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 have to say, playing devils advocate, that I think that some reusables look very big and bulky and I cannot believe they are particularly conducive to freedom of movement. Its that aspect that mainly puts me off using them.

I think the comment re Toxic Shock Syndrome is a bit of a red herring - since the problem is probably build-up of bugs inside the vagina, caused by leaving the tampon in for a long time - all that blood and lack of air (to be graphic). Babies don't have the same problem - still doesn't mean reusables might be healthier (less likely to have an allergic reaction) but I don't think they'll give your baby TSS!

I tried Kooshies for a while but wouldn't particularly recommend them. The best I used were called Mikey Diaper but they were way too expensive and came in about 5 different sizes. So I settled with Earthwise Baby's nappies which fastened with Velcro and the size could be adjusted with press studs. Used Kooshies wraps over the top of them. Had to use a booster all the time. Cloth nappies certainly need changing more frequently than disposables. I also found they stretched clothes which was a pain because I used disposables on holiday/out and about. Drying facilities are essential if using cloth nappies.

Oh yes, none of the cloth nappies I tried (about 5 different brands!) lasted all night so I ended up using disposables at night.

DebbieL - When dd was tiny I used old-fashioned nighties over enormous white cotton bum, since I was lucky enough to find some really sweet ones in a sale (little embroidered ducks, aahhhhh). Also meant easy access to botty area. With babygro's I found the bottom area just too small sometimes and simply left poppers undone. Towelling babygro's from Mothercare seemed to stretch slightly better. With me, when I found out how to do a 'good' fold of cloth nappy, the bottom shrunk slightly, but I did find leggings a bit of a squeeze, so she was often in pinafore dresses, and dungarees rather than trousers.

One lovely side-effect of enormous terry botty I found is when they're learning to walk, and falling on it every few minutes, they simply bounce - no nasty jars! I used some shaped nappies (again Mothercare) as she got older - easier to pin with toddler on move - and they didn't look so huge under leggings. I like needlework, so I did make quite a few of her clothes - little rompers and so forth - and infant dress patterns seemed to be better shaped for terries - also dirt cheap way of having nice clothes, and most of the patterns were incredibly easy to make.

Re bathing bum - I too used water only for the first few months - but wipes were/still are wonderful when she was more mobile, and wouldn't stay still enough to have botty wiped properly with flannel. So I defn wouldn't throw your wipes away! Oh, and bum in air never seemed to bother mine at all (does look huge on a tiny baby though, doesn't it!)

I have to say that I know they aren't popular in 'proper' cloth nappy circles, but I used Kooshies and really liked them, and they were nice and easy for dh to use!! However, although the infant size have done 2 babies the toddler ones were wrecked, and as there are so many nice cloth ones out there I am going to shop around a bit for the next size for ds (who at 6 months is nearly out of ones that should do to a year or so - big boy). In fact today I actually got 2 kits to make my own, just to have a go!!!

The type of nappies I use (motherease sandys) have never leaked at night and i don't even bother with a booster. Sometimes ds has gone 12 hours through without being changed and still hasn't leaked, which is something I found happened quite a lot with disposables. Also for the first couple of weeks after starting with reusables he had diarrhoea, and it didnt sneak out at all (apologies for all those eating as they are reading!).

I constantly had leaks from disposables now using Totsbots dont have any at all. Ds can go all night and not a single leak.

I have to go with Joe1 - never had a leaky nappy with cloth (Tots Bots).... but it did happen with DS in disposables.
Just bought a bag of disposables for DD to take with us on holidays and was telling a friend that DD had poo leaks twice in the past few days..... this never happens in my cloth !

I have never had one leak and have always used disposables

Isn't it funny how people have such different experiences of nappies. We have had only the occasional leak with the kooshies, but had a terrible time the once I bought pampers when we were on holiday. Not only did I turn out to be allergic to the lotion strips in them, but for 3 nights in a row they burst and we had that awful gel stuff all over my parents house!
Now my parents think its great when I bring the washables with me! My dad is a convert!

FrancesJ,
When did you get time to make clothes for your baby? Katherine is almost 6 weeks old and I barely have time to shower in a morning. The housework gets left to DH in the evenings and I seem to be velcro-ed to the sofa BF most of the day. I am also exhausted from lack of sleep. I know everyone goes through this, but I feel quite down at the moment. Thank goodness for mumsnet!

PS K has just been given pressie of sleepsuits from Purple-Heart.com. V trendy tie-dyed, and they fit over Tot Bots nappies! (I think they are expensive tho'

DebbieL - Oh gosh, I remember that first few week feeling all too well (and I've got it again with no 2 shortly - eeek). I didn't start to make any clothes for mine till she was a bit bigger than 6 weeks - and, having just rootled out the box of said clothes anyway and looked at them, I have a feeling I might have made them in my sleep, anyway Remember days on sofa, BF, too. Certainly no needlework done in first 12 weeks. Can't remember doing anything but BF for first 12 weeks, but it's all a bit of a blur.....keep at it, DebbieL - don't feel down - all of a sudden proper bouts of night sleep will happen, and, oh, that wonderful feeling of having six hours unbroken sleep. I skipped around like a dappy extra from a 1950's musical after dd first slept for six whole hours in a row! And babygro's sound lovely!

