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?

[BelfastSmile]

Until the baby eats solids, the poos are so liquid that they wash out easily anyway. We didn't use washables until about 4 months in, as we wanted to get to grips with having a baby before complicating things! We also use disposables at night, as DS was soaking through everything we tried. It's definitely worth buying second hand, even just to try different types. Note that EBay don't let you list nappies as "used", so people list them as new and then explain in the description - just in case you're wondering why you can't find used ones!

Our system is: we use BumGenius and Blueberry pocket nappies, with flushable bamboo liners (you need to make sure the liners are flushable - some say they are, but actually don't disintegrate properly. If they survive a trip in the washing machine, then they're not flushable). Dirty nappies, we take the "contents" out with the liner and flush that; then the nappy goes into a wet bag (we have smaller wet bags for out and about too). Wet nappies go straight into the wet bag. Our wet bags are Planetwise.

Washing is just a case putting the wet bags into the machine, unzipped, adding a bit of powder (no liquid or fabric softener, as it affects absorbency), then a pre-wash at about 20 degrees followed by the main wash with an extra rinse. They dry in the tumble dryer.

[Goingtobeawesome]

nennyrainbow think it might have been .

[christinarossetti]

I used to hold pooey nappies under the flush in the toilet bowl and flush. Got rid of solids in nappy.

[neversleepagain]

We used cloth nappies with our twins from when they were 6 weeks until potty trained.

We used fleece liners, the poo comes of easily with fleece. We also had bamboo liners for night.

We had a big mix of nappies from Little Lamb prefolds, tradition Terry nappies with wraps, and a selection of birth to potty nappies.

I dry pailed and washed nappies every second day. I had about 60 nappies for both of them.

Your council will offer a money back incentive. Ours was £25 back on nappies we purchased per child.

[neversleepagain]

I also used washable wipes. Was easy chucking them into the machine with nappies.

We used washable wipes for hands and faces too. Just a different colour to nappy wipes and we washed when with towels, not nappies.

[Nan0second]

Look for preloved nappies and a nappy library. Lots of great cloth bum groups on Facebook (sales and chat). We are 18months in and very happy with our choice.
Heavy wetter here so we used little lambs to start with followed by a mix of bumbles / real easy / one life nappies in the day with a bamboozle with extra hemp at night. Reusable cheeky wipes are the only thing I bought new.
We have a net bag in a bucket and wash every other night (6kg machine).
Pre weaning / six months, breast fed poo is water soluble so went straight in the machine. Fleece liner was just used to keep skin dry.
Since then, we use fleece and flush poo down the toilet.
Never flush the flushable liners!!!

[Placeinthesun]

I managed 3 in reusabales as I had DT's when DS1 was only just two (but cracked on with potty training pretty quickly).

I alternated between dry and wet pailing, kept one pail in bathroom and one downstairs by nappy change area. Used a range of pocket nappies - Fuzzi Bunz when they were tiny then Bum Genius and also Ellas House hemp with fleece liners and Motherease Sandy's with their Rikki Wrap. I only discovered the Motherease late in the day and think they were my faves. I had a huge stash of largely second hand nappies with 3 in them so we didn't have to wash too often.

I used paper liners and just flicked/flushed the contents as appropriate. If anything was really mucky a quick rinse under the shower/

I used to prep all the nappies after washing so they were ready to go...lined/stuffed and as easy to grab as a 'sposie for out and about and also for nursery. I used to have two little PUL lined bags one with clean dry nappies and one for wet and dirty bits when out and about.

I also switched to cloth wipes and found them brilliant, they were little terry or terry fleece backed squares...much better at actually cleaning than a slidey wet wipe. Still have a few kicking about that get used for cleaning up now my kids are 11 and 9!

Apart from the nappy folding chore a couple of times a week and buying white vinegar in large quantities to cut down the wee smell in the washing machine it was no more hassle than 'sposies (which I found smell horrid and leaked horribly) at all. Easy to pick up nappies on pre loved sites and saved a fortune.

The only hassley thing was that one DT was seriously rashy in a sposie or any wrap with PUL for a year or so so I did thick fleece or wool trousers/wraps over an un wrapped cloth nappy. The wool had to be periodically re lanolised....but the wool longies (my mum made them from charity shop jumpers) were sooo cute it almost made up for this.