cloth nappies

A question about : cloth nappies

Hi everyone,

If everything goes ok, I will be having my first baby later this year. I am starting to think about what we need to do to prepare ourselves for our little bundle of joy.

One thing that I am interested in are cloth nappies - mainly because they are kinder to the environment and will work out cheaper in the long run. However, before we invest in any I would like to know what they are really like to use. Please could you share your experiences of using cloth nappies with your babies. I have seen some youtube videos but they tend to be sales pitches and avoid the practicalities.

Many thanks in advance

Best answers:

• There are loads of threads on the Marriages board, so worth doing a search there.
  My experience is that they were fab - I had 2 in them at one point, and it was a matter of putting the dirty nappy in a bucket rather than in a bin. Clothes a bit harder to fit round the bum as cloth makes babies bum a bit larger.
  Used disposables at night as I couldn't stand the awful toilet smell in the morning as I opened their bedroom door.
  There are so many types of cloth nappy now and, as with disposables, what is excellent on one baby is poor on another. Wait until baby is born before buying any cloth nappies. Take them to a shop/nappacino and do a fitting to see what has a good chance of working well on your little one.
• The main things I'd say.
  Don't buy all of one brand, as littlie changes shape/starts to crawl/walks etc your one full proof brand that have always worked can start to leak and if you have 24 of them and nothing else, you're screwed until they bulk up or slim down again.
  Do try different brands before committing.
  That being said, I love my Bumgenius, and I think most people I know who have tried them have called them bomb proof. They really are fab.
  You can get newborn nappies now, but depending on size of baby whether they're worth the money or not I'm not sure. You may be better off using disposables for a few weeks until they get to the required weight and size for Birth to Potty (BTP) Size.
  Congratulations on baby! x
• HI there,
  Congratulations! We used bambino mio with our second baby from being a few minutes old up until 16months when he started nursery - they do take some getting used to but couldn;t fault them really, i love the fact they have a bigger bum with them on but bylromarha is right there!
  I'd def try a few samples of different brands to try - I'm about to list all of our nappy stuff to sell on, so remember you can always sell yours on afterwards or use for more babies in the future!
  good luck with your pregnancy
  xx
• We used disposables for the first 6 weeks as I wanted to use the birth to potty nappies and they just don't fit tiny babies.
  I tried tots bots easy fits, bumgenius v4, flips, wonderoos, little lamb bamboo and smartiepants.
  Bumgenius won hands down for us. I loved the tots bots, but after 3 months or so, they constantly leaked.
  Aplix (velcro) are better when they are smaller as you can do the nappy up to fit perfect. But in hindsight, I wish I'd got more popper ones, say 60% popper to 40% aplix. As the aplix ones don't stick down so well anymore, they are fine if held by tights/trousers...just not so good in the summer when wearing just a dress.
  For night time, we use bumgenius or flips with 3 inserts.
  Occassionally we got leaks and it just meant adjusting the inserts. Originally the bumgenius insert was fine, now we have that and a bamboo booster.
  I use them while out and about. It's no big deal, put the nappies in a wet bag.
  The only time we've used disposables is on holiday...I don't do washing on holiday
  You might want to use fleece liners...we tried disposable liners, but couldn't get on with them, they just got all stuck up her bum!
  And if you're using washables you may as well use washable wipes too. I got slightly lazy though and use disposables wipes when out
  Other things you might want to think about is how you're drying them? Bamboo/organic inserts take what seems like forever to dry if hanging them up.
  The PLU outer bits don't go in the tumble but they don't take long to dry on a line.
  Sunlight is the best stain remover of poo.
  In terms of washing, I think I have about 20 nappies and do a wash when the bin is full which in the early days was probably every day/every day and half. Now (at nearly 2 years) it's every 2/2.5 days.
  So what you need is:
  Nappies
  Liners (if going for fleece - 20 is a good number)
  Nappy bin (think mine is 6 litres - holds about 10-12 nappies today, probably more like 15 when I had less inserts)
  Mesh net for the bin - 2 of these.
  Nappy bags for when out (at least 2)
  Wipes - I got 40 I think. 20 would definitely not been enough in the early days. But go through a lot less now.
  You might need to purchase extra inserts later on - I've been using Little lamb bamboo.
• Thanks for starting this thread snozberry, I was looking for some cloth nappy threads on here but couldn't find any! In a similar position to you, first baby due later this year and very keen to use reusables (probably with disposables occasionally too).
  Can I ask what reusable wipes people have bought and how they work (i.e. do you keep them damp in a box, or dry, or..? I have no clue!)
  Also, can anybody recommend the best place to buy second hand? I've had a look on ebay and there seems to be quite a lot for sale on there, but wondered if there's anywhere else good.
• I kept mine in a lock and lock box, and every time I refilled the box I poured in a few tablespoons of boiling water on top of the wipes which kept them all just on the damp side without being wet.
