Cotton bottoms leaking!

[LexB]

Hi
Has anyone got any advice for making my cotton bottom pre fold nappies last longer for dd who is 3 months? Got them cheaply on eBay but they are only lasting 1.5 - 2 hours and often leaking wee and poo on to clothes - with a lively ds, haven't got time to be changing clothes several times a day!
What's the best way to fold them? Have just been folding into thirds so far. We used Bambino Mios (similar to CBs) for ds from 9 months and never had any problems with leaks there.
Or are Cotton bottoms not good for such a young baby?
Many thanks!

i have used loads of nappies, reusuable and evil dispoasable ones

cotton bottoms are my all time worst nappies. I hated them and never got on with them

i found they leaked loads too. (sometimes in less than an hour)
When i have my own children i will use reusables... but i will not use cotton bottoms, even if someone gave them to me.

Maybe get a pocket nappy system and use the cotton bootms as the inserts?
or use the cotton part as a mat on the changing mat?

I dont have a probelm with the CB wraps tho. (but ME airflow are my favs) you could get some shaped nappies and use your CB wraps with them?

Thanks, I was wondering if that was the case, esp having read previous posts on MN about them. Glad I didn't spend much on them. My parcel of Tots bots shaped nappies has just arrived through the post so will be trying those next! Hope they will be an improvement, but they are quite expensive.

I really liked the cotton bottom nappies but thought the wraps were awful!

im sure you will LOVE your tots! I love tots!

which ones have u gone for, normal, bamboozles or fluffles (i have only ever used the original ones, cant wait to try the others some time!)

I used the Angel Fold and used a nippa - was much more effective on a little baby, at least till weaning

if you're using the girl fold (thirds) that's not going to be any use on baby poo

I do actually prefer the cotton bottoms wraps to bambinos

I use tots at night and prefolds during the day, always have

tots are lovely for containment but a bugger to dry

ok, sounds like i need to get a nippa to try with the angel fold. def worth a go. i've got some fluffles to try. have seen mixed reviews but was attracted to them as they dry faster and a size 2 can go from now till potty. They do look ginormous though!

i don't like the mio wraps much either! I thought the CB ones were better on ds. He's getting too big for them now at 2.8 but we're hoping he might potty train soon (he is v. reluctant!) so loath to get new ones. He's starting to suss the difference between his disposable nature nappies that we use at night and the reusable ones and has been asking for the disposable ones during the day... sigh. I've tried to reason with him re the environment!!!

LexB - why does he prefer the sposies?

ref Cotton Bottoms, the angel fold is an option although sometimes it's hard to nippa them especially if they're line dried. You may as well use terries though if you're doing complex folds as they work better, are one size and dry faster.

However you should get on well with the Tots Bots. If you like them and want to try Bamboo, try Bambineos (Wham-Bamboos) which are better than Bamboozles for a number of reasons, one being that the size 2s fit bigger AND smaller babies than the Tots. Take ages to dry, though. Tots Fluffles are superb, if bulky, and dry fast, but are not a natural fabric.

Emma

I go with everything Emma says

I was useless with prefolds anyway though.

Thanks, that's v. helpful info. I may be tempted to get some of those bamboo ones if the tots bots style works well! That's great that they will fit now and go to potty.

I've used cotton bottoms with great success. You could try 3 things before you go spending more money:

1. move up a size - we were on the mediums by 3 months.

2. cut up an old fleece (or buy one from a charity shop for a few quid) into the size of the folded pads and put them inside the folded square - this adds extra absobencey to the nappy.

3)Don't use fabric conditioners on any part of the nappy and never soak the wraps.

We also found that actually it was better to use a disposible atnight as it helped DS sleep better - we use the nature baby ones you can buy in sainsburys/boots as they're mostly biodegradable.