Can anyone help choose which reusable nappies to try?

[KelaS]

Hi all

I want to give reuseable nappies a go, but not sure which ones to go for. From what I can see I think I prefer Tots Bots Fluffles, but they seem quite expensive. The other options I am considering are Motherease and Bambino Mio, for the simple reason that they are sold by Waitrose/John Lewis and I can get discount! Are there big differences between them? Is it worth spending the extra cash (money quite tight at the moment)?

If it matters, DD is 10 weeks, 12lbs, and long and slim rather than short and chubby.

I find all nappies much of a muchness -the main difference is the way they do up. However (soap box time again!) don't bother with any apart from motherease airflow, they never ever leak (for me anyway!).

Lots of people love motherease onesize but I find they don't fit my babies very well and scare other people with the amount of poppers (eg nursery). I do like motherease sandys, they are more like disposables to do up so novices can guess how to put them on. They are also pretty slim fitting. They come in 3 sizes but I would give the small size a miss and go straight to the middle size ones. (the big ones aren't called sandys they are called toddlease?). Depending when your dd potty trains and how big she gets these will probably be all you need to buy (they fitted my dd until she came out of nappies but not my ds).

I also like little lambs they are pretty much the same as tots bots but are cheaper. Personally I think they seem to wash better too.

Could keep going for a while but I'm boring myself

That's an airflow wrap

I do like fluffles but am a big fan of Bimbles too.

ME onesize I have found to be pretty rubbish, esp on a newborn as they're too wide in the crotch.

Can you 'hire' a selection - this is what we did and we were very glad we did so as we ended up getting different ones to those we thought we would due to fit and ease of use. We used lots of prefolds with the occasional fitted nappy to start with. We didn't get on particularly well with motherease wraps and prefered Nature Babies ones which were great for a slim fit - they even added extra poppers to the waist of a larger size we got from them. Not particularly impressed with any of the Bambino Mio things we've tried - and don't worry about where you can buy them from - once you've got them, you don't need to keep going back for more until you need the next size up.

i liked little lmabs when DD was tiny; the best IME for BF baby poo explosions and never had a leak. I used them with a motherease rikki or a tots wrap. I also had some tots bots, unbleached cotton terry which were lovely, but took longer to dry than the little lambs. I also like nippa versions rather than velcro. I had a few different types of nappy that I bought second hand to begin with to get an idea of what I was after; then bought more of the ones I liked.

Tots are discontinuing fluffles so you might find it hard to get hold of them at the minute. bambinex teddies are similar, but have a sepoarate booster rather than a sewn in one. the bambinex bamboo terry are veruy slim fitting with quite a high cut leg. Very soft and lovely and take about as long as a tots cotton terry to dry.

I would avoid the bambino mio ones, but that's because I don't like prefolds...rubbish at BF poo containment ime!

If you look in the classified section, flame (bumfluff nappies) and nappyzone are in the small business ads. They both offer an advice service and are really very lovely and very helpful

get £40 cashback from your local council here

nappy demonstration in your area here

21April is the start of real nappy week - there should be a lot of events going on in your local area where you will be able to find out more about the nappes and see them close up - I would recommend you find out what is happening locally to you, local council, MW / HVs, baby / toddler group, BF support groups should know whats on.

You'll get a lot of conflicting advice on here as there is no, one super-nappy that suits all. You have to take your individual circumstances into account, baby shape, budget, drying facilities etc. There are lots of independant nappy adivsors out there who will not expect you to purchase from them in return for their advice. Ask your local council if you have a local nappy project where you can hire a trial kit to see what suits you best.

btw IMO
Motherease - awful, truly awful! their wraps are fab though
Bambino Mio - not much better.

My DD is tall and thin, bambinex nappies have a high rise which suits her well. There are cheaper alternaitves to Totsbots that are just as good IMO (thinking Easy Peasy Nappies, bumbles, bimbles - these are really very good). For reliability go for a shaped nappy with a wrap if you have an unreliable nappy you'll end up with a lot of extra laundry!

Have you thought about purchasing second hand? There are a lot of sites where you can do this.

Happy nappying, if you go for cloth, you will save money compared to disposables for sure.

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I agree on the Airflow - we do have some Rikkis, but the Airflows are just so reliable.

We have had great sucess with MEOS - they are our everyday nappy, and the nursery are absolutely fine with them.

Sandys were great when DS was really little too, and are tops for poo containment.

It is worth picking up a selection second hand, and then selling on any that you don't like - cheaper than hiring them usually too

There are big differences.

Motherease are shaped nappies & Bambino Mio are prefolds.

Motherease One Size will be very bulky on small baby, even up to several months old. My baby boy is 9 months old & it now fits him OK. However I dont find it as absorbant as prefolds.

Prefolds (Bambino Mio) - you dont need to take baby's size/shape into account. You do different folds to suit. I have heard that Bambino Mio wraps are rubbish. I use Diaperap & Bummis wraps for my prefolds.

If you go down the prefolds route, Junior Joy are cheaper than Bambino Mio & just as good. I have both. For 6 months plus babies best to go for 4-8-4 thickness.

For example, I started using prefolds when my son was 7 months old & it cost me about £60 for 18 prefolds & 3 wraps. This stash will last him til potty training.

For babies 0-6 months you will need more wraps with prefolds. More chance of runny poo running onto wrap, hence need to change wrap more often.

Best to buy one of each nappy you like & try them out, before investing in anymore. This is what I should have done & wasted quite a bit of money on nappies that I didnt get on with.

If money is quite tight, it may be worth trying terries? Just get one or two to try and see if you get on with them. They are a little more involved because of the folding but definitely the cheapest option.

I wouldn't recommend buying too many of one type until you have tried several, sometimes what you think is going to be great doesn't work out at all for your baby, and something you're not too sure about turns out great.

Some good advice here, if your going down the shaped route with wraps then i totally agree motherease wraps are the best and bambinex and easy nappies are fab too. Tots Bots are bringing out a new flexitot nappy which may be worth a consideration though its early days for a proper review though i have been trialing and am impressed ((it is available end APril)). Terry squares are the cheaper option till your lo moves into size 2 range of nappies if your deft to a bit of folding.

And i know flame is waiting for me to mention them..... pockets though widely dismissed in a newborn can work well - i used them from 2 months and many are using bumgenius from around 7-8lb. The best advice is to try a few different systems rather than investing in a whole system.

Myself (Nappyzone) and Flame (Bumfluff) are both independant online nappy retailers and are more than happy to help guide you through the fog and are available through the small business classifieds.

Once you go cloth you wont look back

Thanks for all the advice . I think I will get on best with shaped nappies, have got a fluffles on the way which I bought second hand through MN, will pick up a couple of other second hand ones and see how I get on.