Anyone used muslin squares as nappies for newborn?

[charleypops]

What's the best way to fold and pin them please. What's the best liner? I was going to use disposables for a few weeks, but have decided I would like to start using washables straight away. Do the nappy nippas work with them? Is there any alternatives to the nippas?

thank you

don't bother with liners - poo is so runny it makes no difference - save the liners until they are eating solids (and then use fleece ones ).

I used muslins - just fold into an oblong and hold in place with the wrap - no pins or nippas. It worked for me ! I think this is pretty much how prefolds work.

If you want to try other folds do a search for nappy folds on google - I had great fun trying them all out but still found the pad the easiest to use.

Nope, but I found them fantastic to place at night under DS's head, it saved me so much washing of cot bedding. Have you considered other washables nappies apart from the muslin squares? www.greenbaby.co.uk has a very good variety.

I did this for ds and dd2 when they were tiny.

Depending on what size your muslins are you can do a fold called the triple fold (I believe the nappy lady has instructions). Nippas will work with it, but don't grip as well as on terry.

With dd2 I just folded the muslins (and later terry squares) into a pad, by folding into quarters, and then folding the quartered nappy into two or three lengthways (IYSWIM). A good poppered wrap ( I use Nature Babies from Kittykins) holds it all in place without any pining or nippering.

hth

Frogs - Thanks for the kittykins wrap suggestion so did you continue to potty training with terry squares then? Didn't you bother with the shaped ones? I must say I'm quite intrigued myself with terry squares...

Chandra - thanks for that link. I've done a bit of research and so far have discovered that tots bots with mothease wraps seem to be the most popular with mners. I'm only 5ft 1.5" and I'm anticipating a smallish baby (hopefully with my miniscule pelvis!). I want to buy mainly size 2 tots bots for economy reasons, and just 3 size 1s, so need economical back ups. From the bits I've read, muslin squares might work really well.

Throckenholt - hmm runny poo. Can't wait
It will be interesting to see which fold is the most popular. So far the "oblong"

What size squares are best - I've seen 70cm and 80cm?

terries (or muslins when very small) are great when they are little, but I found then not really big enough later on - so switched to shaped ones (popolini and motherease one size - tots bots are nice but need 2 sizes, and seem to go rough in our hard water).

Terries are good because they dry very quickly as well.

And yes - very runny poo - nothing quite like a blow out with breast fed poo . Mine had the knack of getting it right up their backs and all over the car seat - usually when we were visiting friends and I hadn't taken enough spare clothes!

small ones when baby is small, bigger later on.

I used pins as I prefer them to nipas, I used plain squares from the nappy lady with little green earthlet paper soft liners, which are actually washable and re useable as wipes too, also flushable Later I used fleece and really lvoed fleece liners.
I also used velcro motherease/popalini wraps as this sometimes meant not needing pins as you can get a dead snug fit with them.
the fold I used was what we called the chinese triple fold. V easy honest, dp did most of the nappy folding with military precision.
muslins are good as they wash up and dry easily.
Phew sermon over

Thanks for the wrap tips Piffle. Where do you get the pins from? I'll do a google for the "chinese triple fold" I love the sound of it - very impressive!

link to NappyLady folds

here

I am planning on using muslins (bought the 60 cm size.) and later adding in shaped nappies as dd will be going to nursery.

I like the chinese folds/origami/bat fold. Good for a small size. I also liked Jo's fold and Gaynor's fold. I've practiced a few of them. Also thinking of folding them right after drying so there will always be some on hand to nappy away. Maybe later when she gets bigger I will change folds. Another idea for when baby is older is to double up the muslins with a simple kite fold.

Link for nappy pins recommended by the Nappy Lady.

here

I used home made muslins for new born. Used the origami( chinese or any other name) fold. Used nappy pins and just used one - pinned through the layers at the front. I think I got my pins in the UK from John Lewis or mothercare from memory.

Now she is that bigger and older - I am using the terry squares folded into the kite fold with nappy nippas. We just have plastic pilchers here - work fine and I use fleece liners. When no1 was about 1 I started using prefolds with fitted wraps.

I fold them when I get them off the line and put a liner in them ready to go then stick them away in the nappy stacker.

of the nappy lady folds on the site below, the kite fold, ro fold for boys (least leakage with this one, but more fiddly to put on), and the pad fold (for littlies) worked for us.

Ooh Alux - what a FAB link - What fun!! Why didn't I see that link when I was on the NL site?

Eidsvold - did you ever compare your terry squares with any shaped washables? What wraps do you use? (or are those the plastic pilchers you mention?)

throckenholt - I'll have to remember to try the ro fold for boys because that's what I'm having

actually it was a variation of that - get as far as the 3rd picture, stick baby on nappy, fold long bits over willy and tuck under bum, sort of twisting to get a snug fit round leg, pull up the bottom of the triangle over the front, tuck in if necessary and pin. (I think - it was a long time ago ).

charleypops - I can see that if I simply lurk long enough I'll have the ultimate new born nappy conclusions all worked out by your good self !

Yes, went all the way to potty training with terry/muslin squares with ds, and will do so with dd2 as well. But five or so years agowhen ds was a baby the wraps were not as evolved as they are now, so had to use triple or kite fold plus nippas/pins with plastic pants over the top. Towards the end of ds's nappy days the motherease wraps were just coming in. With dd2 (now 15 months) I pad-folded from the start because it is SO much easier. A poppered wrap will hold it all where it needs to be. Velcro wraps don't work quite as well for me, but I do use them as backups sometimes. It's fantastically easy and extremely cheap. You can carry on using the muslins on older babies too, just use two at a time, or a booster as well.

I have always used liners, 'cos I think they minimise the feeling of wetness on the baby's skin. But useless for bfed baby poo, though.

throckenholt - nice tip! I'll have to print this thread out for the "nursery" (ha - still v much a spare room at the mo!)

Frogs - If I get the hang of the muslins (don't see why I wouldn't) I might well end up with mainly squares - they really are so much cheaper and easier to dry aren't they? Need to get the right wraps from the sounds of it though. I'll get the Motherease Airflow ones for the day and fleece ones for night. Is new born poo the sort you can rinse off the nappy in the loo before washing?

the really newborn poo is disgusting black stuff and very sticky. Then the runny stuff (until you introduce solids) pretty much soaks into the nappy and rarely needs rinsing (unless it is a really big effort ).

Try one of the Nature babies wraps as well and see what suits you better. The have extra poppers in the crotch and several sets at the waist so you can really adjust to get a good fit. And the designs are so much cuter.

wraps I use with the terry - are plastic pilchers - so they are plastic pants with elastic waist and legs. I have kushie and nature baby wraps which I will use when she is bigger - they are for older baby - probably use them with prefolds I have made when she is weaning and poo is not so runny. I also have some fluffies - woollen wraps and pants along with some fleece wraps I have made.

Plastic pilchers are about $1.50 for 3 and they last for ages. I buy enough for each nappy change and then rinse them in cold water with eucalyptus wool wash and hang out to dry. Some of them are fabric with plastic lining as well.

Can buy shaped nappies but only one kind readily available here in Aus - I really love the terries - take next to no time to dry with the weather we have and mulit use as burp clothes etc. Have some great coloured ones that look great too.

Thank you ladies for sharing your experience! I'll start off with muslins I think and introduce different types as I go along, as I gain more confidence. I'll keep this (and some of the other threads) to refer to x