Reusable nappy advice please!!

[RuthChan]

I want to change my 6 week old DD to reusable nappies from disposables, but have no idea where to start.
Is this a good idea?
If so, can anyone please advise me about which nappies are the best, how to use them, laundry etc...

see thread where to start with reusable nappies.

I just swapped my DS (16 weeks) onto reusables. We bought Kushies ones - they are all in ones, so no pants over the fabric nappy, just like a disposable. Have to say DS was a bit too small to use them from birth as they are rather more bulky than disposables and he found them rather uncomfortable to start with. but now they're great.

Where do you live? Here in Bristol the council run a scheme where you can borrow a "loan pack" of reusable nappies of all different kinds to try out for a couple of weeks through the Recycling Consortium. Different babies will find different ones more comfortable. The council then give you a voucher for £30 off your purchase of real nappies at specified retailers. Well worth it.

Or if there is a local shop to you that stocks different kinds, ask to go in for a demo of them all.

Take a look at this site: Real Nappy Campaign

JoJo
Thanks. I'll take a look at it.
(If I can find it!!)

Clairemow
That's helpful. Thanks.
I heard something about all-in-ones taking a really long time to dry. Have you found a problem with that?
Thanks for the info about the council scheme. Unfortunately I live in Japan and they don't do anything like that over here. In fact, I'm not at all sure that anyone over here uses anything other than disposables. I'm going to have to buy any I use over the internet from the UK.
I'll check out that site though, thanks.

I don't have a problem with drying the all in ones - I wash them every evening, and either chuck them in the tumbledryer (on medium heat), or hang them on radiators and they're dry the next day. I've got 10, which I find is enough for 2 days (just - could do with 15 really). I don't use them at night though, still got Huggies for night time, as I do find the reusables need to be changed more frequently (every 2 hours or so).

I don't think all in ones are such a good option if you plan to use them for more than one child. From what I've heard they don't last as long as other ones. The Motherease ones are nice.

I swapped to reusables afew months ago when my ds was 13months. I bought wambamboos and terries and motherease wraps and use fleece liners.

I wash every second day and dry on the radiators. I found it was easier than I thought to swap. I found searching the mn archives really useful too.

Also the nappy lady if you have not found it has loads of info on washing and how to use them and you can also get help from an advisor.

I spent a while on google getting info as it is a mindfield!

When you do decide which one you want, I would shop around for the best price as some are cheaper but chrge a fortune for delivery. There are loads with free delivery though.

Babykind (www.babykind.co.uk) sell a variety of nappies, and offer pros/cons advice for each kind, and you can contact them with for answers to any specific questions you have. During the day I use bambino mio wraps and prefolds: they are really easy to wash and dry, and offer really good containment - we've had no horrid messy leaks since we started using them. At night I use bumbles or swaddlebees sized nappies with a motherease wrap, so dd (19 weeks) can go all night without a change. I got my bambino mios from Peachy Cheeks Ltd on ebay: they do a really good birth to potty pack that includes useful things like a nappy bin and laundry mesh to collect up nappies in so you can save them for a nappy wash every 3 days or so. I put the nappies in the machine for a cold rinse with a tablespoon of white wine vinegar to get rid of smells, then wash them at 40 or 60 degrees (depends how dirty they are).

ruth, there alot of australian and new zealand online nappy shops which might be cheaper postage wise.

i'm in a rush now but i'll try and get links for some later

Also check out the various eBays (is there a Japanese one?) They sell both new and second-hand nappies. The Australian one is usually quite busy

Thanks for your advice everyone. Really helpful!!
I contacted the Nappy Lady and was advised to go for Bumble nappies and Airflow wraps.
Everyone seems to rave about those wraps, so I will definitely have to give them a go.

I might check out some New Zealand/Aussie net pages, but I doubt Japanese ebay will be much help unfortunately. No one over here seems to use reuseable nappies so I doubt there are any to sell!!

Anyway, wish me luck...

If you do want to look at the Aus market, checkout Nappycino its an Aussie forum devoted to cloth and it has some good reviews for Southern hemisphere nappies.

Thanks Mrs Waggsnapps.
That's an interesting site.
I had never even considered making my own nappies before, but maybe I'll even give that a go!!