Reusable nappies advise

[bardos]

I'm due my second in a few months and really want to use reusable nappies as much as possible, but it's like a minefield and looks like it's going to cost a fortune! The birth to potty nappies look great, but they aren't actually from birth.

I'm leaning towards terry squares and folding as these seem to be a cheap and long term option and then using a wrap over the top.

What are others experiences? Do these work well for day and night and last for a decent amount of time?

I would prefer to avoid spending ££££ on all the different types just to try them out

I never knew buying nappies could be so fun

Whispers

We use the tots bots range. I would say unless your baby is tiny then they are suitable from birth.
We bought the newborn size, but at 8lb8 he only wore them about 6 weeks and that was just because we had them if that makes sense, he could have easily wore them for say 2 weeks once cord off. We use the tots bots easy fit stars daytime

Nighttime tots bots bamboozle. Again, they come in size 1 and size 2, but say size 2 is birth to potty. I would say that’s about right. The easy fit fold smaller but absorb less, so you could use them overnight the first month or so until they are more than move into size 2 bamboozle if you wanted to save buying size 1. But size 2 is also fine I think from birth as they aren’t moving overnight. They both popper down so the biggest size in size 1, is the same as size 2 poppers down smallest.

And just use disposable the first week or two if needed. If baby is really small, then you can always order size 1 bamboozle for nights once they are always born and you know size

The easy fit stars are great btw. Baby almost 1 year now and they have lasted great, and easy to use. You can add extra insert inside if you need to for heavy pee er if your going out ie we did for car trips or out around 5-7 months when he was drinking the most but not eating much, now he must pee less and don’t add

My dc are 17 and 13,used terries for both. Nightimes were tricky, ended up using disposables overnight for leaks.

On the plus side, I'm still using the terries every week in my cleaning box - great for mopping spills, cleaning the car, in the bathroom etc

Good luck! If you end up liking the little lambs, keep an eye on their website and you can sign up to be notified when preloved ones from them come on sale ( these are normally returns so they’ve hardly been used/not used at all). I got a set of 20 bamboo size 2, 6 wraps, wash bucket and bag and some liners for about £100 ( there’s always 10% off codes to use) and they look like they’ve never been used. This also means they’re under warranty if Velcro comes loose etc, so well worth keeping an eye out! I already had a stash from a cheap eBay lot too so my house is coming down with nappies!

We used terries for all 5 of ours from birth through to them (eventually) becoming dry at night. (My DH was sceptical at first but cash was quite a good argument and we are sure we have saved a very great deal of money over the years, especially as they were all, as my GP kindly put it, 'at the upper end of normal' for becoming dry at night! We calculated they had used the equivalent of about 46,000 nappies between them.) 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), but I never found it difficult. Terries are flexible from birth to potty because they are adaptable to different sizes and shapes. They can be used in multiples at night for older children if necessary, though bigger than standard 60cm ones are available too. They are quick to dry . It is a good idea to fold ready for use when they come off the line or out of the drier.

The Nappy Lady site has a whole range of folds to try. We used pull up plastic or PUL pants and I think we could count leaks on the fingers of one hand and they 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 for the last few months of my younger sister needing a night nappy: they lasted through all our children and were still absorbent enough to use as night time boosters to the end.) I found Napisan and soaking 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 badly 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!

Thanks again everyone. The more I learn, the more confident I feel. I think muslins and terries are appealing to me more at the moment. They seem so versatile so seems a good place for me to start and I can try different ones as I go to try and get the best combination for us. The hardest part for me now is trying to stick to a budget haha