disappointed cloth nappy first-timer seeks advice/reassurance

[paranoidmumdroid]

Now that the in-laws have returned to their hemisphere and life has settled down a bit, I want to put my 9 week old PFB (male) in reuseables, to reduce our contribution to the world's landfill sites and incinerators

I acquired 2 used tots bots (size 1) and a size 1 tots bots wrap from ebay as a trial, and I'm very disappointed with the results. Although they fitted very well and I don't think they would leak......

1. The nappy did not seem to be wet in the usual places, rather it was damp and clammy all over, inside and out. This was after 1.5 hours wear, and happened with both nappies. PFB was agitated, his nappies don't normally bother him.

2. The wrap was wet on the inside (obviously given the all-over damp on the nappy) and I did not feel happy re-using it on the second nappy.

Is this usual with the nappy? I expected concentrated areas of wetness, not damp all over. Can't imagine it working when baby is bigger. He's only 11lb now!

What do others do with their wraps, wipe them out? I wanted to wash it after one use but did not have another one.....

I have no expectation that real nappies will perform as well as the disposables I have been using (Superdrug btw, nothing fancy), but i am a bit discouraged so far.
Any advice? I'm thinking about trialling an all-in-one to solve the wrap dilemma but that still leaves the question about how the nappy soaks things up.

Mmm. On the wrap being damp, yes, that's my experience too, and it's unavoidable, I think (imagine putting a wet flannel in a plastic bag - bag will get damp). You can either rotate 2 wraps to allow each to dry between changes, or not bother about it.
On the whole nappy being damp, I guess that again it's like a flannel - if you get one bit totally soaking then over the next few minutes the wet will gradually soak through the whole flannel. I think it's a good thing - better to be mildly damp all over than wringing wet in one place!
Reusables are different from disposables, to be sure, but my DS at least didn't mind them at all...

At home I usually have two wraps on the go, but it's just wee, it's going to get wee on it again. There's no germs in wee. If it gets poo on however, it goes straight in the wash.

Disposable nappies are designed to lock away the wetness, whereas reusables absorb it, but will still feel wet.
If he seems uncomfy you can get fleece liners that give a dry feel against the skin.

I have just started using Bum Genius pocket nappies, birth to potty, and am very impressed. They contained the wee overnight for both my 19mo and my 3.3 year old, without a drip of leaking. More amazingly, when I took the nappies off, I had to feel them to check if they were wet. Even my older daughter's bottom was dry, because the liners had soaked the wee so well.

You would need more of them, because the wrap gets washed every time as well as the liner, but they are fab!

I have packed them for my hospital bag for DC3's arrival in a few weeks' time.

We use motherease stay dry (birth to potty) and they are soaking on the outside but dry next to the skin. And yes agree with everyone else that damp is just how the wraps are - I never gave that a seconds thought tbh. You just use them again unless they're pooey.

9 weeks is quite a long time to wait - you might find that you struggle a bit more just cos you've been using the disposables so long but you and your baby will get used to it - honest.

oh and though baby will wee more volume when they are older they will wee less often so it will even itself out iyswim.

The whole nappy will get wet through and the wrap will get wet on the inside so what you have experienced is totally normal. As long as the wet does not come out of the wrap your nappies are working correctly. You can use fleece liners as people have suggested to keep the wet away from the skin, and also if you think the nappy is getting too sodden too quickly then you could get fleece lined boosters which add an extra couple of layers of absorbent fabric and as the name suggests, is fleece lined.

It's a real shock when you change from dispos to cloth but I assure you that what you describe is exactly what all cloth nappies are like, there's no way that the wet would just stay in patches because the cloth absorbs all the wet until all of it is saturated.

HTH

I changed ds into tots bots at 5 months and they are different from disposables. I was shocked at how wet they felt for a start, but that's because there's no horrible chemicals in them. WIth a boy, you have to fold the booster bit two or three times so it sits at the front, where the wee goes! Fleece boosters will help keep the skin dry.

I found tots bots wraps to be rubbish fwiw. Well worth investing in some Motherease Airflow wraps. Good luck, I really hope you can make it work for you

what others have said - yes the whole nappy will get wet, that's how they work.

And yes the wrap will be a bit damp on the inside. I tend to wipe with a bit of tissue and rotate as others have said - I only wash immediately if they get stained with poo (well, obviously I wash anyway I after a couple of days even if no poo but you get what I mean.)

Are you using a paper liner? If so what kind? They can help keep moisture away from the baby a little but I'm afraid a damp bum is par for the course with cloth, that's actually one of the advantages because a) you have to change more frequently which helps avoid nappy rash IME and b) babies tend to potty train earlier because they get used to feeling when they pee.

Not sure about the baby being agitated - that's a new one on me. It's probably just the unaccustomed sensation of fabric rather than gel next to the skin.

agree with littlelamb that tots bots wraps are rubbish. I liked motherease rikkis with poppers but shop around.

I use tots bots nappies but with either bambino mio or imse vimse wraps. The nappy is always damp all over - and the wrap may be damp inside. I don't change the wrap unless it has poo on, or when it's the end of the day.

I inherited some all in ones - kushies, and they have leaked poo onto clothing on numerous occasions. Whereas the tots bots plus wrap - well I can't remember the last time poo got out onto the clothing (I have a 5 month old). The worst that happens is the wrap may need changing. I can't recommend them highly enough.

