Reuseable nappies - Terry squares

[Margo34]

Any experienced mummas here using or have recently used terry squares and wraps on their littles?
I've got some wraps and muslinz but want to try terries with wraps as I have heard they are longer lasting beyond newborn stage and also quick drying (yippee as I have v limited drying space) but I haven't the foggiest where to get any terry squares and am quite frankly boggled.
I did the nappy lady questionnaire but still waiting for response. And the nappy gurus mentioned them but didn't elaborate.

Help please! Links would be super helpful tooo 😊🙏

FTM

The nappy lady pregnancy and parenting group on facebook are really good for advice. Your questions are answered in seconds by cloth user parents.

I used Terry nappies as well as all in ones. The all in ones plastic outer layer would leave my daughter very red and crinkled where it bunched around waist and legs. Thought I'd try Terry instead but they were incredibly bulky and leaked I suppose because the plastic knickers weren't attached to the material 🤷‍♀️ anyway neither style worked for my daughter. She would also cry with them on which wasn't normal for her (I used disposables when out and about and if I was washing the cloth ones).

Muslins are easier for newborns, actually, can use the same folds that you use for terries but more flexibility and small enough for frequent changes. Terries useful when they get a little bigger. If you can find a way to keep the towels soft (we never really did) then you'll get better fitting folds. There must be heaps of youtube videos on the types of folds.

My youngest is now 12 so wasn't 'recently' I used them. Feels to me like everyone has moved on to some other kind of cloth nappy system. But the others are all more expensive. I found a few shaped nappies were useful for when out & about (but then so was a disposable if I wanted to be sure to have a backup).

Nappy Lady still sells terry towels now, I see.

@frankiefirstyear oh dear I though terries were supposed to be better and less leaky 🤔🙈
I won't go crazy and buy a big stash of them then, just in case!

@lljkk there seems to be tonnes of modern cloth nappy systems but they're all pretty expensive 🙈

I'll stick with muslins for newborn then. Are the terry squares basically just large flannels? 🤷‍♀️

Your 'recent' experience is definitely a lot more recent than comments I got from my mother!

@edin16 thanks I'll hop over and take a look.

Have you used terry squares before?

terries are basically very soft towelling squares, but they are finished around edges so won't fray. You need to research liners, too. A lot of the new terries are quite thin, I think, but you can double them up as kid gets bigger. Shaped nappies are a bit better for walkers, I suppose, but it comes down to learning how to make the folds snug.

Seriously, there must be a million youtube videos where people show off the systems they are using. I practiced folds on stuffed toy animals before we had a real baby. I used real pins, never got hang of nippas.

We got all ours at Twinkle Twinkle the best terry squares value for money vs good absorbency are these, and Nature Babies wraps and don't forget the nappi Nippas to fasten.
We used them all the way through, as well as other nappies, but we did add boosters for overnight (we had a wee a lot baby). Hope that helps

@Margo34

No terries for me. When he was first born I had a few pocket newborn size and the nappy system you got in the Scottish baby box, I had enough for about a day so he was only in them part time. He's 10 weeks now and we've just started using the birth to potty size. You can get some good ones second hand, I find that on the official nappy lady Facebook selling page they're quite expensive but there's other generic selling pages where you can get them a lot cheaper.
And if you did want to try other nappies and after a couple of uses find they're not for you then you can sell them on at almost full price

We used reusable but the all in one style daytime and the two part overnight. I like them and they work well.
But I don’t think I could use anything that required folding, just too much of a faff.

These ones are as easy to use as disposable really so anyone can change baby without us having to show them

@Caspianberg what 2 part nappies did you use that didn't require folding? Are terries or muslins and wraps not 2 part nappies?

@Margo34 - we use tots bots bamboozle with a wrap. It is a shaped nappy with poppers to adjust size and Velcro to do up. We use overnight and they haven’t leaked yet for up to 12 hrs wear ( if baby sleeps through)

I love the idea of them - my mum used them and still raves about them. I got them, but DS was a prolific pooper and I went through all the ones we had in less than a day, so DH had to go to the 24 hour Tesco for disposables.

They have since been cut up and redeployed as general cleaning cloths.

I used all sorts of cloth nappies and I ended up using terries and a nappy nippa with DS2 when I was a bit more confident. I loved them - dried in a flash and once I figured out the best fold for his scrawny legs I preferred them to any other nappy. I could get them really tight around his legs without elastic, and tuck in the sides around his bum as an extra poo-barrier, then used an air flow wrap on top.

However, DH (who cannot wrap a present either, and has been described as "all thumbs") never got the hang of them - he preferred the motherease one-size with a wrap, and my parents never got the hang of any cloth nappies at all except Bumgenius and tots bots which I found more time consuming than terries as I had to stuff the pockets. I used to sit and stuff nappies in front of the TV in the evenings for them, and then use terries myself that I could just keep in a jumble in a basket.

