Reusable nappies - Help !!! Don't know where to begin....

[JoGehani]

Hi all,

I'm 32 weeks pregnant and very keen on using reusable nappies when the baby gets here
But I don't know where to start !! :( There seem to be soooo many options !!
I am hoping you can help me choose a brand.... Also do I need anything else apart from the basic kit?
A lot of my friends who have had babies scoff at the mention of reusable nappies and think I won't last for more than a week and will switch to disposable ones... is it really that hard !?!?!

Also any tips on making sure my washing machine is all clean from inside so that the nappies get washed properly?? My washing machine is at least 4 years old if not more...

Thanks in advance for your help !! :)

Jo

I love my terry squares. The advantages of terries are that you don't need different sizes, you can fold differently to suit different babies and they dry very quickly.
I use them with Motherease wraps over the top, flushable liners in the day and fleece ones at night.

Don't worry about your washing machine,my old machine died a few weeks ago but I had been using it to wash nappies for about two years and it was 15 years old. The odd hot cycle is enough to keep it clean.

Watching with interest as I am keen to try reusables too!

Hi Jo

I'm 28 weeks and have just bought some reusable nappies and wipes to use for my first. There's quite a few websites that are useful, as well as the nappy forum on here and can give you an insight into the best type of nappy for you.

A lot of my friends scoffed too but I've managed to find a couple that have used them really successfully. I think we've been brainwashed into thinking disposables are the best, but I'm hoping that an extra wash every two days won't be so bad and will be made up for by less nappy rash, less money wasted and lots less landfill!!

I went to the babyshow and played with a few types there and have done a lot of online research, half of my purchases were new (about £230 for a starter kit) but I've bought a lot on ebay virtually new for a fraction of the price!

You could also find out if your local council does a scheme to get you started. Mine gives you a £40 voucher, others will lend a starter kit with a selection of types so you can try to see which brand suits you. There are also nappucino events, a bit like a sling meet, which might be running in your area.

I've gone for :

tots bots easyfits which are all in one, birth to potty nappies - as close to a disposable as you can get

tots bots bamboozle stretch for at night and little lambs bamboo and cotton preloved which are all two part nappies - the absorbant bit that looks like a nappy and a wrap for the outside.

bamboo boosters to soak up wee in the nappies

I've cut up an old fleece blanket as a liner for the nappies

a lidded bucket and net bag to dry pail them in.

40 wipes (some made up of my old fleece blanket and I've bought some terry towelling ones from the nappy lady)

A tupperware pot for the wipes, some lavender and tea tree oil to use with water and the wipes (and to keep the nappy bucket fresh!)

A waterproof bag for dirty nappies when I'm out and about

The nappy lady does a really great advice service where you put in your details and she advises you which would be the best type of nappies for your lifestyle and the cloth nappy tree is a great forum for info on washing, reviews, what you need etc!

Not sure with the washing machine though? I run mine empty on its hottest cycle every few weeks?

HTH... Good luck... I really hope that we both get on well with them!

This is the link for the Mumsnet nappy talk! www.mumsnet.com/Talk/nappies_potty_training_etc

I can't recommend Bumgenius Flip enough. Washables are less trouble than having a stinky bin in my opinion!

I gave myself a break though and used disposables for 4 weeks while we adjusted and because meconium is sooo sticky. Plus, I unexpectedly stayed in hospital for 6 days and disposables were a whole lot easier for that!

Good luck by the way

I didn't start using washable nappies till DS was 2 years old, as I just got soooo fed up with spending £££ on disposables!

Fill Your Pants Is a great website, reasonably priced too.

I went to my local Gumtree website and found a local woman selling Bambino Mio nappies and covers. Yes, they were 2nd hand, but in great condition and I saved a fortune!

Your washing machine will be grand. Just wash at 60degrees without fabric softener and put in a couple of scoops of Napisan (which costs around £3 in Tesco).

I second trying the nappies forum on here, there's loads of advice there (it's under products), or google the real nappy campaign, and check your council website - ours gives out £50 vouchers for nappies.

I used little lambs bamboo for dd, and they're washed and ready for dd2 once we're passed the hospital and meconium stage. I got everything we needed (2 sizes of nappy, fleece liners, covers and buckets) for £150, although that was 4 years ago so they may have gone up.

I flushed any solids, then dry pailed them with a cotton wool ball soaked in tea tree oil stuck to the lid to neutralise the smell a bit. Then every other day I washed them at 60, and hung them out either outside or on a radiator. Then I put them in the drier for 20 minutes or so to soften them up. Don't use softener, it affects the absorbency. Wraps can be washed at 40 in your normal wash. I never used napisan as I read that it can rot the elastic.

