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Pregnancy

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Original poster

Cloth Nappies, how many in each size?

30 replies

TisTheSeasonToBeJolly · 08/12/2012 20:46

Has anybody any experiences of cloth nappies? I would like to know realistically how many cloth nappies in each size I would need? Im thinking about 50 in each but I honestly havnt got a clue! Please help!

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Indith · 08/12/2012 20:52

20 is fine usually. Start with that and then get more if you want to was less often.

Original poster

TisTheSeasonToBeJolly · 08/12/2012 21:09

Im worried of lots of accidents and not having any clean ones lol. Think I'll get 30 then just to be safe x

OP posts:

MrsHBaby3 · 09/12/2012 02:53

It depends how often you want to do a wash, personally every couple of days is ok for me, so about 15-20. TBH 50 sounds like a lot!
Also, have you thought of multifits that adjust to different sizes?

RhubarbCrumbled · 09/12/2012 06:59

I used cloth for 2 years with my first. We got 15 bumgenius and they did us all the way through with a wash every other day. I think we ran out once when I was away and DH forgot to wash! You'll want to wash every other day just for smell and hygiene really. As bumgenius have lots of parts too they dry really quickly too so even if you get low, sticking some on a quick wash then in the dryer/radiator/sunshine will work. Have a look on the cloth nappy board and they'll advise on other brands!

yuletopian99 · 09/12/2012 08:44

Ooh i was wondering this two. So far have 10 bumgenius and 3 little lambs as told they'll be better overnight.. Where is the cloth nappy board?

AmandaCooper · 09/12/2012 08:49

I thought I'd rather have too few than too many, particularly never having tried them before. I've bought some disposables for when they run out. I'm planning to add more cloth as we go and as I work out which brand is best.

gardenpixies32 · 09/12/2012 10:53

I have twins and have 20 Bumgenius one size nappies and 20 Little Lamb nappies in size one. I wash very second/third day. 20 for one baby is plenty in my opinion :)

nannyl · 09/12/2012 21:38

I have a super large washing machine

i can wash 30ish nappies + wipes / wraps / boosters etc

how many nappies you need depends on how often you wash, how many fit in your machine and how quickly you can get them dry.
many of mine dry overnight on the airer.
bamboo and hemp take longer to dry.

Im a cloth nappy addict and probably have about 200 in my collection, however that is an insane amount and no one (not even triplets) needs that many!

see how many you can fit in you machine and then have a few extra as spare while they dry..... there is no point at all having more than you can wash + use while the clean ones are drying

(I have 2 buckets and wash every 4 days, I wouldnt wanna leave longer than that between washing; i give them a rinse first (with extra rinse) then wash at cotton 60 intensive and extra rinse...... my nappies go round my machine for 4 hours 13 mins, and come out super clean!)

If I washed every other day (like most people i know seem to) I would probably only wash at 40.

In a few months when number 2 arrives and i have 2 in cloth, i'll be washing every other day i guess.

PunkyPod · 09/12/2012 22:36

We have 20. A mixture of Tots Bots stretchies and bumgenius. Birth to potty ones. Def prefer the TBs as so absorbent and easy to use. Yes bulkier but I wish we had more of these and less BG.
We wash a bucket load every day and air dry them. I have never tumble dried. So we need to wash everyday to keep the supply constant. The TBs take a day to dry I'd say and I turn them a few times during the day. If you have radiator space they'll dry quicker. In the summer it's a lot quicker.

I hope cloth works out for you, we love them.

JBrd · 09/12/2012 22:55

I wouldn't get too many at the start, rather go for a variety of different ones and find out which ones work best for you, then start bulking up! Also, cloth nappies sell very well secondhand, so you can save quite a bit of money that way, too.
Don't get disheartened, sometimes it can take a while to work out which nappy works best and how. We have been using them since DS was 12 weeks, and the next one will be in them right from the start.

ZuleikaD · 10/12/2012 06:46

50! Good grief! It's perfectly possible to manage even with two in the same size on 20! I had about a dozen of the size 1 (tbh even smallest sizes are too big for most newborns, so we went with disposables for a month) and a few more of the second size. We used the Tots Bots Flexitots ones and they were great.

I do a wash every three days or so when the bucket is full. The flushable liners make life a lot easier.

I bought them all on ebay but beware, ebay for some reason have a no-used-nappies policy and every now and then start policing auctions so you may start bidding on something and find it's suddenly been deleted by ebay. Usednappies.co.uk is a pain to use but is a legitimate secondhand marketplace.

Your local council may also have a scheme that encourages washable nappies and might do sale-or-return tryout sets that let you have a go with several brands.

JBrd · 11/12/2012 16:07

I can also recommend Gumtree for second hand cloth

yuletopian99 · 12/12/2012 07:12

Yes, I've got all of ours so far through ebay (I love ebay a little too much i think sometimes!)

