Woo, just bought some bumgenius v3

[LifeOfKate]

Hello all,

I am a new mum (DS 4 weeks old tomorrow) and so am completely new to the whole nappy experience (reusable or disposables!).

Have just ordered my new bumgenius nappies, am very excited waiting for them to arrive
also feeling completely justified as just as I finished ordering, DS did an explosion type poo which squirted out of both sides of his pampers, thus putting DH's reservations to rest that reusables will leak everywhere (I can now say that pampers do too if he brings it up ).

Does anyone have any tips for a complete novice? Either about reusables in general or BG specifically. What washing powder should I use? Will an own brand non-biological work? I would prefer to wash them at 40 degrees, will this be ok?

I am VVV excited, can you tell?

Any non bio will do, only use a quarter of reccommeded amount of detergent. Never use softener although bold 2 in 1 is ok as it's a clay based softener and will not clog the fibres. Washing at 40 is fine. Never tumble dry outers. You can wet or dry pail, but some nappy soaks are not good for them, can rot fibres over time.

Is the start of nappy addiction

We dry pail ours (having wet pailed with DD#1) and it is SO much easier to do that. Get a string bag type thing to go in the bucket so you can just bundle the whole lot in in one go rather than sorting through them when you wash. We wash at 40C with a tiny amount of non-bio, no conditioner. Very occasionally I put a little vinegar in the softener compartment to help keep the nappies soft, but not often as it can deteriorate the fibres. We mostly airdry, but do tumble now and again (not the wraps though). I made some fleece liners myself to go against DD's bottom. I bought a chunck of fleece from ebay and cut to sizes I wanted so very cheap and easy. No sewing required.
Don't forget to prewash the nappies a few times to ensure they are fully absobant before you start to use them, assuming you are buying new of course.

Thank you so much for all your tips, I will be following religiously and will probably be back on here once I start using for any questions I have! any tips on how to get DH fully on board? He started off relatively supportive, but looked horrified when I mentioned yesterday how he would hopefully find them easy to use... I don't think he thought that I intended him to use them as well!!

Octo - I am hoping so, I certainly didn't get this excited when buying the first disposables! Well, actually, I was a little excited, but that was because it was the pack of pampers from Boots with a free changing bag, and I always get a little giddy at the prospect of free stuff, but apart from that, no nappy related excitement at all until now!

LifeofKate - come and join us on the nappy chat thread - we like new people!!

You have to wash at 60degrees to kill nasty bugs and get them properly clean, this is manufacturers instructions and ask kim and aggie!

I have Bumgenius V3 too and love them, I wash at 40deg too.

I've bought a new nappy today, its similar to the Bumgenius, called the Coolababy and its manufacturers instructions say to wash at 40deg so I doubt there can be any harm in it. Though I would put them on a 60deg wash if DD had had an infection or nappy rash or something, but certainly not routinely.

Hope you get on OK with them, we've had no problems with ours really. DH uses them fine, but to be honest he doesn't really like dealing with a really poopy one but then who does?!

Ooo, I'd forgotten I'd started this thread

Well, Ds is now 8 weeks old, so we have been using them for a month. Getting on really well with them, they are so much more reliable than disposibles
I've been washing them at 40, then thought this week that they had a bit of a wee smell to them, so wizzed them through at 60 without any detergent and they have come out beautifully and smell fine again, so I think I will continue with 40 with a 60 wash every so often to clear them out
DS has not had any rash since using them, like he did with disposibles, so that's brilliant. I bought 20 and am washing approx every other day, and don't find the washing much more hassle at all... the washing pile has grown that much since DS was born that it is a bit of a drop in the ocean on the washing quantities front!
DH is coping fine, no more grumbles than when using disposibles, and he's even managed to put a couple of nappy washes on for me!!
So, to sum it all up... very very happy

great to hear, this is just the start of your addiction LOL.