Talk me through reusable nappies - will I really do it?

[abeandhalo]

Our baby is due in April, and I'd really like to try reusable nappies.

My partner is not keen, and he thinks we'll give up v quickly, which may well be true but I thought we may as well try!

For those that use them successfully, please let me know your system of nappies / pail / wet bags and what brands you use.

I liked the idea of flushable liners but we live in a new build and no one is confident that they won't clog the system. So how does it work without them? It is far, far more gross?

The main factor with cloth nappies is drying them. If you have a washing line, indoor racks or a tumble dryer it's perfectly doable.

I never used flushable wipes, but wouldn't risk them tbh. You won't be popular if you block the drains up! Somehow your own baby's poo isn't gross, or at least that's what I found

A nappy service, where they deliver clean ones each week and take away dirty ones is also an option.

I had a bucket with mesh liner I'm the bathroom, a wet bag for when out. Shoved a load in the machine a few times a week. Used Bumbles, Bum Genius.

We did and found it far less hassle than we feared!

We first used a mix of prefolds and Little Lambs bamboo nappies, with wraps over the top. (Bamboo is very absorbent but takes a bloody age to dry.) Packed the bamboo with bamboo boosters for nights after the first few months.

We then moved to (bigger size) Miosolo all-in-ones, which were pricier but easier.

Wetbag routine pre-weaning - throw in bag, zip shut. Post-weaning - remove and chuck disposable liner, then nappy in wetbag.

Flushable wipes are like loo paper. Shouldn't block the loo. Drying was the main issue for us. Problem times are April and October when it's too warm for the heating and too wet to dry them outside.

We used Bumbles too.

Worth doing a trial if you are unsure.

UK Cloth Nappy Library Map

goo.gl/maps/dGWHti6ZV5A2

If you want to start from birth, I suggest hiring a newborn kit if your local library does them.

I used flushable liners with dc3 but would put them in a disposable nappy sack and Chuck away. Was nicer than using fleece liners only as I did with dc2. The reason I chucked them and didn't flush is explained here

I use cloth nappies. Look at second hand ones, we got about £200 worth for a fiver at an NCT sale. The laundry isn't bad. They don't need to be soaked, we just put them in a bucket lined with a mesh bag and put the whole bag in the washing machine. If we didn't have a tumble drier I think we would struggle. I bought disposable liners but we actually use the washable ones. Baby poo pre solid food is pretty much liquid anyway. I would get some disposables in, too, though, for days when the laundry didn't get done or you're going out and don't want to lug dirty nappies home.

I used them for my first two DCs, now 11 & 9, and only occasionally, summer only with DCs 3&4. They may have moved on a bit since then, but I found the Motherease Sandys nappies with the airflow wraps were best at containing newborn squirty poo. They did take forever to dry though and went very crunchy if not tumble dried. For quick drying convenience, I used pocket nappies - fuzzi bunz & wonderoos. The nappy part dries really quickly and the microfibres inserts were fairly quick drying too. They are polyester fleece on the inside so dry soft regardless of how you dry them. They also came in a range of funky colours. The downside was that they weren't as absorbent as the cotton nappies, and also I found they worked better for girls than boys.

Didn't bother with disposable liners. I bought some polyester fleece material from a local sewing shop and cut it up into lots of rectangles, which I used as reusable liners with cotton nappies ( poo doesn't stick to polyester as much as cotton) and also as reusable wipes. In fact I still have some of these over 10 years later as polyester lasts forever!

I dry pailed them and washed every 3 days.

I also never found a reusable nappy that was successful at lasting a full night, or if itvdid, it stank by the morning. Used a disposable at night.

Thanks all this is v helpful start!

I used pocket nappies, by far the easiest to dry. They are shaped like a disposable, but you fill them with booster pads (or old cut up towels) and use a wrap over the top.

I used fleece liners, shook contents down loo, and dry pailed every thing. Pull the drawer string bag out of bucket. Into machine, and wash.

I loved it, bought far too many bright fleece wraps and pockets, and sold them all on eBay recently.

I used washables and had three in them so if I can do three I'm sure you can do one .

I had motherease nappies, boots plastic pants and flushable liners then we went on to toffee tots. I know that's not right but I'm drunk so can't remember. At night we had terry squares and boots booster liners.

I had mothercare nappy buckets. Napisan. Boots nappy pins.

Bought a net bag to wash all the nappies together. Pointless.

I did it without a tumble drier - we have good radiator racks, though they stay much nicer dried outside - as I discovered when buying some second hand ones, which were in beautiful condition, and had only been dried outside.

