Reusable nappies and when to start

[FlapJackered]

I would like to use reusable nappies with my baby (due October).

I have heard a lot of people don't use them until 3 months old.
What do people think - should they be used from birth or is it better to start with disposables and then move onto reusables a bit later?

If you waited and used disposables first, how long did you wait before switching to the reusables?
It is such a minefield of conflicting information on google!
Thanks!

It's entirely up to you 🙂 a lot of people start around 2 or 3 months just because 'birth to potty' sizes don't actually fit from birth (unless your baby is very big!) so it seems easier to wait. We started at about 8 weeks with our first. Now due my second in October and I'm building a stash of newborn because I can't imagine using disposables again.

The other reason people often wait is that it can adjustment be harder to fit them on newborns as they've got skinny legs and go through so many that it can seem overwhelming as a new parent. I've been using them for over 2 years so am confident I know enough little tricks to deal with any leaks, but I know it can seem intimidating to start with!

Most of the birth - toddler reusable nappies actually don't fit that well until ~10lb/3 months. This is why some people don't start till 3 months also it allows you to settle into life with a newborn without worrying about extra washing.

I'm due in August and am hoping to cloth from birth. Under 3 months the nappy lady recommended to me using muslin squares and a nappy wrap - you can also get prefolded squares but the fold was quite simple when I tried the other day so I will probably stack them folded. You fold the muslin around babies bum, hold in place with a nappy nipper (newer alternative to pins! Then put a wrap on, the wrap can be reused throughout the day provide there is no leakage. At a minimum you need a new wrap in the morning and evening. I have 24 muslin cloths and am aiming for 5-6 wraps.

I also plan on getting an emergency pack of disposables just in case my thought being if washing gets on top of me I can use the odd disposable and if things really get on top of me even using reusables part time is an improvement.
The initial outlay for the muslin/wrap combination isn't huge either ~£35 on muslin clothes and £50-60 on wraps. The muslins can be reused and there is a reasonable second hand market for wraps of things really don't work out

Oh for information there's a few places I'd recommend - the babipur hangout on FB, the nappy gurus, and honest to cloth if you're on Instagram. Stay away from too much googling, there's so much unhelpful info out there!

Do people recommend waiting until the baby is born before investing in reusable nappies? Maybe use disposable for a month and then see what will suit them?

We started about 10 weeks with both of ours. For fit reasons and also because both my babies shat every time they fed (which was a lot!) until about then. I wouldn’t have had enough nappies!
It’s probably worth checking if you have a local nappy library. You can hire kits to try & get great advice about using cloth.
Congratulations & good luck!

@Hatscats I definitely recommend not buying an entire collection of one type of nappy - lots of people will swear by one kind but all babies are different shapes and sizes so you can't guarantee what will suit! I'd get a couple of two or three different brands and see what works for you. There's loads of second hand pages so you can sell on what you don't like.

We used Muslins with wraps from birth. He fitted in his BTP nappies from a month old (he was almost 9lbs at birth so 10lbs by then). It helped get us into a good routine and didn’t really cost us any extra as we still use the Muslins for all sorts of things, including stuffing pocket nappies.

i used from birth with my first; i got some super cute all-in-one bambooty newborn size because i knew i would never start otherwise! i also knew i wanted more than 1 baby so i would be able to use for the next, or sell on if not. i quickly became addicted to cloth, even before she was born!

I’m currently pregnant with DC5. I didn’t start using them till DC1 was 11 months old, I wanted to use them from the beginning but this was a little over a decade ago and I couldn’t find anywhere near as much help online as is available now.

I used them from birth with the next three and will be doing the same this time. You can either buy newborn sized reusables then sell them back on when they’ve outgrown them or you can buy a two part system. Check out the nappy lady for help.

I used disposable till baby was about 2 months. To be honest as a FTM using reusable nappies seemed like extra stress etc to get my head around whilst coping with everything else. I also couldn't afford to buy the smaller/newborn versions and was a bit overwhelmed by all the advice out there. Once we were a bit settled, I started by buying a couple of different sorts of nappies and trying them - didn't want to buy a full set of a certain sort and not like them. Once I found some I liked, I bought more. I sometimes still get out of sync with the washing routine and end up having to use the odd disposable to bridge the gap. I'd try not to put too much pressure on yourself and build it up slowly.

@BadAlice that's my plan to use muslins from newborn and then terries when baby is a bit bigger, can I ask if you found the absorbancy with the muslins worked ok?

First baby? Keep it simple. Get some naty ones or beaming baby until baby is big enough for the birth to potty.

With DC1 we started on a cloth bum at 3 months. We will do the same with the next baby although DC1 is 29 months and still in cloth. Reasons are as mentioned above, fit can be tricky, not prepared to buy tiny nappies for a couple of months only, there is so much to adjust to with a new baby, establishing breast feeding took up lots of our time, and newborn poo is just awful! We got lots of different brands 2nd hand and found some worked well on his body shape and some didn't. Do you have a nappy library near you that you can use to try out different options? Congratulations on baby

Thanks everyone, you have been really helpful. I think I might just see how I go and start with disposables right at the beginning and then take it from there.
I did hear about nappy libraries, but not sure if these will be back up and running by October?

@WutheringShites86 We ended up folding little lamb boosters into them after a couple of weeks as he did start doing the occasional massive wee. I think they are fine as long as you keep on top of regular changes!

@BadAlice that's great, I already have some boosters and liners so that's good to know. Thanks!