Real nappy confusion

[mishkamoo]

Ready to take the plunge into the worled of real nappies but still very confused!
The facts: DS1 3 months old. Was 14lb 3oz a week ago and gaining fast. Is quite long though. Breast fed and a heavy wetter. We have no tumble drier so drying is an issue.
Have had the local 'nappy man' come out to demo some and leave us some to trial. He is quite into pre-folds-but the only time I tried one, DS did a poo and it leaked-was I doing something wrong?
I am leaning towards shaped nappies. Like the look of the flexitots-has anyone tried these? Also, thirsties?? Was thinking about getting some bamboo and some microfibre to mix and match with the whole drying times thing. What is a good microfibre nappy?
Confused about wraps-is PUL better/worse/different to wool?? What are the pros and cons?
Any other suggestions?? Sure I had lots of other questions but can't think of them at the mo (sleep deprived brain!)

microfibre is best for drying. I like the bambineo teddies - the fit is generous and high rise. Motherease wraps are the best. I only use a wool cover at night for extra breathability.

Prefolds will not last very long on a heavy wetter.

I would suggest buying 2 or 3 to try before you spend lots of money. Also look at the for sale board here if you don't mind 2nd hand.

Motherease wraps are def the best for day, with Nature Babies PULs a close second IMO - have not yet ventured into wool myself.

Bamboo takes forever to dry; microfibre is quick but I didn;t find it as absorbent as cotton. There are some fusion nappies made of bamboo and microfibre etc - Kittykins usefully has star ratings for absorbency, drying time etc so you can compare different types.
Something like the Little Kiwi Quick Flip, which opens out flat for quick drying but reassembles back into a trad shaped nappy migth be worth looking at.

(No-one I know IRL who's used prefolds has been very impressed with them)

Def buy only a few and/or secondhand to start with

I think I am going to invest in Motherease (currently 35 weeks pg). Tried prefolds with DD and DS but didn't get on with them. Leaked everywhere and so I gave up

NB if you get the velcro ME wraps (the popper ones are too baggy) you could try them over your old prefolds before shelling out for shaped nappies...

I was thinking of trying them the otherway round and using the Bambino Mio wraps (velcro) over the shaped Motherease nappies - do you think that would work?

I am not the best person to ask as I found the ME wraps fantastic but their nappies, um, a bit crap...

Bimbles / Bumbles for me

The one thing I'm really worried about is keeping on top of the laundry. This is baby no 3 for me and I'm not the most organised person in the world! Was it a problem for you? How did you cope/adapt?

I got caught a few times when dd was tiny - I only had 10 or 12 size 0s and frequently had to put them on warm from the dryer...
Then I started putting the wraps and wet-only nappies in with normal laundry every day, which helped a lot, and once dd was size 1 I bought a bundle second hand so had enough to only wash when the bucket was full. Of course by then she'd also stopped pooing 7 times a day so I was getting through fewer.

Having a dryer (though expensive) helped a lot as it meant I could (and still can) go from Bucket Red Alert to All Clear Nappies Clean, Dry And Ready To Use in three hours (ie between one change and the next)

OK thanks for that. I have just had a look at Bumbles and Bimbles. Are they slimline? Where did you buy your second hand ones from?

they aren't slim slim, but are smaller than (eg) Fluffles

Bimbles are slimmer than Bumbles, and of course the sized ones they are a better fit than birth-to-potties; Nippa'd will be also be slimmer than popper / aplix.
Their real bonus IMO is that they're fleece lined so stay dry next to the skin and don't stain, without having to use a separate fleece liner.

I got mine ages ago from the classifieds on The Nappy Lady, but The Used Nappy Co is the place to go these days (they're one of the few things that Ebay won;t sell)

oh, and the other advantage of the fleece inner is that it stays soft, even if the cotton part goes crispy from hard water and/or line drying

Have remembered one of my other questions! Most of the sized shaped nappies seem to up to 18lb and then 18lb+. Will I get away with 18lb+ or should I wait a bit?

checking my previous posts, dd wore size 1 (ie up to 18/20lb) from 3 to 11m, though needed a size 2 (and correspondingly a Large wrap) at night from about 9m so I could fit enough boosting in.

She wasn't small, either - can't remember weights but was more or less 50th centile for most of the first year. It does depend on shape though, eg leg skinniness, tummy podge etc

Again, I suggest buying a few, or second hand, to check size - if your 'test' buy is too big at least he will grow into it!

I would go straight to the 2nd size; my dd is 15 lb 4 oz and in the size 2's in most nappies. (and has been for a while)

I use flexitots - love them! I find they dry a lot quicker than bamboo only nappies (used bamboozles for size 1) and the fit is good on my ds. They're really stretchy around the legs, so I think they'd fit well on a skinny minnie or a chunky monkey. Motherease airflow wraps though - not tots.

Oh also, my ds is long too, so might be worth giving flexitots a go.

re. going straight to size 2 - my ds was 90th percentile for weight and height so by all accounts pretty big for his age and I STILL found size 2 nappies huge on him when I tried at 4 months. But that was about appearance vs function - they worked fine. He just looked utterly ridiculous and it put me off.

Tots come up fairly small imo though, so if you're going to try flexitot I would give size 1 a miss.

Was the nappy man the wiltshire nappy network guy? Not many men in the business!

Why not borrow a trial kit off someone before you buy?

ooh hello Maveta!

Size 2 in most nappies will be huge at 4/4 months - most move up at min 6 months despite the weight - it is just the sheer suze of them.

I use cotton Tots Bots with a nippa fastening with motherease wraps and they are brilliant. My ds is 7 months old and we have been using them for a couple of months now. He too is a big boy and quite long but they fit fine- he needs a large Motherease wrap but the nappies themselves are meant to be birth to potty. Tots bots wraps leaked a lot for us. We have no outside line or tumble drier either but I have 20 nappies and about 7 wraps and we wash every 2- 3 days, with a drying time inside on an airer of no more than 2 days- its mostly the elastic around the legs that takes longer to dry, the main bulk of the nappy i much faster.

Hi - i do what you're considering. I have Bambinex Teddies plus some bamboo nappies. i love the Teddies - very cute and fluffy and dry quick.
I have a bumble on loan, and I must admit I'm not keen - it is HUGE. and it's not that quick drying although most websites list it as quick drying.
I would definitely go for shaped nappies + wrap. It's the most reliable way to go in nappies.

Hi Octo!

No one has mentioned pockets, not sure if you are dead set on shaped two parters but I started being lured away with wonderoos and then bumgenius stole my heart they are very quick drying, the outer bit is practically dry out of the machine and you could always buy more inserts (a very practical suggestion which I have never followed but often wished i had!).

And bumgenius are also btp, my sis has used them on her 7month old since he was only a couple of months old and I am still loving them on my 20 month old.

Yes a birth to potty like bumgenius would really suit you

Thanks for all the advice. Will have a look at Bumgenius.
Octo Yes the nappy man was the Wiltshire one! Do you know him?