Did any of you use cloth from day 1?

[maveta]

I´m in spain so we have to expect to be in hospital at least 3 days here. I´ve bought a packet of disposables to use while there (not the eco ones I´m afraid, I don´t think they exist here yet, at least not where I live) because I can´t see it being practical to have 3 days worth of real nappies OR sending dh off every day to clean a load. On the whole it seems like the most practical decision but I can´t help but feel it´s a shame I can´t put his brand new little bottom straight into a soft and cosy real nappy...
Did any of you take real nappies to the hospital or did you use disposables for the first couple of days?

I used cloth with both of mine from the off... But I was only in hospital for an hour or so after having them. Big homing instinct
Well with ds before meconium (I had no idea what that would entail ie: having to throw away a few nappies)
With dd after meconium.
Will use after meconium this time too -
I don't use wipes - I use cotton wool for first few weeks, mix warm water chamomile tea and few drops olive oil.Then I use washable wipes. I prepare them in a plastic sealable bag for taking out and about

I think using disposables in hospital is fine, some hospitals do have a real nappy service though

they can't force you to stay in you know... if you want to leave all you have to do is discharge yourself... they might give you a lecture but they can't make you stay.

i used disps for the first few weeks til size ones fit with my 2 but have since been told muslins work quite weel on newborns so will try that with no.3 whenever they come along

We used cloth after a couple of weeks - we'd been trialling them before then. When the new baby arrives, I'll have it in cloth after the meconium - that stuff is seriously tough and I don't want to be scraping tar off my lovely new dinky nappies while bfing round the clock, entertaining nose-out-of-joint toddler, grabbing food as and when, and all the other lovely newborn stuff!

We used disposables for the first 2 weeks as the nappies I had weren't small enough. After that, cloth all the way.

I took about 6 weeks with DS - 6 months with DD.

The 6 weeks was as long though because none of the airflow wraps that I had bought fitted his diddy legs...

We used disposables in hospital, but with a second child I would definitely go straight into cloth.

I would definitely recommend disposables in hospital - you really don't want to have to wash out all that disgusting sticky meconium. But once DS was home we went straight onto cloth nappies with no problems.

yes but always post meconium!

I used disposables in hospital when ds was born for the same reasons you mention maveta. As the midwife at the hospital pointed out at the time, they really actively promote cloth nappies there but have no facilities to enable you to use them whilst you are in!

I find it really strange that you're all saying post-meconium. I used cloth from birth with DD2 - she has never had a disposable on her bottom in her life and she's 2 in a fortnight - and teh meconium washed out absolutely fine. No scraping, no liners or anything.

My local maternity hopital use teeny tiny Tots Bots nappies. They used paper liners for the first 3 months or so and then decided to stop, and obviously all their nappies are meconium ones, and they wash out fine every time.

It looks horrendous and is remarkably difficult to get off babies bottoms but it comes out in the was just fine - Promise!!

Absolutely, meconium washes out just fine, no need for scrubbing I remember it as being rather like black snot, and although snot is very sticky and goes rock-hard when it dries , I've never had a problem with washing it out of clothes

I used them post meconium, but ds is my first and I'd been told how horrible meconium was etc etc. Now that I know its not that bad I'd use cloth from day 1. And I'd get a hire pack of tiny wraps now that I know a slightly too big one done up tight does not contain bf newborn poo!

My hospital put them all straight in to real nappies and obviously most babies do their first poo in those ones. I then used real nappies whilst in the hospital and have only used 6 disposables since (I had some family issues and so had a day I just really couldn't face doing a nappy wash) but am planning on using them on hol next week as no washing facilities - I will do a wash before I go and use as many real as I can then move on to disposables (or perhaps the other way round, use disposables for 2 days then my reals) - Plus my real nappies for nightime useage are Sooooo much nicer than disposables that I will actually handwash them out in the sink.
Go for it! I only do a wash every 4 days - if you have enough then you could use them in hospital and get dh to take them home in resealable bags?

okay well maybe I´ll take both along in the bag and play it by ear a bit.

Piffle - I´ve noticed a few people saying cotton wool first and then on to cloth wipes.. is there any reason for not using reusable cloth wipes right from the start? Is it because of the meconium again? I have a fleece blanket to cut up into liners and washable wipes so should have a small mountain available. Think I might take them?? Does the camomile tea wash have to be made up fresh everyday or could I make a plastic bottle up to take with us for the whole 3 days?

PinkTulip - no, I know I can leave if I want but as the mw pointed out, in the UK you get health visitors (useless or not, someone comes to check on you) but here you don´t. Once you leave hospital you are on your own apart from checks at the medical centre which you have to go to under your own steam. So mostly out of first timer nervousness we´ll probably stay in as long as poss.!

this is very heartening, I've bought one peach kissaluv for baba's first baby nappy as I want her to have a "first nappy", then I'm hoping to use either prefolds or terries/muslins for a few weeks till I can move onto something bigger.

ah... fair enough maveta... you'll need all the help you can get as a first timer especially if your bf-ing.

good luck btw

Thanks pinktulips

hospital around ehre provides 1st size cotton bottoms for use on the maternity ward!

whilst i hate cotten bottoms, and would enver buy them, when you change them every hour, and the baby is tiny im sure they're fine!

It's a few years ago now, but we used disposables in hospital (didn't appear to be any choice), then an assortment of terry nappies we'd acquired from other people - including a pack of brand-new ones - & eco nappy liners. Did 'origami' with dd, but used Ellie Pants for ds, which worked really well with terries folded in them. Warm water & cotton wool to wash bottom (only used wipes when out - I hate the smell & it seems like a waste of money/unnecessary chemicals). Vinegar/Nappy Fresh in nappy buckets (also hand-me-downs) to soak, washed on 60 degrees. Neither child suffered from nappy rash. Went through motor on washing machine & had to have it replaced, but machine only cost £45 in first place! After a while used disposables at night in order to prevent sodden cot sheets & when on holiday. Nursery quite happy to use terries, including doing origami, which was great .

disposables in hospital for dd2 and then cloth when we got home. Intend to do the same for no3 coming on Fri.

Unfortunately each time I was/will be in hospital for 5 days. Dh started a new job the day after dd2 was born so really could not have him doing nappies to keep bringing into hospital. This time he is off looking after two dds - just easier to use disposables whilst in hospital - they don't offer cloth as an alternative or a real nappy service.

I planned to use onelife from birth, and come home from the hospital within a few hours, but unfortunately I was so ill that we ended up using Moltex for about 3 weeks until I was able to cope with the extra washing.

Cotton wool is just a little bit softer which I why I use it initially.

I also have newborn kissaluvs
OMG they are so gorgeous
I'll sell them on MN when baby outgrows them, they are to die for