reusable nappies.

[AimeesMum]

I was just wondering what people thought of reusable nappies. Do any of you use them? I've been having a look at some, and am considering using them with future children. I had considered using them with dd, but the initial cost was hard to find doe to buying a new house, so I stuck with disposables...but next time would like to use reusables. What are the pros and cons? What makes are best?

I think ukparents is the place to talk to lots of clothies and get lots of answers. There's a cloth nappy forum there which seems to be the meeting place for on-line UK clothies.

I have used terries (naps you have to fold into shape yourself) and fitted (naps that come in a ready-made shape). I prefer the terries, but the fitted have their plus sides, too. Most of my terries are 2nd hand, and I've been pretty happy with Motherease wraps, but there are other good ones about. The Mothercare liners are crud! I like the Boots liners because they're durable enough to reuse or toss if dirty.

If you wanted fitted, TotsBots are very well-liked. I like it best of the UK fitted naps I've tried (but I prefer my Puddlecatchers most of all).

On the cost front... I've going to confess that I calculated all I've spent on naps so far (including washing costs), and I've spent about as much for one child in cloth as I probably would have done to have him in disps.

However, that's partly because I didn't just stick to cheap & cheerful terries, I had 2 babes in nappies for a while, and I had to buy more naps. The first system I tried at nursery didn't work well, so that was some money wasted, especially as we went to disps for over a year. The naps still have resale value, so I might see some money back. I am definitely seeing a cost savings now with my 2nd baby.

We only put out one rubbish bag every 4 wks or so, which wouldn't be possible if we used disps. So that's nice.

There are several of us using re-usables (Bloss, Honeybunny, Joe1,...).... and there are several threads on it...
I use Tots Bots and am very pleased. I would recommend fleece liners versus paper as they stay in place and feel VERY dry no matter how wet the nappy.
To give you a price idea, I have 16 nappies, 16 fleeces, 4 wraps, 2 boosters, 2 all-in one nappies, a bag, a mesh and a bucket for 192GBP - that will cover me until DD is potty trained. You need to use VERY little soap in a wash, I have a quick cycle (40 minutes) and I dry 15 minutes in the dryer (sometimes the whole cycle if I want them very fluffy). So to me it's definitely cheaper than disposables.
I wash every 2 days but am considering bying another 2 nappies and I could wash every 3 days !
One place to go for a good choice and great advice is the nappy lady !
www.thenappylady.co.uk/index.html

Zebra made me think - nursery is happy with my choice of cloth so that was not an issue.

I'm a clothie too!!

We have Imse Wimse shaped one size terries plus fleece liners for home use, and Tots Bots with disposable liners for nursery. All covered with Bumpy night wraps, day and night (the night wraps are slightly thicker,so less likely to leak, and if you have all the same, its easier than swapping for night time use). My husband would choose all Tots Bots though, if given another chance!

Pupuce, how do you get away with 16 Tots Bots to last until your DD is potty trained? Are they a mixture of sizes, or are you folding the larger ones? (We have 8 for nursery so we can wash every 2 or 3 days, but we're expecting to need the larger size before DD is out of nappies. The one-size fits all nappies are better value for money, but can be a little fiddly to fit, so decided against them for nursery.

I would highly recommend Twinkle Twinkle for an absolutely comprehensive selection of nappies wraps and accessories. www.twinkleontheweb.co.uk

Another website to recomend is ecobabes.co.uk. They do a trial pack which you can hire for a fortnight, which contains one of each of about 19 different sorts!! It means you can try them all to see which you prefer - as it does seem to be a very personal thing. I use Motherease all-in-ones - which I find very convenient, and as close to diposable as you can get.

Look on the Real Nappy Association website for info & links to lots of companies.

Sorry - got the website wrong - it's www.eco-babes.co.uk

I used standard terries (thought boots were slightly better than Mothercare). In retrospect I'd have chosen the non-fold re-usable ones, but we were short of cash at the time. The standard terries do dry awfully quickly (no tumble-dryer here, so they had to), they seem to last forever, and are really useful as little towels, to put under bedclothes, to pop baby on if it's got nappy rash and needs airing, etc, etc. I didn't find folding faffy, but just did lots of folding at one go, so lots were ready to just pin on. Traditional plastic pants I found horrid, though. So did daughter. And, I did find some baby clothes difficult to fit, since they mainly seem to be shaped now to go over disps - any others found that?
One great thing is that most of the traditional nappies were bought for me by MIL and parents - all very supportive of decision not to use disps, a lovely bonus, and much better pressie than heaps of soft toys.

try www.plushpants.co.uk for information and a range of nappies and clothes.
hth.

