Reusable nappies!

[Darksideofthemoon88]

Didn't know quite where to post this, but hopefully someone here will know the answer...

DP and I would really like to use reusable nappies rather than disposables, but there seems to be a huge range out there and I don't know what will work best! Can anyone give some recommendations? Ideally, I like the sound of the 'expandable' ones with poppers that are supposed to increase in size as your baby does - but please tell me if this is a bad idea!

Thanks in advance

We've used cloth with ds, 2.7, since birth and found it easier to just get on with it straight off. He weed for Britain so we quickly ended up using boring one size shaped Terry nappies and motherease airflow wraps (poppers) during the day and the brilliant little lamb bamboo fitted with same wraps at night.

Recently we've gone back to using our pocket nappies, rumparooz and love them for their double gusset containing properties and funky patterns. Have also bought a Charlie banana to try on next one as have heard great things about them.

For washing we use ecoballs (so no powder or liquid) and these work fine. Good sites are fill your pants and funky monkey pants :)

You want pharmaceutical grade anhydrous lanolin if you're looking on ebay/amazon etc look for Woolly Bum Mums on farcebook, lovely group.

I have some lovely Wee Notions wraps, looking forward to flashing my fluff now we've got some warmer weather! Went to the park in wool shorties and just a tee shirt and card earlier he's got nappy rash from teething so I'm trying to get some air down there but reluctant to let him loose on my carpet

I am thinking of using reusables as well. Probably not newborn but not long after. It all seems very complicated, but it just takes some research. Visit multiple sites that explain the different systems, until you find one that clicks.

Also, apparently it depends on the baby which ones are best, so I guess it would be best to do a trial after its born and then buy the ones you like best? Or get a few of each, second hand? I read there's a good group on facebook, but I haven't visited myself. This thread tells you some places to get them, including that facebook group.

We went into cloth at 5 days - I tried before but they rubbed his cord stump. Meconium only lasts for a couple of days iirc.

TBH I've heard a lot of people say the washing puts them off. What puts me off disposables is having to haul a fractious new born round the supermarket, stare at all the different brands trying to decide which ones I need, load up the car, lug the whole lot upstairs to the flat including said fractious baby then find somewhere to store both the huge boxes and the stinky used ones. Much easier to get OH to bung a bin full in the wash every few days IME!

PS ds has never been good at supermarkets, even now I can bribe him with gingerbread men

We've got itti bitti tuttos for our LO, birth to potty one size. Super soft, bamboo inserts and ok need for a waterproof outer :-) plus gorgeous range of colours!

Reusables from birth both times - to potty at 3.5 with DD but DS defeated me at 2.5 and has been in sposies/naked since. Pees like a horse. Ridiculous.

Anyway, we used a combination of flat terries and motherease wraps, super cheap and easy to wash and very very absorbent. We also really likes motherease sandys, particularly on newborns. With DS, who had a grumpy stump, I folded gauze over it and then put the nappy on. Seemed to help, and I probably would have done the same with a disposable.

I have always used sposies when going out though, unless I knew I would only be out a short while. I think it's one of the reasons we found cloth so easy - we set our limits and don't worry about being totally in cloth all the time. We still saved a fortune and a lot of landfill!

I second the people who say wait until you're a few weeks in to start, or you may just find it all too overwhelming. I know quite a few people who tried from day one and it was just too much and then never really used them. I meant to start at 6 weeks but actually started at 3 months; that was a good time for me when I felt all sorted and settled with baby care otherwise, and it was fun and I loved my day glo nappies (I just bought super-cheap ebay ones and extra bamboo inserts for them)

I used them most of the time until a year (never at night) and I admit we have been in disposables since - still saved a lot of money and environment and I have them ready for number two.

anybody using littlelamb bamboo? i have one but can't figure out what the difference is between the white and cream inserts. which one goes near the skin? which is the booster?

i'm sure the guy that's coming round to set me up for the trial will know but looking for a heads up if you've got it.

