just discovered cloth nappies.. need help!!

[BunInMyOven93]

Sorry if this is in the wrong topic! I didnt know where else to put it! Lol

so ive been browsing the net and come across cloth nappies. Lookin for help from ladies who have used/use them.

im pregnant with my first child -- due december and money is and will be tight. Ive read that cloth nappies save lots of money in the long run. Im just wondering are they useful? How do they work? Do u just wash after every use/every time they are wet and then use again? This seems a bit too much like hard work?? And are they suitable from birth? Im open to the idea of trying them just want some expert advice from u ladies!! :)

Hiya, congrats :)

We used cloth with ds from birth until he was 1yo. I wouldn't say it saved a lot of money tbh, once you've developed an obsession with pretties bought more than you need! We did it for environmental reasons really, and I think we saved around 2,000 nappies from landfill in that first year

You do wash them after each use - and with a newborn they'll be pooing for England anyway . I think if you're not used to disposables then using cloth from birth is just another learning curve like everything else with your first. Pretty straightforward, take nappy off, chuck in nappy bucket, wash when bucket full. You can buy bucket liners so you just chuck the whole bag in the machine - but believe me you'll get blasé about having poo on you anyway!

There's different types: sized or birth to potty (BTP). With BTP you may find they don't fit from birth very well. We had some ever so cute newborn sized bumgenius nappies. All in one, just like a sposie really. There's also the type with a nappy and wrap (a bit like old style terries, but a lot better these days). These are what we ended up using from 4mo or so, as they were a lot more poo and leak proof. Different types suit different babies.

Look into whether there's a nappy library or nappuccino near you - they usually rent trial packages so you can try different types. They're also great for advice. Tons of info on the Internet too. I recommend fill your pants and funky monkey pants for website shops :)

Hope that helps!

Thankyou thats helpful :)

wow, when you say you saved 2000 disposables from landfills thats actually a really good incentive to use them!

one really stupid question!!
When cloth nappy is full of poo, do you empty it and then chuck it in the wash? I know how stupid this makes me sound but isnt newborn poo a bit, ummm... sloppy? Haha!

Not stupid at all :) if its breastfed poo then you can wash as is - and yes, very sloppy! Not sure about formula poo - if it's more solid (?) then it's easy enough to flush down the loo. That's what we do with ds's now, even in sposies, as saves the bin stinking :)

You can get liners to put in the nappy so not too much actual poo gets on them.

You can also usually get a voucher from your council to buy a few (Islington did £56 voucher - which bought a starter kit)

To be honest, i think it depends on your baby and the time of year. DS hardly ever pooed when tiny (seriously he once went 10 days without!) but on the other hand he was a winter baby and we lived in a tiny flat at the time.

Oh cool il have a look online and see whether my council offers anything! :) found a few local napoy groups on facebook too. I plan on breastfeeding as long as possible so thats good to know! I can always try them and if they're not for us then switch to disposable I suppose. But what you said about the landfills has stuck in my head and id like to be green!!! Haha x

I've been thinking about reusables too...would be interesting to get a comparison from someone who used disposables on one new born and reusables on their next.

I definitely need more info! What happens with a reusable if you do a nappy change while out??

Bring a bag to pop used nappy in and take home with you - easy!

I used disposables for my first 3 DC, then also for my now 2 year old DD until she was about 18 months old, then switched to cloth as I am pregnant and wanted them for my newborn. I'd have used them from birth with DD if I hadn't found them so daunting.

I'm going to use disposables for the first couple of weeks, particularly in the hospital, then switch to cloth. They are slightly more hassle than disposables, but not much and it's much easier than I thought to organise/wash them. Plus, I think it will save us around £1000 from birth to potty for the baby.

We use a two part system, where you have the cloth nappy and then a waterproof liner over the top. I prefer these to disposables performance wise as they just don't leak, whereas disposables often meant if we had an explosive poo it got all over DD's clothes/pyjamas.

The Nappy Lady site is good for explanations of all the different nappy types and you can fill out a questionnaire about what's important to you and what your preferences are too and she'll suggest some nappies to try.

If you're out, you just pop the cloth nappy in a 'wet bag' and take it home with you. I always just remove the liner/poo first, then pop it in the bag.

Oh, when the two, disposables and cloth, are compared, I would say the performance of cloth, especially where leaks are concerned, outweighs any slight inconvenience by miles!

Even the poo in disposable nappies needs to be flushed down the toilet!

Try clothnappy.info for reviews and guides on starting out with cloth :)

Good tip on the Nappy Lady site...I'll definitely be having a look. We'd like to continue saving for a house after the little one has arrived so any cash saved will be a massive help.