We used terries for all 5 of ours from birth through to them (eventually) becoming dry at night. (DH calculated they had used the equivalent of about 46,000 nappies between them.) We saved a great deal and although we had 4 in nappies at once at one time (3 in daytime ones and one at night for about 6 months then 2 and 2 for a further year or so), I never found it difficult. I folded ready for use when I took them off the line or out of the drier. We used pull up plastic or PUL pants and I think we could count leaks on the fingers of one hand and the normally happened when one of us (guess who?) had failed to tuck the nappy into the pants properly so that it was able to leach onto clothing. My advice would be, as others have said, to use muslins in the very early days. I would also suggest that it is wise to buy the best quality thickest terry nappy you can afford, (If you can find some lightly used second hand ones from the 70's they are likely to be better than modern ones - the best we ever had were some Harringtons ones which my mother had used on my sister: they lasted through all our children and were still absorbent and used as night time boosters to the end.) Napisan and soaking is useful for really badly soiled nappies in a separate bucket but most of the time it is not necessary nor is the hottest wash - 60 is fine we found for soiled nappies and when you get to the stage of just having one or two wet ones from overnight, if you are labour saving like me (i.e. lazy) they can be done with other clothes after a rinse. I always thought cloth would be more comfortable next to the skin than a disposable and that was confirmed by our eldest when I tried disposables (which leaked when he slept on his side) at night on holiday
and he told me "proper nappies" were more comfy because they didn't make him hot and sticky. Good luck! HTH

[quote Margo34]@Caspianberg what 2 part nappies did you use that didn't require folding? Are terries or muslins and wraps not 2 part nappies?[/quote]
Something like Tots Bots Bamboozles, they need a wrap over them, but they were super absorbent and easy for overnight. The print ones look cool though.

But I don’t think I could use anything that required folding, just too much of a faff.
I've just done one, to time it. Took about four seconds. Muscle memory, innit.

I found terries worked for DD (a genteel ladylike trickle) but not DS (a fountain, the material couldn't absorb the liquid quickly enough).

My terries rule!!!!! I haven't had one leak!!

DD is 8 weeks now.

I got mine through the Nappy Lady website. If you wait for your recommendation, she gives you a 5% discount for every order you place through the website.

DAY:

24 x Terry towels (I use the Jo fold i think)
Paper liners from Boots
3 x Nappy Nippas
10 x Bambinex waterproof covers

NIGHT:

5 x Motherwase wraps
5 x Sandys boosters
5 x Bamboozle Stretch nappies

I wash every 2 days. They come out lovely and any stains get bleached out so well by the sun.

These will last until toddlerhood. Once you get used to it, you can't really imagine doing it any other way.

Can I also recommend a Cheeky Wipes system for your wipes? Super absorbent. I typically use one wipe per change. You get travel bags too. And lovely essential oils to make smell nice. I use them for my toddlers mucky hands too. OH was skeptical at first but loves it just as much as me now.

I think they are grim. Bulky and heavy. I used them for my own children because there was very little else.

Shaped ones are less bulky but leak more.
(I’m a nursery worker so I have changed many brands)
The most comfortable nappies as far as I can tell, with least rashes, are Pampers. All my nursery colleagues agreed.
Tesco disposables have v harsh elastic which irritates skin on legs.

Not used terries but currently using little lamb 2 parts with motherease airflow wraps. Dd is 20 months and used from 6 weeks. Ds used them from a few days until potty trained. Most of ours were bought second hand from eBay and are still going strong. The microfibre little lambs dry really quickly though you'll want some bamboo ones for nights/car seat use.

I've had a handful of leaks in 4 years (2 children) of use and all of them was because I'd left a bit stuck out of the wrap. On long days out/holidays I use disposables and often have poo everywhere!

I use them full time on my 2 and wish I'd started earlier, they never leak, are easy to wash and dry in no time. They are a bit fiddly to put on a toddler who doesn't want changing but are great once on.

I'd agree with an earlier poster who preferred nappy pins, I tried nippas at first but pins give a far better fit and can't be undone by toddlers.

I use mainly Whitebots terries and they readily available on ebay, including larger squares for heavy wetting toddlers if needed :-

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bright-Bots-12PK-Whitebots-Premium-Cotton-Terry-Towelling-Cloth-Nappy-White-60cm/293557824894?epid=18017266545&hash=item445968ed7e:g:k6IAAOSw44BYU~FH

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bright-Bots-6PK-Whitebots-Premium-Cotton-Terry-Towelling-Nappies-70x70cms-White/291976672920?epid=2111892823&hash=item43fb2a7698:g:QqQAAOSw-0xYVBgp