Washable nappies and the working mum - realistic???

[raspberrycheesecake]

Not sure which topic this should go under so will post in 2 categories (the nappies category as well).
I am expecting my 2nd baby in May 2010 and expect to have to return to work around Christmas 2010 due to money issues, both babies to go to a nursery (which my first 15 month old already attends and likes).

With my first baby we have used disposables, mainly because of the culture shock / adjustment of becoming parents, and also because we were in rented accommodation and the washing machine was a little unreliable, but I had wanted to use washables.

So now I am seriously looking into washables for my second but wanted to know if there is anyone else out there who has done this ("this" being as described below) and whether I am setting myself up for a real challenge or whether in your view it is do-able

(1) Definitely returning to work with 2 babies so will need to be even more hyper organised in the morning than I am now, if you work with 2 babies I am sure you know all this already but I currently get up at 5.45am to get to nursery and arrive in work at 8am. So I am factoring in the extra time which might be involved in washables in the mornings - are there lots of nappy buckets / must soak in X or Y solution etc etc

(2) Laundry loads. Currently do about 5 loads a week for myself husband and baby 1. How many extra can I expect washing washable nappies? Realistically with the drying times (we don't have an airing cupboard) how long will it take to dry them and will I need double the ordinary number of washable nappies because of lack of drying facilities to ensure there is always a dry nappy

(3) Nursery schools. Obviously only the nursery I am planning to use can answer this question but in your experience do nursery schools generally accept washable nappies? So far what I have seen of the 2 nurseries my 1st baby has attended all of the children only use disposables. Are washables really only realistic if you can afford a comes-to-your-house-£££ nanny?

Candid frank views and any practical tips from working mums with 2 babies extremely welcome and thanks in advance!

Hi, I think I can probably answer most of your questions! Firstly Nurseries have to take children in reusables if that is waht you want, and if they won't thenyou can report them to OFSTED! You will just need to supply a watreprrof bag which they will put the used nappies in - you bring it home and put the used nappies in your nappy bucket or straight into the washing machine.

You don't soak nappies at all nowadays - you just drypail them - put any solid poo down the loo and then put wet / dirty nappy in a bucket with a mesh bag. The mesh bag makes it much easier when it comes to washing as you just carry the mesh bag to your washing machine.

With one child in nappies you will be doing 2 extra loads per week - one every 3 days. With 2 children in nappies you will probably need to wash every other day. But this may not be for too long as your first will be on the way to potty training by then. You definitely don't need double the amount of nappies as your washing machine wouldn't take them all. I normally recommend 1.5 times the amount - normally 30 nappies instead of 20 if you have 2 in nappies at the same time.

As our drying facilities don't sound great then I would definitley look at quicker drying nappies - anything with microfibre is quick drying. Definitley avoid hemp, bamboo and some cotton nappies. If yu've got a half decent spin on your washing machine then microfibre nappies come out feeling almost dry anyway.

In your situation I would also recommend a Birth to potty nappy, so that the same set of nappies will fit both of your children at the same time - this just makes your life a little easier. Brands to consider, that are birth to potty and quick drying are Lollipop Pop'n'Gro (my absolute favourite nappy of all time now), Bumgenius (lovely slim nappy bu may not fit older / bigger toddlers and no leg gussets for keeping in runny poo) or Pop-In Dream Dri (almost as good as the Pop'n'Gro but can wick a bit more due to the cotton coating on the wrap). I also really like Onelife nappies - they would work well in your situation, but do take a little bit longer to dry than microfibre as they are mainly cotton.

I'm a Nappy Advisor so have lots of experience in working out which nappies are most suitable for different circumstances, but always happy to help people get started on cloth. So any more questions do ask away.

Fantastic thanks NappyShed this is really helpful. I am at work at the moment (looking at this on the sly) but will read your reply more carefully later and respond - thanks for your thoughts which are really helpful

I've only got one child, but he was in washables when he went to nursery and we coped fine. Very occasionally I had to ask the nursery to remind some of their new staff how washable nappies fitted - but this wasn't regularly a problem.

We did a wash every other day, with a prerinse for the nappies, then add other pale colours.

We have a dehumidifier running in the bathroom and can dry a load of washing overnight - our cotton Tots Bots would dry overnight, but the Bamboo ones we used for overnight didn't - but then we only used one a day of these (for the extra absorbancy) so it wasn't a problem.

Oh - also possibly helpful - he was potty trained at 2.2 and effectively did this over the weekend - I'm sure the washable nappies helped encourage him earlier rather than later.

I have one child too, and have worked ft since he was 4.5 months old, and he's only ever been in washables.

DS's current nursery, in toddlers there were 7 children in washables - everything from terry squares with pins to all in ones. The staff were totally cool with them all.

I did a wash every night, but washed anything white with the nappies to make a full load, so it wasn't really an issue of extra washing. The nursery nappies just got thrown in the machine in their waterproof bag (open the drawstring first !), and any others thrown in - I didn't soak them.

We have a dehumidifier too, and it dries everthing really fast - mine is under the clothes horse thing, so I can get three loads of washing dried in one go, with shirts etc on hangers which reduces ironing .

I don't think it really added to my workload at all - all I had to do was grab 4 nappies and a bag and sling them in his nursery bag each night, and as I bought my nappies second hand I had loads of them to choose from