Im a TotsBots fan with fleece liners. I will have two in them in a few months so will have to top up on a few to keep me going while Im potty training ds. Tissy you can use the larger size for a baby baby by just folding them over and using a nippa nappa. My ds also likes the totsbots and prefers them to disposables as do I(we sometimes use them if access to washing machine isnt easy ie holiday).

I got mine through the NappyLady who offered loads of advice and will continue to buy through her.

I only have 1 size Tots Bots... size 2 which fitted my DD from 4 weeks onwards (needed a nappy nippa to fasten though) and DS was wearing them when he was 2, he soon potty trained after that.

This was suggested by the nappy lady and it proved to be right... also the reason I like her is that I recently had a question on stains and she and I exchanged several e-mails on the topic, on the day of my question - now that's good service.

I've got a mixed bag of cloth nappies too but our definite favourites are Motherease one size shaped used with a waterproof wrap. Used them on ds from about 6 weeks to now, 22 months, and still going strong. They do have lots of poppers but we've only used the outside simple settings and they coped fine with them at nursery.

You can dry bucket which I prefer to dealing with nappy soup. A net like you can use to wash tights in is great to hold your dirty nappies until you throw them in machine. I also really like my washable nappy sacs. I got mine from the Born shop in Bristol, www.borndirect.co.uk or check the entry board to mumsnet if I've got the address wrong.

Cloth nappies and breastfeeding are two things that give me a glow of satisfaction and love. Glad I gave both of them a good go. All the best.

My dd was 10 months old when I started using reusable nappies. I took the advice from the survey done on nappies from Mumsnet and starting using the Mother-ease one size nappies with the Air Flow wrap, as these were voted the overall winner in resuables. After experimenting with a few, I decided to take the plunge and invest in a full-time package. 2 months down the line and completely happy with the choice I made.

I found the downsides to them are the initial cost outlay and the increase in washing/drying of them. The advantages are if you start a baby off in them early enough it will save you money (I plan to use mine for any subsequent babies), the environmental issue (less waste) and also, hopefully, maybe toilet trained earlier.

I purchased mine through Little Green Earthlets www.earthlets.co.uk who produce a great catalogue explaining the pros and cons of reusables.

I swapped to reusables after ds started getting eczema from the disposables. They seem to be a lot more absorbant, and definitely a lot softer. I've never had a leak (been using them 5 months)- unless dh has put them on the ds without me supervising! In fact I liked them so much I put my older son in them too for the night. I use Motherease Sandys, and got them from The Nappy Lady, who I couldn't recommend highly enough. www.thenappylady.co.uk

Haven't felt it has been especially hard washing them, they are just part of the routine like all the other laundry.

Like Tissy I use Imse Wimse, we use the organic shaped 1's and Bumpy wraps. I love them, I tried with ds (different brand) but failed, but I am finding it so much easier this time.

One thing I have to add is that you should think about your needs as your child grows up. The drawback with the Imse's is that they don't fasten - they are held in place by the wraps. All well and good for a small baby, not so easy with a wriggly toddler....

Would definately recommend reusable's though, if only because you feel sooo virtuous! lol

jenny2998

I was told by Miranda (Twinkle Twinkle) that you can use nappy nippas with the Imse Wimse organic terries, but because they are all cotton, with no polyester, they can pull at the pile a little. It might be worth trying if you have problems later, or even reverting to good old fashioned safety pins for a while!

Have you tried the wool wraps? We're thinking of getting 1 or 2 for night-time next time we need a new size.

I took a look on the Nappy lady website, and I'm going to have a look round the other sites too. There is a lot to take in about using reusable nappies, but I am definatley going to use them when future children are born. Thanks everyone!

Well, if we're recommending our favourite sellers, I quite like Kim at cuddlebabes .

I use environappies - apologies if anyone else has mentioned these. They supply you with cloth liners (as many as you need) and for £6 a week they collect dirty ones from you, sanitise the bin (which they also provide) and leave you with some lovely clean ones. They also provide 4 free wraps, from then on each wrap is available to either hire or buy.

For information on all cloth nappies and services in your local area click here .

I use Sam-I-Am! shaped cloth nappies. They are great and both my boys have worn them (inc. 9 months with both of them in them!)

They reckon the cost for everything inc. wear and tear on washing machine, washing powder etc from birth to potty training is £900 and the cost of disposables is about £1500 per child so I saved £600 with my first son but made a huge saving with my second as I had everything already. WOULD NOT swap them.

