advice for using non disposable nappies

world cup

Hi all,

Am new to pending motherhood!

Was just wondering how easy or hard it is to use non disposable nappies.

I haven't even got a clue what's available, even. All I know about it is the terry cloth nappies that used to constantly be on the clothes line of our neighbour's house twenty five years ago. Am guessing things have changed since then and wondering if it's any easier now to use cloth nappies. The thoughts of buying tonnes of disposable nappies every week doesn't appeal to me, however, I am very much a believer in practicality, and I know disposables are VERY handy, so hearing anyone's actual experience would be really helpful.

I reckon now is the time to look into all these things before it all gets too hard!

Many thanks....

liliq

I havent used them myself, but from what people I know who use them say- there are so many different types, it's worth buying couple pre loved of each (there's a great second hand market for them, and they're made to last so you're still getting great quality) and trying them out until you see what type you like best.
I have heard some people like one brand for during the day, and another at night.
Once you get used to them, I believe they are no more inconvenient than disposables...
I'm starting to think of them myself. Most of my bin every week or two is made up of disposables I think.
A lot of the ones now have inserts, so you just flush or bin the insert.
Plus the nappies themselves are super cute! Love little cloth bums!

Squiggler

We're going to use them. I have several friends who have enjoyed great success with reusables.

I agree with the advice above, get some samples and test them out. There are a lot of factors you need to consider. Like how often you want to be doing laundry and how you plan to dry them. We tested a few brands and eventually decided on Fuzzi Bunz because we live in an apartment and would be drying the nappies on a clothes horse. We found that the nappies and inserts for these dried almost overnight, even in winter without the heating on. Another brand we tried took nearly 3 days to dry in the same conditions.

One of my friends used reusables during the day and biodegradable disposables at night with her toddler because her little guy didn't like waking during the night for changes.

With pocket stuffed nappies (like Fuzzi Bunz) you can also buy inserts made from more absorbent (and slower drying) materials which could be used at night.

world cup

This is great advice, ladies, thanks a million. Just discovered a friend also who has used them too - am getting the low down from her on Monday... It's much better listening to people than reading up on websites, so thanks again!

Rosy Posy

First off, I would say that living in a considerably drier and sunnier climate than Ireland has been a big factor in our decision. If you're looking at it from a solely environmental concern, if you'll be using a drier regularly then there's much of a muchness between cloth and disposables, especially if you're using biodegradable/compostable disposables and have a composting facility (probably wouldn't want to be spreading this on your vege garden tho- a lot of biodegradable plant based 'plastics' are made from gmo cornstarch).

Another big thing is the cost factor- it takes a fair whack to get set up with all the gear. We were lucky that a bunch of mates got together and bought us the initial set. You want to figure out how often you want to wash them as regards how many you get but a good rule of thumb is to get as many as will be a full load of your washing machine, plus enough to get you through as long as it will take you to wash and dry them. If you get less than this you will have to be running the machine before you have a full load which will cost you (and the environment). I know some people just stick a few pee nappies in with their normal wash but I like to wash them really hot with tea tree and baking soda to sterilise them and you don't really want that gear on your other stuff. Once the baby starts eating tho you can soak the food encrusted stuff and wash it with your nappies. If you use cloth sanitary pads these can go in too.

The modern style nappies usually have an inner that you change and a cover that you only wash if it gets dirty. We use imse vimse (swedish brand) http://www.imsevimse.co.uk/ which I found brilliant. They are organic and all natural. The inner parts can be used the whole way up and the covers are sized. We got away with a few newborn sizes, three smalls and five larges. The only thing with using the same inners the whole time is that now, by baby number three the inners are in absolute tatters- really little more than rags. This doesn't bother me too much when you consider their purpose, but I think if I was starting out again planning a large family I would get the kind that the inner part is sized, if you get what i mean? Imse Vimse also do an all in one nappy which I wouldn't go with for everyday use because they take ages to dry but are really handy for when you're out and about- I usually keep one in my handbag.

The advantage of the woollen covers is that when they just have pee on them you can hang them up and air them and they don't smell so you hardly have to wash them. You can treat them with lanolin to make them (semi) waterproof. For watertightness you can't beat a lined PUL laminate, but you have to wash these more frequently.

Other stuff that you will need are a couple of buckets with tight fitting lids and somewhere to store them convenient to your toilet and laundry, a decent washing machine with a separate rinse cycle ( I usually put the poo-ey nappies on a cold rinse cycle with baking soda first) and some kind of system for getting the poo into the toilet...low tech/strong stomach option is a wire scrubbing brush...high tech/convenience option is a spray attachment for your toilet similar to those found in asia (coined by a visitor to our house as 'the ass gun') http://www.methven.com/au/range/home-health/little-squirt/ we have one of these, it is so worth it. Oh and eco detergents, I use tea tree and baking soda as well but its not essential. Also don't bother with paper liners, they are swizz.

We always used cloth from the start, although a lot of people use disposables in the first few weeks. I just felt that it would be easier to start as we wanted to continue and it would be too hard to go back once we started using disposables. Also I felt quite precious about my newborns and didn't want to put anything unnatural on their skin. But you should know that they use far more nappies in the first few weeks as they are adjusting from having everything constantly flowing in and out of them in the womb (this is helpful to keep in mind when they are breastfeeding round the clock too- don't worry, its not forever). Also the first poos are sticky black meconium and a mission to get clean...so enlist some help in the first few weeks from friends and family who are not afraid to get down and dirty....(this is probably a good policy in any case).

Hope this helps!