Having triplets - could I still use cloth/wraps/'more environmentally friendly' nappies?

[BarbarellaNz]

Hi,
I would really like some avice:

1. What are 'wrap' nappies? How do they work and would they be suitable for triplets?

1. What about the cloth nappies that you have a service pick up/drop off? Would that be a better idea?

1. Is is unfeasible to be considering non-disposables and will it be much more expensive? (On a bit of a tight budget..)

These are my first babies and I have absolutely no idea - all my friends/relatives use disposables.

Thanks, Barbarella XX

Bloody hell love, good on you! I have some babmoo nappies going cheap if you are interested. Oh and congratulations!

Wow, congratulations on the triplets. I know someone who is having twins (first babies) and wants to use cloth. I gave her the details of a laundry service, which might be a bit easier at first. Round here a week's worth of clean nappies is around £8.

Cloth nappies can work out cheaper, depends on the sort you get. What works best for you will depend on other things too - do you have a tumble drier. I have one in cloth and find washing fine, but getting stuff dry sometimes more tricky in winter.

Good idea to check out cloth nappies as your bin could end up overflowing each week! If you wash at home then you're likely to have enough to do regular washes (every other day) just for the nappies rather than have to keep storing and soaking them for a few days to build up a load.

Can be expensive if you buy nappies new, there are usually a few 2nd hand ones going round if you do a bit of internet searching.

Your local council should be able to help if there's a service close to you (and they'd supply the nappies), or possibly the Real Nappy Campaign could help. www.realnappycampaign.com

I would say cloth nappies would definitely be cheaper (they're cheaper for one baby so would be cheaper for 3 I'm sure - after all you'd be buying 3x as many disposables if you used those).

Depending on the cost of a laundry service it could work out more or less expensive than disposables.

Personally I'd go for a fitted/shaped nappy with pul wrap. Basically the fitted nappy is the absorbant bit and the pul wrap is the waterproof bit. Each part goes on in a similar way to a disposable.

The other option is a pocket nappy (basically goes on like a disposable but you 'stuff' it with absorbant stuff before hand).

The reason I'd suggest a fitted nappy is that they seem to fit better IME. I think if you find a pocket nappy that fits well they are super but if they don't fit they can be a nightmare. With having triplets you probably want to be able to grab any nappy and know it'll fit any of the triplets iyswim.

@ stuff it with absorbant stuff...you can get inserts for them that increase the absorbancy or use microfibre cloths.

Hi, I use terry squares on my 16 month twins.

I wash them myself and tbh it is a pain, so I sometimes give myself a week "off" and use disp.

It can be done, but it is A LOT of extra work- I found it manageable with my singleton daughters, but only just with dt's.

I wouldn't think with cloth nappies that you would need 3X as many as you would have with 1 baby. Mainly as you won't need to wait for a load to build up!

If you're not sure buy a few of a various sorts (you'll find one sort that you'll like more than any other) and then add to them as the babies get older. If you google second hand/used nappies you can find some bargins.

Congratulations and good luck

I use cloth with my twins - I have some onelife and totsbots that someone gave me and I bought some terries too. The terries are great, I use them most of the time cos they are very easy to wash and quick to dry. I use onelife only at night or if we are out and about (less fiddly than terries). They have grown out of the totsbots. The terries are not so reliable for newborns cos the poo is so runny! But I rarely got poo on clothes, just on the wrap, which I can live with (just wash the wraps with the nappies). I use Motherease rikki wraps with the terries.

I totted up the other day for someone expecting twins that you need 48 nappies for twins to wash every three days. You can wash every other day but I would find that too much cos of all the other washing I have. I would have to use the tumble dryer if I was washing that much, and I don't like to use it cos of cost/environment.

So for triplets I would buy around 70-75 nappies based on them wearing five to six nappies a day and washing every three days (you need four days' worth because they will take one day to dry IYSWIM). You will need ones that dry quickly, but I am not sure which are quickest to dry. Well, I bet it is terries but they are not for everyone!

The cost saving is not as much as it is for a singleton because you have to buy three times as many nappies ie you can't use the same 20 nappies on baby 1, baby 2 and then baby 3. So if you are having no more children after these three you won't see that 'next child' saving. But lots of nappies have a good resale value so you should get some money back for them at the end.

Triplets are going to be a lot of hard work (obviously!), I mean twins are hard enough, and cloth will be quite a challenge, esp at first, but I think when you get into it you will be glad they are in cloth. I am glad mine are. Good luck and congratualtions!

I wouldn't rule out using both - disposables when you are out and about and cloth at home - carrying home three lots of stinky nappies from a day out could be a bit of a mare!

I have used tried lots of different types and while I love the natural fibre hemp and bamboo ones, they take forever to dry. Hate my microfiber Fluffles - they dry almost immediately but know how to hold on to a smell!

If I was having triplets (I KNOW there's only one in me right now ) I would consider using an all-in-one like BumGenius V-3s (actually, I would ONLY consider BumGenius as they are the only all-in-ones that have worked for me). They line-dry very quickly, can be tumbled if needed, I've found them pretty leak and bomb-proof, the one-sized ones are birth-to-potty. They are not the cheapest but could be quite practical as they do dry so quickly so you could wind up needing a lot fewer.

Being a lazy bint I've always found a two-part system a bit of a chore and these go on easily as a dispie.

Never tried a BumGenius through the night - for night time I love Ella's House and Baby Beehinds (they are super absorbant) with a fleece wrap.

Don't buy lots of anything until you've tried a few and know what suits you, and definitely consider buying second hand.

HUGE congratulations on the triplets - you have exciting times ahead!

I personally would do a wash every day, I know it sounds like a complete pain in the arse but you'd need less nappies that way. I find that I fill a bucket a day with my DD, two buckets is a full-ish wash but I reckon I could get three buckets into the machine. If you got quick drying nappies then you could easily get them washed and dried within 24hr. I would suggest buying microfibre nappies that have tongues or inserts that are removable as this is the quickest drying material and also the quickest drying way of making a nappy as you can separate the parts to dry.

It might be worth getting nappies that are nippa fastening because you'll want the nappies to fit all three, but they might not be the same shape so nippa fastening would give you the best way to adjust accordingly to get a good fit.

Or it might be less time consuming per-change to get something like Swampster suggested, I haven't used BumGenius but I've used Wonderoos and think they're great. They will be massive to start with though as they're birth to potty but will save you money as you won't need to buy different sizes. I've not used Real Easy nappies either as they're new on the market but they may also be worth looking in to, but these are sized nappies so you won't get as many months out of them. I find this website (Babykind) really good for explaining each of the nappies, just click on the name of the nappy and there's an explanation and picture.

One thing I would say for the all in one idea is that i'm not sure how well they'd last with such regular washing. With a two part system (where you get a nappy and a separate wrap) you don't have to wash the wrap until it's manky so if the nappy only has wee in it the wrap wouldn't need to go in the wash.

Hi Barbarella

I've just had triplets and they were also my first babies, they are now four months old (but were three months early). We have been home for three weeks and use totsbots cotton nappies.

They are brilliant, we bought two sets and wash and tumble dry them daily

Good luck!

Nicki

we have twins, now 7 mnths, and use cloth with them. we have an older dd as well so we had all the stuff from her, so it was much easier (and cheaper!) just to do the same with them. we started off with bimble and now use sandys for days and bumbles for night, with three or four boosters.

we have enough to wash every night - about 20 or so nappies that fit atm so that there's around 12ish in the wash each night and some spare for the next day - we hung them out to line dry in summer but now use tumble dryer for nappies.