Has anyone tried Cotton Bottoms? I'm currently agonising over which to go for between TotsBots and Cotton Bottoms. Before reading these messages, I thought I had made my decision to go for Cotton Bottoms as they have an idiot-proof starter back and come in sizes. The TotsBots swamp my small eight month old dd and gave her a minor rash around her tummy. Any views?

I used cotton bottoms for the first 7 months with ds - but I used the laundry service so can only recommend them for their fit and simplicity. Have no idea if they wash well etc.
Ds's nursery won't accept cloth nappies and the laundry service minimum charge was too expensive for the few days when he was at home so we're using nature boy and girl disposables at the moment.

Is it too much work to use cloth nappies, and launder them at home if you don't have a tumble dryer?
I would love to put him back in cloth but it would mean line drying the nappies - anyone tried this?

Hello all, have not posted for some time - then PG, now proud mum of Katherine aged 5 weeks.

I bought motherease and tots bots.
After C Section used disposables for a while, esp in hospital, now starting to use tots bots and motherease.
the motherease wash softer and dry quicker than TB's, I soak in cold water plus teatree oil and wash every 2 days. Katherine is v comfortable much better than disp. but has a huge bum ! I bought from Miranda at Twinkleontheweb - great advice and service.

Still using disp. when out and about - need more confidence!!

Frances, which clothes did you find best over cloth naps?

Other issues - cloth naps make baby's legs wide apart - is this OK?
Where can I buy clothes to fit over cloth (TB's esp big bum). I tried buying a size bigger, but too big around shoulders and chest and sleeves too long.
Baby seems to sleep with bum in air due to bulky nappy - any ideas/advice if she is OK?
What do you use to wash baby's bum? I use cotton wool and water or a flannel (one wet, one dry) and wash with nappies. (I was given about 400 pampers wipes as a pressie - any ideas what to do with these?)

Overall v happy using cloth and feel v eco friendly too (feel long argument about water vs landfill coming on.....)

DebbieL - I also use Tots Bots and have all the same probs. But I've experimented a bit with letting her play/sleep in disposables and I'm now convinced the bulkiness doesn't make her uncomfortable (raised legs is good anyway - more blood to the head!).

As for her legs being wide apart - the doctor seemed to think it was OK (although she did ask if there was medical reason for dd to wear such big nappies, that being the cure for clicky hip).

With clothes you need to experiment. UK good brands have more room in the bum that others (Spanish clothes have barely enough room for a disposable nappy). As its hot dd wears dresses and I don't bother with the matching knickers, but have loads of separates lined up for autumn!

I also use flannels with just cold water, but I do have wipes handy for when I can't be bothered/ run out of flannels (also for when the water's cut off which is often here). Don't bother soaking though - one wash every night and it never builds up!

good luck with them anyway

PS is the comment about landfill v water to suggest that washing nappies wastes water? If so you should look up how much water is needed to make paper (which disposables contain) and think of all the petrol needed to deliver disposables and take them away! As for all those "super stay dry" chemicals - I beleieve the main one has just been banned from tampons for being associated with toxic shock syndrome.

Lucie123,
thanks for your reply. Also thanks for the comments re env impact of nappies - I was playing devil's advocate regarding this issue - as many people have said to me - 'what about all the washing, isn't that harmful to the environment?' I have read plenty on the topic - that's one reason I chose cloth. I am no angel though - I have used tushies diapers - not biodegradable, but no nasty gel - what doees this do to tiny bottoms?

DebbieL, we use Tots Bots and Imse Wimse, and had the same problems with clothing. Miranda sells vest extenders- a few quid for a pack of six, which bridge the gap at the crotch and will make your vests etc fit a bit longer. Different brands come up in different sizes as well so its worth being a nuisance in the shops, opening packets and looking at them. A lot of the "eco" websites sell vests/ bodysuits/ babygros for big-bummed babies! We got some great long-sleeved body suits from www.grobag.co.uk, and they also do vests and sleepsuits. Our dd wears dungarees most of the time, which seem to fit over the nappies- OshKosh B'Gosh are great as they're American and cut for cloth nappies (no- I'm not rich, we get them second-hand!). Otherwise dresses and tights!

Bum in the air never bothered dd and legs wide apart is good for the hips- if she had problems with the hip joint (dislocated hip)they would be put in this position to treat it! Having said that we do allow her a good half hour each day nappyless so she gets a chance to stretch out a bit.

HTH