I wrote to the nappy lady online who suggested bumgenius for day and little lambs for night and have all the little lambs in microfibre as we don't have a tumble dryer. Also planning to use liners, plus disposables with the umbilical cutout for the first month when he's v little..

NAR4 · 12/12/2012 10:07

Terry Nappies are whatever size you fold them to, so last right through until potty trained and are also much cheaper to buy. I used these with all of my children. They aren't difficult like people seems to think and because they open out to a flat towelling square, they dry much quicker than the all in one nappies. I highly recommend Nipper Grippers rather than nappy pins though.

economymode · 12/12/2012 15:49

we have about 20 BumGenius ones and that's more than enough for one. We do a nappy wash every three days. They are the birth-potty kind, so no need to buy different sized ones. I'd really recommend them.

lucindar · 12/12/2012 18:16

Hi ladies, I have a very very stupid question. As I am definitely considering using those nappies, I can not help but wonder: do you remove the content before washing? How? Scrape it off to the loo? I noticed there are some liners which may be the solution. Also - are these good for newborns? I don't want to use disposable nappies at all ever. Thanks for your help.

Indith · 12/12/2012 19:10

Flushable liners do make it easier. Personally I don't like them and use fleece ones which wash with the nappy. Fleece stays dry next to the skin. For baby milk poo which is runny you just hold it in the flush, doesn't matter if it doesn't all come off. For proper poo you just plop it down the loo, with a fleece liner you just stretch it over the loo and the poo sort of peels off.

I made my own liners from fleece I got at teh market so I cut dinky little ones for newborns and great big ones for toddler size. Like anything you just give a few things a whirl and see what works for you as all nappies are a bit different and suit different shapes and with liners some babies react to different things and all flushable one are slightly different too. Some nappies are fleece lined inside anyway so you might not want to use a liner. We did with ds1 but adding another layer of fleece gave dd nappy rash . It is all about experimentation!

ZuleikaD · 12/12/2012 19:23

The liners are essential, I'd say - not just for poo-catching purposes but because they perform the same function as the top layer of a disposable nappy - they keep moisture away from the baby's skin and let it breathe. You can get flushable ones or non-flushable - I use the latter and just scoop liner and wipes into a nappy bag and bin it.

You can use washables from day one, but they are pretty bulky on a newborn and they don't half go through them in the first couple of weeks.

nannyl · 12/12/2012 19:29

if you BF baby BF poo just washes out so dont need to line

once they eat solids you either use flushable liners (but beware over time, i have known so many toilets get blocked by them) ot fleece liners, and poo sort of rolls off fleece into the loo.

many nappies are actually lined with fleece (which is also "stay dry") and these dont need a liner unless you want to use a paper liner.

generally i dont use paper liners, i use fleece, but if staying away and washing in someone elses washing machine, i do, because, even though they come out clean, i dont like putting poo smears in other peoples washing machines (when they are kind enough to let me use it in the first place)

ZuleikaD · 13/12/2012 07:23

I think the liners are necessary for keeping urine away from the skin.

nannyl · 13/12/2012 10:35

fleece is stay dry too, it goes through and then their bum stays dry

PunkyPod · 13/12/2012 16:47

While baby was producing the muconium tar poo I'd recommend using disposables. Just because that poo stains everything it comes into contact with. My DD exploded out of her nappy and it went over her first ever baby grow and was ruined. We got DD into cloth at about 2 weeks once I'd figured out what on earth I was doing. Each to their own but if (when) we have another I'll just use disposables until that first poo is out of his/her system.

DD is now 6 months and we've started introducing food. Woah has the poo changed!! So now in her TB nappy we have nappy, booster, fleece liner and paper liner. I don't fancy scraping the poo out and our bathroom is downstairs so walking around with a humming nappy isn't practical for us. The paper liner catches most of the bad stuff and I put it in a nappy bag along with any wipes I've used to clean her up and then that all goes in the bin. This is just a method that's worked for us. I don't think I'd like the flush the liners either, they feel quite durable really and I could see us getting a blockage.

Am waiting for the next stage of poo where it just rolls off the nappy!

ZuleikaD · 13/12/2012 16:56

Punky - DS is 2 and still has squishy poo, so no rolling off the nappy here!

nannyl · 13/12/2012 17:39

i used cloth from day 2 and never had any problems washing out meconium or stains from it

Number 2 will be in in cloth from birth

PunkyPod · 13/12/2012 18:40

Oh zul you have cheered me up! Haha, I didn't used to mind nappy changes but this food poo is insane!! I live in hope for rolly poos.

As nanny has shown its whatever works for you really. But I am SO happy we went with cloth

Come to think of it maybe my DD just does really offensive poos!!

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