Making the switch!

[mishkamoo]

New 1st baby-will be 4wks on Monday. Want to use reusable but am a bit scared! Everything feels like hard enough work at the mo already and am worried reusables will make it even more so! The disposables are so absorbent I don't think he even registers being wet, so will he cry more and be EVEN more unsettled if we change to reusbales as presumably he'll be more aware of being wet. Also we regularly get trhough 2 nappies in one change as he always seems to decide to do an explosive poo just as he is being changed. His poss are very runny-will reusbales contain it all?
Basically, I'm just about coping at the mo, and he is still quite unsettle-I really want to make to switch but am worried about unsettling him more and making life even harder. Any ideas/advice??

Hi mishkamoo - I started using reusables on my DS at around 10 weeks old as I thought it would be too much work earlier on too. Other people use them from birth though, so it can be done.

When I first put a cloth nappy on I couldn't believe how wet it was, and was changing his nappy every half an hour. Thanks to some wise advice on here I changed to fleece liners which keeps DS's bum dry even though the nappy feels wet to the touch.

I use two part nappies (nappy plus motherease wrap) and have never had any poo leaks.

With regards to extra work, I wash nappies every two days, which in all honestly isn't that much extra work these days.

i use terry nappies (the old fashioned ones you have to fold) with a kushies wrap - you have the occasional poo leak, but then you do with disposables too.

i find it harder work using diposables. you have to go out and buy them(with a bay in tow), usually buying in bulk. then lug them home and inside (not fun with horizontal rain and a baby under arm). then they fill up your rubish bin very quickly and are actually quite stinky at times. You then have to lug them outside every day.

reusables are so much easier and all poop is down the loo. it is much easier to pop on some washing and then sit on the floor with DS folding and stuffing nappies than trecking out in bad weather.

my resuables are home made and them work absolutely fine. If we are having a wee for england day we just pop a wrap over the top.

We eased into cloth around 3 weeks or so and it really isn't any more work except maybe an extra load or two of washing per week (so more work for my washer!) but DD was getting through other stuff needing washing so fast that tbh it just means we are more likely to have a full load sooner rather than having to wait a few days.

She definitely knows she's wet in cloth rather than a disposable, so we are still using disposables overnight and most of the time when we go out.

If you're still feeling overwhelmed then don't put pressure on yourself to make the switch yet. Or you could just use one or two cloth nappies a day and then disposables the rest of the time (we did this to start with).

DD also loves to wee or poo straight into a clean nappy! At least with cloth you haven't just wasted the cost of a disposable/a bit of landfill space pointlessly

Good luck

Oh, at four weeks his bottom will probably look HUGE in cloth, but it's quite sweet.

And we've definitely had more leaks in disposables than cloth (cloth has only leaked pee where the wrap hasn't covered the nappy and it's wicked through).