LoF now has some reusables but her ds looks like a star......! HELP!

[LadyOfTheFlowers]

Ok. My Prefolds arrived today and i have folded to suit a boy. put nappy on and ds' poor little legs are sticking out like hes doing a star jump!
I have size 2 for him 7-20lbs he is somewhere between 11 and 12lbs himself.
he does look cute mind you.
do you think reusables restrict them or are uncomfortable?

i have 'manipulated' the croth area a bit, sort of pinched it once its on and he's a bit better.
unless he wets heavily, do u think a girl fold would suffice?

No (although I never used prefolds). At least, DS was crawling at 5 months and walking at 9.5 months, so if they did restrict him then thank goodness for that!

Cross-posted, sorry. I'd experiment with different folds, certainly. I've heard good things about the Jo fold but think that may be for terries rather than prefolds?

i have some other ones on order. a dizzy diaper or something? and a kushie and some other aio's to try. i dont have a tumble drier so opted for prefold mainly. how long roughly do aios take to dry on a clothes horse near radiator or similar?

Never used AIOs either, because I was concerned about the drying time too.

Bamboozles have been the slowest-drying nappies I have tried and they took over 24 hours to dry inside (but not near a radiator, I suppose). AIOs would probably be longer than that, but near a radiator would cut the time down... Umm. Not terribly useful, am I?

What I use now, for speed of drying, is pocket nappies stuffed with thin microfibre cloths. Send to nursery pre-stuffed (so work like AIOs from their point of view) then separate out for washing and drying so they air dry really quickly. In terms of nappies with wraps the Fluffle dries fantastically quickly.

Magicalls are great if you want a fast drying aio - they are sized though so can get a bit pricey.

Most cloth nappies do look a bit uncomfortable to start with, but you get used to the look, and the children never seem to mind.

LotF, I think that we are so used to seeing babies in disposables that cloth nappies do look strange at first. you quickly get used to it and your ds won't mind.

In fact, I've read that the way cloth nappies hold their legs is better for hip development. No idea where I read it though

footprints that's true about hip development

lof there are some good folds on the Nappy Lady website if you search around a bit; they hide them away in 'information' or 'advice' or something

My DD was a breech and when I turned up for her hip check and stripped her cloth nappy off her the paed said 'oh, that's probably why her hips are okay'

It holds their hips properly which is why it looks really uncomfy as we are used to them being in disposables but they dont seem to care! The bigger they get the less weird it looks too...

It's called the "frog" position and it's very good for the hips!

Fluffles are definately the best wrap nappy for fast drying. Highly recommended.

I found my AIO's actually dried quicker than bamboozles! so don't be put of AIO's for that reason. Stuffables are a nother good option as they dry quickly and you can stuff them with your prefolds.

that's handy to know- that i can stuff stuffables with my prefolds as i have a stuffable coming too.
have looked at the fluffles, they are a tad pricey? or am i looking in the wrong places?

Try www.cottonbots.co.uk.

Also as Fluffles dry so quickly you need less. I only have 14 fluffles and 4 imse vimse if I havent kept up with the washing. I do a wash every other day and very rarely run out as I can dsry them in 10 mints in tumble dryer in an emergency or a few hours on a hot rad.

The absolute best thing I've found for stuffing stuffables is Tesco value range (the blue stripey one) microfibre cleaning cloths. They are very thin and white (not the ones with the coloured stitching), a packet of three costs 89p (or did a year ago) and three folded up together works very well as a stuffing. Then take out for washing and separate for drying and they dry really really quickly. We use a hemp insert overnight though for improved capacity.

10 mins, not 10 mints, that would be sticky and disgusting

another question as you are all being so kind as to keep humoring me with my incessant nappy rambling - you must all be repeating yourselves!! i noticed that poop had gotten onto the white wrap/cover/whatever so i took it off immediately and rinsed it under the cold tap then put it straight into the wash.... it has stained....

any tips?

Sunlight is generally the best thing for getting stains out -- works brilliantly on natural fibres, less well on manmade fabrics like wraps but still worth a go (if you can find any sunlight at the moment..)

is hemp the most absorbent fabric?

It's pretty absorbant, certainly, and very tree-huggy too. I have heard (although it's not been a problem I've had) that while hemp absorbs a lot in volume, it doesn't absorb as quickly as some other fabrics, so I know of people who do a double layer of something else on top for speed of absorption with hemp underneath to deal with the volume.

Could try Nature Babies micro diddy diapers, similar fabric to a fluffle but linen with a cotton terry, they are quick to dry and should cost you about £1 a nappy less than the Fluffles.

I have (and I'm sure I'm not the first) perfected a really good fold (based on the origami fold), which is trim and really absorbent. Very hard to describe without diagram though. Experiment and work with it, it can be down.

i have some quite thick fleece aswell lying around doing nothing.
Was going to make little beanies with it for the ds's but have bought some now
Could i cut this into the 'hourglass' shape, get mum to edge it, and use this as liners too?
does any fleece material absorb well?

Cotton fleece is an absorbent material, not suitable for liners. Polyester fleece (which is the more common variety) it the stuff which forms a stay dry barrier - it lets the moisture through into the nappy but doesn't let it back to the skin. It doesn't need edging as it doesn't fray.