Due in four weeks with DC2 and still unsure about nappies!

[daphine2004]

Hi, any personal experience or advice gratefully received as I really would like to use reusable (used disposables with DC1) and don’t want to contribute to anymore landfill!

However, my issue is after maternity leave I return to a demanding full-time role which involves national travel and overnight stays. My DP does equal work in the home, but also has a demanding role and we both work in the evenings to get stuff done. I currently do laundry once a week on a Friday night, but having read all of the threads on here people wash nappies every two to three days or daily. I just don’t think I’ll be able to manage that given the time constraints. If anyone does a weekly wash for nappies, how you do that (does it smell?!), please share how it has been working for you.

My other option is biodegradable nappies, but this means getting a hotbin composter. I’ve never composted anything in my life and rarely garden... is anyone doing this? If so, how is it going?

I’m also looking at cheeky wipes and have bought biodegradable wipes to try out: Cheeky Panda, Aqua Wipes and the natural ones by Jackson Reese. Much prefer the Aqua Wipes, but haven’t tried cheeky wipes, although I have read rave reviews. Again, I launder weekly, would this work?

For information I’ve struggled to launder during the week due to the usual struggle with commute, childcare etc. as things get left in the machine which then need rewashing etc.

If anyone uses biodegradable wipes do you compost them or chuck them? I read we shouldn’t be putting biodegradable wipes in landfill due to the methane released.

If you got to the end of this, thank you very much!

Washing them once a week is doable with a big enough bucket/wet back and enough nappies to see you through.

Sorry but there's no way on earth I could cope with only washing once a week and that's without using reusable nappies and wipes. I do a load of washing most days and I have a big machine and a tumble dryer. Babies makes a lot of mess and need clean clothes regularly.

No advice I'm afraid but watching as I'm pregnant with baby 2 myself and really want to cloth or something less wasteful for sure!! Hopefully some good advice will be along soon!

Are you able to put a wash on over night? Nappy washes take a very long time so I understand that it's difficult if you are both working, I'm a sahp but still find it difficult to put a wash on for the three hours it takes during the day. I find it works best if I do two washes a week and put them on in late evening that way I can go to bed and all I have to do is hang them out in the morning. I didn't start using cloth nappies until my daughter was six months so i don't know how many washes are needed for the new born stage

I did cloth with both of us pretty much full time. As a PP said, overnight washes were my saviour. Line dry in the summer and winter was heated airer. There's nothing like cloth to make you want to potty train though

Three hours for a wash?! 😱

Washing once weekly works for us (I do no more four loads on an hour/hour and a half wash: whites, darks, colours and towels) and we use a tumble dryer. Laundry will of course increase over the course of maternity as I’ll be home more often.

I’ll have a think about the overnight wash, but worried with my early starts it’ll stay in there all day - I work from 8am (leave at 7am) so I can do nursery pick up.

Does anyone dry the nappies in the dryer?

“Nothing like cloth to make you want to potty train”.

@Teachermaths that’s hilarious!

I use the tumble dryer at times to dry them, especially in the winter. I do prefer to line dry as then they get bleached in the sun but the tumble dryer is great for quick ish dry. We use bamboo little lambs so they do take ages to dry but are amazingly absorbant. When dd was smaller I used cotton sandys nappies which dry much quicker. The microfibre little lambs are extremely quick drying they pretty much come out of the washing machine dry.

How do you fit 4 washes into an evening?!

No experience with cloth nappies although also due in a few weeks and considering them so interested in the advice you get.

I'd struggle with laundry too if we both worked full time. Luckily I just do 4 days now so use my day with the DC to get through 2 of the loads.

Could you not set the machine to finish at 6am and hang out washing/dump in the tumble dryer before you leave? Or set to finish at 6pm or whenever you get in from the nursery run?

We do at least 2 loads over the weekend too to spread it across the week which helps.

@TequilaMockingbird0 I get the first load, generally towels or colours, on a timer on Friday morning so it’s done for when I get home. Then I literally plough through the other three loads, starting with darks (school uniform and my work clothes) etc. Final load goes on around 10ish or on a timer for Saturday morning if I’m wiped out. Just means most things are washed and dried before swimming lessons on Saturday morning. I have occasionally done this during the week and is been tough, successful on occasion, but more often than not it just gets left as work/kids can be unpredictable!

It was much easier last year as we had a lot more flexibility at work and I worked from home quite a bit which meant I could stick a load on a timer and then sort it out at lunch. New senior management direction means being in the office five days a week, which is why I’m trying to figure this out.

Good luck with the impending birth - I’m due in four weeks and trying to get organised as much as possible!

We wash every 2-3 days. Dirty nappies straight in the washing machine (have stopped using the bucket). Throw anything else that needs washing in regardless of colour. The only exception is my blue jeans that run. Once washed everything in the dryer, low setting because of the nappies.
Why not wash more whilst you're on mat leave and then see how you're doing? Honestly integrating washing into a regular routine is easier then doing a massive wash once a week, that must be epic.

