Thinking of changing nappy brand any thoughts?

[talcam]

I used kushies for DD1 and used the same for dd2 but I just don't think they are as absorbant this time around. She can be extremely wet after just 2 hours.
I am therefore thinking of changing to a different kind and wondered which brands the mumsnetters would recommend.
She is coming on to the second size of kushies roughly 20 pounds at present.
Any advice would be very greatfully recieved

do you still want an all in one or would you be happy will a two part nappy?

Hi talcam, there are so many nappies now, I started a nappy review blog to help people choose nappies.
TheYou will be amazed at the number now available.
Also look at the cloth resource for lots of info and a huge nappy library.
You probably need to consider what type of laundry facilities you have - do you tumble dry, or air dry nappies? This would influence the nappy fabric and type and the number of nappies you will need.
Also your budget and the type of fastening you like, do you like natural fabrics or would you be happy to use synthetic, microfibre nappies like fluffles?
Also your DD's build; if she is tall, or chunky, so that you get a nappy that will fit well. If I remember correctly, Kushies are reasonably high on the rise and would be ok on a taller baby??
My personal preference was to have a number of different nappies, some for going out/quick changes, some for nights, some for cuteness, some reliable workhorses and some cute wraps that work.
I reckon you will probably be able to go into a size 2 or large nappy at this point and hopefully it will last until potty.
Hope that helps a bit.

I prefer to air dry
Budget not main concern but prefer not to spend a fortune
Not bothered by fastening type preferred all in one first time round but now more open to suggestion
i would use synthetics I would probably go for whichever had best absorbancy
She is quite average fairly tall and tiny bit of chubbiness around the thighs
I will eventually need to go back to work so one that is easy for the grandparents to put is a consideration. Plus she is very wriggly!

kissaluvs good for chubby thighs, and very cute

motherease OS excellent, no nonsense nappy

huggles great for night time

fuzzibunz good for granparents - pocket nappy so you can stuff in advance and they only have to put on one thing

motherease wraps are great, airflow or (can't remember the name of the velcro one now but thay are good)

hth

(kittykins is good for advice, or twinkle or nappylady)

I agree that pocket nappies are easier for non-nappy users. Although personally I would only use them for out and about or babysitters, as I don't find them reliable enough. Sometimes we have major leaks. For this reason I personally prefer a nappy with a wrap over the top.
You could go down the route of sized pocket nappies such as fuzzi bunz (poppers) or happy heinys non-patterned (velcro/aplix). Alternatively, there are one-size type nappies which you adjust as the baby grows, such as Wonderoos or bumGenius. These cost a bit more, but would hopefully last until potty.
For a wriggler I like poppered nappies, particularly side-fastening, you can pull them up like pants or they are easy to fasten for a standing up nappy change.
For absorbency hemp or bamboo are good options, such as Ellas House, bamboozles, happy hempy, bamboozle, wam-bamboo, baby beehinds there are quite a few now available.
for side-poppers Sandy's are a good fairly absorbent option that last for ages size-wise, but take a while to dry.
Huggles are great night nappies, but I must warn about the elastic - it is pretty tight and can leave marks even on skinny legs.
There are so many nappies you might like,
Have you looked at some online retailers to see what there is?
A couple of good ones are
link{http://www.babykind.co.uk/babykind
You could look at some of the WAHM nappies available - unique nappies made my mums at home, to a great standard. The cloth resource link on my last post will take to a list of wahm nappies available.
When you have narrowed down your choice, my nappy review blog should give you some unbiased reviews on how others have found them.
Hope that helps a bit - it's quite confusing isn't it??

Sorry I had a bit of a disaster whilst trying to post links.
I meant to say
Kittykins
and
babykind

Definately have a look at the cloth resource WAHM nappy section though, it's the best place to find really cute patterned nappies and unusual wraps.
Weenotions do some gorgeous, pretty nappies, as do Happy Nappy Days, Puddlepants and Tiddlybums. Suki from Clwt-twt makes really reasonably priced nappies and can make them with any outer fabric that you like. She currently has some bamboo velour nappies - these are the softest fabric ever, but still really absorbent.
I'll stop there....

I still opt for wambamboo every time for a 2 part system - with either a wool or fleece wrap, but if I want a waterproof one then I go for wackywraps for cuteness.

