Due in July and looking into option for 'real nappies' - advice appreciated

[heartmoonshadow]

Hi,

I am not due until July but I am a complete novice unfortunatly my mum has passed away and my MIL has Alzheimers so I have no point of reference for cloth nappies as my SIL's both uses disposables.

I know that loads of changes have happened since I was a baby but I have a few very silly questions.

1. Can I get cloth nappies, if so where do I buy them? 2)How do you store the dirty ones until you wash them?
2. What powder do you wash them with? 4)Do you need rubber pants? 5)How many do I need at first?
3. What sizes do they come in?

I appreciate I seem like a right numpty but I have nowhere else to turn to except manufacturers and I don't think they would give me an honest answer or quite as much variety as I would get on here.

Thanks

Welcome to the world of cloth nappies!
in answer to your questions:
1)Yes! there are LOADS of different ones that you can get. I have bought mine at various on line shops + ebay - there are of course also baby shops that sell them too (like mothercare). It is worth shopping around. Your local council may also give you are voucher to use towards buying them (mine gave me £50). There are also often lots of bargains of gumtree.
2)I store mine dry in a lidded bucket. I don't soak them. I rinse off the worst poo in the loo.
3)I use eco-balls that seen to work very well. They say that you should use much less powder than usual if you use that. Apparently it prevents them being quite so waterproof/absorbent.
4)no - there are several different "systems" but I think that rubber pants are long gone now.
5)I have 15. My DD is 16 months now so only needs about 5 a day. You will prob need more in the beginning.
6)The ones that I have are called pocket nappies and they are adjustable for all sizes. Other types come in various sizes, so that you would need to get different sizes to suit your baby as they grow.

Good luck and do ask lots of questions! It amy take a while to find a nappy that you really can get on with iykwim, but it is worth it. Some companies will let you trial a few to see if you like them.

1. Yes. There's lots of sellers on the internet. I sell them, Flame does, nappyzone, curlywurly. If you google for cloth nappies you'll find loads. Also check out your local council website as they may have a trial pack or cashback that you can claim.

2. I have a nappy bucket but tbh any lidded bucket would do and I'd have preferred a slightly bigger one that I got. You can either dry pail - so just chuck the nappies in then do a rinse cycle on your washing machine before the proper wash OR wet pail - chuck some water in the bucket, you can put sanitiser in but I don't bother (and I've heard napisan rots some elastic and stuff).

3. Any powder that you'd wash baby stuff in but use half the recommended amount. I use soapnuts and find they help keep the nappies soft.

4. No, you don't need rubber pants. There are various options available.
   Plastic pants - cheap things from Boots, Mothercare etc. I found them to be badly fitting as they're not very adjustable
   PUL wraps - waterproof wraps. I love Motherease rikki and airflow wraps as well as Weenotions.
   Fleece wraps - I've never tried these so not sure how reliable they are.
   Wool wraps - These work really well at nights. During the day I found them a bit hit & miss when dd was at the sitting stage as you can get compression leaks. You need to lanolise these but they don't need washed as often.

You would need to use the above if you were using flat/prefolds or fitteds. If you were using an all-in-one or a pocket they have the waterproof bit built in.

5. You'd probably want about 20-25 nappies but it depends on your circumstances and which you choose - e.g. bamboo will take longer to dry than cotton so you would have to factor that sort of info in.

6. They either come in birth-to-potty or sized - the sized ones vary depending on manufacturer.

You would also need a wet bag (or two) for out & about - I recommend 2 so you can wash one and still have one spare iyswim.

Most nappy sellers will provide free advice via email and most do local in-home demos. If you're near Leeds let me know and I'll be happy to pop round. Otherwise, you can try to find a local adviser on here www.realnappycampaign.com/ who will come round and show you lots of different nappies, wraps, accessories and show you how to use them.

HTH

1. yes you can. Buying online is probably your easiest option but depending where you live you may have a company with a local rep who can visit you and show you the various types they sell.

Good places to start online are The Nappy Lady and Kittykins. They both sell a wide range of manufacturers so offer impartial advice and comparisons between brands. Your local council website will have more info specific to where you live (usually it's with the Waste and Recyling stuff)

1. Mine are in a plastic bucket with a lid - line it with a mesh bag so when the bucket is full you can just put the whole bag in the washing machine without handling each nappy individually. There's no need to soak them either - you can give them a cold pre-rinse in the machine if they are especially pooey.

1. Whatever you normally use for your clothes - you might need less than the recommended dosage (eg I use one tablet not 2) as you really don;t want any detergent residue left on them

4, 5 & 6. You do still need something waterproof round the outside but these days there are lots of options.

Basically there are three types of nappies:

Two-parters where you have something absorbent covered by something waterproof.
This could be as simple as a pinned terry square and a pair of plastic pants,
or a prefold ie an absorbent cotton pad held in place by a waterproof 'wrap'
or a shaped nappy (ie the same shape as a disposable) with a waterproof wrap

Pockets or stuffables which are a waterproof outer with a lining - in between the outer and the lining is a pocket you stuff with stuff to absorb the wee.

All-in-ones which are, well, all in one! The absorbant bist are attached to the waterproof bits so you use them just like a disposable.

Some nappies are sized and some are birth-to-potty - if for example you use terry squares you would just fold them differently as the baby grows, but you'd need different sizes of wraps to go over them. Some shaped nappies fold down for newborns then unfold to fit bigger babies - there are lots of different systems.

Sized nappies are generally sold by the weight of the baby though obviously this varies a bit as a long skinny baby might weight the same as a short chubster but be a totally different shape.

oh dear, see us all write long posts!

www.thenappyline is an excellent place to start. There's all sorts of basic stuff on there, and you can also start a Q&A session, which guides you through all the questions that you personally need to ask. Well worth a look

Thank you so much for the replies you have given I now hae loads of places to start looking for information.

www.twinkleontheweb.co.uk is a good one, they have a lot of stuff about different nappies and if you ask a question they're very helpful.
Ebay can be good for bargains if you know what you're looking for.
I stick mine in a lidded bucket til I've almost run out - I do a wash about every other day.
I've got 15 Birth-to-Potty and a couple of random spares just in case.
I use one Fairy tablet - DD seemed to get a rash with some other detergents.
And thankfully, no, you don't need rubber pants.
Be warned though, once you start it's very hard to stop; cloth nappies are so much funkier than disposables!!

Just typed a really long reply and my computer crashed as I hit post. Sod it.
Anyway, an abbreviated version:
Don't go to mothercare - the best nappies are online
I recommend seeing if there's a nappy agent in your area babykind are quite good IME
I store dirty nappies in a waterproof bag, and wash every 2-3 days. Use half the usual amount of detergent and don't use fabric softener, as it coats the fibres and makes nappies less absorbent.
I personally like shaped two-part nappies, as I've always had leaks with pockets, but every DC is different, and I think DS's shape just doesn't agree with pockets at all

Congratulations and Good luck!

I would second the reccommendation for Babykind by AnnVan and also reccommend The Totnes Nappy Company.

Can't really add to advice other than to say there are different fabrics each with advantages and disavantages:

cotton - the vanilla of the nappy world - cheaper, average in other respects
Bamboo - slim and absorbant but takes ages to dry
microfibre - drys very qucikly, ideal if no tumble dryer, but not a natural fibre
hemp - see bamboo

All this advice is great, but if you get your hands on some and have a feel, it really helps. I?d say the best thing you can do is contact your local nappy agent for a demo or even a hire kit - try the nappy finder. I offer hire kit to my local ladies so they can ?try before they buy?, because there are loads of different types and people have different preferences!