Logistics of using washable wipes but not cloth nappies

[AntoinetteCosway]

DC2 is due in the summer and we will be using cloth nappies and washable wipes. In the meantime, I have bought the wipes and figure I might as well use them on DD! She's not potty trained and is in disposable nappies.

Can anyone give any advice on the logistics of using reusable wipes but not nappies with a toddler? I don't really want a nappy bin in her room as she will be into it all the time, and I won't have dozens of nappies to be washing daily or every other day. Can I just use a wipe as I need it and then bung it in with the normal laundry? I do a load about every other day. Shower off any poo first if needs be? Or will that be really gross?! I normally wash everything at 40 except towels and sheets which I do at 60, but they only get done once a week and I don't like the idea of the dirty wipes hanging around for up to a week to get washed at a higher temperature.

I usually just wash mine with the towels on high temps. If you're doing it every other day that should be fine.

As for excess poo on the wipes, I just dump it into the toilet. No rinsing needed!

But the towels I only do once a week-that's my problem, I don't want to leave them lying around for too long!

Ah I see. No, you don't want that. Maybe just chuck them in with DD's laundry on a higher setting?

Can you use cloth nappies with the toddler as well? It'll take you a little while to get used to cloth anyway so you might as well get a head start. Or are your cloth nappies too small? (Mine are all in ones, birth to potty so I've used them since DD was about 8 weeks - she's a toddler now and still room to expand the nappies).

If not, then I'd say keep the wipes together and do a rinse & spin every few days, not to reuse, but just so you don't have stinky cloths lying around. Leave them in the nappy bin in the bathroom or somewhere away from little hands. Then a proper wash with your towels once a week and start again the next week.

We use reusable nappies part time (not at night or on days out because we haven't found any reliable enough) and reusable wipes full time. We have LOTS of wipes (cut up cheap fleece blankets and pjs) so we use them, chuck them in the lidded nappy bin in the bathroom (rinse poo down loo beforehand) and wash when it gets full. Our bin doesn't smell at all, and since we have so many we don't run out if we don't wash for a while.

I meant to add, I wash nappies and cloths together twice a week. I've got 24 nappies and about 50 cloths. DD is in disposables at night. Just thought it might help you work out how often you might need to do your washing.

I don't think the nappies I've got so far will fit her, and I'm trying to spread the cost of buying them, though ideally yes I'd just move her to cloth...might encourage her to potty train too!

I was thinking I could keep the dirty wipes in a wet bag-will that contain smells? Rinse and spin's a good idea.

Thanks-these are useful things to know! I'm leaning towards a wet bag that can be hung where DD can't reach it rather than a nappy bucket which she'd be fascinated by, but worried a wet bag wouldn't contain the smell...I've got a couple of Little Lamb ones and the drawstring seems to leave a little gap. Though I guess another advantage of using a wet bag is that I could just shove that in the machine with the wipes.

My wet bags are from My Little Patch, which I use for a full days worth of dirty nappies at nursery. They be ok, ish. I wouldn't leave it for more than a couple of days without a rinse cycle, but as you say you can just chuck the whole thing in the machine. It's not actually poo that smells, IME, it's urine (yuk).

Just looked at the My Little Patch website-they look great!

I would also recommend the my little patch bags - I had a Little Lambs one but the drawstring kept getting stuck and not closing properly. Have also tried a smartipants zip bag which was good but could get a bit stinky. Little patch is by far the best so far.

I did this for a bit and I definitely got annoyed with the flies around the stinky bag of wipes that hung around for a week and I ended up going for cloth nappies for toddler.