Reusable nappies - help!

[Bumbershoot]

So we're thinking about using reusable nappies for DD and I'm after some insider advice...

1. Which brand did you like best and why?

1. What did you find was the most efficient way of washing? (When and how?)

1. Did it save you any money avoiding disposables?

1. Do you have any general tips?

Thank you

I've got a mix. I use totsbots at night (with an extra pad), then bum genius flip, elemental and regular v4s and Fuzzibunz elite in the day. Honestly, I like all of them, but I really love the flip now DS is a bit older (five months). All have their relative plus points, but there isn't one that I don't like.

I wash a load on 60C every three days (I have about 20nappies (the flip really lets you have more because you can just buy the inserts)). I dry on a dryer or outside. We don't have a tumble drier. For this reason microfiber nappies suit is better than organic cotton.

For sure. I bought two bags of disposables at the end of Jan. we do use them sometimes (run out of night nappies, someone else looking after DS, staying away for a weekend with limited travel space). I still have almost a full pack left. Previously I'd be buying a bag every week and a half, so i think I'm almost making a saving after what I've bought in reusables. DS isn't quite six months yet, I expect to make real savings over the time he's in nappies. Also, washing them isn't hard or gross or anything.

Tips: flip nappies will extend your supply cheaply, you can easily make reusable wipes too (I mix water and a few drops of baby massage oil); don't dedicate yourself to reusables until your baby is a few months old (unless you're super dedicated - we waited til three months); get some good liners, I like the bamboo ones; get a wet bag for out and about - the pop-in ones are cheap and nice; some online places will offer you a discount once you've shopped with them once so it's worth buying one or two different types, seeing what you really like and then getting more with the discount.

The thing I really like about then is how super cute they look too.

1. Easypeasy nappies bimble because they are cheap, absorbant but dry quickly as I don't have a tumble drier. They are not a "cool" brand but excellent workhorse nappy

1. 40degree wash every second day then line dry inside if weather bad (most of the time in Scotland!)or outside if sunny.

1. It saves money if you buy nappies second hand. Some brands are very expensive so you end up spending a lot if you buy new. Also, some people develop an unhealth obsession with buying nappies and related stuff. You need to consider the extra cost of using your washing machine and dryer more.

4.Find your local nappy library and try different types before you buy as different things work for different people. Try Facebook nappy buying and selling pages for second hand nappies.

Shameless bump!

I live fuzzibunz for my three-I think the big saving us when using your supply for multiple children. We spent around £2-300 initially (like someone else said, I got a but carried away with buying paraphernalia I didn't need!), but then they lasted us through three kids, and now my DSis has them for her son so by the time they're done they'll have gone through 4/5 children (I got small for 0-6 mths, then a mix of med/large from then until toilet trained).

1. Which brand did you like best and why?

TotsBots Flexitots (these have now been replaced by a similar thing from TotsBots.)They're bamboo and very absorbent - I find they don't take too long to dry on the line (we also don't have a dryer). They're a base nappy plus a wrap on top. You can buy all-in-ones but they take longer to dry.

1. What did you find was the most efficient way of washing? (When and how?)

I have a bucket with a lid (a winemaking bucket is perfect, you don't need a dedicated nappy bucket, which I find too small anyway). We have about 22 and I do a wash every five days or so - now DS2 is a year old he only uses two or three nappies a day.

1. Did it save you any money avoiding disposables?

Holy cow yes! We bought these Flexitots second hand on ebay when DD was 2mo for about £50. She's now 5 and the nappies have done DS1 and now DS2 and still going strong. In that time we would have gone through (at a rough estimate of two years of nappy wearing per child x 3 nappies per day, so VERY conservatively) over 5,500 nappies if we were using disposables. Even the supermarket own brands are about 14p each so that would be nearly £800 on nappies. Not to mention the landfill.

1. Do you have any general tips?

I agree with a local nappy library - you can also pick up odd ones here and there on ebay for a couple of pounds.

One consideration though, is what clothes you buy - trousers in particular are cut to accommodate disposables and washables are bulkier. Boden I find particularly skinny.

