Reusable nappies anyone?

[missgem]

Hi everyone!

I'm new to this site and have started looking into the possibility of using reusable nappies but have no idea where to start, does anyone have any advice / tips?

Start here

Reusables are fab!

I bought a couple of mother and baby magazines which had resuable nappies as one of their "tried and tested" products to get an idea.

My sister gave me hers, which are bambino I think. So I just need to get some liners for them, and I should be ok for a bit. Even if I just use them at home, it'll help keep costs down.

I know reusables can be expensive, it may be worth while checking out ebay. Or SureStart centres tend to hold baby sales every now and again, you may pick some up a bit cheaper that way.

Maybe try your local Council? Ours (up in Scotland) hass a programme called Changeworks, that runs a re-useable nappy programme. They have demonstrations and 'nappucino' mornings where you can go and find out about them.

We paid £12 for a trial pack, which included one each of 3 of the most common types of re-useables (ours to keep). It's worth giving them all a try before you go splashing out on full sets. Some might work, some might not (some look cool and some look bloody complicated!!)

Hope that helps!

Also, don't expect to use them straight away I bought in a stash when pregnant, but she was in disposables until 6 weeks.

I think in the long term reusables are always cheaper unless you go for really bling ones...

We used disposables until dd was out of the tiniest size, and then went into washables. The Tots Bots Flexitots that we use are brilliant, and although they're about £9 per nappy to start with (you can get them cheaper on usednappies.co.uk - all ours were 2nd hand or on offer, so about £5 per nappy) we've easily made our money back from not using disposables. There are only two sizes and she's been in the current size since she was 15lb - they'll take her up till she's potty trained, so at least another year, possibly 18 months. We have 15, which means doing a wash every three or four days. You use a throwaway liner (poo-catcher!) so the nappies that go in the machine don't have poo in them, and I put them on a normal whites wash with other clothes, because they don't make a full load.

Try posting in the nappies section, you will get tons of advice.

I use terry nappies and they are brilliant, would recommend them to anyone and happy to answer any questions, they are also really cheap (some reusables are £££). We also got a grant from the council towards them. There are lots on ebay, there is also a specific auction site for nappies of you google and you can buy through MN too. I have found them to be no trouble at all and I wouldn't switch.

Also, I should add how astonished I was at how easy to use they are. You do need a bucket to put them in until they're washed - with a lid - but it doesn't have to be a special nappy bucket and you don't need to soak them. The fastenings (on the ones we use) are all velcro and they're shaped exactly like a disposable. My DH uses them without a blink!

I had the tommee tippee ones with DS and I used them a lot.

Agree with itsallgoing not at the start though, had too much to think about.

Will be using them again with new baby.

We are using reusables (or will be when the baby arrives in a month or so's time!) and I can highly recommend the service, products and advice from this website:

www.thenappylady.co.uk/

I'm using terry squares - bought from Mothercare - they have a starter set on line which is product no G1153 in latest catalogue and used with the nappi nippas and nappy liners (which are flushable)make them really easy to use. I started with the pre shaped ones earlier in the year but found that they took forever to dry and swapped over. You tube have lots of film clips on how to fold them and different ways to fold for male or female children

We love our washables.

When DS was little we used eenee Weenees mostly with the microfiber insert but if we were going away we'd use the compostable insert and they would just go on my mum's compost bin for example.

Now DS is a bit bigger we use Fuzzibunz.

I got all our nappies off ebay. Quite a few mums seem to buy them and then not use them - hence the selling on ebay.

One other comment is that we use disposables at night as DS seemed to leak if we used the washables - would have preferred not to but it made sense for us/our baby.

hi missgem, we use reusables, lots!

I cannot reccoment this site enough, it is soley dedicated to nappies, has reviews on most nappies, an extensive classified section where you can buy nappies. If you post in the wanted section some lovely ladies even lend out nappies for you to try. Lovely bunch!...I started there and soon got so hooked. I love wee notions and fuzzis, also issy bears at the moment. I buy and sell to meet the needs of my changing shaped baby!

We use pockets, but started with fitteds(they need a wrap)....you may find as your baby grows and changes shape you need to change nappies. My initial outlay was £50. Since then I have tried most nappies and have a stash of 15. I have sold and bought and traded when I needed to and its pretty much cash neautral. Ie, you pay maybe £10 for a nappy, if its not for you, you can sell it on at the same price.

www.clothnappytree.com
Enjoy!!