Pocket - I've just discovered weenotions and I loooooooooooove them!

Oh my god it was definately easier when you could get kushies or bambino mio only. However now quite intriged by all these new ones and I like the idea of maybe using different ones.
I shall look at the posts you have given me later and then probably come back with more questions maisiemog thanks for all the help so far.
I think I could still handle a few more tips though

It IS confusing! I realised that when I was typing - even in a year the number of cloth nappies has doubled.
I was just checking your comments again thinking about nappies which are reasonably high in the rise, as you mentioned your DD being tall.
I know taller nappies include Bumbles and bumpers - stuffable (so absorbency can be easily adjusted)
Wam-bamboo are a bamboo nappy so are more absorbent than cotton would stay reasonably soft when air-dryed. There are poppered Wahm-bamboos at Lovebums nappies and I think the Time2Change T2C bamboo nappy has free postage.
Babybeehinds tall, big foldable booster so pretty absorbent, available in hemp at Kittykins and in bamboo fleece colours on Ebay.
Hemp can harden when air-dryed, it still feels smooth, but goes a bit board-like.
Clwt-Twt size 3, big choice of fabrics including print outer, bamboo velour and bamboo terry and cotton terry, absorbent and quick drying. Cotton goes a bit crusty when airdryed.
YOu can pick up a huge variety on the second hand market, so as to try without a huge investment. Try the Nappy Lady Classifieds, UKparents.co.uk and UKparents.net.
Just to add to the mix, you can currently pick up 'to die for' gorgeous nappies(diapers) from Wahms in the US (excellent exchange rate and cheap postage)
Look at Hyena Cart where lots of US Wahms sell nappies.
That ought to do it.

I think I may have to lie down in a darkened room and to recover from nappy overload (no pun intended). I think I need to do an organised list of nappies that I would consider. DH will be delighted more lists are just what this house needs

Right, have made list although far from complete. So far interested in motherease sandy, TB bamboozles and wambamboo. Any thoughts on these?
Plus a couple of stupid questions , how many nappies, wraps and boosters do you need with this type of system?
Can you mix and match wraps and boosters from anywhere with nappies.
Do wraps need to be worn all the time? Presumably they do if you want dry clothes just wondering why the nappies themselves come in such an array of colours.

Also which type of wrap is best? Do you just go for cutest or do they have different absorbancies too ?

Getting there
OK, you will need a wrap for the nappies on your list so far. They are made of cloth and I'm sure you can imagine what would happen if you put clothes over the top.
If you get some pocket nappies you won't need a wrap, they are like a sleeve that you stuff with absorbent material. The outer fabric (that you can see) is waterproof and the fabric next to the baby's skin is usually polyester fleece.
All in ones, like Kushies, also have a waterproof outer.
If you are air-drying then you will need more bamboo nappies than cotton, they take a bit longer to dry.
To choose how many to buy, you calculate how many changes to do in a day, say 5. Then you decide how often you want to wash.
If you want to wash every other day, then you need 5 dry for the day (and maybe a spare - just in case) you will have five in the nappy bucket and five drying for the next day - so probably 15 or 16.
You could get away with fewer if you tumble-dried, or had a few pocket nappies. Because pocket nappies are just a tube made of waterproof fabric (PUL usually) and polyester fleece, they dry in an hour or so. The material you stuff them with is either microfibre, which is very fast drying, or often unfolds flat, so dries fast.
Which reminds me - there are nappies made exclusively of microfibre which dry super-fast including; Fluffles, Microdiddy, MicroDizzy, Wee Wonders I think that's it.
Bumbles are quite high in the rise and dry pretty fast, so a couple of them might be handy to have as well.
You might like stuffie nappies too, they are quick drying and you stuff them with extra material for nights or shopping trips.
Oh and look at Popolini two size nappies, they are the same as Mother-ease Sandy's, but slightly cheaper.
For a day I would say two wraps would probably be ok and you will need a wrap for night. You can wash wraps with other washing, so you could have them ready for the next day - they take no time to dry.
Personally I have loads of wraps, because I hate using them more than once - they usually smell a bit when they come off my DS, so I prefer to wash them after one long or two short wearings.
This is going to be more confusing, but for nights, it is worth considering a wool wrap - it is much more breathable than PUL and therefore healthier for the skin. It might sound mad, but it doesn't leak.

