Real Nappies (Merged Discussion Thread)

georgeyoggy

Hello all
Hoping I'm posting this in the right place I use terry squares for my little ones bottom with nature babies wraps, however latley the wraps have been leaking......infact all the front of the wrap leaks....I'm having to change the wrap with every terry at the mo. Night time is awful..I have to change him during the night or hes soaked ( unless hes sleeping in his minki! Thats always been reliable )
My question is..can I get something to re-waterproof the wraps? I'd rather not buy new ones as apart from the leaking they look brand new!!
Thanks for reading

tigerfeet2006

What type of wrap are they? How do you wash them?

A great place for advice is http://www.washabums.co.uk/

(mods if this link isn't allowed please remove it )

Mamabear

Never had to try this myself, but the general advice on the parenting forums is to use a little fabric conditioner on the wraps to 'reproof'.

I assume you've checked that the terry is well tucked in and not wicking...

Good luck for dry nights

snow_flake01

You could also try using a booster pad at night if you aren't already - this might help stop the wetness leaking through to the wrap as fast. Think my mother used to out me in 2 terries at night to stop leaks!
Hope this helps.

Madmel

I am a nappy advisor and unfortunately Nature babies wraps are well known for wicking. Your Minki is fine, so it sounds like you know what you are doing regarding boosting the nappy etc.

My advice to people is always to get the best quality wraps they can afford - no point in having a fab nappy if you cover it in a dreadful wrap. IMO, Motherease Airflow or OneLife wraps are brilliant over terry squares. if you want something a little more snug, a Motherease Rikki is what I recommend.

Agree with the PP about washabums. The lady who runs it is a friend and there is some great advice, and also a buy/sell forum where you might well be able to get a better wrap at a good price. Good luck with it!

jessanna

georgeyoggy wrote:

Hello all
Hoping I'm posting this in the right place I use terry squares for my little ones bottom with nature babies wraps, however latley the wraps have been leaking......infact all the front of the wrap leaks....I'm having to change the wrap with every terry at the mo. Night time is awful..I have to change him during the night or hes soaked ( unless hes sleeping in his minki! Thats always been reliable )
My question is..can I get something to re-waterproof the wraps? I'd rather not buy new ones as apart from the leaking they look brand new!!
Thanks for reading

Yep, I'd agree, in my opinion the motherease airflow wraps are excellent. They don't wick and they give a really good fit over shaped nappies and terry squares.

superdog_3

I have used the same motherease wraps for BOTH my children and they are still waterproof. How about trying to get some motherease second hand through ebay or the Womens environmental network?

jessanna

I've been using real nappies for 3 years now and I can't sing their praises enough. Despite using disposables on an older child, I would never be tempted to go back to them. As long as you get the right brand (this is very important), real nappies leak considerably less than disposables, they are very absorbent and won't need changing any more often than a disposable, they are soft and comfy and they save you money. On top of all this you really feel like you're doing the right thing for the environment.

I made a few mistakes with brands in the early days so it's really worth getting someone's advice on which brand to go for. Try https://www.lizziesrealnappies.org.uk - they give really good personalised advice.

It's worth contacting your local council as well - several now offer incentive schemes to encourage us to use real nappies - cashback, trial packs etc.

arkonite_babe

Hi all

As we had aquite a few nappy discussions, I've merged them all here for ease of discussion.

thanks!

ab

lynneinjapan

lynneinjapan wrote:

I'm expecting my first baby in August and, although I recognise that it's probably not realistic for me to expect to do it 100% (especially as I'm planning on returning to work after 7-8 months), I hope to try this at least on a part-time basis. I want to use reusable nappies anyway so what have I got to lose? Accidents will only mean washing clothes (which would probably need washing within hours anyway) instead of full-time nappies.

Well, my baby is now six weeks old and I have to admit that I haven't been doing much in the way of EC so far! The trouble is, she doesn't seem to give any warning whatsoever when she's about to "go", regardless of whether it's a pee or a poo. The first I know of her having a poo is when her bottom end suddenly goes "thrrrrrrrrp" (she's breastfed so her poos are quite explosive) - which often happens just as she's beginning to stir from sleep, and occasionally mid-feed, neither of which is a good time to drop everything and plonk her on a potty! As for a pee, I have no way of knowing until I check her nappy.

I have, however, started trying to establish a sound cue to encourage her to go at the "right" times. During a nappy change I usually put a muslin under her bottom and let her kick for a couple of minutes with her nappy off, and if I catch her peeing then I go "pssss". (If she poos then I'm usually too busy jumping out of the way to bother with sounds! On one occasion she pooed while I was cleaning her and it squirted all down my front and 4ft across the room, all down the wall and over the carpet! We now keep a vinyl apron in the nursery.) And when I'm changing her nappy I've been loosening the nappy and making the cue noise in the hope that bowel & bladder will both be emptied fully BEFORE the nappy change rather than immediately after. Today, for the first time, I did actually sit her on the potty for a minute or so while I gave the cue, but she just looked at me quizzically. I'll keep trying, but probably only a couple of times a day. It can't do any harm!

BTW, she is in reusable nappies most of the time - a mixture of different types, including traditional folded terry squares that my mum used for me and my three sisters in the 70s and early 80s. Have had to revert to disposables today, though, as all my reusables were in the wash. I'm building up the collection though, so this shouldn't happen too often. Unfortunately my husband isn't keen on using washables, and will put a disposable on her unless I specifically tell him which one to use!

I'm currently using flushable liners, and washing & reusing any that haven't been pooed on (which seldom happens, as she poos at least 5 or 6 times a day). For wipes I bought 5 cheap cotton facecloths and cut each one into 4, stitching round the raw edges to prevent fraying. I've taken advantage of the local council's nappy library service and have found, unexpectedly, that I actually like fleece liners & wipes, so I'm going to buy a metre of fleece when I get a chance, and cut it up for that purpose.

Found another discussion on the topic of EC here: http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=1800&threadid=122309&stamp=061007231819