Newbie about to dive in and buy reusables - a bit of advice please..

[toomuchtimeonline]

Apologies first of all - I know you ladies get asked these kind of questions all of the time and I have trawled through all of your messages getting advice on this topic for weeks..

I'm due in a couple of months and really want to use reusable nappies. I have been researching for a while now and have a few questions but also want your vast experience on whether what I'm thinking of buying makes sense.. thanks in advance!

For when the baby is born I heard that the first week can be the kind of poo that doesn't wash out at all - do most people use disposables for the first week? I was thinking of maybe buying muslins for the first few weeks while he is a newborn as they seem quite cheap and I was worried about the bigger nappies not fitting. Would 20 muslins be enough? If I buy muslins though what wraps would people suggest and how many will I need? Also will I be able to use the wraps later with other nappies?

Or should I just dive in and use Motherease Sandy's which apparently fit from newborn? If I go for these I know I'll need liners - do you need to buy a stay dry liner so that the babies skin isn't in contact with wet nappy all of the time or do you just change regularly. I know that you can use liners to catch the poo but at what stage do you need these as I understand that newborn poo is too runny for them! Again any suggestions on wraps? Should I get motherease Rikki in medium or the airflow?

Or are totsbots better than Sandy's?

When looking at nappies generally I really liked the look of the Bitti D'Lish which seems to have everything you need in one nappy - what do people think of these? Could I use them from birth or would I be better off with disposables or muslins for a week? Also the small Bitti D'Lish lasts up to 16 pounds - how long is that generally? and how many of them would I need?

There is so much information I'm overwhelmed.. I'm thinking of buying:

a 10 pack of muslins for the first few weeks with 3-4 wraps - of which I can't work out which would be best.

5 sandy's or totsbots plus some wraps (but how many wraps and can I use the ones I'll have been using on the muslins?)

10 Bitti D'Lish

5 bum genius pocket nappies for added stuffing if he needs them on a night time (again will I need different wraps?

What do you think ladies? Am I on the right lines or on another planet!

Sorry this is soooo long!

Not vastly experienced in using muslins but if you did get motherease you could get a pack of fleece liners then any staining is onthe liner until the meconium passes (poo like tar)
Bumgenius pockets come with inserts and do not require a wrap - once stuffed they go on as they are.

With regards to meuconium (first newborn poo) it really depends on your baby. Some get it all out of their system within the first day - others take a week. I'd tend to use disposables at that time.

I'd use muslins if you are buying some anyway. I bought 15 for DS but he was such a heavy wetter that they were not a viable option for nappies. He was 8lb 2 at birth and XS Sandies, Size 1 totsbots nippa fit fluffles ans aplix bamboozles fitted him from birth. IMO Sandys are a far superior nappy than any totsbots - esp for a newborn. Aplix band around a newborns tummy can be very stiff - you don't have that issue with Sandys.

Not tried the itti bitti but I know others think it is good. If they are anything like any other nappy you'll find the 16lb upper limit is a little optomistic. Babies reach 16lbs at such different ages it is hard to say how long your first size ones would last you. DS is 10wo and just over 13lb - he's just above average weight for a boy of his age.

Your plan sounds good to me but get Sandys rather than tots IMO. You won't need a wrap for the BG (as Nappyzone said). If you go for Sandy's get a Motherease AIRFLOW wrap - this is a very good combination - you'll see why when you put the 2 together. If you plan on pinning muslins then you should be OK with an airflow over them too - they are a baggy fit and on an older baby who moves a lot you might find the muslin moves too much but in a newborn you should be fine. Since you only plan on getting 5 nappies that require wraps I suggest you just get two airflows.

Other issue is whether to go for the XS or S airflow and sandys. Depends on whether you want them to fit from early on or to last longer. If you have a larger baby you'd be better off starting with the S rather than XS.

If you don't mind a slightly longer drying time go for BAMBOO sandy's. Mine came in the post today and they are beautiful (as nappies go) so soft - well worth the extra 50p. Your other nappies should be quite quick drying.

hth

oo - thanks ladies - off to reassess.. based on your advice!

Personally I'd use disposables for the first two weeks or so and then go straight into what ever you decide to use as the main nappy. Reusables are fab but you will be tired after having your baby so take it easy at first!

Also it might be worth waiting till your baby is born to see what size/shape he is, and then just ordering a couple to start with.

Good luck.

Hi, I use Itti Bitti D'Lish nappies for the daytime, I wash every other day and have 7 nappies and 7 extra sets of boosters (£5.75 each)- as sometimes you can change the inner bit if it's just been weed on and the outer isn't wet. Plus the outers just take overnight to dry so you don't need that many.

I used the medium size since DS was 3 months old (used "eco-disposables" before that)- so I would skip the small size if you're using muslins in the first few months, you just won't get enough wear out of the small to make it worth the money. I LOVE these nappies, they are just so trim but really absorbant, contain poo much better than disposables and are so cute too. They also work out really economical as you're not buying extra wraps like the motherease or tots bots systems.

