Real nappy novice - gooey poo and liners help please!

[aendr]

Hello,

I have a 10 week old 9.5lb boy who is formula fed and poos unpredictably but approximately once daily with lots of gooey mess, covering a large proportion of the area of a disposable though rarely leaking except due to parental error . This week I started trying out real nappies for the first time. Please note, I am a complete novice and had no experience of babies before having one, so have never seen the ins and outs of a cloth nappy in use prior to trying myself yesterday.

I have 6 size 1 shaped nappies to try out, a variety of Aplix, poppered and nippa fastenings - two Bamboozles, a Flexitots, a cotton Tots Bots, a Bimble and a Diddy Diaper; and two wraps - a Motherease and a Nature Babies. The mix is because I was recommended a choice and then a friend gave us a couple of different ones as a new baby pressent, and this way I can see what we like and if we are happy with reals before buying loads.

I thought I'd start out with paper liners because I thought it sounded easier and I couldn't really see how the description of the poo dropping off the fleece ones in a flush would work given how gooey it is - maybe that's the case when he starts on solids? I've got a roll of ultra liners and 2 fleece liners. The fleece liners have a much smaller area than the ultra ones, which seem pretty large compared with his bum and the nappy.

Are the paper liners supposed to stick out of the nappy (but not the wrap)? What if they ruckle up, how can they be comfortable? One of the selling points of real nappies is that with cloth rather than paper against the skin, they are more comfortable, another is that you can use a flushable liner to catch the poo. How can those two statements be compatible? My first pooey cloth nappy, the edges of the nappy and the inside leg of the wrap got pooey, though I guess a fair bit was caught by the liner. I scraped some off with some loo roll and rinsed in the sink, then cleaning the sink thoroughly. What are the best ways to minimise poo on the nappy? Also what's a good way to remove the excess poo from the nappy before dry-pailing/washing, preferably without having to then get the cleaning stuff out every time? I have a feeling my husband will balk at the whole cloth nappy thing if presented with a pooey one he has to handle a lot early on!

Thanks for your time!

AEndr

TBH, at his age you don't really need a liner - it's only when they start on solids and their pooh becomes more solid that a liner would be used. My daughters eight and a half months, and has some solids but is mostly still bf, so i don;t bother with liners.

I wouldn't bother trying to scrape the pooh off either - i just throw the poohey nappies in the nappy bin and wash on 60, and i've never had any problems.

It sounds like hard work at first and can be really daunting, but with patience, you'll get used to it and soon realise how easy it is.

Hi - you remind me of myself when my DS was 10 weeks old and just starting on cloth!

Ditch the paper liners - they're no good for newborn poo. If you'd like to use a liner, go with a fleece liner. You dont need to worry about rinsing it in the loo - it'll just make more mess to clean up!

I basically just chuck the nappy and the fleece liner straight into the nappy bucket (I dry pail). I usually put the nappies on a pre-wash without any detergent first. I then wash at 40 degrees with an occasional wash at 60.

When you wash your nappies dont forget to use less than the recommended detergent to avoid build-up and dont use any fabric softener. I use about half the recommended amount.

It will seem much easier once you've got the hang of it. And I'm sure your DH will be much happier if he doesn't have to try and clean poo off!

You'll only need to worry about getting rid of the poo once your DS is on solids and its really easy.

HTH and answers all of your questions.

Thank you for your helpful replies. This is my first toe dipped in the water of Mumsnet, and having nice replies to start with is definitely reassuring, given there often seem to be a lot of shall we say "heated debates" going on.

I've had my second pooey real nappy, with a paper liner and it caught all the poo, so I think I've got better at putting the nappy with liner on. It could be because I've got the thick ultra liners that can be washed and reused a few times if just wet with wee, so the poo is caught rather than going through. When he was on 100% EBM the poo was so runny it would have just gone through, but it's much stickier now he's on 100% formula, which probably contributes to the liner working.

I'm not sure I want to wash at 60 all the time, and I don't really want to put loads of poo in the washing machine. I was hoping to mostly wash at 40 with occasional 60s, but with poo in there I would feel washing at 60 would be more important.

And I'm a bit loathe to try without a liner somehow! I also got the impression that a liner makes more of a dry feel because it lets the wee through and then the nappy absorbs it, rather than the nappy just sitting wet against the skin. I suppose I shall brave no liner next week and see how ickle'un likes it, and how washing poo off goes. It's much easier to try these things out without the husband around . All my trial set are currently drying ready for this weekend when my husband will be doing the changes , so we can see which of my shortlist he copes with best.

I have however concluded that I like real nappies . I especially liked having so little rubbish at the end of the day - I have washable wipes too (though so far have only been using them on non-poo occasions). I found I strongly preferred the bamboo nappies because they are so much slimmer - to me that is worth the extended drying time. I disliked the Bimble because the waist flaps seem way too short and it felt as if I had to put it on too tight in order to be secure, and the poppered wrap either ended up loose on one setting or tight on the next. So, I will be buying enough to have ickle'un in reals at least for daytimes .