Idiots guide to starting with reusables.

[Hermya321]

(Sneaks in) Hello there!

I'm 11 and a half weeks pregnant (I know it's a bit early, but I'm a planner) and I would like to go down the reusable nappies route.

But after looking at several nappy sites and reading some of the threads on here, I feel a bit blinded by science.

Could someone give me a bit of an idiots guide as to where to start with this sort of thing. I just need a bit of a plan of action so when we do come to starting to buy I can just go ahead and jump right in.

Do I go for one of those birth to potty sets, or do I buy lots of different kinds to see what suits me best. Also I'm not really that bothered about second hand stuff so if I wanted to where would I find them. Do I get those sized nappies, pocket ones, shaped or all in ones? I'm a little bit .

So yeah any help would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to recomend websites as well.

Thank you!!

We contacted the nappy lady and went to a demonstration - they give free advice on what might be best for you. We got a voucher from Real Nappies for London and used it to buy a few nappies from the nappy lady, and a few odds and ends, but we got quite a few second hand from the Nappy Exchange) and sites like the nappy site.

Twinkle is one of my favourites. They do trial packs of different nappies so you can decide what's best.

We mainly use pre-folds, which most people hate but I love, with BumGenius and Wonderoos for nursery. I bought a birth to potty pack of the pre-folds and I think we were just lucky that they worked out for us! They were cheap though...

Steer clear of anything you can buy on the high street. Boots and Mothercare stock very bad reusables - I think it's a ploy to get people to buy more disposables so they make more money...

Can I put a vote in for plain old fashioned terry towel squares (or bamboo ones, anti bacterial and they dry really well.) It's a cheaper way of starting out and the terry/bamboo squares last for ever and can be used for kitchen/cleaning/gym when they aren't needed for babies. You can buy larger outer wraps as they grow and line them with fleece bought from the market chopped up which is a vvv cheap option compared with the bought shaped ones. My DS never had a wet bum or nappy rash and I miss the fun of learning different folds as he grew. He also had some brilliant fake leopard skin/pony skin outer wraps that looked amazing!

Where are you as many areas give out bags of different types for you to try (I borrowed one for three weeks) which gives you a great way of trying before you splash the cash. There are also organisations that do coffee mornings so you can meet mums and dads and have help getting started. these guys were great for me but probably no where near you, all I put into google was my area and the word nappies and they were the first group that came up.

I did lots of reading initially and then started buying the odd one or two nappies - various systems, fabrics, designs, and manufacturers. It would be good if you can get to see some nappies in the flesh - I was surprised just how bulky some of the designs were and how sleek others were. One thing I'm very glad about is that I didn't run out & spend £££ on a whole system, before the baby came along. From 0 to 6 months, I've muddled along with a mottly assortment of nappies & wraps, mostly from ebay or from the bargain section of the various nappy websites.

Don't feel you have to be utterly faithful to one manfacturer - mix & match is fine IME - e.g. Motherease wraps with TotsBots nappies etc.

Consider the other people in your baby's life - if truth be told, my DP needs a re-usable that's as close to a disposable as poss. to keep him from bending my ear & swearing too much at change time.

Learn about the various fabrics and their associated properties (so hemp, bamboo, cotton, microfibre etc.) - each has their advantages & disadvantages wrt to laundering and absorbancy. Think about how you want your system to work - how will you dry your nappies for instance - can you line dry or are you going to need to dry indoors?

It might sound daft but maybe have a look at a growth chart - months 0 to 6 babies grow pretty fast and then slow down a bit. For me this has meant I could justify paying more for a medium nappy since DD is going to wear it longer (on her current weight centile, the medium Itti Bitti will last until she is 2 years old in theory!). My first size (birth to 5 or 6 months) nappies were much more cheap & cheerful than what I'm using now. If you know you're having a baby girl, then frocks & tights tend to be a bit more forgiving on a real nappy than trousers are.

If you can cram in a bit of research in the next few days, Real Nappy Week 2010 starts (I think) 26th April, so many websites do special deals and freebies around this time as promotions - it would be good for your purse if you can take advantage.

Also beware as this real nappy business is very, very addictive. Just when you think you've found your Holy Grail of nappy combo, something else comes along and you'll start lusting after something new

Also consider reusable wipes along with your nappies.

I have in my first size collection Little Lambs, Lollipop, Ella's House, Motherease Sandys & TotsBots first size nappies, with Motherease wraps, plus some very teeny unbranded nappies & some prefolds & muslins for newborns. I probably spent about £50 in total for that lot. Now DD is 8 months & I'm on the Itti Bitti SIO with 3 BumGenius onesize thrown into the mix (they were on a 3 for 2 offer and therefore too good to miss). Utterly loving the Itti Bitti's TBH - very slim fitting and as easy as a disposable to use.

Get one of each birth to potty, sized, all in one 2 part etc so you have a bit of a selection. If you are not bothered about second hand go for it, then if theres one u dont like its no big loss. Ive got several diffrent nappies and brands in my stash at the moment, i do have a favorite but i like to use different types at different times or for different occations. I wouldnt go for a fulll kit because if they dont suit your baby youve wasted £200+.