Thanks again for all your help
The nappy lady has zdviced me to use original tots bots. I think mainly because they are a local company which I ahd forgotten
However I think I might just get a few different ones to try including those and the bamboo one. Do you think thats the right thing to do?
She also said that motherease wraps are far superior to anything else on the market is this your opinion also? I did think wacky wraps were especially cute
Plus I feel I need a really good night time nappy but a bit concerened about chubbiness of DD's thighs. I checked out your blog and your son is definately much smaller in this area .
Do you get pull ups suitable for night time for very skinny 3 yr old (she weighs 28 lbs)?
Sorry again for all questions ypu have been great

motherease wraps are my favs - however for a chubbylegged one I would go for the popper variety (airflow I think it is called) as you can adjust the leg and waist separately

for my chubbylegged daughter at night we use huggles XL - she likes those, bumbles are great too, but I think she is outgrowing those a bit now

have fun

Mother-ease wraps are very reliable so worth a try, but they can leave red marks on some babies legs, so perhaps it's worth trying them and another type, such as the wacky wrap.
I have heard good things about the new wacky wraps and there are a few people on this forum who have bought them.

Tots originals are a nice nappy, they are pretty bulky and not particularly fast drying, so you would probably need a few if you aren't tumble-drying.
They work quite well for shopping trips, or well-boosted, overnight.
I think your original choices, Wam-bamboo, Sandy's etc.. are probably a bit slimmer and wouldn't take any longer than a tots original to dry.
Bumbles are quite similar to tots original, in that they are white cotton terry, but they are much faster drying and you can put more material inside to make them last longer.

All in all, I think your idea of trying a few different types is excellent, you can't really know until you try, and you can always sell them on Ebay if you don't like them.
The nappies that I know of that pull up are button up nappies or minki yo yos. Although there may be others.

You can use a poppered nappy like a Sandy's as a pull up as well.
I think button up nappies might be good because they are pretty absorbent, although the reviews say they are quite bulky. But I don't think it is so important to have a trim nappy for nights.
Hope that helps

I used tot bots exclusively for dd1 up to 6 months and am doing the same with dd2. Fantastically reliable - no leaks and take them through the nights without extra boosting. But they are very bulky - take ages to dry and caused some problems with clothing.

I still used them at nights,for long journeys, etc 6 months+ simply for their absorbancy.

My dd1 was chubbylegged with a slimish waist. I found the Motherease Sandy's and airflow wraps with the popper fastenings made for the best fit - they were also reliable and not at all bulky for a cloth nappy.

Thanks again for help - for some reason I keep forgetting about bumbles must add that to ever growing list.
Think might get these to try at night

Oh I meant to say the Bumble and the Bimble (which has a size 2 for larger babies) are both made by Easy Peasy, who are a UK company.
Not that that means they are actually made here!
There was a thread a while ago about this and Bamboozles are made in Turkey apparently, Wam-bamboo is made in Portugal and I don't know where Mother-ease is made, but they are based in Canada.
Clwt-twt are made in Wales by a friend of mine, so you might like to look at them, they are very compact and dry quite fast for towelling nappy.

I don't know why but I am not sure about the idea of using second hand nappies. Or maybe I don't trust other peoples washing standards to be up to my own
This means probably buying a few different nappies are the all priced the same or is it worth shopping around. Presumably postage would need to be paid on all different ones therefore not worthwhile?

It is because tots bots are glasgow based and that is where I live I think that is why she mentioned it I will look at the wales one too ta (again)

My SIL uses prefolds has any one else ever used them and is their only advantage that they are cheap?

Sorry I am going for a record number of posts in a row by one person
Are fleece wraps any use for overnight or is wool best?

Last question of the night nature baby wraps any use they are very cute

Definitely shop around. Try doing a search on the nappy name and the word 'sale' or something.
For second hand, I've bought tons and they are absolutely fine. Give them a couple of hot washes before you use them.
As long as they are washed at 60 degrees they will be clean - somebody posted a while back saying that nurses uniforms are washed at 65 degrees, so that must be OK.
You can pick up some next to new items on parentslounge.co.uk ukparents.co.uk and ukparents.net and nappylady classifieds if you do go down that route.