I mainly buy leggings. Frugi are 'cut for cloth', but expensive - I have a few bits from them in sales and second hand. The good thing is that they are huge, so last for ages. Some nappies are really slim fit though, so I'd probably match them with skinnier trousers.

I just started a thread like this today! I'm sure you'll find some useful information on there...

cloth nappies

Now to go back and properly read the rest of your thread!

Ooh SourSweets I'll check it out! And Callamia I love Frugi

1. Which brand did you like best and why?
Gdiapers. Life savers. Time savers and less hassle and saves money (in the long run).

2. What did you find was the most efficient way of washing? (When and how?)
The Gdiapers themselves get washed weekly - when the main laundry gets done. A normal wash and lined dry.

The cloth inserts are washed twice a week (kept in a dry pail with baking soda until wash day) then put in a mesh bag (so I don't have to sort) stick in washer and then line dry/dryer.

Disposible inserts are flushed - they're flushable!

3. Did it save you any money avoiding disposables?
Totally. It took a while to notice as the Gdiapers, cloth & disposable inserts are quite expensive - especially if you are using the disposables all the time.

4. Do you have any general tips?
Do your research. If unsure, buy a few of each and see which works for you before buying a whole lot of them. Also check sites like Etsy - I found great deals on inserts and cloths for those leaky nights etc.

I need convience without the price and these are great on my DCs's skin. I use cloth inserts at home and use the disposables when out (saves bag space and can just flush them and replace insert). Plus I used them as hand me downs for younger DC :)

1. I had a mixture and liked different ones at different times as DD changed shape

• terry squares - cheap as chips, wash and dry easily, change how you use them, used them with snappis and blueberry or sweetpea covers or pad folded and stuffed into Booroi covers
• Baby Beehinds - bamboo and hemp, when boosted these were the only things that did DD overnight
• Bumgenius 4 pockets - great for out and about, daycare, grandparents etc (also had one Coolababy, which I actually preferred to the BumGenius, but they don't seem to make them anymore)
• Grovia - LOVED these, only had 3, really good on a skinny baby and the snap in pads were great once we got past the every nappy a pooey nappy stage

1. I dry-pailed them until the pail was full (about twice a week) and then shoved the whole lot in the machine on a 40C or 60C wash, dried outside on the line or inside on the airer

1. Saved huge amounts of money, especially as the Baby Beehinds were hand-me-downs, terry squares are uber-cheap, bumgenius were a cheap bundle off eBay. GroVias and some covers were the only ones I paid real money for. All have now been passed on and are onto their 3rd or 4th child.

1. Tips: have a few different kinds - very few people seem to find that one kind fits all occasions and all growth spurts. Cheap flannels can be used as washable wipes, I just used to keep damp ones in a ziplock bag for out an about (if air doesn't get to them they stay fresh for a few days)

• don't buy the mantra that cloth is harder, it really isn't. My dd was allergic to disposables and wipes so we had no alternative, we did cloth nappies for everything, including camping, no real hassle.
• counter-intuitively a cloth nappy that leaks may actually be too tight!
• buy second hand and also, once word gets out that you are cloth-nappying, hand-me-downs will come to you (I actually had to pass on quite a few because I had too many)

Every baby is a different shape, so get one each of several different ones to try (some websites will loan you a "trial set" for a minimal fee- poss nappylady?) or ask around for reccs and look for single nappies on clothnappytree classifieds, or the nappy site. And ask any friends who cloth-bum if they can lend you one.. I have used loads with my three, the favourite "workhorse" nappy is Motherease Onesize Staydry (10-32lb, my two year old is still in his, you just buy bigger motherease Airflow popper covers. waitrose sell the non-Staydry version.) Totsbots and Little Lambs are great for newborns. Itti bitti SIO are cute when they are tiny but the Itti Tutto seem better when they get larger. flips I have never got on with because the inserts are so wide between the legs, other people rave about them. Nature babies do good multisize wraps that are pretty and good for backups...
In short, go on the internet, get out there and just try some! You can always flog them on if they don't suit. And yes, in the long term you will save £££. I think we spent about £200 per child (mix of new and secondhand) and that stopped us spending weekly on paper nappies (£8 a week for two years on nappies = £800 for 2 years worth at a rough guess)

Try a few different ones out.

