Reusable Nappies - Am i the only one who cant

GobbledyGook

With my son I used cloth much less than with my girls. Partly because of time, but also because it's much easier to use bulky cloth under dresses than in trousers. In the end I just bulk bought in Costco to save on sposies.

shell-girl - If you want to start with cloth and then work out what is best then starting with a dozen or so terries might not be a bad idea. For a tiny, with a liner they'd be absolutely fine. I always started with them. Once you know the babies shape then you can work out which suit your baby.

Gillyx

shell_girl wrote: »

I'm driving myself up the wall trying to figure out what will be right for me and baby who's due in 6 weeks. I want to use the simplest one I possibly can, but just cannot get my head around which ones need liners, or boosters, or wraps etc.

In my head I thought I'd just buy 20 ish nappies, a few rolls of liners and a bucket. When nappy needs changing I would flush the liner away and wash the nappy. If I'm being naive please do telll me!

It's all hormones but I'm finding myself getting really upset that I can't grasp the basics of which brand does what, despite hours on the nappy lady website! I don't particularly want to leave it until baby is here because a couple of friends have done that and just never got round to making the switch- if I can do it from day one something tells me I'll be more likely to stick to it not having got used to the convenience of disposables.

Sorry for the rant - I just feel useless that I'm quite well educated, in a complicated and quite responsible job, reasonable common sense and yet have been close to tears over a nappy

The simplest nappy you will get will be an all in one applix. These would be Tots Bots Easy Fits, Bum Genius Freetime, Bambino Mio Solo. They go on like disposable and are birth to potty so should fit 8-35lbs approximately. I have heard from some that they don't fit properly until baby is a bit chunkier though. Personally I don't like the disposable liners, I use fleecy liners here, and quite a few of the nappies come with these anyway, if not you can just cut up a fleece blanket to make them All of those I have mentioned have the inserts attached, so no need for anything extra with them, but you could boost the pockets if needed.

For smaller babies/new born they recommend fitted nappies and wraps like Nicki describes. Brands would be Little Lambs, Tots Bots Stretchies, Itti Bitti Boos, the nappy goes on and then a waterproof wrap goes on top.

We prefer the all in one type, and they can always be boosted to suit heavier wetters, but as I said I have heard they're better from a bit older.

There are a few groups on facebook for cloth bums I can link you to if you like. Also is there a nappy guru near your or do your council rent out trial schemes? If not a few of the websites do for pretty cheap too, to let you try several types and brands out to see what suits before buying. I'd wait until baby was a few weeks old though, washing nappies is the last thing on your mind when you first bring a baby home. If you have any questions feel free to ask xx

pinkclouds

Do you want to use cloth nappies or are you just distressed at the cost of disposables?

Step up your toilet training. I don't mean actually expecting your young toddler to go to the toilet/potty (or even tell you they need to go). I mean trying to catch more wees/poos on the toilet/potty. Keeps the nappy clean for longer and means you use less of them. My elder aunt is really good at it - she can even do it with babies (she doesn't see the point of wasting nappies)! Also, try to buy in bulk e.g. Amazon do a subscription service, which lowers the cost of nappies.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

If you use plain terry nappy squares, then they always fit just right. And they dry quicker than the shaped ones.

You might need a daffy old bat such as myself to show you how to fold them (the kite shaPe works best for skinny babes of both sex), but there's plenty of ways to get them to fit your babies just right.

tanith

I agree with Jojo, its just getting the hang of it and plain terry squares work best , kite shape folding worked for all of mine boy and girls, they do dry quicker too... I found I needed 2dz to make it work , washing every other day and mine were washed by hand for the first two , no washing machine. Persevere and you'll get the hang of it.

shortdog

I looked into reusables, and tried a few with my daughter, but never really got the hang of them. When I was expecting my son, I started looking into it again, but found a report in one of those magazines (Mother and Baby or some such) that showed the cost and effect on the environment on both disposdables and reusables. Due to the original outlay, extra washing liquids, electricity, extra wear and tear on washing machine, etc etc, they discovered that both had pretty much the same cost and environmental effect. Obviously the cost of the reusables is better if you can use them for more than one child.

Sammy85_2

You really need to hang in there to give the reusables a proper go.

I use a mixture of nappies - Tots bots stretchies with a motherease wrap during the day and bumgenius all in ones at night with an extra terry booster in there. Approx 25 nappies altogether.

As a newborn until about 3 months almost every nappy was dirty so we were washing daily, but now i do a wash every 2/3 days.

I use disposables only when on holiday as i dont want to spend hours sat in a launderette.

Highly recommend the Nappy Lady. http://www.thenappylady.co.uk/ She can give you expert advice. Fill in the advice form and she'll come back with tailored advice and quotes for each of her suggestions. Shes very patient and puts up with numerous emails full of questions!


Also check out your local council. Alot run some kind of real nappy campaign and give a voucher you can use against real nappies.

mikelove

I want to put her back in cloth before potty training, as I think she will be more aware of doing something, but it isn't looking likely at the minute!

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Puddleglum

I used a nappy laundering service with my two while we were living in London and that took away some of the reasons for not persevering although life was a bit smelly especially just before collection day!

When we moved to Somerset I took a pile of nappies, the wraps which the eldest had grown out of and lots of good intentions. Eleven years on there are still a good number of pristine nappies in the loft waiting to be called into service as cleaning rags. They are virtually indestructible.

I just couldn't hack cloth nappies without support from the external cleaning company. Maybe you could find someone to support and motivate you to keep going with it in someway? Possible a friend or neighbour might help?

SmlSave

A few people have mention that clothes dont fit right with cloth. Tesco baby clothes tend to be cut bigger and fit ok, otherwise get a size larger and roll the legs up.

We visited our local nappy lady who talked us through all the options. There is also a nappy library where you can hire different nappies to give them a go.

Two part little lambs worked best for us when lo was just born but now hes active we use all in ones