  You can either buy small cheap towelling flannels, or cut up a larger piece of flannel or an old bath sheet to make reusable wipes. If you do this, use pinking shears to prevent them all fraying.
• I really wanted to use re-useable nappies with DD, I was keen on the economy as I hoped to have more than 1 DC and that they were better for the environment.
  I just struggled with fit and leaks, DD is slim, long and teeny of thigh and bum [no idea where she gets it from as me and DH are far from this!] and I tried 20 different nappies, with no luck.. I picked them up second hand on sites like Cloth Nappy Tree, swapping and re-selling. DD is now 2 and I'm using re-useables for the first time - potty training pants. She's just turned 20lbs and fits in the smallest totsbots bright bots.
  So don't go loopy and buy now, disposables will be easier in the first few weeks when you are changing 15-20 nappies a day and with your DC's weight and shape in mind buy a few different ones to try and see what works.
  Making my own re-useable wet wipes has saved me a fortune. I pinched MiL's sewing machine and used pinking shears to cut up a soft baby towel [stained, from SiL] and whizzed a bias tape edging around with zig zag. I still use them now, I will have to make more soon as DC2 is due in April and I can see us needing a bigger supply
  Though we live in an area where re-useables are prolific, we have no nappy washing service and the council make a great fuss on their website, but the co-ordinator left post 3 years ago and still hasn't been replaced and no-one knows where the nappy trial packs for hire are.
• Try this thread (post 4 has the link to another thread)
  This thread
  And this thread
  After my 2 kids had used them, I sold my nappies on this website - easily would have done a third child, but no more babies in the house of Byl
  https://www.usednappies.co.uk/
• If anyone is looking at buying new, Ittibitti's have a big sale on (their UK distribution is closing down - very sadly as these are excellent reusables). You will get some fantastic nappies at fabulous prices so really worth checking out to see what sizes they have left. Their Home page says they're no longer accepting orders, but their FB page says otherwise.
  Check with your local authority to see if they offer any incentives - some do a free nappy pack with some nappy samples in, others give you cash back - just need to provide a receipt against reusable sales.
  I loved the Bumgenius (but not a huge fan of their Flip range), ittibittis and Fuzzibunz. I found Close PopIns great for night time or long journeys. I am a huge fan of All in One, one sized nappies - they do work out to be slightly more expensive, but I found the convenience and fit just too good to ignore.
  Don't dismiss some of the cheaper brands though, I found a lot of them were perfectly fine with an older baby. Tbh, I've found the main difference between the big named reusable and cheaper ones is the quality and absorbency of the insert - once you've built up a stash of inserts you can chop and change/double up inserts with your outers (especially if using pocket nappies), making buying cheaper nappies much more of a better option.
  Don't spend a fortune on a special 'nappy bucket' - a bucket is a bucket - one with a lid is preferable, but these can be picked up in the likes of Wilkos. Netbags can be bought very cheaply on ebay. As for reusable wipes - for home, very cheap flannels do the job nicely.
  Beware - nappy buying can become addictive, you think you have enough and then a new pattern comes out....
• I found Itti Bittis very low rise, if you have a baby who is in the least bit long they'l have builders bum, they are gorgeous nappies though and so trim fitting
• We use fleece liners here, they just whip all the moisture away, his bum is so dry when I take the nappy off. I'd say the type of nappies that need wraps definitely are soggier.
  I do an extra 2 washes a week, we go though 5-6 nappies a day I'd say. I wash every 3 days and dry pail. Depending on what nappy you buy, some will dry in 24 hours on an airer. Inserts can be put on the radiator. I don't have a dryer at the moment
• In order of use here, Bumgenius (wish I could afford more but they aren't cheap!), Little Lambs bamboo pockets, then Ebay cheapies (try to get ones with snaps at the hip as well as waist for better fit). In the seldom use pile, Totsbots (just didn't suit his shape), LL two part nappies and Bambino Mio prefolds (too much faffing for me).
  I made my own liners too, disposable ones aren't great. In fact I still have two or three rolls
  I did disposables just to get me through that newborn 'fog' where you don't know what day it is. And use Nature Babycare eco nappies for nights and long trips out.
  I do tend to get some leaking with the Ebay cheapies, even with a bamboo booster. This tends to be worse if you have a tight vest as it squeezes the nappy, best to buy vest extenders or just use a size up. We've been using 12-18 vest for ages and he's 9-12 or smaller
• I used a mixture of cloth and disposables for mine. I had totsbots and sandys both of which worked well. It really does depend how you wash and dry them. I used to wash at 40C, unless particularly foul, and line dry. The environmental impact is very low if you do this. I could also never get over the fact that a nappy takes 500 years to decompose completely. I have a horror of a robot Tony Robinson digging up my boy's poo in a couple of hundred years and getting excited at his Weetabix consumption.
  Your tolerance to all things poo related will go up exponentially the minute you have a new baby.
  Poomaggeddon will happen and you will deal with it. Scraping poo into a toilet and dropping the nappy into a bucket will seem positively hygienic in comparison to poomaggeddon.