I had a big nappy addiction with both my DDs, bought loads, and made some too using US patterns.
At home, for cheapness and ease of drying I favoured terry squares with a nappi nippa, and DH liked prefolds pinned in the American style with nappy pins. We both liked popper wraps and Motherease were the most widely available and generally reliable - although I did also have a lot of US made ones too. Nappies with a separate wrap are also IME the most reliable against leaks. Both the terries and prefolds need a bit of folding to fit snugly, but pinned prefolds especially are very neat and trim under closer fitting clothes.

For out and about we ended up using pocket nappies and again tried lots of different ones. DD1 was much shorter and chunkier than DD2 who was longer with skinny legs, so what worked with one wasn't great an another.

We had a big bin with a lid in the bathroom, because I only ever changed them where there was running water. I used toilet roll to remove the worst of the soiling and flushed it along with the nappy contents (and paper liners used during the day) then used washable wipes / cheap flannels to wash the babies with a little warm water and occasionally a squirt of vegetable liquid soap (e.g. castile which is very mild, and the Dr Bronner's almond one smells like heaven) I didn't add anything to the nappy bucket except for a scoop of bicarb with a couple of drops of tea tree oil in the bottom. I didn't add any water because that made loading the washing machine messy.

I tended to wash daily last thing at night on a 60 degree wash for the nappies and any soiled wraps, and put the other wraps though a 40 degree wash with the baby clothes and other delicates in the morning. I line dried when possible, but did also have a tumble dryer.

Both of mine were in cloth from a few days old, until potty training. DD1 trained herself at 22 months (!) and DD2 trained in a few days at 27 months. DD2 was still in a night nappy until she was 3, and for the last few months I did end up using disposable pullups for her at night just because it was getting harder to find cloth to fit her (she is and was then really really tall) but I hated them.

DH was totally in agreement to use cloth and was perfectly happy with his prefolds and ME airflows. He tended to keep them in one drawer for his use when I was at work, whereas I liked to try lots of different things out. I actually loved the nappies so much I enjoyed nappy changes. And my two DC are now 14 and 10 and I still find myself folding flannels like little terries. They are so cute.

I used little lambs. Very cheap. Took a while to get the fit right but company were v helpful.

Wash at 30 with normal baby clothes and wipes unless pooey- did these hotter with adult clothes for hygiene. Used a nappy bucket with cheap net washing bags from amazon.

Yes saved loads.

Top tip:use washable wipes too!

I had everything from fancy custom ones to ebay cheapies to flat/terry nappies.
I liked itti bitti sized nappies best, tho I'm aware not everyone gets on with them. I like that they're compact. I also enjoyed (yes,really!) using terries and wool covers/trousers. I stored used ones dry, in a lidded bucket and washed at 40 every couple of days with white vinegar to soften.
Wipes - Baby flannels from Poundland - total cost 6 for 30. I never bought a single pack of disposable wipes.
An unexpected saving was on clothes. I loved the look of a cute nappy with baby legwarmers and a top, so never /bought trousers/leggings.
We were done with nappies by 22 months, and I actually miss them!

Another one who agrees with reusable wipes. They're great, although we do use flushable, biogradable ones for the poo inserts (but wipe baby with reusabe) and for when we're out and about. We always go by convenience.

Thanks so much for all this info! I friend has offered to send on some Blueberry covers but no longer has inserts. Has anyone used these? And what do you find are best inside them?

Blueberry covers are brilliant over everything - I had several of the multisize snaps ones and they were fab - used them over terries (need a nappi nippa) and over fitted nappies, the double leg gussets meant they rarely leaked and they fitted DD from teeny-tiny to toilet-training

The multi size ones look great! And the prints are lovely what are fitted nappies??

fitted nappies are ones that need a waterproof cover (like terry squares) but unlike terry squares have already been made into a 'nappy shape' with snaps or velcro to fasten, like these:

www.babybeehinds.com.au/store/pc/BBH-Bamboo-Fitted-13p6.htm

Cloth Nappy Tree also has lots of good information and reviews www.clothnappytree.com

Thank you! I like that with terries you can get a closer fit and avoid leaks. Or have I got that totally wrong?!