside is they are quite pricey. However we are just about to put DS3 into our stash of cloth nappies so you do get your money's worth. Alternatively, you could try the Velcro fixing all in one pocket nappies from eBay seller Yellow Bloom. We have a load of these as well (DS2 is still in nappies) and for Internet cheapies they are v good and if you buy 5 or so, you'll be able to get a feel as to whether cloth is for you.

Thanks Forever and Rocky, it's just so daunting because of the outlay and not having anyone I know whose brains I can pick! This is what MN is for though I guess - lovely people like you who don't mind responding to my harebrained questions!

Oh and same as above, we are using on ds2 now so price split between two. Our youngest is now in size 2, and soon to be potty trained and everything good condition. We have already sold the size 1s and got £120 for them all so if the size twos and last of accessories sell for the same when no longer needed I expect to have almost got all of our money back. We also use reusable wipes.

You should check to see if you have a nappy library near you. There is a map online somewhere....sorry I'm rubbish with technology! ....but you can hire them for about £1 a month. Well worth giving it a go and you can try a few. The one near me also hire out wet bags and washable wipes so u can give it a real go for a month and see. I second bum genius as quick drying and also liked tiny nippers (cheap ones)...also rumparooz

www.clothnappy.info/29-11-2012/uk-cloth-nappy-libraries/

Hope the above works. There is a link to the nappy library locations map on the above page (get me adding links and everything!)

Also good place to buy preloaded is cloth nappy tree. I bought a lovely tots bots easyfit for £8, only used a handful of times but worth double what I paid x

Pre loved not preloaded...that would be yuk

Jumping on this thread if I may. I think I've almost persuaded DH that cloth nappies are a good idea. He won't entertain the idea of second hand, although I would. We need something that's easy to do.

We'll probably use disposables right at the beginning until we get ourselves straight, but I want to use them from very early.

There isn't a cloth nappy library near me.

Fillyourpants do a £10 trial tobylerone - you can try a few different types for 21 days and then send them back

We use a cheap and cheerful two piece system. Ours are mostly Onelife with some Motherease. Variety of brands of wrap, all second hand. They are big on a newborn, as all birth to potty nappies will be, so we use a mixture of prefolds and size 1 TotsBots for the first few months.

All of our nappies are at least second hand, lots were free from various local "swaps", some from friends and some from eBay. They are on DC2 and we've spent about £30 total.

ALSO some local councils give you money back for buying reusable nappies. I got £50 back from herts county council. Sorry I'm jamming up this thread with my bitty messages, lol, I have a sleeping baby on my lap and Internet is all I can do with one hand...

Wonderoos birth to potty pocket nappies are fab.

They have pads you popper together and tuck in. When you take them off you shake the pads out into the nappy bin with the cover in a net bag and dry pail it. Bung in washing machine everyday 3 days at 60 with half normal power/liquid and no fabric softener.

If you get them get the micro fibre inserts rather than bamboo - they dry much faster.

Any Qs PM me

Have a look on eBay people sell them on a lot.

I used throw always for the first few weeks whilst dd's legs padded out. I also use disposables at night.

Oh and check your council as mine gave me £30 to spend on reusables.

You do need to change then more often than disposables and you can't use barrier cream.

Oh yes our local council now gives £50 incentive also ( too late for us), but def look around.

I was amazed to learn of sling meets/ nappy meet ups/ etc etc when pregnant, who would have thought!

Ps both dh and myself weren't sure at first but decided to go Ahead due to financial savings and landfill. And they really are simple. We used disposables the first 2 weeks or so though, and do when travelling away somewhere ( unless it's our parents houses )

forever how do reusable wipes work? (stupid question of the century), what I mean is...I don't know, Uhh, ignore that, I guess you'd use them just like a flannel or similar? what do you do if you aren't near a tap when you need a wet one?

bluesky you are a mine of bitesize titbits! Thank you, I'm fairly sure there's a nappy library round my way. I'll contact them and inflict my pregnancy gormlessness on them, sharpen 'em all up a bit!

toby I have the same plan - get everything else nailed down first, then get going with cloth nappies. I don't want to set myself up to fail by having loads of different new skills and routines to master straight off the bat.

vinegar so is it possible to use several nappy styles at once then? From the reading I've done everyone seems to suggest that you stick to a single system, which sort of daunted me, because what if it doesn't agree with me/my baby?

strange thanks for the headsup, I will be in touch with a million few questions I'm sure. Why do you use disposables at night? Do they offer a particular advantage?

We use totsbots easyfits during the day and a collection of pocket nappies at night. They're all reasonably quick drying which is good because we don't have a tumble dryer.

When we were deciding what to use we filled in a questionnaire on the nappy lady's website (just google nappy lady and it should come up). She can advise on the best type for you depending on your circumstances. She also does demonstrations if you are local to her.

None of my friends are using cloth either but it's working we'll for us!

