Reusable/washable/cloth nappies

Madmel

Bambino Mio used to be terrible until they sorted out their wraps a few years ago. That said, I loathe companies who try to get gullible parents-to-be to part with a lot of cash for a birth to potty system which might not suit them which IMO is what they and their agents can do.

I sold nappies as an Advisor for a well-known UK company for several years until about 18 months ago. I did not sell one single set of Bambino Mio prefolds. Yes, I sold packs as boosters for other nappy systems and I sold their wraps sometimes as alternatives for people who did not want plain white/cream wraps. I also offered a hire kit where people paid a deposit then tried a range of different nappies for a week. Nobody ever rated the Bambino Mios.

If your friend wants to use prefolds, I would suggest she uses a close fitting gusseted wrap like the Motherease Rikki (which washes at 60 degrees unlike the BM). Alternatively, she could try a pocket or stuffable nappy like a Fuzzi Bunz and put the prefolds into them. Something we used and loved were Weenees. They now come as pouch pants but my kids are too old to have used them. The prefolds work well in them.

If I was starting out again (dreams for a minute then snaps back to reality) I would use small terries for the first few weeks as I love them. Then I would switch to a shaped nappy. My sister is pg and I have given her my remaining stock of OneLife, Tots Bots and Nappy Nation plus wraps. I can't be bothered with hassle, so am confident that she'll get on fine with these.

Hope this helps

peachespeaches

I used bambino mio without problems until our little girl was able to sit unaided. Then cos she was moving about so much I found a shaped nappy better, I was also given extra mios from someone else who had used them successfully with her daughter. Thing is, some babies are heavier wetters than others. Some have fat thighs, some thin so its horses for courses. If you get the wrap right, prefolds (which is what bambino mios are) are fine, but when the baby gets older and wets more, you may need to swap to another kind.OR you can boost them.

Have a look on the babyworld forum, they have a nappy forum with lots of helpful advice from people using reusable nappies. Also google 'diaper hyena' as it tells you how to do different folds with prefold nappies (like bambino mio). I found this particularly helpful.

apsie

Not sure if I'm putting this in the right place, but Waitrose have reduced all their Motherease Airflow wraps to £6 from £8.50. The cheapest I've found these before now is £7.25, so it's a huge bargain. And IMHO these are by far the best nappy wraps.:D

Mellika

Can I ask - has anyone had any problems with clothes?

I've read that regular sizes may be too small when you're using washable nappies, so I wondered what your experiences have been?

It may sound silly, but I'm quite worried about this!

Sarahsaver

Babygrows are fine in my experience, also Next clothing seems to be made for wider kids;)
I think if the nappy is that HUGE there is something wrong with the nappy.

I have a question I am mulling over. Do I take reusables into hospital with me when i have babysaver (like I did with all my other 3 kids) or take dispicables just for that day or two? (as being in hospital they would get incinerated) Will they let me use washables there? Obviously i don't expect them to wash them for me but hubby would take the dirty ones home.

LilMissEmmylou

sarah each hospital will have their own rules with this so just ask Ours rathered i didnt bring them in to use there, but said i could if i really wanted to. i think they where afraid it would smell or something. In the end i just used some free huggies id got in the hospital and into cloth once we got home

re clothes, just buy 1 size up on trousers if u need to

Js_Other_Half

DS is only 25th centile for weight and height, so his age sized trousers went over the motherease nappy and insert with no problems.
Poppered vests get a bit tight near the end of their age limit (eg 18 months) but I just use these then:
http://www.babykind.co.uk/vestextenders.htm

Mellika

Thank you for your replies. One little thing I was wondering about buying one size up - obviously this would fit better around the nappy area, but would the rest look weird?

I know I'm focusing too much on looks, but I have very critical in-laws who are already ripping me apart for wanting to use cloth nappies, so the least I can do is have my babies look "normal" !!

(BTW, I'm not even pregnant, we're thinking of starting next year and I just tend to start my research with plenty of time to spare...)

LilMissEmmylou

lol mellika, ive never had a problem. Its fairly easy to just turn the ends of trousers up (my DD has the fortune of being short care of me only being 5ft so would have needed to do it anyway). Failing buying a size up you can buy clothes made for cloth bottoms from places like cut4cloth, or if you have a girl, lots of dresses and skirts, stretchy legings, for a boy stretchy baby leggings and tracksuit bottoms etc work great

Floxxie

You can extenders for babygros that allow the baby to wear the correct size but allow for the bigger nappy.

The lady that provided advice to me said that it is best using disposables when a baby is first born and then moving onto reusables. you can get disposables that do break up but they are more expensive.

I am on my third baby and only made the change over when my third was 12 weeks old. I wish I had done it a lot sooner but had terrible images about using real nappies. My local council also give you cashback when you change over - £30 per child so it helped towards the initial price.

For info I am using Bum Genius - I love the look and ease of the nappies and the fact that I can throw everything into my normal wash. The site I used to help me through was http://www.softbots.co.uk - the lady who runs it has just had her 4th child and has tried out everything. Think she might even sell the extenders on there.

Floxxie