Why friend stopped using real nappies - is this normal?

[Tangle]

Friend planned on using reusables from birth and stacked up on bamboo nappies and appropriate wraps before DS arrived. She stopped using them within about a week as she found:

• constant sogginess, including inside of wrap
• didn't like bulk (said DS looked like he was head down all the time)
• all the aplix around his waist seemed to majorly restrict movement.

My DD is now 9.5 months, and I keep thinking I ought to at least try real nappies, but friend's experience keeps preying on my mind. How worried should I be? Particularly on the soggy side and the movement (although I'd lean towards nippas / poppers as undoing the nappy is now a GOOD game ).

Any thoughts appreciated

I've used them for the first time with ds and really wish I'd used them with the dds. I use onelife which are just like motherease. I have to put the booster in now and that keeps ds dry for about 3 hours. As for movemement he rolled over at 4 months, was rolling everywhere by 5, crawling backwards at 6 months and forwards at 7. He 8 mo now and walking round the furniture ! So I don't think the bulk restricts his movement at all.
Plus the size and bulk of the poo he does lately would not be contained in the slim fit of a disposable I can tell you ! I am well and truly a convert.

Ok in order -

• constant sogginess - well, yes. They do get wet and FEEL wet, that's kind of the point. What did your friend think was going to happen to all the wee? . As for it being constant sogginess, that's more to do with the frequency of them peeing when they are newborns (ie all the time). As they get older the obviously go longer and the nappies stay dry longer. Personally I like the fact that cloth makes you change them. Ok, it's not very nice to have a baby sitting around in a damp nappy, but disposables allow you to be a lot lazier and let the baby sit around in stale wee for a lot longer.

• didn't like bulk - yes, they do look bulky on newborns, but it depends on the type of nappy. Having said that bamboo is probably the slimmest so if she still felt they were too bulky. But I think that's more to do with teh fact that our eye is now trained to see a disposable silhouette as the norm, the babies don't seem to find it uncomfortable. If you get the sort that go from birth-potty they will look more bulky than if you get size ones and then move up to size 2s.

• all the aplix around his waist seemed to majorly restrict movement - never heard/felt/thought this? Newborns don't really NEED to do a lot of moving anyway. Nippas are a bit more flexible than applix, if you want a slimmer waistline.

HTH. I love my resuables but I did interchange with disposables when DS was newborn, partly because I was too mean to buy the quantity required at first. When we'd used them part-time for a couple of months I was sure that they were for me and I stocked up on enough size 2s to go full time when he was big enough.

oh, and completely agree with chankins about the poo. DS ALWAYS leaks in disposables and never, ever in reusables. I now only use disposables on long trips and holidays.

I truly love mine. Can you tell? (and DS crawled and walked early btw)

sorry, just seen your DD is 9 months. SHe would be totally fine in size 2s, and at that age the difference in bulk etc is not nearly as noticeable.

If I were you I would get three or four reusables and one wrap, start off using them when you'll be home for the day and then stock up more if you like them.

Even if you only use them every now and again you'll still be saving yourself 20p every time you use one, not to mention saving landfill.

yes much easier at that age, they poo and pee so much less.
I always think of the money I an saving every time I put a cloth one on ds.
I only put dispoable on at night, but I probbaly don't need to, so will probably stop doing that !? !

Kind of what I figured then ;). So should one wrap last all day? I was assuming I'd stay in disposables at night till we'd got things going well during the day (yeah, I'm a wimp!)

Only problem now is which ones. I know choice is good, but at least when it was terry or terry you just got on with it! And I can dither for England .

Oh, and unfortunately the landfill argument doesn't work here - all the household waste is incinerated with the energy reclaimed...

Tangle, I use pocket nappies like fuzzi bunz during the day. The fleece inner layer keeps moisture away so the nappy feels dry even though the insert might be wet and they are very slim. I use tots bots with a motherease/imse vimse wrap at night though.

I use washables for Callum, wish I had used them for all my other kids, but didn't have the internet when I had them and didn't have mumsnet to guide me. Yes they get soggy, and have been using them since Callum was about 4 weeks old. But we don;t have a problem with nappy rash and he looks so cute in a washable. Dh actually managed to change him yesterday, when I left him with Callum and Callum exploded, after saying that he couldn't do it
Dh actually said that he didn't want to use washables when I brought them, but now he agrees with me as we have already saved about £100 (I brought mine second hand from Mnetters)

Hum,
soggy: yes, that's what air time is for. Disps arguably get their skin too dry.
bulky: yes, but not a problem except wrt some clothes fitting.
restrict movement: well thank goodness for that! Mine all walked at 9-10 months, I'm glad something was slowing them down. Friend's lad was in cloth and walked at 8 months, a month earlier than his disp-wearing sis who walked at 9months.....

Tangle, 'all the household waste is incinerated with the energy reclaimed' - how does that work then?

If the sort of things that bothered your friend are a concern for you, then I agree with chipmonkey that you may find a pocket nappy like fuzzi bunz works well for you.

I agree with everything said.

You are probably going to be best off with an tailored advice thing, either a local nappy advisor in person, or one of the websites (if you look in the small business section there are a few of us there offering impartial advice). That way you get someone with a wide range of knowledge able to work out what would suit your needs best.

Agree with Flame - do USE the expertise of the real nappy sellers, they are great at answering all your questions and recommending what you will need.

1 wrap question: depends on the type of nappies, some have integral wraps. I use tots bots and get through about 4 nappies and one wrap per day and then I change to a new wrap for night. The wraps don't get dirty really, unless the nappy gets completely sodden or there is a very bad poo. I aim to wash every 2 or 3 days.

wrt real nappies at night, actually night is probably the easiest time to start. The main problem with real nappies (I find) is the portability factor - ie if you are out in town and your lo does a really horrid poo you still have to carry the dirty nappy home with you (though not, obviously, the liner and contents!). TBH if one disposable is lasting your DD all night and not leaking, she would probably be fine in a single real nappy with perhaps a booster or two.

I was wimping out of cloth at night with ds 7 months until about 6 weeks ago, but I have had no problems since changing over. He did tend to be a heavy wetter overnight, but I have a couple of little kiwis new little kiwi website, a couple of bumbles easypeasy website and that I tend to use, but have not had any leaks even when dh puts him to bed in a bambinex or totsbots without extra boosting.

Quick flips are my ideal night nappy - I have a bamboo square underneath for extra boosting and so it is easily removed if he decides to do the fun trick of pooing after being in a night nappy for only a little while.

did i read somewhere quick flips now fleece lined or have i dreamt that?

Not unless they aren't telling me summat

They have launched new Remo nappies (normal shaped nappy shape), and they ARE fleece lined. Tis a little pocket type bit.

oooo i see off to nosey...

not sure what you mean by he looked like he was head down all the time??

You might have already seen this but just in case... local authority incentive schemes - for example Hammersmith and Fulham gave me 2 vouchers for £45 each (I have twins) which use towards cost of nappies. But I could used it towards a nappy laundry service or a trial packof different brands, so basicaly could try them out for free. Worth seeing if it covers your area!