Cloth Nappy Conundrum

[CrazyKitkatLady]

I’m currently pregnant with my first and am keen to give cloth nappies a try, my DH is very against it though (he thinks they will be too much faff and expensive if we don’t end up liking them)

I’m thinking of getting some terry squares and wraps on the logic that if we don’t like using them as nappies the terries can be repurposed into other cleaning tasks / burp cloth and could sell the wraps on.

I’ve looked at various folds etc and they don’t look too fiddly (although that might be different with a wriggly baby!)

My main reason for wanting to try cloth is to reduce waste rather than save money but equally don’t want to waste loads of money if we don’t get on with them.

Has anyone used flats either full or part time and know how many you would need roughly? And how many wraps?

Am I being totally naive thinking we can manage this even if it isn’t from birth / full time? I’m thinking every disposable I don’t use isn’t going to be sat in landfill forever so I can try and do my bit this way?

Any advice much appreciated!

I'd suggest talking to a local cloth nappy library if there's one near by. That way you can get advice and try some out before taking the plunge.

Yes!! I used mostly cloth nappies and wipes through 2 DCs - definitely made me feel better about environmental impact and you never run out of nappies as you can use almost anything as long as you have washing powder and a functional machine. Lidded bucket, mesh bag to line the bucket, wash every other day (or every day when I had 2 in cloth). I can't deny it increased my washing but not as much as you would think as we seldom had nappy explosions needing a complete change of clothes - the nappy and wrap contained it.

I tried loads of different kinds, size and shapes but the best from birth was using muslins like flat nappies, fastened by a nappy nippa (just regular muslins from the supermarket) and covered with a wrap. As they got older I used flat bamboo squares and motherease shaped nappies with boosters. For grandparents we had pocket nappies as they were less fiddly but also less bombproof. And when travelling we used disposables but at least it was many fewer than if we had used them full time.

DCs now 8 and 6 but I don't care in the least about toilet paper shortages as we still have all our cloth wipes - we can move over to family cloth anytime we need to. Wet the wipe with a squeeze bottle, one wipe, drop into the bucket and wash daily. Easy.

Also when they're really tiny, it's easy to cloth nappy as you just put the whole nappy in the bucket - no washing out of poo, a cold pre-rinse in the washing machine will do that far more efficiently. When they're older and have solid poo just shake it out over the toilet and then drop into the bucket. We used fleece liners so it didn't stick in the terry cloth.

@Xiaoxiong I hadn’t thought of using muslins, will definitely give that some consideration as well!

We don't use reusable nappies yet but going to buy some soon and give them a try. I quite like the look of the little lamb ones but to be honest still feel a bit confused! There are lots of videos on YouTube that help ease the confusion a bit though e.g. mummy of 4 uk has some good tips.

I use cheeky wipes and absolutely love them. Would highly recommend.

Little lambs are good and quite straightforward. Select your shaped material (microfibre/cotton/bamboo), put on like a disposable and then cover with a wrap.
Bamboo is good for heavy wetters, absorbent but slow drying
Microfibre is quick drying but also doesn't hold as much.
Cotton is in the middle.

We've used terries for all five of ours and it really was not difficult even when for three or four months we had three in daytime nappies and a fourth still needing them at night. I suggest buying 24 of the best quality ones you can find and probably 4-6 wraps on the go at any time. (I use the old fashioned plastic pants because they are big enough to cover the whole nappy, never leak and do the job they are meant to do.) With only one child I washed nappies every other day having dry-pailed the wet ones and soaked the soiled ones in Napisan. If the weather was good I'd hang them out - terries dry quickly in warm or windy weather. On really bad days I tumble dried them. Some people say that cloth encourages potty training but I can't say that has been true for us but it was interesting when DC1 was nearly 5 and we put him in a disposable when away on holiday not only did he have wet bedding but he also complained about all the plastic of the nappy in contact with his skin making him hot and prickly. He said what he called "proper nappies" were more comfy.

We did Bambino Miosolos from 2 weeks old. Still going strong at 15 months and will hopefully use them for another baby in the future.

We dry pail. Use boosters and biodegradable liners (next time, I won’t bother with the liners until weaning) so I can tip the poo down the loo. I scrape off any escaped poo with loo roll (sparingly, in today’s climate) and pop them in a net bag in the sealed bucket. I run them through a rinse cycle every other day and then throw other clothes in too, with a pre wash cycle and a 40^ normal added on.

Every fortnight, I wash all the nappies and liners on a 60^ with a pre-wash, then keep doing a rinse cycle until there are no more suds in the machine. That’s called a strip wash.

I tumble dry the boosters with other clothes and dry the nappies on the radiator.

I really don’t find them a big hassle. Our energy bills are higher, most definitely, but in a choice between landfill waste and increased energy consumption, I just picked landfill as the one to avoid.

No idea if I’m doing the washable nappy thing right. All sorts different ways to do it. People will probably find me disgusting for putting normal clothes in with them after a mere rinse cycle, but it works for us and we’re not dead. I made the choice because every other day of nappies is only a quarter of a load and I feel guilty for not making up a full load. If I waited longer, the nappies sitting in urine would have their waterproofing damaged.

@applesauce1 I don’t think that sounds disgusting at all, sounds really sensible. I think I’d feel the same!

Thanks to everyone sharing their routines, it’s great to know what other people do.

@CatWithKittens I can believe that reusables are more comfortable than disposables. Thinking about my sanitary products I find the reusables much comfier so it makes sense a child would feel the same way!

I used Terry squares, dead easy. Bat fold and a motherease wrap and job done.

Cheap pockets on eBay are good too.

My kids are all older now, it has been a while since nappies but all were in cloth and I never had a tumble dryer etc.

To save money I'd definitely try a nappy library, but also I got every single one of our reusable nappies off eBay! They have ended up being so much cheaper and I figure they actually would just be washed first if I bought them new anyway! You get used to using them quite quickly but for now I think you could see how it goes when baby is born and keep some disposables handy just in case (-:

Just get a few second hand wraps and a 10pack of muslins (wraps can be re-used a couple of times before washing, especially for newborns). You don't need to go full on cloth nappy from day one. Use them alongside throw away nappies and see how you get on. It's true what a PP said though, putting a fresh cloth nappy on babies bum feels so much nicer than a weird smelling plastic-y throw away nappy.... Good luck!

I use cloth mostly if we’re at home for the day - disposables are a bit easier if out and about, but I try my best to reduce disposable use where possible. I also use cheekywipes reusable wipes, and use the same dirty bucket & mesh bag for nappies and wipes then they all go in the machine together.

I have been building up a collection of totsbots nappies on eBay as I was given a free sample and I like the way they work. DS is six weeks and I will keep using them for as long as possible, he is nearly out of the newborn size wraps but there have been no explosions yet