Cloth Nappies **from birth**

[GeeElle]

Hi all,

Hope I'm in the right section of the forum - I get lost!

I really wanted to cloth nappy baby (FTM) right from the getgo. But I'm so overwhelmed by it. Obviously we don't know how big baby will be when they're born so there's no way of knowing of the birth to potty ones will be small enough for them. But buying a whole bunch of the newborn size (I'd need enough to wash only every other day) seems like a huge expensive when they could end up using them for a super short time.

I'd though about terry / muslin squares until they're big enough to comfortably fit in the birth-potty nappies, but I'm not sure that folding nappies is going to be something we'll both be able to manage on top of learning everything else about a new baby, and managing my health given that I have a chronic illness.

Can anyone offer any amazingly insightful advice for me? Should I just give up and resign to using disposables until baby can fit in the birth to potty? Or buy birth to potty before they come, hope they fit and then use disposables as a last resort if they don't?

Feeling quite disheartened by it all at the moment - the abundance of info on cloth nappy sites seems to be making it harder rather than easier!

We used muslins for first few days with all our kids, then moved on to terries and all-in-ones (handmedowns) or birth-to-potty poppered ones with separate wraps. Folding muslins/terries isn't hard - just practice one fold and you'll be fine. You can fold them ready in your bag when out and about. They were handy to have as they are cheap backups when you get behind on laundry and they dry really quickly because you spread them out and can iron them dry if you have to. We had some thick terries that were great at night too.

Have you a nappy library near you? www.uknappynetwork.org/find-a-library.html some hire kits, some have regular meets with cloth nappying parents, some do Preloved nappy sales.

I have used cloth on both of mine from birth. I didn't know how to put on a disposable nappy so just never learned. Newborn sized nappies hold their value well and resel easily. Avoid eBay, there are some good Facebook groups such as CBM sales.

My ds was in cloth from as soon as he came out of hospital, and I bought second hand xs and s Sandys. I then lent them to 3 other people and still got my money back when I sold them!

We had a set of newborn bimbles hired from the nappy lady when our dd was born. They were excellent and gave us a feel for what cloth nappying was all about. We now use pocket nappies and love them!

Baba and boo newborn are great, lasted us a few months and my DS2 was 10lb at birth. BTP was too big on him until he was around 3months old

Either a hire set (you can get these online so doesn’t matter if you don’t have a nappy library nearby) or pad-folded muslins and a few newborn wraps

I'm due in Jan, FTM. Bought some terry squares, muslin and wraps. Tested the folding at home and it seems fine! Going to fold them as soon as they're dry and put away so it won't be much of an issue hopefully.
I'm nervous but I can see it working well. I'm getting some disposables for the hospital bag just in case.

I found Terry squares best for mine. I had been given loads of cloth nappies from a friend (mainly Totsbots and Bambino) and also picked up loads of tiny Little Lamb nappies from a second hand baby shop, but didn't find any of them fitted particularly well and we had lots of leaks. Plus I found them a faff to get dry properly over the winter and with no tumble drier.

My mum bought me about 12 Terry Squares which I found much easier, and could fold them to fit perfectly around my baby's little bum. My mum (who used cloth nappies with all her five kids) made waterproof covers to go over them but you can buy all sorts of different covers. Once you learn the different folds, you can do it really easily and prefold them to get a stack ready for the day.

I used easy Peasy bumbles/bimbles nippa fastening from birth.

Don't need the fold out insert and just fold right down and then as they grow add more absorption as required.

I don't understand how they work. Do they have a throw away layer for the poop and a absorbing layer?

Some nappies have fleece liners or you can make your own.

With fleece breastfed poo just washes off in the machine. Once older you can drop the solids in the toilet and if need be give a rinse off with the flush then wash.

Or you can buy liners that can either be thrown away/flushed down the loo.

If you choose to.use disposable liners, please know that although many of them say they are flushable, no brands have been approved as sewer safe so shouldn't be flushed.

2nd hand newborn nappies certainly worth buying and then selling in.

2 part nappies especially those with nippa give the most snug fit for poo explosion IME. We got away with bimbles/bumbles because I had big babies tbh.

I used 90% if not more fleece and then when the poo went through weaning sludge little green people reusable paper liners that you could wash if wet and we binned/flushed if had solids on.

Fleece liners definitely to catch the poo and take wetness away from the skin. Pre weaning poo is water soluble so straight in Washing machine and once weaning plop poo into the toilet. I do have to do a bit of shaking in the flush with some poos but otherwise fine.
Wouldn’t want to use disposable liners as would have to put in a nappy sack in the bin which sits there for two weeks 🤮

You can do it! Little Lambs size one was fine for my 7lb newborn from birth-4 months. I also bought about 6 newborn size Totsbots second hand and these were useful for a few weeks.
I got some Terries too and enjoyed trying out different folds.
It is really much more interesting than using disoisables. But dont stress about it, do what works for you. I used up a small pack of newborn disposables first, before starting the reusables. Its up to you. Good luck

My 9lb4 baby and fast growing was in newborn for about 6 weeks!
50cm terries, Muslins, fitteds and wraps. Did have 1 newborn AIO for after birth.
Almost 5 months old now and never used a disposable nappy or wipe for her. Not as hard as some like to make out.
Good luck!

I filled in an advice questionnaire with the nappy lady and she got back to me within 48 hours with suggestions and they are perfect. you don't have to go with her choice, can speak to her about alternatives and you don't have to buy from her but you also get a discount if you do

My little girl was 6lb at birth I used a mixture of btp at home and disposables Out for the first 6 weeks before switching full time to cloth nappies. She was teeny and i did get leaks if she peed when bf but if she was on her back btp were fine. I’m glad I didn’t waste money on newborn nappies. Cloth nappies are brilliant but it’s ok to use disposables when you need to so don’t put too much pressure on yourself in the early days.

Second hand is the way to go. Mothercare smartnappy was good for about 3 weeks. May want to wait until the meconium is gone.

My DS is 3 weeks and was 11lb at birth and today is our first day in cloth and a lot of the BTP nappies are still too big . I'd try and hire a newborn kit from a local nappy library if you have one otherwise use muslins. I also wouldn't plan to do cloth in the hospital... we ended up staying nearly a week as DS had an infection so I wouldn't have had enough/been able to wash them

I've used muslins then Terry's from birth. Ds is now 8m and they are still doing great. I use the kite fold with a muslin pad folded in the center, and I prefold them all after drying and keep tgemin a basket in his room. No problems at all, I recommend getting good covers. My favourite have been rumparooz. Go for it op! Once you get into the swing of things it's soo easy and saves a fortune!

Go for it! I use Charlie Bananas and their one size kind are adjustable from newborn (after stump falls down and heals) to 30 lb.

I have used cloth diapers with my 3 kids and I wouldn't do it any other way.

If you have a boy you can compost the liners if they only have wee on them.