Where to start with cloth nappies

[GemmeFatale]

I’m only 15 weeks pregnant but starting to think about baby stuff and I’m considering giving cloth nappies a try.

Can anyone give me a good starting point? There are just so many options and it looks expensive to get wrong.

Following with interest although I'm only 6wks so not intending to buy for a while.

do you have a washing machine?
if so, no reason not to use cloth nappies!
my kids are all grown up now but I have used- disposables, all in one cloth nappies, a nappy washing service (2 part system, pre folds and outers) and terry nappies with outers
of all of those I would recommend old fashioned terry nappies with a seperate waterproof outer. Terries can be folded in different ways depending on the sex/ pooing style of the baby, and because you can unfold them they dry relatively quickly. If you live in the UK, drying nappies is more of an issue than washing them. If I was going to be regularly washing nappies, I think I'd buy a dehumidifier. I use one now to dry clothes and it's fab.

Totsbots Peenut nappies are great and on their website you can get a sample pack with a mix to try.

It is worth asking if your local council have any schemes to encourage cloth nappy usage such as discounts, etc.

Hi op. There may be a nappy library in your local area that will talk you through all your options and allow you to borrow different types of cloth nappies when the baby comes to try out rather than committing to a type that might not work for you. When it comes to buying the nappies, a lot of pple will sell their old nappies so worth keeping an eye on Facebook parent pages/groups for your local area or gumtree or eBay. Another good place to try is a local children’s cafe if there’s one near you - they might hold regular sessions about cloth nappies.

If you have a local nappy library, they can help www.uknappynetwork.org/find-a-library.html

I used cloth so my advice is:

for newborn just use disposable, you'll be tired, overwhelmed etc and newborn covers only last 3-4 weeks before outgrown.

After that you have two main options, nappy service or self wash. See what is available where you live. With most nappy services you buy covers, they drop off inserts weekly and a large bin to store dirty ones, it really didn't smell at all.

After 6 months I bought my own - 24 in my case and at one point I had two kids using them so I washed every other day! It was an investment t the time but not only did two kids use them but I sold them on for 60% of my total outlay including covers.

There's several systems available but I used prefold Egyptian cotton and separate wraps as opposed to all in one, quite a bit cheaper and you can wash super hot (the all in ones need a lower temperature because of the outer casing). Our council has nappy days to demonstrate options and give £50 vouchers to low income families to buy nappies - see what yours does.

At this point look into nappy libraries in your area, also the nappy lady website has lots of advice.

Best thing about nappy libraries is that you can try lots of styles - as nappies that should fit might not!

Other thoughts - if both you and DH are quite narrow hipped you might do better with sized nappies rather than birth to potty (BTP).

BTP start at about 10-12lbs.

Follow The Nappy Lady on FB. Loads of FB groups dedicated to this.

I started buying our cloth nappies quite early in the pregnancy because they can be pricey and I needed to spread out the cost. We went with the bambino Mio solos, on a recommendation and having read and watched lots of reviews on them. They are all in ones, the insert (the bit that absorbs all the wee) is attached to the nappy and slots inside the nappy through a slit in the back. You take it out before you wash. You can add extra boosters for heavy wetter or night time, you buy these seperate, and can be any brand. You can also choose to use flushable liners to catch solids, so you can just flush the nasty stuff away, but you don't NEED these. And we have a bucket with a lid to store them in once soiled. We will aim to wash every other day and we have approx 25. You'll also need a wet bag (we have a few) for when you're out and about. The Mio solos are supposedly suitable from birth but I have bought a big pack of newborn biodegradable nappies just in case!

I’d recommend either using a nappy library or buying cheap second hand (there’s loads of Facebook groups for selling them) and working out what suits you and your baby, then you can sell the ones that didn’t work out. My personal choice is motherease sandys (fitted terry nappies) with a wool wrap (more complicated to use than PUL wraps)

I’ve heard great things about close pop-ins, totsbots all in ones never worked for me but I love the peenut wraps. Grovia hybrids are brilliant.

If a baby is fully breastfed the nappies can go straight in the machine without having to have the poo scraped off, if they’re formula fed and once they’re weaning the poo goes down the loo before the nappy goes in the wash.

I tried and failed with reusable nappies. Washing them was easy, even the poo ones and I didn’t use liners. I used the ones with the insert, like the bambino milo solos but they just constantly leaked, sometimes it leaked as he was weeing . I think it was more to do with the shape of my baby as we do have problems with some brands of disposable.
I bought 14 nappies and wished I’d bought two of this type and two terries and a selection of other nappies to try. I am going to give them another go next spring now he’s older.

Ok, so I guess I’ll be going to the nappy library and buying a selection of second hand options! Thanks all

www.thenappylady.co.uk/advice-questionnaire.html
If you fill in this questionaire they can advise you the best type for your circumstances.

I'm interested too. There is a nappy library in my area which you can use for 6 weeks, so I was thinking of using disposables when newborn then trying that out. I'd like to know what the disadvantages of all in one type nappies are? Is it because they take longer to dry? DH is a bit squeamish about it so I think he'd get on better with AIOs.