Good luck.

paranoidmumdroid, I only use tots bots or similar at night. By day I use Bumgenius or Fuzzi Bunz as they have a stay-dry fleece inner and a waterproof outer and all the moisture is contained in an insert which doesn't touch baby's skin.
Of the two I prefer Fuzzi Bunz as the poppers last longer than the Applix on the Bumgenius and I personally have found the elastic on the FB lasts longer too.

I have a couple of cotton tots bots too - they are my least favourite nappy. I don't really use them anymore.
I like all of the following though (and baby feels dry as they are all fleece lined) - tots bots fluffles (2-part), wonderoos, itti bitti d'lish.

fluffles have been discontinued now, though. I have one which I use some nights but never got to buy any more.

The other thing you can do is to buy some fleece liners, not as effective as a fleece-lined nappy but better than a terry on its own.

Thanks everyone for the responses.
I'll persist, it's just a shock for me and baby after disposables.
9 weeks may seem a long time to wait, but it hasn't been viable for various reasons until now, when we're in our own place with a washing machine (but no dryer, sadly).
Also I was reluctant to buy a full set of nappies without a real live baby to try them out on, in case that brand didn't work for us.
Maybe I'll splash out on some bumgenius to ease the transition....

You might be able to hire a mix of different nappies and wraps to find out which suit your ds best.

Are you folding the 'insert' bit of the totsbots into 3 up at the front before putting it on?

motherease sandys are good. As others have said, fleece liners are great at being a stay dry layer next to the baby. Also, if you don't have a dryer and live in a hard water area, it would be worth trying a bamboo version as although these take a little longer to dry than terry, they stay softer when dried naturally.

The only pain about bamboo is that you're not supposed to dry them directly on a radiator and they take ages to dry on a rack (like 24-48 hours, depending on the weather).

I also don't have a dryer and I have a mix of bamboo and synthetic because synthetic dry so fast and sometimes you just NEED a nappy quick. I have tots bots fluffles (discontinued so only available 2nd hand now) and tots bots flexitots (which I had heard mixed things about, but I like them so far).

Fluffles dry within an hour or two on a hot radiator, flexitots take a bit longer but are still pretty quick, bamboo take at least a day unless you break the rules and put them direct on the radiator which risks damaging the fabric apparently.

Have you investigated your local council to see if they support real nappies? Some councils give you a £50 voucher towards the cost but you usually have to claim it before you buy the nappies.

chipmonkey - there are fluffles on ebay!

They are my fail safe even if DS2 has explosive runs and they dry really fast (I don't have a dryer).

Excellent mumTotoby will check them out!

Hi
just thought i,d let you know twinkleontheweb have totsbots fluffles size 2 availiable at £6.

as everyone's said they do get wet all over (esp with little babies weeing constantly) and that's just how they are - if you're worried that they will irritate your son because of that, i have to say ds only gets nappy rash when he's been in disposables (we've used reusables since he was 2 wks old but are not religious about it and resort to the occasional disposable when travelling/out all day/totally disorganised ad run out of reusables!). they dont seem to mind the sensatiion at all - in fact i think it's probably quite warm and cosy.....
if it's handling the wet nappies that bothers you then it does take a bit longer to get used to than disposables - you are more at the coalface of what's going on shall we say! -but i'd persevere.
and yes i dont like totsbots either - another motherease user...

I first used cloth nappies with DS1 five years ago. They were mainly Tots Bots cotton with Motherease wraps as that was by far the best combination of all that I tried. The few all-in-ones I tried leaked everywhere.By the time DS2 came along, Bamboozles were new and wonderful. Now I have DS3 who is eight weeks old and I have discovered the joys of all-in-ones/pocket nappies. Which no longer leak!

I use BumGenius, Tots Bots, Blueberries, Itti Bittis and Greenkids and I love them all to pieces. They also have a build-in 'stay-dry' layer (fleece or suedecloth or similar) so you don't get the same sort of soddenness.

I really mostly can't be bothered with two-parters these days.

When I do use two-parters, if I'm not using a fleece wrap, I have to say I much prefer the new Tots Bots wraps to Motherease - they are hugely improved in the last five years, every bit as reliable as Motherease, and with funkier patterns. I really dislike the shape of Motherease wraps. The trade-off used to be ugly but reliable v. good-looking but less reliable. Now you can have the looks with the reliability...

Progress report........
I have acquired some 2nd hand v2 BGs, and while they are fantastically easy and quick drying, i've had a couple of issues that are putting us off them

1. PFB now has a red foreskin. It doesn't seem to hurt him, and i've been putting vaseline on it, but he's never had this with disposables, I'm not sure if its a nappy rash from wet nappies (I'm changing at less than 3 hourly intervals) or irritation from the microfibre.

2. I'm not convinced that they're very absorbent. If they're full after 3 hours on an 11 week old, they won't cope when he's older.(I'm using the chunky fold-over insert, but maybe I'm misjudging whether they're full? They feel very heavy and he's getting some damp around the elasticated legs where the two fabrics meet)

Has anyone else had either of these issues? TBH I can work around problem 2 as they're so easy and convenient for daytime use, but i daren't use them at night. My main concern is the foreskin, has anyone else had this?