Seff, I don't know a single person who uses disposables (namely everyone I know really!) who flushes the poo down the toilet...

Marking my place

There's also no reason why you can't mix - I did that with DS1 in summer.

I work in nurseries and all children wear disposables and we dont have to flush down the toilet lol. Just bang it straight in outside bin :(

Thanks for the nappy lady tip. Im definately goin to try cloth nappies. Maybe after first couole of weeks of DD being born! :) ooooh exciting stuff haha!

My best is advice is to buy 2nd hand to find out what suits your baby and what you like and start up with something very reliable which is usually a 2 part system.

Have a look at tiny nippers, they are incredibly cheap and work brilliantly. We use a mix of cloth and disposables depending on situation, I'm not organised enough to keep on top of my washing as it is without using cloth full-time

I second buying preloved (nicer than saying used for nappies!). eBay is pretty good for this, as is clothnappytree

We flush poo down the loo from sposies only since its been solid though

Personally, I would try to use cloth as soon as you can, otherwise you get used to one way with disposables and it can seem a lot harder to switch...
We used sposies in hospital with ds for two days, then dh made sure we got straight onto the cloth when we were home I couldn't have given two hoots what we used at that point, feeling as I was like I'd been hit by a bus

When we were in full time cloth I did a wash every three days. We only use them at night now and I do a wash about once a week. If you only buy around 10-12 then you could wash every other day and be fine. Buying pretty nappies is addictive though - you have been warned!

DD is 3 weeks tomorrow and I'm starting to use cloth at home from tomorrow then out and about/overnight once I have confidence about containment. I splashed out on some new bumgenius elemental and will hire some other bits before buying preloved if I need anything else.

If you buy preloved and don't get on with it you can sell on again and recoup your initial outlay anyway?
Good luck

We used cloth for my twins from when they were 8 weeks old. I wanted to get to grips with having two newborns before tackling cloth nappies.

I have 44 nappies in total and this is plenty for both of them. We have a selection from Totsbots, Bumgenius, Little Lambs and Kushies. I wash nappies every 2/3rd day.

I bought the following things to kit us out...(for 2 babies)
2 nappy buckets
2 bucket liners
Soapnuts
Tea tree oil

Our council gave us £50 per baby which really helped to start us off. I also used reusable wipes which also saves money and is kinder on their bums (and to the environment). I just wash them with the cloth nappies.

Ebay is another good place to look for bargains.

I am selling 20 Little Lambs (birth to approx 9 months) if you are interested :)

you can use a disposable nappy sack like you would do if you used a disposable nappy or you can buy wetbags that can be washed. Drawstring ones are usually cheaper but zipped ones keep all the smells in and you can sort it out at home.
I used disposables on my first child 'til 6 months, then switched to day time cloth and have used cloth on baby 2 and 3 full time.
You can definitely save money and you will definitely reduce your household waste. Our council switched to fortnightly collections when my child was 6 months old and that was my biggest incentive to try cloth as 2 weeks worth of disposable nappies stink!
Our council gives a free trial pack but some others offer a cash back scheme. This list appears to be quite up to date
There is a MN section for nappies which is used mostly by cloth nappy users www.mumsnet.com/Talk/nappies_potty_training_etc

Grrrr just checked my council they dont offer anything! I'll deffo get a starter kit! I hope to god they dont do animal print ones or else I'll spend a bloody fortune!!!! Lol!

Animal print - including cow print it looked so cute too.

Yes, I'm afraid most councils cut that particular perk some time back. We didn't get anything with ds a couple of years ago. Real Nappy Week is in April (I think) and most websites have deals that week - can you wait that long?!

Keep an eye on the various nappy companies' websites for cheap offers too- we got 24 size 1 and 24 size 2 Little Lambs 2- part nappies for under £100 direct from their website. Reason for cheap price: they had changed label style! . That's enough nappies to last from birth to (in our case) 22 months, with nappy washes twice a week, so even allowing for the cost of washing (about 60p a wash?) we have saved a fortune!

And I second what someone upthread said about performance: our DS has gut problems and the reuseable nappies far outperform disposables in terms of containment and reliability.

We are temporarily using disposables as he's grown out of the LLs and we're dithering over what to buy next- the cost of the disposables is horrendous!

I think you need to "like " the LIttle Lambs site on Facebook now to get their best mega-cheap offers, and since I loathe Facebook I refuse to do this and don't know what's on offer at the mo.

kernow little lambs do a size 3 :) I'm about to get some for ds.