This time I'm also going to try reusable wipes. You can buy special kits for this but I just bought 2 packs of cheap flannels from Ikea and 2 spray bottles from Ickle Bottles (via Amazon) which I'll use to spray her bum and then wipe, then I'll put the dirty wipe with the nappies.

Good luck, you'll save a fortune!

My advice is to buy a small number of different types of nappies so you can see what works best for you. Before DS was born I bought 1 stuffable type nappy, one shaped nappy with a wrap, a couple of terry squares and an all-in-one type. Then found which I liked the best (the IttyBitty snap-in types, they are really leak-proof.)

Also, don't worry if it doesn't work out the first few weeks. New babies have weeny skinny little legs, too skinny to fill out the leg holes of the nappies properly and so your carefully purchased re-usables might leak a bit to start with. I used mostly disposables until around 2 months I think.

I haven't used them yet, but multiple friends in the USA have demonstrated and highly recommend Bumgenius Flip nappies (which are available here). They look to fit really well and the wraps fit from birth to potty. I'm going to start with this brand.

All-in-ones look easier, but actually they take forever to dry - inserts seem a bit more sensible. Then again, I haven't actually done it yet...

And I have heard to go ahead and use disposables up to 4-6 weeks as it's easier on you...

My washing machine is about 30 years old and going strong (they don't make them like that anymore!). It never occurred to me to be concerned about it. It washes!

I spent a while looking at reviews here, short listed 3 or 4 and bought a few of two types to try first. In fact the first kind worked and are easily available, so we didn't try the others in the end, am about to re-sell.

We use Bumgenius. You stuff them and we use a standard gauzy liner which catches some of the worst of the poo and can be thrown away. You have to stuff, then hang inners and outers separately to dry (or tumble) but no waterproof pants needed. Pretty simple I find, they come in lots of lovely colours and the same nappies adjust to three sizes so last 0-2.

They are comfy for her, she had some nappy rash with disposables, none with these. There was more poo leakage with disposables but these do sometimes soak through at night. We add extra stuffing which helps.

Personally I couldn't get to grips with reusables, so I wouldn't recommend buying a full set right from the word go just in case! Was having to change DS every 2 hours and he still developed horrific nappy rash

My local council had a deal where you could get 70% of reusables funded by the council, I just typed nappy into the search bar on their website so maybe try this and see what comes up?

Regarding the washing machine, run it on the hottest wash with a bottle of white vinegar in but no clothes, normal temp with nothing in it (no powder etc and no clothes) then the hottest again with washing powder, and a load of towels. Will be good as new :-)

We used Huggies to 8 weeks. Intended to use disposables only for first week but she was too (need to be about 8 lbs) and, one thing at a time, it's not a competition.

Too little...

Oh yes, most councils have a scheme, ours only offered £25 with proof of purchase over £50 (cost of 20, enough for two days, so a wash every day or so was about £250).

Definitely don't buy reusables until after the baby's here. And I say this as someone who used them for four children. There are a couple of reasons why I think it's a bad idea to buy in advance:

1. Newborns have a habit of pooing non-stop. I once counted 27 nappies in a 24 hour period (yes, I know this demonstrates the excitements of my life), and that included several hours of sleeping. Wait until bowel movements settle down a bit.

1. Reusables are a bit more work (I know some people disagree with this) - and if you're struggling that can seem like the last straw. If you've bought the nappies the guilt of seeing the expensive pile of reusables would make things worse. Wait to see how you feel.

FWIW I used a mixture of nappy-types, but would go for old fashioned terry squares if I had another baby - cheap and easy to clean. I would buy something like motherease covers, though.

And if you do decide to go down the reusable route, there's nothing like watching the nappies blowing about on the clothes line. Makes you feel all smug warm inside.

We bought a few samples of different types and finally settled on gnappies. We started using them after the first week once the meconium had come through. Some of the all in ones are a bit bulky for the early days. Maybe look for local nappichinos( meet ups for reusable nappy users)

I agree, dont buy in advance and try and go somewhere where you can get advice and try lots of different types. In terms of nappy rash my lo developed it in disposables and the chemicals in them was my main motivation for switching!

I only actually have enough for one day and wash them early evening put them in airing cupboard overnight. Very nice not to have lots of stinky nappies filling up the bin and they are one less thing to buy in supermarket. I used disposables with dd1 and with dd2 until 6 months so have no experience of newborn, probably would have found that hard tbh

I have bumgenius flip and totbots....