Handy hint: my ds1 was fantastic and pooed once a day, at the same time most days. I used a disposable for that nappy, and saved a lot of washing. DS2 pooed several times a day, so it didn't work with him!

We switched to a disposable overnight after a year. DC1 always did his utterly disgusting daily poo just after waking, and it was far more preferable to bin the whole lot than sort it out.

Otherwise we used washable liners, which were great, although breastfed baby poo doesn't flick off them into the loo.

BumGenius Freestyle here. No soaking required for the dirties; all in one with no inserts (though you can easily add if you need for overnight, we haven't yet); one size from newborn to potty; dry in a few hours. And they're SO cute.

I'd absolutely say go for it.

I've bought all of our nappies off eBay or been given them by friends. Some of them are possibly 4th hand, which is fine by me. Overall I've not spent more than £30 on nappies! So definitely look on ebay and Facebook buying and selling sites, especially if you're not entirely convinced it's right for you.

Also - many local councils offer a voucher scheme for cloth nappies to try and promote their use. Ours was worth £30. Ask your council if they do the same!

I am two years in with washable nappies.

It took trying a few brands to settle on one we now use all the time (Close Pop Ins). A nappy library can help with this as they'll lend/rent you a starter pack full of different brands.

I store my nappies in either wet bags or loose in a flip-top bin.

I was every three/four days now baby is only using 4/5 nappies per day. Washed every other day when baby was smaller and so used more nappies.

Wash with powder not liquid. Liquid is sticky and coats the fibres, reducing absorbency.

Don't use fabric softener for the same reason.

Rinse all detergent out very well after washing or the nappies will go stinky.

You can use fleece liners to keep the bottom dry and protect the nappies from staining. If baby is breastfed you can put the whole nappy in the wash - breastfed poo will wash straight out. So no need for a disposable liner when just breastfed.

Use a disposable liner when baby is eating formula or solids. Throw the liner in the bin, don't flush it (even the flushable ones aren't flushable).

Washable wipes are good too!

TotsBots goingtobeawaesome?!

OK so practical question, if the liquidy poo doesn't flick off in to the toilet - do you wipe it off with loo paper then dispose of it before shoving nappy in your wet bag? And where is the baby during this bit of the process, as the baby changing thing is now always in arm's reach of the loo?

Excuse the silly Qs I just want to know if it's really for us!

My baby changing is no where near the loo so newborn 'runny' pooh just went in the bucket & through the washing machine. Now we've weaned pooh goes into a nappy bag & into the bin while nappy goes in bucket. Same when out except substitute bucket for wetbag.

Use Totbots peenuts for day & bamboozle stretch or a disposable at night.

Sorry should have said - so no need to abandon baby while you transfer to loo.

We also cut up polyester fleece and used AS liners, solid poo falls off into the loo.

If your baby poos at the same time each day you can hold him/her over a potty or the loo as soon as they start. (This is all there is to elimination communication - you can just do it for poo, or maybe offer after they wake, too)

used as liners

We use fleece liners and tip poo down toilet. We also have a bin that hangs on the changing table (ikea) with a scented bin liner (the range) which we used to chuck disposable liners in, and the odd wet wipe. Nappies go in bucket.

Pre weaning, we didn't bother to flush poop - it's water soluble so just chucked in bucket.

Post weaning, I pop poopy nappy on top of bucket finish sorting baby, then pop her on floor or in cot whilst I deal with her nappy.

We use totsbots V4 and Star Easyfits. We also have bamboozles and a Peenut, which are great too. The Peenut is slimmer fitting buy takes longer to dry as its bamboo (as are the stars)

I'm using bumgenius nappies on DS, I think they are v4 ones but I can't remember exactly they are all at least 5 years old as I used them with DD and saved them in the loft in case we had another

I use a disposable at night as he will sleep for longer in those and also use disposables if we are out for the day as he poos 3 or 4 times a day so I don't want to be carrying really dirty nappies around.

I use fleece liners and rinse off the worst of the poo with cold water and bung the whole lot into a nappy bucket, just do a wash when the bucket is full.

I put the nappies on a cold rinse cycle before putting them through the wash and also do an extra rinse at the end to make sure all the detergent is rinsed out.

I also have washable wipes - some are just fleece and some are fleece on one side and flannel on the other (these are useful for the really dirty nappy changes!) and these just get washed along with the nappies.

The inserts either go in the tumble drier or line dry but i always line dry the actual pocket nappy bit.