Washing of your own clothes also will increase too - baby vomit then weaning means so much more mess. Now with 2 DS and disposables (reusables got too much for me) and sporty DH, we have to do 2 loads a day to stay on top of washing.
See how it pans out on maternity leave

I probably have lower standards, no way would I be doing 2 washes per day. How dirty are you getting?! Baby sick wipes off and weaning makes some mess. Baby groups are full of mums covered in stains. No one changes every time. As for the kids, one outfit per day unless it's been weed on!

We use cheeky wipes and love them. You should be alright doing them once a week. Their website is full of advice so you could always contact them first?

We're just starting out with reusable nappies called eccopippo which dry quick and wash at 40c. They are pocket so you can make them up the night before. We're going to use compostable liners so poo doesn't get onto the nappy.

We used disposable for the first few months until we were more together! Also you could do a mixture of disposables and reusable and get the balance that's right for you.

We use cheeky wipes and they are great! I don't think washing once a week would be a problem once you're past the newborn stage. You might find you need some additional mesh bags but otherwise it's fine.

I’d get two lidded bins, line with a mesh bag and then you just swing it into the machine, easy. The lids are airtight so no smells escape, once a week washing would be fine. Newborn nappies are smaller so although you change more often, you fit more into a load.
There may be a nappy service local to you, which might suit you, where they collect the dirties and deliver clean every week.

Thank you for your advice. I’m going to see if there’s a nappy library near me. I missed the one for this week as it was too hot and I couldn’t get shoes on!

When I went back to work I used disposables Mon - Thursday then cloth over the weekend and put a wash on before bed Sunday.

They need a lot of water, an hour long cycle isn't going to work, but it's easy enough to put on before bed or before going to work.

Also you could use them on maternity leave and then sell them when you go back to work. You'll still have saved lots of landfill!

Right. I’m very nearly there and going to do this. I’ve also looked on the nappy lady site, but would appreciate your recommendations based on the following:

• great for newborn with Velcro fastening - these look like disposable nappies and I guess would be easier to use
• quick drying (we will be in autumn soon and less likely to line dry, so it’ll be radiators and airers)

I’m going to look on eBay as they seem expensive brand new and I’d rather use second hand and see how I go.

Also some questions:

1. Paper liners - can these be used from newborn? Having read my thread I got he impression they’re better for older babies?
2. How many nappies do I need?!
3. Any advice on the best pail to use for dry pailing? Someone mentioned getting two and one having a large mesh bag inside already to dump in the wash - any ones in particular?

I will get lavender oil as that seems to be what others have used - happy for alternatives if there are others.

Thank you again for your help!

Isn't the environmental impact negligible once you consider the carbon footprint of the reusables' manufacturing process, the increased amount of washing, detergent, electricity (fossil fuel) use? Also that an awful lot of people seem to have hundreds of cloth nappies? We use both so I'm not anti, just don't think it's really saving the planet. I Definitely couldn't leave them a week before washing and if you did you'd need loads, it would cost a fortune.

I washed twice a week and the wash took 1.5 hours. How often depends on how many nappies you buy and how long depends on your machine. I dry pailed in a lidded storage bin from ikea. I put a waterproof bag in as a liner, which together with the lids contained the smells. It also made it easy to grab and stick in the washing machine without having to touch the nappies. The bag went in the was too - inside out after emptying. The smell was something to behold when being loaded into the machine - yuck - but thankfully only until the machine door was closed .

For wipes I used a stash of cheap face clothes (ikea again i think) and they just went into the dry pail then wash with the nappies.

Paper liners were fine for my newborn. Good luck

I get where you’re coming from, but having decided to use these mainly on maternity leave and buying second hand (if I can), I’m hoping it’ll help somewhere. I’ll also be able to do more laundry whilst off work

• Trilbydoll made a great suggestion about using on mat leave and that’s something I hadn’t considered.

For me it’s the thought of nappies and wipes being around long after I’m gone and I feel really bad about that, particularly as there’s probably 1000s from DC1!

I’ll likely end up using both when I return to work as there’s no way I can do that much laundry on a normal week.

That's what we do, when we're at home or going to parents' etc we use cloth, and for swimming (the reusable swim nappies are fab, we use totsbots). If out and about we use disposable, mainly nappy pants now. When I'm back at work we'll use cloth in the evenings, weekends and the two days a week DH and I are looking after him and for the three days covered by nursery and grandparents we'll use disposable. I do quite often use a nappy pant overnight as we've found cloth ones leak, DS wees a lot and moves a lot in his sleep.

I did join a couple of FB groups but they were weirdly competitive and a lot about which limited edition super expensive nappy people had now. One woman had bookshelves full of them, which seems to defeat the purpose!