Hey there. This might sound a bit thick so bear with me...

How do you go about starting re-useable nappies? I mean what do you actually need to get started and which er.. shape? if that's the right word.. is best?

Also I breastfeed my son - so his poop is quite loose, does this affect using these nappies? I know you buy liners to catch it - but if it's loose surely it will just go right through?

I really want to be clued up on this as I want to go for it but am really unsupported by my whole family. They say its such an inconvenience and I should just stick with disposables, but I really want to do my bit for the environment and for my purse!

Theresa

[Modified by: Nathans mummy on 02 September 2008 17:19:21 ]

I hope I can help. I have been using reusable nappies for nearly a year. I got a trial kit from my local nappy shop (I live in Ipswich) which had about 20 different types of nappy. I had it for a month and was able to see which one I liked best. I went for bamboo, shaped nappies and I love them. If you don't have anywhere you can get a trial kit from near you you could try and look online.

Here are the things I think you need (some of these things will be subjective but this is what works for me)

Bucket with a lid ( I dry pail - keep nappies in bucket without soaking until a wash them)

Nappies (How many? - It depends on how many nappies you use in a day and how often you want to wash them. I personally have 9 nappies and I wash them every other day or so)

Paper liner - these sit inside the nappy to catch the poo and keep wet away from baby's bottom. Pooey (sp?) ones go down the toilet and I wash ones which are only wet and use them again.

Plastic wraps (How many? - I use 1 per day, unless i gets soiled. I have 4 of these)

Washing powder (I use non-bio powder, no fabric softener (this effects absorbancy and napisan and wash at 30c (napisan kills germs and 30c is more environmentally friendly)

I line dry my nappies, outside if possible as the sun bleaches the nappies

I breastfed my son, now 16 months, until he was one and I actually found, and still find, that reusables don't leak as much as disposables. I also find they don't smell as bad as disposables. We do still keep a packet of disposables in case his nappies haven't dried in time etc but I hardly use them. I think I have probably spent nearly £100 but all I buy now are paper liners (£3 every 2 months or so) and I will use the nappies for any future children I have so I think i have saved quite a lot of money. I can honestly say that it isn't a hassle to use real nappies. I work 3 days per week and can still make it work. The nappies are quick and easy to put on (as easy as can be with wriggly baby!!) and although they can smell quite bad by the time they go in the wash the lidded bucket keeps the smell in (you can use tea-tree oil to help with this)

I would encourage you to give it a go and remember we are here if you need to ask anything.

Sorry its so long! Good luck

Anna

Good for you Theresa!

There are some good websites that give lots of info - I'm sure some of the others will tell you what they are (as can't remember myself ).

Two Part Systems - I use a two part system called Bambino Mio. I have a complete birth to potty pack which includes nappy covers (in sizes newborn, small, medium, large and xtra large) and flat cotton nappy inserts which you can fold in different ways and insert in the nappy cover. I took a bit of risk that these would be suitable and work out well - a lot of people prefer to try trial packs first to see which type best suits them and their baby. I chose these because they are less buly than some others and have good reviews.

Flushable Liners - You can use a one way flushable liner to catch solid stuff (i.e. poo) but they're not recommended whilst breastfeeding as the idea of the liner is that it lets liquids through but not back again and catches solids for you to flush away. But breastfeeding poo is too thick to pass through the liner but too loose to be caught - instead it can just slip and slide (at force) sideways and cause pooey messes I am breastfeeding too. I cut a liner in half and put it in the front of the nappy only so that the wee soaks away and my little boy gets the benefit of the one way liner for his wee but leaving the absorbant cotton nappy to soak up the sloppy poos! I don't know how effective this is for a girl - with a boy if you leave their willy pointing up the wee is soaked up in the front of the nappy.

Convenience - I have been using them on my baby since he was 4 days old - he is now 7 weeks. I have found it really easy. We dry pale the nappies which means we just put them into a lidded bucket until we are ready to wash them. We wash every other day at 60 degrees putting a scoop of antibacterial powder in with our usual non-bio. We line dry outside or on the airer. We don't have a tumble drier. When we go out somewhere that would be difficult to carry a dirty nappy we use eco disposables but if its just a quick trip out or to family we take use the washables.

Leaks - We have only had the odd leak with poo not wee. We do however find that the nappy cover often gets dirty meaning that we have to change that too with each nappy change - that's not a problem but we did get some 2nd hand nappy covers to make this easier. We have had more leaks with the disposables which seem to leak wee more easily.

Sorry for the VERY long winded post. Hope it helps.