We've used little lamb neverGoogle. Do you mean the white fleecy liner and the cream booster, tho same material as the nappy? The fleecy one goes next to skin as it keeps their bottom nice and dry :)
Had second baby yesterday and after a meconium explosion in her lovely newborn bumgenius, we're using disposables for a couple days first. Forgot how much they smell though!

yes the white fleecy. so that's the liner that goes next to baby's skin. the cream booster is that optional and also the one that you can double up on if you need?

DS3 is nearly 3 weeks old. desperate to get out of disposables but waiting for my trial pack from the council to arrive. hopefully next week.

The booster is optional, tbh I'd completely forgotten it was separate in the small size - it's attached in the other ones. I'd stick it in and see how wet the nappy is afterwards. At three weeks though I'd have thought you'll be changing way before a bamboo nappy could get soaked. Size 3s do ds for 12hrs!

Congratulations Misty

Fleece blankets make good liners, just hack one into relevant shapes. No sewing.

Also, as you're washing dirty nappies anyway, think about reusable wipes. There are some fab kits, or I have a load of poundshop baby flannels which I soak in boiling water with teatree oil then store in plastic sandwich bags then they go in the nappy wash with everything else.

Be careful what barrier cream you get - sudocrem and bepanthan both clog fibres so use metanium, coconut oil or something like Waitrose Bottom Butter which is solid olive oil flavoured with vanilla

Hi,

just a quick note on second hand. I got some and was disappointed to find that they had been washed wrong so were not as waterproof and were quite rough so my bb doesn't like them much.

I have about 15 all in ones now and find I can wash and air dry fast enough even though he will only tolerate them for 2hrs. I built up most of my stock slowly as I spotted them on sale. I like my totsbots though the mios are seem to be bigger so might be better for bigger babies? I'm not a fan of the bum genius but it might be better as he gets older. I would have some disposables on hand as I couldn't use all in ones until mine was 2 months old as he was too small.

That's a bummer spinner I got almost all of mine preloved and they've been fab although you can tumble dry for 10 minutes on low to soften up bamboo and hemp, it's pretty normal for them to get rough after a few washes especially in hard water.

V3 easyfits do us barely an hour with nothing in, so I fold a hemp booster in half lengthways and pop it under the "line of fire" as it were. They do 3-4 now, and I have a baby who wakes at night for a nappy change because he won't tolerate being wet let alone dirty! V2s need a bamboo and do the same amount of time, miosolos with mioboost will do 5 but I don't normally let it go that long because I'm a hippy parent with a Gina Ford baby so change at certain proscribed points of the day I haven't tried BG.

I have a stupidly large stash, and use different nappies for different things. If he's got a rash I've got a couple of days worth of cotton Kushies. They're cheap and very basic, and prone to compression wicking if not boosted enough or changed regularly, but the leg elastic is pretty loose so they allow a bit of air in. I've got 15 "easies" ie easyfits and miosolos which are our regular nappies and I count my 3 pockets (fluffy yellow dudeybaba, Cat In The Hat and James the Green Engine WAHMs) as easies too. They go to see the health visitor, or my parents, and are good for dp who had a stroke last year and still has a few troubles with fine motor on the affected side.

Then there's the cotton fitteds I use under woollies when the teething gets really bad. I don't quite have enough for 2 days though so it's a bit intermittent on those I'm too lazy to fold prefolds properly and the bamboo fitteds for night time.

I also have 30 or so prefolds and a vast array of boosters and inserts of various materials. I've used them all at various points of our nappy journey. Watch out on the preloved facebook pages - often people are getting rid of bundles really cheaply and it's definitely worth having a few different things to try rather than going "Oh that £10 nappy didn't work, I'll buy a new type"

FWIW, miosolos and easyfits are about the same price on 3 for 2 as EUC preloved ones although you don't get the range of prints. So keep an eye on store promotions. I used some of ds's birth present vouchers on nappies, and no-one thought badly of it - quite the opposite in fact

Hi. Spoke to one of my friends I thought bought 2nd hand. Apparently I was wrong, however a useful hint she gave was to see if there is a nappy library in your town. Ours has one, and she was able to borrow and try a variety of brands to see which suited her best before investing in them. They also sell new and used ones, though she got hers from the nappy lady in the end.

