Reusable nappies - petite baby help!

[MarvEll]

I'm at the end of being able to deal with mother-ease resusable nappies. Too many bloody poppers, they leak on my (rather petite) 10 mth old. I just put them in a washing bin and Jesus the smell. Can someone help me get started again more sensibly?
What do I need? Are there some links someone could share to the best brands / something about a wet bag? Etc.
Very happy with resusable wipes, it's just the nappies
Gah!
And thanks!

Do you have a local nappy library that you can hire a kit from? Then you can test different brands and styles.

Personally I like all in ones. I mostly use Bambino Mio all in ones, but have previously used tots bots AIOs too. When I had my first, I initially tried tots bots peenut which are all in twos, but I didn't get on with them, sold my stash and started again with a type I already had one of, and knew they worked on my baby.

I keep mine in a lidded bucket with a net and that doesn't smell. Plenty of people just use a hanging wet bag instead of a bucket, I have a great wet bag from little lamb - really roomy and has two pockets.

Oh I will have another look for a nappy library. We moved recently and maybe this place has one.
Thank you - I will have a look at those brands. Really helpful thank you

For the smell, perhaps try a strip wash: www.thenappylady.co.uk/news/strip-washing-nappies.html? We also keep ours in a lidded buckets with a net, and there shouldn't be much smell.

I second @Eileen101 about seeing if you have a nappy library near you, but perhaps also post on one of the cloth nappy groups on Facebook asking about what has suited slimmer babies. My DD was slim (but tall), and we got on with blueberries the best for all-in-ones, but mostly used tots bots bamboozles under a good wrap for reliability+affordability. Rikki wraps were our favourite. Little Lambs are supposed to be good for smaller babies, and very affordable, but we didn't try them because of DD's height.

What style of motherease are you using? Generally I think they are a great brand for petite babies. Are you fitting it correctly? How long are you leaving between changes? There are plenty of groups on Facebook that would be happy to look at a photo of a fit and advise.

If you are adamant you want to change your stash, the type will really depend on what you like (all in one vs all in two vs pockets)/can afford both money and time wise. As others have said, I’d strongly suggest renting first before committing lots of money.

To be honest, most of the issues you list are inherent to cloth nappies. Im not sure I can think of a brand that does nappies without lots of poppers (beyond newborn). As others have said, a lidded bucket (+/- a net bag) should make life easier re: the smell.

We use tots bots. They are Velcro so you can tighten or loosed as much as needed.

They have three poppers on the front but that’s just to adjust height for tiny babies, by 10 months you would probably use with all poppers open ( we do with 20 month old and have since 6 ish months I think). If you do popper smaller you only do it once, and they just wash and dry poppered on that size until bigger.

We use a brabatania 16l lidded bin, with tots bots mesh so they nappies go in machine in mesh and don’t need handling. There’s no smell.

Thanks so much for the advice. I'll have a look at a nappy library tonight. Any good suggestions for cloth nappy FB groups?

@AliceW89 they're white towling unders with a waterproof white bit that goes over the top. So that's 4 on the under and 4 on the outer. I've realised a move from vests with poppers to t-shirts will also save me 3 poppers. I try to avoid dungarees because that's even more!

I like the idea of velcro!

For groups, Cloth Nappies UK, Cloth Bum Mums and Dads, and the Nappy Lady group are all quite big and active.

I'd recommend the Clean Cloth Nappies FB group. They recommend an excellent cleaning routine and provide all levels of strip washing for all types of cleaning issues. From the odd stain, right up to infections etc.

Motherease have been awful for us. Our most reliable are Bells Bumz, and Modern Cloth Nappies, although I LUUUUUUURVE Bear Bott prints (just not quite as absorbent for our boy).

Our washing routine is as follows:

1. Get rid of anything 3D
2. Dry pail into an airy bucket or washing basket (preferably pone with holes in)
3. Daily 'Quick wash' at 60 degrees (just over an hour)
4. Every 3 days we do a main wash. Cottons, 60 degrees, intensive, 1400 spin (fine for front loaders), 4 rinses. That is at least 4 hours long.
5. Dry on a heated airer, keeping PUL away from the direct heat.

Never had any staining or smells and been doing this 14 months now.

We use wet bags for out and about and for the childminder to put the dirty nappies in.

If you have absorbency issues, try a cotton booster and avoid microfibre, if at all possible (microfibre is like a sponge so will soak it up quick, but let it all go if there is any compression). Bells Bumz do 100% cotton boosters which are great (I'm not affiliated, I just love her products!)

*one not pone!

We used Bambinex Teddy nappies under Motherease wraps.

The Motherease wraps were absolutely bomb proof for us. I know the poppers on the Airflows can be a pain but they are so good once your child is active and running around! And roomy enough for overnight cloth nappies with boosters etc.

The Teddys were really good for us too - even the childminder liked them and she'd had previous bad experiences with cloth nappies. They size adjust with 2 poppers (I used to do that bit when putting them away after drying) but fasten with velcro.

Forgot to add - my son was (and still is) 25th percentile and we used these from 4 months until potty training at just after 2.

Try the Nappy Lady questionnaire for tailored expert advice.