Cloth Nappies: to switch or not to switch?

[BlueMoon1103]

I have a 10 month old DS and am thinking about making the switch to cloth nappies. I just wanted to know (from experience) a few things first.

• How time consuming are they to wash and dry?

• Can they go in the tumble dryer?

• How do they compare to disposables in terms of preventing leaks?

• How do they fare at night? My DS sleeps through so would need to last.

• Is it worth switching now as my DS is already 10 months? Or are they so expensive it’s not worth it?

There are so many different types, but for us:

• We wash every other day. We line the bucket with a mesh bag and just throw the whole thing in in the morning. Run a rinse cycle while we have breakfast, then add detergent for a long wash. Including transferring to the drier then taking out sorting and putting away, it’s maybe 15 minutes of active time every two days?

• We use a two part system. Absorbent inners go in the drier, waterproof covers hang to dry very quickly

• In our experience (baby now 7 months) they have been better than disposables at containing poo - we’ve occasionally used disposables while travelling. We very rarely have poo leaks, sometimes clothes get damp when I’m lazy and leave it too long (or that one time my husband was so tired he forgot to put a cover on)

• We use tots bots bamboozles with an extra booster at night and they last 12 hours without leaks

• Buy secondhand! There are a number of very active Facebook groups for buying and selling cloth nappies. All ours are second hand, at a fraction of the cost of new. They were by no means like new but were all stain and smell free when we got them (although to be honest stains wouldn’t have bothered me as their only purpose is to absorb poo and wee!). I’d estimate we’ve paid less than £100 overall (small prefolds and newborn size wraps for the first 6 weeks or so, then size two tots bots peenut wraps, peenut pads for daytime and bamboozles for nights. We also have a few random pocket and all in one nappies from a friend who didn’t get on with them).

My experience is from a long time ago as we used them for my sisters when I was a teenager. So can't answer all your questions.

We used to flush them in the toilet then put them in a bucket to collect, then do a load in the washer. Leaks were ok but it was very involved (liner then nappy then plastic pants). At the time you also had to fix them with a big pin which was hard to do without sticking it in the baby (modern ones may be better, I don't know).

We didn't have a drier but they were just toweling so I would think it would be ok.

However I found the whole thing pretty grim and would never use them from choice myself. I've no idea how people do it when traveling.

If you choose to do it good luck but it's a lot of extra hassle!

Definitely do it!

My experiences to answer your questions:

1. My wash routine which works well for us and keeping everything clean is a rinse cycle of 15 mins, followed by a long wash either cotton or baby care, at 40 or 60 depending on how dirty they are. These cycles generally take 2 hrs.

I take the net liner out of the bucket, throw it in the machine, roughly 2 seconds 😁, but I put the nappies in the bucket with the velcros already folded etc. Put a new net bag over the bucket rim - 5 seconds. Hang the wash load when done - 5 mins. I also use cloth wipes for DC (so much better for poos!) And I store them wet so they go straight into the wipes box wet (why create extra work? 😁🤷)

1. Yes, but on a low setting as otherwise the PUL (the waterproof outer) can become damaged sooner.

1. Poo containment is a million times better because they have elastic on the back. You can sometimes have leaks of wee but that can be overcome with a good fit (tuck properly into leg creases) and being mindful of how many hours they've been in it. Tight vests can also cayse compression leaks but you can overcome that by going up a size or using a vest extender. Nappy places sell vest extenders.

They're not a 'wait til it's sagging to their knees' jobbie, more of change roughly 3/4 hrs during the day. Depending on age of course. My 2 yo sleeps through the night and we have night nappies that do him 12 hours easily. The flip side is that they're more bulky.

1. It depends on the type of nappy! We get 12/13 hours from a little lamb bamboo size 2, with a booster.

1. Totally worth it. You can get multipacks from many nappy retailers. Also there is a huge second hand market for cloth nappies. however they're pretty sought after and in my experience don't go for a great deal less than retail anyway. I just changed brand for mine and sold the ones I'd been using for 18 months , for £20 less than I paid 2 years ago 🤷

I'm also a nappy library volunteer so happy to answer any other questions.

Thanks! I’m clueless, what size would I need? My DS is in size 6 disposables.