Ive bought a selection of a few to try from www.thenappylady.co.uk/cloth-nappies.html
and the ones that look the best by far to me are totsbots www.thenappylady.co.uk/all-in-one-nappies/teenyfits.html

But I havent yet tried them! (2 months till babay arrives still!) Very keen though and think itll be fine. Have also got some of these www.naty.com/ ready as they seem much more ethical/biodegradable than pampers (although arent fully biodegradable though I think?) (from toys r us/boots etc so easily accessible & I plan to use them at night time & at the beginning when Im most tired!).

I think cloth nappies are the way forward - everyone I know does use the disposable ones though so perhaps Im being naive, but they are much better than the old fashion cloth ones our mums coped with so we have it easier than they did!

Many councils do a real nappy trial where you can borrow a selection of nappies for a month to try different systems and styles on your baby. In mine I had 17 different types of nappy and what I liked at first was totally different to what I went for at the end having lived with them all for a month! Some nappy sellers will arrange similar trial kits and I do think they are a good idea.

Fwiw I totally second going with disposables for the first few weeks. You will be doing several loads of washing a day as it is, and many nappy changes, so there's no need to make life harder than it need be. Besides, many birth to potty systems will be a bit big on a tiny baby and may put you off, which for the sake of 8-12 weeks seems a bit silly.

We use lollipop pop n gro all in ones birth to potty which I use overnight on my 5m old with a bamboo booster. When he gets bigger I may need to get some proper shakers for overnight but it just depends if you're blessed with a heavy wetter or not. Also use bum genius free times, another microfibre all in one birth to potty with snap (popper) fasteners. These will I think last better than the Velcro although they are more expensive. They are harder to boost, so I use these more in the day.

Don't rule out second hand, even if only to pick up odd styles to try, you could then buy new once you know what you like. But long skinny babies and chunky ones will suit different nappies. And you may actually take to a two part system rather than all in ones...

Facebook also has many groups of nappy users in local areas. My local group is very active with people swapping and selling and professionals giving advice. Try searching for one near you.

Finally I use washable wipes at home and they're great. Much better at coping with poo. I take baby wipes out and about cos they're easier to carry, although hardcore users have bags which you can keep dampened ones in or take a bottle/spray with you. I can't be bothered with that, but miss them when tackling poonamis on the go!

Shakers = soakers

Haha wipes ok

Just have a small wipe box, ie you can get ones for normal disposable wipes so they don't dry or can get one made for reusable wipes. This is what goes out with us. Just put a few wipes in, wet from home supply.

At home just have a lock and lock ( or whatever) Tupperware box. All wipes in, pour over some water and camomile here. Just enough that all are wet not floating around or anything. Just take a few out of here and add to travel one when out

We have small wet bags we take out. Each fits one nappy. We take two bags and one spare nappy out. This is enough to put both nappy they left house in and clean one in a wet bag each if both dirty. We then take a disposable as spare. We have x2 close in age so usually jut out morning or afternoon and back in the middle for lunch/ naps etc. so we don't carry much.
We have only used the disposable spare once so really don't need to carry more than one spare in our case. Ie we Leave house at 9am, so if back by 12 wouldn't change anyway unless pooed. If so use the spare.
We only take more if our for more than 5 hours . ( ie one on for 2 1/2 hours at a time approx)

We don't even own a ' baby changing bag', just put above in regular handbag. Everything has its own waterproof pouch anyway.

Oh and really recommend the wet bags small and per nappy as can then add clean nappy/ wrap/ anything Into one and it's all contained. Then just transfer wet one in when dirty. Saves space too.

Wipes - I've been trialling cheeky wipes at home and they are very good bu I can see why people make their own kits. I hemmed some microfibre squares during pregnancy to use as wipes only to find out that the material isn't recommended because it traps fibres - annoying, so well worth reading up on these things/investing/asking/trialling first. Your local nappy library might have these to try too :)

Re: preloved - a friend gave me three nappies for free so don't rule out possible freebies (try free cycle in your area too)

I've been trialling nappies trough my local nappy library for 2 months and I'd suggest leaving it a bit until your baby is bigger. My little one had super trim legs .... Then she just ballooned bless her! Also birth to nappies on really really small newborns are huge. I didn't realise before I started trying them but bulkiness really bothers me. In some I tried my daughters legs were miles off the floor when she was laying down because of so much padding/material.

www.thenappylady.co.uk/
Will quiz you about your circumstances and preferences then suggest products. We are now using with DD the wipes I made for DS, fleece cut into squares priced at £3.50 a metre!

I've used bumgenius 12 months- potty with one and then birth to potty with no. 2 with great success.

For us, inner and wrap was a total disaster. I didn't like the damp terry against their skin, whereas the fleece wicks it away. I'm also super lentil weaving in that I use reuseable fleece liners and cheeky wipes.

I also use disposable Naty nappies at night, so lose some hippy points. Just because mine are super heavy wetters and reuseables don't have quite the absorbency that disposables do. On the odd occassion we go on holiday and use disposables full time though, both girls have had horrid nappy rash. Assume it's the chemicals.

You can use different types of nappy. But personally I like the pocket style birth to nappy style. I tried a couple of others but they aren't as reliable, so they are mostly in the emergency stash now.