Will consult the other friend who I know DID get hers 2nd hand, but second the person who said if they have been washed incorrectly they may not be that good. And also to check any velcro fastners are still in good condition.

Some local authorities have nappy loan kits you can borrow for free to try different types. Obviously after baby is here. Or google "nappy library".

Thanks very much for all your help and advice . Sounds as though the best thing to do is get a variety cheaply and see what suits me and baby. Would you mind telling me which ONE type/brand you'd recommend above all others?

just as an aside, I saw a "reusable nappy starter kit" in Tesco on offer in their baby section, down to 17.99....! But I can't find it on their website :(

For nights, any bamboo fitted plus wrap of your choice - fleece, wool or PUL. After a couple of months babies tend to stop pooing so the "hassle" of using a more complicated nappy is outweighed by having to do fewer changes. Real Nappy Week is coming up soon so all the companies will be doing discounts etc

I like Totsbots Easyfits (Tesco and Boots) and Miosolos (Sainsurys and Kiddicare) for daytime. They need boosters but are very simple to put on, and you just shove everything into the pocket so 10 minutes of stuffing once they're dry and it's no different to using a disposable. Realeasy by Hip Hip Baby are sized AIOs and only about £6 - they were amazing when ds was little but I never got round to getting any bigger ones when he outgrew the Small size.

It does depend on the shape of your baby. Loads of people use Ebay cheapies; I liked them very much, especially all the patterns, but ds spent a couple on weeks wearing them then a couple of weeks between poppers so they leaked a bit round the legs so I sold them to buy velcro ones!

Great posts above! Something my friend used and I wish I'd heard about earlier were the cloth nappy services, which will give you cloth nappies from newborn and pick up and replace 2-3 times a week for a fairly reasonable amount.

With DS1 we used cloth from birth but then with DD waited until 6 weeks, as I just couldn't face the nappy washing routine on top of managing a toddler and newborn! DS2 has only been in disposables, as we have no drier and terrible heating, and our house was entirely draped in wet nappies and children's clothes. But I did love using them, the all in ones are brilliant and they look so cute too We liked bumgenius, only ever had a couple of leaks and minimal nappy rash - and still got some money back from selling them at the end!

We had a trial kit with different nappies which was very helpful from the council. I think I ended up with about 24-30 Motherease onesize (two children in nappies at the same time). What made it manageable was -

dry-pail - ie just stuck in bucket with lid, then into washing machine.
used a disposable liner over a fleece liner then the nappy - so poo mostly got flushed away
had a ceiling airer so they dried quite quickly - usually overnight - if couldn't peg outside
No nursery to worry about and DH fully on board so everyone was using the "system".
I had "resuable wipes" too - i.e. about 20 cheap face flannels from Ikea.

DS2 went through a phase of incredible night wetting, I gave up and used disposables overnight for that. But basically it worked OK for us.

Also bear in mind you will do thousands of nappy changes, whatever system appears complicated at first you will soon be an expert in folding, nipping, flicking etc!

Raising my dp had a stroke when ds was 5 weeks old and finds reusables (velcro ones) much easier because you get multiple attempts at doing them up

Are disposable liners always flushable?

No - you need to check the label! TBH ds's poos are generally of the roll-off variety so I bin the liner and flush the poo, but it's handy to know that it'll degrade if we get a messy teething one :o

It's a bit like flushing baby wipes IMO - the occasional one probably won't do too much harm but I wouldn't like to risk it daily.

Yes me either, wouldn't risk my geriatric pipes by flushing anything I don't have to, especially when its biodegradable.