Washable Nappies

onlyroz

I used them with my son - and I found them to be leaky, and once he started crawling I thought that they constricted his movement.

babyboysmommy

I've been offered some by friends so even more money saving I spent quite a bit of time reading all the info on the nappy lady web site, really interesting & I feel a bit more prepared now.

building_with_lego

onlyroz wrote: »

I used them with my son - and I found them to be leaky, and once he started crawling I thought that they constricted his movement.

It's likely that the wrap was the wrong shape for him then. DD has always been long and thin and the first wraps we used leaked. Once we'd got some different ones we were rocking and never looked back. DS, chunky little bean that he was, fitted different wraps than she had.

A friend's husband wondered whether bigger nappies would interfere with movement. Both of mine crawled before 6 months and walked before 10 months. I have read than there have been more babies with hip displacement problems during the last 20 years or so, since disposable nappies have been available, as the cloth nappies held the legs further apart and hence the hip ball further into the socket.

babyboysmommy

Some more questions if that's OK

For those who don't soak the nappies...
do you run them through a rinse cycle before washing them?
What temperature do you wash at?
What laundry detergent do you use?

Does anyone use washable wipes? That looks like another area where big savings could be made.

Gingham_Ribbon

babyboysmommy wrote: »

Some more questions if that's OK

For those who don't soak the nappies...
do you run them through a rinse cycle before washing them?
What temperature do you wash at?
What laundry detergent do you use?

Does anyone use washable wipes? That looks like another area where big savings could be made.

I didn't soak mine.

I used the prewash, washed at 60 most of the time and 90 occasionally. I used ordinary powder in the main drawer and some napisan in the prewash and main wash.

Don't use conditioner as it stops them from absorbing liquid quickly. They get a bit 'hard' drying on the radiator so either peg them outside or on the radiator but give them a quick whizz in a tumble dryer to soften them up again.

I used washable wipes. They were just old bits of cloth and soft flannel. But to be honest, I found cotton wool softer and better on their bums, then later ordinary baby-wipes.

Fleecy liners are great and can be put in with the rest of the wash. You can wash bathtowels and bedding with the nappies so there's always a full load.

You may find they aren't enough at night. I used a disposable at night with our second.

gizmodo_2

babyboysmommy wrote: »

Some more questions if that's OK

For those who don't soak the nappies...
do you run them through a rinse cycle before washing them?
What temperature do you wash at?
What laundry detergent do you use?

Does anyone use washable wipes? That looks like another area where big savings could be made.

From memory because I'm in to much pain to hobble upstairs, my bumgenius nappy has the following wash instructions:
Pre wash cold
Wash at 60 degrees
Then do 2 rinses.

Seems like a lot of work to me but I suppose that's the recommendation to keep absorbancy tip top.

I'm sure I was told by a cloth nappy professional that you could wash nappies at 40 degrees happily if there's no poo.

Just use detergent, oh yeah the bumgenius nappy had "use a QUARTER" of what you normally use. The double rinse is to make sure all the detergent is out.

I'm using non-bio to start with (stocked up with persil because it was on offer, but will get whatever is cheap). Also got soap nuts to try out.

Don't use softener or any stain removers or anything. In the summer I read to hang them outside and the sun helps bleach them (if you have white).

I'm definitely using washable wipes.

I'm probably going to get the 40 wipes from nappy lady at £22. Then just throw them in the nappy bucket and wash with nappies. And a cheap tupperware box to store them in, and a smaller box to take some out and about. Again when out and about, you can put the used ones in the wet nappy bag.

I did look at the cheekywipes bundle, but I thought a lot of it was unecessary and I could get more for my money buying seperately.

Later on I might get some essential oils. But for now will be just be using water.

bexta

Hi, our nappies go on a 40 degree wash. I use Fairy non-bio at the moment cos I got a whopping big box on special offer, which will last us for a good few more months. They are nicer if you can dry them outside (it also bleaches out any poo stains), but they've been fine over the radiatior/ clothes airer for now.

In terms of constricting movement, I found they did a bit when she was very small. I did keep her in disposables for a while longer than I initially wanted, simply because she was too small for the cloth nappies and her little legs would stick up in the air. Now she's almost 7 months, they don't seem to bother her at all. You might find you need to 'size up' on trousers, but I've not found I've needed to with madam.

She's a heavy wetter, so I do put a disposable on her at night as it's the only thing that can cope with that much wee!

building_with_lego

gizmodo wrote: »

I'm definitely using washable wipes.

I'm probably going to get the 40 wipes from nappy lady at £22. Then just throw them in the nappy bucket and wash with nappies.

If you've a fabric shop nearby you can get a metre of 1.5m wide microfleece for about a fiver. That will make plenty of wipes- just chop it into squares or rectangles and away you go. No need to hem it as it doesn't fray. It'll dry much quicker than the terry/ fleece ones too.
My apologies to Nappy Lady :rotfl:

babyboysmommy

I've committed us to them now by putting an order in with the nappy lady The nappies are mostly coming from friends (I'll buy a few terry squares) but I needed & wanted some other bits so they are due to be dispatched tomorrow. I do rather like the fact that once we've bought then that's it, no needing to buy nappies with the weekly shop as I really cannot afford to increase that budget. I had enough in my PayPal account to pay for the nappy supplies I needed to get thanks to selling some things on eBay

We are going to use washable wipes & I have ordered the nappy lady pack of 40.

I know it will affect our water & electricity bill but we are in credit with the electricity so that will take some time to affect us. Because of the kind offer of free nappies from friends we should have plenty so wont need to use the tumble dryer at all for them

We have a few packets of newborn nappies thanks to vouchers so will use those to start with then as soon as they are gone switch to the washables.

This will work because it has to. Generations before us managed with them so I know I can

gizmodo_2

building_with_lego wrote: »

If you've a fabric shop nearby you can get a metre of 1.5m wide microfleece for about a fiver. That will make plenty of wipes- just chop it into squares or rectangles and away you go. No need to hem it as it doesn't fray. It'll dry much quicker than the terry/ fleece ones too.
My apologies to Nappy Lady :rotfl:

Thanks for the tip. I've also already made my purchase. But I wanted terry/fleece ones as I read just fleece tends to smear the poo around.

Also you don't need to dry the wipes. You put them damp from the washing machine back into the tupperware box.

I had planned on getting a fleece blanket and making my own liners (for nappies) but afraid I went for the convenience of ready chopped. Not very MSE, I know. I've not exactly gone the MSE route with washables...reckon I'm going to spend a total of £350 on nappies, wipes and the accessories. But even with bulk buying disposables when they are on offer the washables shouldn't cost any more should they? And hopefully I can either get some resale out of them or use them for baby no 2.