Have a look at The Nappy Lady's site
My favourite brand are probably TotsBots - very absorbent and I wish I'd gone for them from the start. However they do take a while to dry.
I would probably use disposables for the meconium and then go onto real nappies. I don't find them too much work and they can save a lot of money, especially if you get them secondhand to begin with. It's probably worth getting a few different types to see what works for you. Do you have a nappucino near you? Unappetising name but can be a good way of finding out about nappies.

I love my cloth nappies and now use them full time. I can't bear landfilling stuff.

It is a bit more work and it took me a while to get my head around how to use them when out and about but on the plus side they smell much nicer than that chemical disposable smell and my ds has never had nappy rash (he's 8 months) unlike most of his disposable bottomed friends.

We use bum genius for day and bamboozle stretch for night with a mother ease wrap. We bought additional little lamb bamboo boosters for the bum genius as we don't find microfibre absorbent enough for ds.

So we have:

Nappy pail with 2 bum genius pail liners
20 x bum genius v4
20 x little lamb bamboo boosters
5 x bamboozle stretch
2 x motherease wraps
5 x fleece liners for the bamboozles
2 x wet bags for out and about
25 cheeky wipes
Moltex disposables for the first month, holidays, and occasionally for day trips if I'm carrying a lot and need to travel light.

If I were doing it all again I'd consider switching the bum genius for the little lamb pocket nappy for day time as the little lamb ones come without inserts included so you can choose bamboo or hemp- much more absorbent. I do like pockets though as the fleece layer keeps moisture away from the skin better than a fleece liners in the bamboozles do. The bamboozles take a full 3 days to air dry so aren't really suitable for day use, but they last a full 12 hours at night (and my ds feeds and wees a lot at night) so they are perfect for night use.

As for poo, breastfed poo goes everywhere and disposable liners don't do much to catch it. You can either flush the nappy/ liner in the loo holding the edge to get the worst off or scoop it off with a bit of loo roll. But it's ok because it doesn't smell bad. The smelly post weaning ones are much easier because they mostly fall off the liner into the toilet in one lump and don't stick at all.

In many ways it is best to wait till your baby's born to buy them but we decided to take the plunge and buy them all first then just get on and use them, and it's been fine. Disposables for the first month were a good thing for us though unless your dh is really keen to do all the laundry for you as well as all the cooking cleaning and nappy changing!

It really is doable you aren't being unrealistic. Good luck with the baby

Cloth nappies are easy peasy if you've got a washing machine, and you never have to worry about running out. Don't forget to look on ebay and freecycle for bargains. I have just freecycled my random collection to a grateful recipient.

My favourites are wonderoos.. I buy them from babykind.co.uk I think the website is. DIdn't get on with bumgenius, little lambs, or anything like that. Would agree with dry pailing, flushable nappy liners are a life saver. And disposables for the first few months definately!!

Does anyone more experienced than myself have any advice:

Am currently using Bambino Mio flat nappies (which I fold then insert to the nappy cover) and the Bambino Mio nappy covers or wraps (can't recall what they are called!)

Is there another brand of cover which also works with these flat nappies? I really like the nappies, which I team with Little Lamb bamboo boosters, but don't get on so well with the nappies, which I find to be quite leaky. If you know of any better ones, please let me know :)

sorry, OP, for slight hijack

Hey needles:), we also use Bambino Mio nappies. We do the fold for extra absorbency at the front for boys which definitely helps with the leaks. We do find now that DS is almost 2 we have to change him more often when in his reusables. Sorry, don't have any recommendations for other brands that work with these.

Biggest tip for using reusables would be to use the dry pailing method - laundry bag in a tight sealing bucket where you can put the whole thing in the washing machines. We tried soaking them but that was just a nightmare! Also didn't start using until DS was a few months old and life was getting more into routine again. We still use disposables at night time for extra absorbency and sometimes when we're out for simplicity.

capecath I think the biggest issue is that DS drinks sooo much water during the day, seriously he could drink about a litre a day and just pees all the time :) He isn't diabetic or anything, just loves to drink.

Also, because I used disposables up until a few months ago I just got spoilt with how wonderful and absorbant they are, and the washable nappies just aren't as absorbant.

I do like the Bambino Mio flat nappies, but am not 100% in love with the velcro bit on the nappy cover. That's really why I was looking for a recommendation for another brand of cover.