Which cloth nappies to choose for 12 month old

[jollyma]

The nappy laundry service I use is closing and I am trying to decide whether to continue to use cloth nappies and wash them myself or to switch to 'eco' disposables. To date we have used pre-folds in a pro-wrap.

Ds2 is 12 months and big. He needs toddler size pre-folds and needs to go into an extra large wrap so I'll be buying from scratch.

The laundry is selling off some stock and has some large cotton bottoms shaped nappies available. How absorbent are these likely to be compared to a pre-fold? Has anyone got any other suggestions about which type to go for for an older baby?

Finally, when I have washed them myself in the past and line dried them I have ended up with hard mis-shapen boards! Where am I going wrong?

For an older baby I would go for a pocket nappy like the bumgenius V3, wonderoos or coolababy.

They are so, so easy to wash and dry very quickly. The inserts are usually microfibre which stay nice and soft, but you can buy bamboo or hemp if you wanted, but they will go harder when you wash, depending on how hard your water is (can soften them up in tumble dryer though).

With an older baby pocket nappies are lot less work and can be boosted lots for overnight.

Presumably a pocket nappy is easier to put on when he is wriggling too, i'll have a look at those brands. Thanks.

I'm not too bothered about the overnight boosting as he wears a disposable at night. I went through the whole booster trials w ds1 and so when ds2 started being wet through decided one disposable a day was bearable!

When he was newborn i tried the mothercare washables but found each time he pooed the wrap got dirty so kept running out. Does this happen with the pocket ones you use? He still is very regular, sometimes 4 times a day.

Pocket nappies are quite good at containing poo and are quite reliable. They are dad proof and really easy to put on, i stuff mine as soon as they are dry so they are ready in cupboard when i need them.

We tried coolababy which are a good budget buy but i found these leaked during the night on my toddler, id possibly go for coolababy through the day and bumgenius on a night. We dont use nappies through the day now my DD is potty trained but i kept the coolababys for the new baby due in a few weeks. We dry ours on the line if dry or on radiator in winter and they dont go hard.

I got my coolababys from babybots at just over £5 each so a total bargain, bumgenius can be expensive at first so maybe but one or two from ebay to try but these are my faves and i love them!

I find that even eco disposables leech crystals if left on all night (as they still have some crystals, just less than regular disposables). Plus the 'eco' brand I was using are manufactured in Israel so flown all the way here... add up all the nappies I was using and that's a lot of air miles!

I have a 12 mo and use mostly coolababy nappies during the day as they are very reliable, cheap and easy to put on a wriggley monkey. They are nursery/DH/MIL friendly too.

At night I use 2 part systems with fleece outer as I prefer his night nappy to be breathable

If you are concerned about cost you can buy nappies pre-loved on sites like cloth nappy tree

coolababy inserts are microfleece so you wouldn't have the hard as a board issue.

Jollyma - The pocket nappies don't have a wrap over them so you don't run out of them. Pocket nappies are probably best on fairly solid/squidgy poop, rather than runny newborn. I'm guessing that at 12months your DS is fairly solid so won't be a problem.

I use a fleece liner with mine (just a cut up Ikea fleece blanket so v cheap) and that often means that if I get to the poop ASAP after the 'poopy face' she makes then I can remove the soiled fleece liner and just put a clean one in the same nappy as often the nappy is still pretty dry. I know thats cheating but it saves me loads of washing!

peachey, how big was your daughter when she came out of the nappies? I've had a look at the different brands suggested and I'm concerned that the one size options won't be big enough.

Has anyone used little lambs as they sell a large size that might fit better?

My DD is 3 in june and she wears bumgenius V3 through the night. Shes quite slim but very tall and they still fit quite well, im sure shell be bigger than your baby so i think they should be fine for you. I tried coolababy but they were tight round the waist and thats where they leaked. Like i said shes potty trained through the day so she doesnt usually soil through the night just wee, but when she wore bumgenius through the day they were good at containing poo. She was about 27mths when she came out of nappies through the day.

At 12 mths most birth to potty will fit ok and the easiest to change, esp at that wriggly stage.

I should probably be more specific about what I mean by big. He is about 28lb, so I'm reluctant to buy the one size options now. Also, I'm not really bothered about cost as we will probably be using them for a year yet and it will work out cheaper than the laundry whatever I buy.

my one size nappies are as big if not bigger than my large and size 2 nappies

Thanks for all your advice everyone. I'll get a selection to try then buy more when I know what fits. Does sound like pocket nappies are the way to go.

I do prefer the two part as they are more absorbent, and it is not easy to find an AIO that fit well.
But the Bumgenius are good, I use them on my 2 1/2 daughter, she is small but has a big bump, when out as she is potty training, and they fit well.
I wouldn t recommend the pop in, as my 11 months old has been on the bigger setting since she is 6 months old, and the rise is quite low, so I don t really use them for my eldest.
You also have the Pop n gro, that has the best fit even on a toddler.

Thats good that you have found the pop in small. I have one of those and it is far too small already.

I ordered a few bumgenius last night so'll see how they fit. How does pop n gro size compare to bumgenius?

The Pop n gro is higher in rise, and also fit good on a large waist.
My youngest isnt on the bigger setting on the pop n gro.