We started on disposables until DS was about 6 weeks, and then moved onto resuables, and will do the same with DC2 when 'it' arrives! Looked into several types, and hoped for a local scheme, but nothing available 'round here. Waitrose did a trial sample of Close Pop-in, which suited us fine, so we bought a set of 20, and that has worked out really well, and they'll also still be good to go for DS2. We do stick with disposable overnight though as the nightime booster pad gave such a huge booster, poor DS couldn't lie on his back, and tippled over to one side or the other, like a Weeble (showing my age ).

Was going to do reusable from the start but was advised to think carefully about that as there is so much else going on, and you end up changing nappies so often....and have to say that in hindsight I am so glad I took that advise, and will be starting with disposable when the new one comes along.

We've been in reusables from day one and absolutely love them (even now, 15 months on ).
I've done more research than I care to admit, but what that meant was that I didn't waste as much money trying a million different nappies to find the one I liked .
Started with basic prefolds (and just binned those or reused as cleaning rags ), as the first few poos are quite...errr.. well, they just don't wash out well, let's leave it at that.
Then moved on to Tots Bots FlexiTots with different kinds of wraps (PUL at first, then fleece when DS started to crawl (softer leg bindings, so no chafing from all the crawling). We're still using these and I have to say, given our extra hard water, they've held up well and are still very soft! (The trick with hard water is a bit of lemon juice in the rinse cycle, btw)
For the sake of convenience, we use Tots Bots Easyfit bamboo (all-in-ones)when out and about.
IMHO, reusables are far easier to use actually. You get used to the washing very quickly and, for me, it's far less bothersome than taking the rubbish out three times a day (we don't have a chute in our building, so have to carry the stuff down to the garage).

Thanks everyone, this is really useful. I want to use reusables but was a bit scared (particularly about dealing with the dirty ones)! It's good to read all these positive experiences.

Sun is the thing with the ones that don't wash clean. It's amazing when you hang out inners that still have distictive smears on them (turning them so the neighbours can't see ), and go to get the dry washing in and they are all clean, and smear free!

We got a BamBino Mio bucket and 2 inners, and do a wash every other day (we joke about the fact that if it's not a washing day, then its a drying day). Must admit though, prefer tumble-dried, as then the inners are snuggly soft!!!

My first baby is due in 7 weeks and i am intending on using re-useables.

I bought totsbots bamboozle stretchy from the cotton nappy company, they are a two part nappy and you need wraps.

www.thecottonnappycompany.co.uk

I had done lots of research online and bought them after getting to see and feel them at The Baby Show at the NEC.

I've tried them on my nephew (aged 11 months), I was really pleased with them and my s-i-l who uses disposables was very impressed with them.

We've been using BumGenius 'one size' and finding them great for our tall baby.

But Itti Bitti Delish have just launched their All-in-one (AOI) and, having bought some, they are the bees knees. Fully tumble-dryable, they also don't need any stuffing. No leaks from them either thus far, although I have only had them for a week. Best of all though, they're fluffy on the outside! SO cute.

Get them quickly from Greenbaby.com using code ORGANIX25, if it's still working - 25% off!

I also fuly recommend Cheeky Wipes as they're ace - brilliant wipes, no chemicals (just water and lavender oil that you add yourself each time).

Finally, try using Ecoballs to wash them as they don't have detergent in - this blocks the absorbency of washables. Add a tiny amount of Napisan (if you like), wash on 60 with an extra rinse cycle and they'll come out lovely. Any residual staining will disappear after 30 minutes on the line.

Hi

I used cloth nappies with my first and am now expecting twins. I will try and use them at least part time this time round! I had given away or sold most of my previous stash as DD is 4 1/2 yrs now and was not planning on having any more! A friend is kindly donating a birth to potty pack of bambino mios to me and I will prob see if I can get a few shaped nappies second hand.

In the Bounty pregnancy book that came in my midwife bounty folder there is a voucher for a 'free' bumgenious nappy (£3.99 postage) - but that is still a bargain.

I would suggest as others have said- investigating your local council scheme for cashback incentives and also perhaps getting a nappy bucket of different samples to try- you should have a cloth nappy advisor locally also that you could contact.

i wouldn't recommend going mad and buying a birth to potty pack before baby is born as you amy not get on with a particular brand, may not suit your babies shape etc. Also you find that your needs tend to change as you LO gets older and more wriggly!

Beware-- cloth nappies can become an obsession!! Good luck