I've tried quite a few nappies for both of mine, and I always come back to Motherease. I find that if the wrap is good quality and the right then they don't leak. Used disposables for the first few weeks with DS1 with the newborn poo just for ease for than anything. Sometimes if I'm lazy I don't use liners and its fine but its worth investing in slightly more than the number of nappies you buy as they are cheaper and tend to get stained quicker (plus I lose them more often). For motherease wraps I find the reiki just leak too much, the airflow is much better and medium would probably be too big for a newborn (unless you have a heavier newborn), the medium I started using after about 3 months but mine why both quite skinny.

The good thing about buying reusuables is there is a great second hand market for them so if you find that you've bought the wrong ones you can probably sell them on. I would recommend about 20 nappies and about 7-8 wraps in varying sizes. I would also recommend nappy lady who give great advice. Hope that helps.

ok been back to the research and after all of your advice I'm thinking on getting

• 10 muslins and 6 terrys for newborn (as these can be used later on for emergencies and for added padding.

• some form of liners to collect the tar poo and prevent staining

• 4 mothease airflow wraps in size small which is 6-12 pounds (do you think I should get 1 xs just in case?)

• 5 bitti d'lish all in ones in small (8-16 pounds) with a selection of the boosters

• 2 sandys small (8-10 pounds)-will use motherease wraps mentioned above

• 2 bum genius (1 size - 8-35 pounds) - and I'll use the terrys and muslins to stuff

What do we all think?

i used muslins for the first 10 weeks along with along with a few bimbles i'd bought.

i used a muslin, a fleecy liner and the wrap. to be honest i found the muslins a nightmare, and only kept going becuase i'm stubborn. newborn poos are really squidgy for the first six weeks, and it always escaped the liner going all over the muslin and occasionally escaping from the wrap.

that may just have been ds with his poos, but i'm not sure i'd use them again next time. bimbles and bumbles are another story, however; i love them.

i bought a pack of 20 muslins from the nappy lady website. that was more than plenty.

if you are going to get some anyway, give them a try, but if you don't get on with them, don't be disheartened. prefolds are great.

last thing - nappy lady do an early days hire kit. 6 wraps and 2 free liners cost £25, which is the cost of 3 wraps. (plus a £10 depost.) i hired some, they were in good quality and it meant i had plenty of wraps.

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try again

oo - bimbles and bumbles.. I'm going to have to get googling those

so maybe give the muslins a miss and go straight to the nappies.. will they not be too big for a new born though - they all seem to start at 8lb?

bumbles start at around 10lbs. bimbles do a small one, which is from 5-15lbs. i bought a few to try to see if i got on with reuseables, but didn't buy a full set as they would be used for such a short time. i will do next time.

i think you could get away with the bumble from birth, but it would be really bulky. when i put ds in it at 10 weeks it looked huge! rereading your above plan i think you could go straight to nappies. i also waited a week before trying them out, initally only used my 3 bimbles until the muslins came.

you sound very well researched, but if you wanted, the nappy lady has an advisory service whereby you fill in the form online, which goes through your preferences (cost, environment, speed of drying etc) and come up with a suggestion. they'll also give you a rough idea of how many to get, although i think your list above looks pretty good.

I might just buy 2 of every variety and then see how I go and set up a nappy sale once I'm done

Seriously, don't get the small size of itti bitti d'lish, get the mediums instead. Also I'd probably say get one of each so you can see what you like and just use those, otherwise using different ones in different systems might be more trouble than it's worth. but you might be a cloth nappy addict and need dozens! It's all up to you in the end.

.. but the mediums won't fit from birth will they?

No but your other ones will, if/when I have another baby I'd just do muslins/terries & wraps until they fitted them around 3 months- they grow so fast in that time and you might as well buy disposables as you wouldn't be saving any money - as I say it is up to you though!

big bad - you gave in and got the Sandy's Bamboo!

My advice is buy a variety and see which ones you like. I've got two each of five sorts and I only really like one. And it's one I'd never heard of before I had the baby. I saw it in a shop when I'd been using the others for a while and thought 'they'll be just the job' and they are.

Oh. But Motherease wraps do RULE.

HIya ladies, I would also echo the comments way above, why not do a week or two with Bio Disposables? DO you have any idea how big baby is going to be? And have a serious look at pocket nappies as these are great and also in my humble experience they are extremely dad friendly, which also needs to be considered
Lloyd

Hmm - thanks for all your advice - thinking of maybe just buying some terrys for the first few weeks now and then buying the bigger sizes later.. Decision decisions.. I'm Mrs Indecision at the moment!

I'm a bit of an internet shopper though and think I may succumb to buying a couple of the cuter ones in smaller sizes just for a go..

feel like you toomuchtime - spent the last two weeks on net searching about reusables!

I've already got a few different types, but at first glance (baby's not due for another two weeks) the sandy's look my favourite. I have some totbots fluffles (popper) but think they'll be used at night as they look quite bulky. Found a place selling sandy's bamboo cheap for another week - would it be too much ordering 10 size small? I have the 5 fluffles and 2 NB sandys normal terry (hard water here so think I should go for bamboo though). have a couple of BTP pockets too, but look big for NB. What do you thik about bamboozles poppers (waiting for one sz 2)?

Advice please!!