I have always had a problem with disposables, but thanksfully now that dd is 21 months she doesn't leak anymore! dd is slim, and I always felt that disposables haven't fitted properly. I was unable to use Pampers...they brought her out in a rash..and after using the sesitive ones, which cost a lot more I decied to try Huggies when they brought out the new ones with elasticated fastenings. She wasn't allergi to these, and they fit better than pampers..she's still had a few leaks of poo straight up her back when she was a bit younger. I'm definatley going to use reusables next time..at least if you have to change more frequently you don't actually have to buy more nappies to just throw in the bin after they've been used!!

I used to stick nappy (disposable) down my top at night to soak up the milk as I was a BIG leaker (I think that might have contributed to my stopping bf at 6 months - was sick of changing the sheets/mopping the mattress).
Started off using Pampers but the smell of all those chemicals in the gel made me feel sick. Figured what was it doing to dd bottom?
However, just really don't have the time or stamina for reusables (I know an extra wash every 2 days doesn't sound like much work but it is when dd's cot is next to water tank so can't wash at night and tumble dryer leaks all over garage!).

Anyway, point of all this rambling is that I now use Nature Nappies disposables from Sainsbury's. Bio-degradable, no chemicals etc. Ruinously expensive but no leaks! It's a compromise that works for me.

I agree about the smell of Pampers- worse than the smell of poo! We tried the Nature nappies for a while, but abandoned them, as dd had a big wee while lying on her back, and it all went up the way onto her clothes, me and the sofa!

I now use the Nature nappies as ds has unfortunately grown out of his reusables (but he's 21 months so doesn't seem worth buying the next size up). I must say that I've never had a problem with them - even at night-time. You can definately tell that they don't have the gel in them, as in the morning they're very heavy compared with when I have used Huggies etc., but we've never had any leaks.

I recently read that Nature nappies are no more environmentally friendly than any other nappy, if they end up in landfill. They need air and light to decompose, neither of which they get when buried under 10feet of rubbish.

No! Don't tell me that! I was managing my guilt so well...

Following on the smell of Pampers: It's the whiff of NappySacks I can't stand. DD's nursery nappies (cloth) go into those smelly bags, and I have to drag them home. Honestly, I'd rather stick my head in a full nappy bucket than smell those fragranced bags (blech).

Nature nappies do nappy bags too (I'm not on commission, honestly), no perfume.

Zebra- we got a "wet nappy bag" with our nappies- basically a waterproof drawstring bag. It goes into nursery with dd and they just put the wet nappies in there, to be taken home for washing. Funnily, although they've never had a baby in clothies before, our nursery were happy to try them, and were even surprised that we didn't want them to wash the nappies!!

Borndirect.com do them as well. I think they are great as the whole thing goes in the machine without taking the nappy out, just undo the drawstring.

I had intial experience of relunctance to handle washable nappies at the nursery here in Sweden, as they thought I wanted them to wash the nappies themselves. So glad to hear I'm not the only one. (80% of people live in flats here and have a washing room in the basement. Part of a freedom from drudgery thing in the 1970s which has become an hour or 2 of heavy guarded policing 30 years down the line. Shame.) When I put my case for the nappies the princpal of the nursery asked me if I had my own washing machine and I felt like Lady Muck, saying of course I did! Dh wouldn't have been able to take the apartment without.

Nursery only keen to put one nappy per washable sack. There is easily room for 2 nappies, no problems getting more bags, just left what I thought was adequate. How many more should I get?

I use the cotton fresh service which delivers clean ones weekily and takes away the grubby ones and provides everything for about (?) £30 a month. I am in Herts and its subsidised by the county council to save on their landfill costs. Its worked very well and they are very reliable. I think it covers other counties (?Beds) as well

I've been using the Bambino Mio zip up bags, they hold all of ds wet neppies from a day at nursery (4 Mother-ease one size) plus a couple of covers, and don't seam to let the smell out. I have 3 of these bags - one for clean nappies to go in, one for dirty, and one for the wash.

I found only about 1/2 the nurseries in my area supported the use of reusables, and this was key in my choice. They've been very good but one staff member did need it suggested to them that it wasn't neccessary to return the pooy liner, and that I'd be more than happy if they disposed of it.

Regarding washing - I've tried the laundry services and found two probs - the pre-fold type nappies they supply don't hold to poo off the covers very well - I ended up washing covers nearly as much as you'd wash the nappies, and a pick up once each week meant I had to store many more stinky nappies for much longer.

I've eventually opted for Mother-ease One size nappies (in agreement with Mumsnet poll - good advice on many diff systems) - these go into a bucket (with lid) of water with some teatree oil (oil has disenfectant properties & masks any smell) and get washed every 3 or so days. They also hold in the poo better than disposables on my ds, who has a skinny bum. Did end up using Bambino Mio liner and wrap (Litewrap) though which I've found work better for us.