Reusable Nappy help needed

[muppetdawg]

Hi, my wife and I have just found out we may be adopting a newborn (We never though this would happen, and it is a little more complicated than this) It is all going to happen very quickly! So...

Nappies- We are quite interested in the reusable but have no idea where to even start, what ones are good, what we need... you get the idea.

We have seen the pack which I think are birth to potty on the mothercare website which I think is around £160. Are these any good, would we need anything else?

Sorry if this has been covered a million times before.

My experience of one size nappies is that they don't really fit newborns very well.

I really like and would recommend 'wonderoos v3'. They are good as a pocket birth- potty. The insert you add small one for newborn, large one older, both older. As you take the insert out rather than fixed it means they dry quicker even though very absorbent. The minky type are very soft

I borrowed a mothercare one once from a friend and found they weren't very absorbent so wouldn't recommend personally

Www.thenappylady.com is good, she's v friendly and will give you a list of things you might need/that will be suitable for you if you give her details of what you want and your situation. In fact she gave me 2 lists, one budget, one fancy. You can also go to her for a consultation.

Your council might do a free reusable nappy trial pack to see if you like it. Ours used to but stopped.

I would get lots of one-sizes and just use disposables while newborn, or use pre-folds with a newborn waterproof wrap.

Oh and congratulations! Fingers crossed!

Agree with Bree, get some different ones to try and some nature baby (?) Eco disposables for the first few weeks, you will have a lot to get used to.

I loved the bumgenius freetimes, but they will be too big for a newborn. I would use disposables for the first few weeks, otherwise you will be constantly washing nappies.

I second the nappy lady website - she's great. There's also lots of nappy groups of Facebook.

Annoyingly I wrote a long message but the mobile page won't let me copy and paste! Potted content:

• we use Wonderoo v3 as well and love them, have been using them since DS was 2 months old.
• wet bags, instead of using drawstring wetbags we use exped dry bags, we bought a pack of 4 in diff sizes, one goes to nursery, one is for days out, one for home. We much prefer them for keeping stinks and wetness in!
• your local council may run a scheme that gives you money back on your first spend on nappies to encourage you to go reuseables, I know they do in Yorkshire
• if you google for nappy library map UK you should be able to find if there are any nappy libraries near you who would be able to advise and also let you try different styles
• there are some shops around too, one in Yorkshire, a couple in London and some others, they might be helpful as well to start advising
• shout if you have any questions as there are plenty of us around who use them and Congratulations!!

It's been a few years but I loved the bumgenius pocket nappies and the tots bots bamboo ones with the wraps. They were the best on my tiny newborn. Ooh I love scrummy cloth nappies I must've had about 70and congrats on your new baby

Congrats! Another vote for the nappy lady's help here. Her survey includes your drying facilities, how easy you want life to be, budget etc. She recommended Bumgenius Elementals for day and totsbots bamboozles + wrap at night. Absolutely brilliant and both birth to potty
Didn't get started till about 10 weeks but wish I'd done it a wee bit sooner (maybe 8 weeks) as it meant no leaks of yellow poo up the back which seem to happen all the time with disposables. INappy rash also went away once we switched. Frankly, I was washing baby clothes anyway so washing nappies and reusable wipes was no harder. (Cheeky wipes are fab btw)
I cut up fleece to make liners which keep their skin dry. We have a lidded bucket with a net bag at home (one of those delicates bags with the string cut off) Nappies go in, grab the net bag and chuck into washing machine so no poking through nappies to put wash on.
Now my 18 month old is in nursery we use a flushable liner to help them cope with poos but they have no bother with them either.
Good luck

Oh yes bamboo wipes are sooooo good. Just with warm water to start with then I'd add a bit of baby wash. Get all the stubborn skids off

We are using Totsbots bamboozle btp nappies since ds was 2 weeks and they have been great. Hardly ever leak compared to disposables and very absorbent and soft.

Thanks for all the replies, Ill have a google of all suggestions, and see what we find. We still have matching panel so it isn't definite, so we need to know exactly what we are going with to do a supermarket sweep style baby shop!

Trying not to get your hopes up while looking at all these bits is really not easy!!!
Thanks again

Definitely fill in the questionnaire on the Nappy Lady's website. My daughter is now 2 - We used disposables for the first few weeks, as did not want to invest in a load of newborn size washable nappies. We've used a mixture of Bumgenius Freetimes (recommend the poppers over the Velcro - which lost its stick), and Little Lambs sized nappies with a Motherease wrap over the top. Both sorts of nappies fitted from 9 or 10 lbs upwards. The Bumgenius nappies are very easy to use, and less bulky - but are not as leak-proof as Little Lambs with a wrap. Little Lambs are cheaper, but are sized, so won't last all the way from birth to potty - we moved up to size 2 when our daughter was about 8 months old. We have a total of 20 nappies, and wash every 2 or 3 days. We also use washable wipes (cheeky wipes), which I would really recommend.

First of all - good luck with the matching panel; I'm sure we all hope it works out and that you will soon be dealing with the realities of nappies not just the theory! When you do you'll find what works for you. As many people on MN will know, I am a great fan of old fashioned terries - cheap, one size fits nearly all, except perhaps later on at night when oyu may need to boost or buy a bigger version, so they really are birth to potty. They wash and dry quickly and only need a little practice before you'll be dab hands at folding and pinning or nippa-ing. (I'm told they are even useful later for floorcloths, windows etc.) There isa variety of folds so you can find one which catches runny poo in the early days and copes with flooding overnight later! You see the joys you have to come? I'm rather silly anyway and love the look of a toddler's bottom in a proper nappy as well as the nappies blowing in the breeze!

Congratulations op
Another vote for the Nappy Lady's questionnaire.
We use a mixture of totsbots easy fits and mio solos during the day and pockets for nighttime. That said we didn't start using cloth with ds1 until he was 4-5 months old as trying to get to grips with a newborn and cloth was just too much for us .

I second ye olde terry squares. Fleece liners ands Motherease wraps.

Have a Google and see whether there is a nappy library in your area. Lots of places have them (ours is linked to the local NCT) and they will loan you a mixture of nappies to try out, as well as give you a helping hand with fit etc. it gives you a chance to find it what works for you before investing too much money in a system that may not be quite right.

Also recommend the nappy lady advice questionnaire as other posters have said.

Good luck with your adoption journey

I am a fan of nappies from Yellowbloom - they sell them on Amazon or eBay. They cost cheaper than other brands I've seen but are really well made and the size can be adjusted with poppers from newborn to around 3 years old. I've used mines for a year and they still look like new. They come in a form of a pocket nappy with bamboo or microfibre inserts or as nappy covers which you can use with terry or muslin nappies. Both are great. If you buy pocket ones I would recommend to buy at least 2 inserts per each nappy as you will need more absorbency when your child grows. Its cheaper than buing inserts separately.
I've also used terry nappies with a wool wrap from Disana. Works really well too.