A lot of nappies are ‘birth to potty’ (BTP), with poppers to adjust the fit (the ‘size 2’ ones we have fit from 10 to 35lbs - size 1 is just newborn). There are brands that do multiple separate sizes but that seemed too expensive to me and the adjustable ones have worked great for us so far.

The Nappy Lady website has a questionnaire about your needs, washing facilities etc and she gives free advice based on your results - might be a good place to start as the variety is overwhelming!

Birth to potty nappies are probably a good way to go as your son is 10 months. Contrary to their name, unless a baby is quite big at birth, they often have to grow into them still. Mine was 8.5lbs at birth and we had to buy some size 1s.

Not all nappies are birth to potty, some are sized at 1 and 2. Check the weight of your baby and then check the weight suggestion on the brand's website or the label etc.
You mentioned that you want night nappies. Good options include little lambs, lollipop or the tots bots bamboozle - little lambs come up a bit smaller than the others IME but my 2 year old currently still fits in a size 2.

I have a few reuseables which we try and use at home. I’ve had no poo leaks at all, and wee leaks only in the early days when j hadn’t sorted the fit (you do have to put them on more carefully than disposables) and if I leave it too long. I find 4 hours is our max. For that reason I haven’t tried them overnight; booster pads etc are mentioned above but I haven’t tried these so can’t comment.

Reusable wipes we use all the time at home and they are very easy and much better for poo.

I haven’t yet found a good way of getting poo off reusable though 🤮 it really puts me off. I have tried some sample disposable liners which worked well but for me they kind of defeat the purpose in that they work out at about 5p each, ie almost as much as a disposable nappy, and have to go in the bin like a disposable 🤔 fleece liners keep the poo off the main nappy but getting the poo off before putting in the machine is just minging. Dangling the the toilet while flushing hasn’t worked for me. I end up having to use loo roll to remove it which is fairly gross. Am I doing something wrong??

@modgepodge I hear ya. We use fleece liners too and that is the worst part. On a Facebook cloth nappy group a lot of people seem to have a dedicated 'poo knife' and scrape it off. Personally I just do a firm shake and it just sort of 'peels' itself off most of the time. If not, I use toilet roll for it. It's gross, but my DC used to get really constipated so I'm just glad that's not the case any more!

Hello, we use cloth from the time my lo was around 4 months, he is nearly 10 month old now,
We wash every other day, cold rinse, long hot wash, extra rinse, I don't find it time consuming washing machine does it all so very easy;
We don't have tumble dryer so can't advise on that;
We haven't had a leak since we using them so very good;
My lo doesn't sleep through but I don't change him in the night so he is in cloth nappy from around 7.30pm all the way to 7.30-8am with no problem, using two parter for night which means fitted nappy and waterproof wrap over it and Birth to potty nappies during day time;
It is definitely worth switching in my opinion I wish I have done it earlier it's been fab, I also use cloth wipes and the thought of not sending any nappies to landfill to be still there in 500 years is definitely worth it;
If you worried about price look at buying second hand there are selling groups on Fb especially The Nappy Lady selling group is great for preloved nappies, buy a few and see how you get on x

yes do it! I used them with all of my children and loved them. Very easy. Cheaper (although buying the nappies is addictive), better on their skin and better for the environment. And very cute!

You can buy second hand, or buy new and sell on

And yes they're fine in the tumble drier.

I agree that getting poo off a fleece liner with toilet paper is the worst bit but even that doesn’t really bother me much - you’re not really in any closer contact with it than when you wipe your own bum, it’s just that you can’t see yourself doing that so don’t have to face up to the grossness as much if that makes sense! Also, I’ve got more poo on me when dealing with a disposable nappy blowout than any reusable nappy situation

@argyllFTM said basically exactly what I came on to say - except that we use little lamp 2 parters and pocket nappies during the day when out and about.
Mesh bag in a dry pail, washed twice a day (pre-wash first). We use cheeky wipes too which are much more effective than disposable wipes I think. We also very very rarely get poo leaks, just dampness around the legs if I leave on for too long.
I’d recommend joining a Facebook group for advice and to buy second hand (the nappy lady has a great website and Fb group).
Also check if your council do a free trial pack or voucher.