Id just get enough to try for first few weeks or so and buy more when baby actually comes, then youll establish what you like and what works best for you, baby and your household and buy more of those.

I used the plain terry squares with diposable liners - not much choice back in the 70's. Never felt that they created a lot of work and they dried easily, overnight, on pully or in airing cupboard. Never fancied the disposables, they look so artifical and harsh on wee ones, but love the variety of wraps available these days.

This is great, I feel a bit less boggled now. I've been having a look on some on those websites and the twinkle website looks quite good, I like how they do a trial pack. I might get one of them and then get a couple of second hand ones. I'm going to save this thread and come back to it.

How many nappies will I need to begin with roughly?

It depends how often you want to wash, and if you want to go 'full-time' in cloth straight away.

There's a guide to how many your baby will need each day here

If you want to go full-time from the start, you'll be changing about 8 times in 24 hours, so if you want to wash every other day, you'll need at least 16.

Most nappy manufacturers tell you you'll need 20 as a rough guide, but if you wash more often, you can get away with less.

However, it's probably the best thing to try a few different brands first, and build up slowly

I'd also advise getting disposables at first. I know, shoot me!
We used them until DS's cord stump had dried out as the wraps on the reusables seemed to rub on it.
It also makes life a little bit easier, which is no bad thing when you've got a newborn...

Second the advice about buying trial packs and ones and twos of nappies you fancy to see what works best.

I went with disposables first as I wanted to do one thing at a time, and sitting on my backside watching telly and eating cake establishing breastfeeding was my first priority.

We started using third-hand Bambino Mios when dd was about 8 weeks old as she was too small for them before.

Now we've ditched the prefolds and wraps (apart from Little Lambs) and use Pop-Ins and BumGeniuses.

It all depends on the individual and what's important to you. The Nappy Lady will tailor some advice to your specific needs: for us, quick drying was important as we didn't want the house festooned with drying nappies all the time.

google 'real nappy network' and see if there is one in your area. they have cheap or free trail packs and lots of advice and local support.

20 nappies was fine for us until DS went to nursery, when, because a few end up parked there and I now have a bit less time, we now have around 26 and I wash around every 3 days.

Get terries - then you can use the set all the way through. Like you I found the whole Bumgenius type nappies midboggling and couldn't be bothered.
I have about 30 (including some 1976 ones which were mine, they are my favourites as they are thin and not too bulky) and use them in conjunction with a Motherease Rikki wrap and nappy nippers. When baby is very new you can use muslins as the terries are so large. They only take a few more seconds to change than disposables when you're practised.

I wash them at either 60 or 90 using non-bio and napisan; I probably wash once every 3 days along with her other bits and bobs. I didn't use them as an environmental exercise but for cost. Looking at the price of disposables gives me the heebie jeebies.

I would never use anything else now, they are a doddle; I also use them out and about - I've changed her in the front passenger footwell of our car ! If you go down the terry route though do make sure you have some disposables for the first week as those meconium poos are seriously nasty

definately try a few different ones before you make any decisions.

Weenotions do some lovely nappies that you can customise yourself if you want to get a couple of show nappies they're lovely and still look like new after 2 years of use.

A couple of sites I found useful for buying nappies:
www.kittykins.co.uk
www.fill-your-pants.com
Both have some advice and sell new nappies. Fill your pants do some good trial packs based around different needs, e.g. a quick drying pack, a pocket nappy pack etc. Those uaully have four different nappies in I think. Kittykins sell the wonderful thirsties nappies which we love .

But, as someone said earlier, be careful - real nappies are really addictive!

Consider what sort of person you are and your drying facilities. I have hand trouble and would never use pins near my baby. I got a pile of fleecy Motherease and wraps on Freecycle, some prefolds and some Bumgenius (shove pad in pocket) before ds was born. And a couple Mothercare Smartnappies with pads. Ended up using the smartnappies most for the first couple weeks, and muslins/prefolds in a wrap, and then the Motherease ones, as the Bumgenius leaked. I found it too confusing when tired at 4am to match up wraps and nappies of different types so mainly ended up using the MOtherease simply because there were loads of them.

Tbh, it makes little difference at first - until baby gets a bit bigger and you get the hang of it they'll all leak and it's a pad to mop up wee, not rocket science! If you don't have much drying space don't get ones that need forever to dry (fleecy motherease, all-in-ones).

Don't get lulled into thinking you need to buy lots of extra stuff. A lidded bucket is a couple quid in your local plastic-tat pound shop. Some baggies for going out. Bung them all in the washing machine. It's remarkably simple. Admittedly afterround 6 months I got more adventurous and then needed ones that nursery could figure out (AIO/pockets with velcro/poppers), but I recommend just get some cheap second-hand ones (Ebay always have loads of newborn-size that have been 'washed' - they aren't supposed to sell used ones) and take it from there if they don't work for you.

This is brilliant advice guys, thank you all so much for this. I've been checking out those websites with gleeful abandon.