Lost in Choice - recommend me reusable starter pack

[TreeSparrow]

First timer. Would like to try washable nappies once baby arrives. We don't have a drier or much space so can anyone recommend a good starter pack (all in)?

I like the idea of having a bin with a drawstring net bag in it to put in the machine when full ad that sounds easy.

Any advice for a clueless mum-to-be?

We used reusable nappies from about 4 wks old. I filled in the questionnaire on the Nappy Lady's website, which was brilliant as I had no idea what I would need (I don't know anyone else in 'real life' who uses reusables). We used a combination of Bumgenius Freetime (get the ones with the poppers, as the Velcro loses its stick) and Little Lambs sized nappies (with a Motherease wrap over the top). Microfibre Little Lambs dry overnight on an airer, and the bumgenius take about a day. If you get terry cotton or bamboo nappies, they will take much longer to dry.
We managed with a total of 20 nappies, washing them every 2 or 3 days. One of our best investments was washable wipes (cheeky wipes or similar) - amazingly effective.

Have you checked to see if you have a nappy library near you? They are usually very helpful just Google nappy libary

Also we bought £1 shop wipes we bought 4/5 of the packs of 6 must.have saved us loads so far.

Little lamb nappies are great and do starter packs - they have sales on their Facebook page so you could keep an eye on that and buy then. Their microfibres dry really quickly and you'll want some bamboos for overnight.

What's the difference between microfibre and bamboo? Why bamboo at night.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've just completed the survey on the Nappy Lady site.

Bamboo is much more absorbent than microfibre, but it takes a very long time to dry - 2 days plus for us on an airer! We never really got on with reusable nappies overnight after about 6 months - I think that because the wetness doesn't get 'locked away' like it does with some disposables, our daughter was waking up feeling a bit cold around the nappy area (I should probably have persevered a bit more and tried alternative reusables).
But we used Cotton or Bamboo overnight until we switched to disposables, and still use them on long car journeys etc (they don't leak as much when compressed as microfibre).

We're currently using a mixture of Bambino Miosolos (which dry really fast but aren't too good for nights, but are useful for when you're out and about), and Tots Bots Bamboozle Stretchies with various wraps.

I prefer the TBs & wraps in terms of containment (one word: bombproof!) but they do take longer to dry so aren't ideal all the time.

I bought a few different types while I was still pregnant. Don't rule out second hand - eBay has some real bargains. There's also some good advice groups on Facebook (if you pm me here I can send you the links ).

Oh, and re wipes - I know a lot of people swear by the pound shop cloths but I found them pretty rubbish tbh. I've just bought some Cheeky Wipes and they are great. And hopefully it'll stop me accidentally putting disposable wipes through the wash...

We use bamboo overnight (tots bots bamboozle) with an extra hemp booster - they DO take an age to dry but as you tend to only use one every 24 hours (once they stop pooing overnight!) then I found having one or two hanging around damp wasn't a problem –ours go on a sock hanger on the shower rail if we don't need the airer up for anything else. Sunny weather dries them in a few hours though (shame we've probably seen the last of that!)

I have been using reusables for about 8 weeks now. I bought 15 little lambs bamboo, 5 little lambs sized pockets, 10 bumgenius (v4 & Freetime) & 6 tots bots easy fit.

If I could go back I wouldn't buy the bumgenius and I would try bamboozle stretchies. I love the little lambs bamboo on my little one and we use these day and night, but they are very bulky. Little lambs sized pockets are fantastic too.

So my advice would be to buy one or two of each nappy and try before you make a big commitment and investment to certain brands/types. Maybe second hand (eBay) or a nappy library would be best for this. You need to try them out for a good couple of weeks to see what works.

If you're local you can go to the Nappy Lady's house for a fitting/advice :) I did that once the baby was born and did the questionnaire in pregnancy. She's in Farnham Surrey. Also there are nappy libraries, I haven't been to one yet.

I'm in Surrey and there's apparently free trial kits throughout the county (via go-real website) but everyone I contacted didn't do them anymore :-/

I ended up doing a mixture of taking the nappy lady's advice, buying the prettiest nappies around, trying terries as so economical, and buying one of each type (all in one, pocket etc). I've now worked out what works best on my skinny baby and stocked up on Charlie Bananas and Little Lamb Pockets :)

There are lots of cheap second hands on eBay, might be a cheap way of seeing what works ok your baby?

I love my tots bots, they never seem to leak with even the most explosive events! I've got mainly bamboo so they do take a couple of days to dry.