I may have changed my mind...questions about MCNs

[Heaven]

Ok, so I decided to use disposables bc I thought I was too lazy for all the washing, lol. But it seems like most ppl just wash every second day, I'm sure I can manage that, esp for the savings I'll make!! But most of all, they are just too cute, lol. DH thinks it's a good idea too which I was surprised about. So, some questions!!

-DD has been getting nappy rash It's better since I stopped using wipes and just started using a cloth and water, but it's still there a bit so I was thinking it might be from the chemicals in the nappies So, do you get less nappy rash with MCNs?

-I like the idea of AIOs, the easier the better! But when you say they take longer to dry, how long? And are they ok for newborns and the poo that can escape anything!!

-I want to get OSFM bc I don't want to be spending heaps of money buying new ones every time she grows out of them but will they fit her now?? Or should I wait to start using them til she's a bit bigger?

-Are they all really chunky?? The pics I've seen of some seem really big, I would rather get some that were slimmer. DD mainly wears little one piece suits and they wouldn't fit underneath!!

-What brands do you recommend? DD is a chubby bubby, not skinny at all, lol. What ones would fit her shape best?

Ok, I probably have lots more questions but that's all I can remember for now. Feel free to tell me anything else you think would be useful too!!

TIA mwah xxxx

[alioops]

All babies are different shapes. Some babies suit narrow crotched nappies, others (like mine) do not.

Prefolds and covers are the best for newborn pooplosions, but a well fitting aio or ai2 will work well too. AI2 dry faster and dont take much to put together (usually doing up a couple of snaps). AIO will take much longer to dry, but need nothing done to them after washing.

Most of my stash are OSFA. I started when I had 2 in cloth so it was important for me to be able to get away with minimal stash, and many of my nappies I have had for almost a year with only 3 that have had to be replaced.

[Maruschke]

Woot another convert

I'll bring my stash on Monday to show you. I am aiming for mostly OSFA as well. Pockets dry faster but I might get sick of stuffing them LOL. I think AI2's are the happy medium . Hopefully most of my stash will be popins (which are bamboo AI2 OFSA's).

See ya Monday.

[MrsB26]

I still dont really love the fit of OSFM on ds, i'll use them but find his assests are waaayyy to big and dont fit into some clothes. When he was little, i prefered sized and found that BBH contained all the nb poo and wee - and my man was a huge little poo-er. Down side is they take a full day of sun to dry completely. Ittis are good cause they are trim and good for chuncky legs too - i get the ones that snap in so they dry a bit quicker.
You migt be able to try on some of oscaroscar's stash on DD (with a liner) to see how they fit before buying.
Welcome to the world of fluff!

[Je$$_84]

Loving all these newly converted... makes me feel better bout switching from flats to MCN's at 11 months... LOL

Love my OSFM. AIO's or AI2's i have found to be great... i was initially put off with the pockets cos of the stuffing but its actually not that difficult to get them in... I expected a small gap for massive inserts.

i only have a few but my favs so far are green kids OSFM Anytimes, cushie toushies- (love the snap in boosters makes for quick drying... also my lovely Maz Night Nap...

I just put a laybuy in with Mel and paid it off today... was great to be able to order and pay later...

Some napps are quite big... _ my NN and cover makes a nice big bubble butt but u need the added padding for absorbency...

I lOVE my daddle doo its so nice and slim and very quick drying... it has a snap in booster and the cover is so quick drying i could really buy an extra booster and change that at nappy change...

[Maruschke]

SJ, take a few that you like from me and try them on for size. We won't need them until she is a few weeks old anyway (and she isn't here yet LOL). That way, if you find you don't like them, no money is lost!

[Arimeh]

Everyone else has provided excellent answers but I'll give it a go too

-DD has been getting nappy rash It's better since I stopped using wipes and just started using a cloth and water, but it's still there a bit so I was thinking it might be from the chemicals in the nappies So, do you get less nappy rash with MCNs?

We get less rashes here because the kids react immediately to the chemicals in sposies. We still get rashes - but only when teething. Plus the creams you use with MCN's are much less toxic than the creams you can use with sposies. That sounds good to me!

-I like the idea of AIOs, the easier the better! But when you say they take longer to dry, how long? And are they ok for newborns and the poo that can escape anything!!

Ok for newborn poo explosions - leg gussets are your friend. Most AIO's don't come with leg gussets, so there is a chance for a total explosion to erupt!!! You could look into AI2's like the pop in which come with leg gussets though and are pretty quick drying too. My AIO's take 2 days to dry - but I dry them inside. The quickest ones to dry that I have found are the Bumgenius AIO's and the Monkey Doodlez AIO's.

-I want to get OSFM bc I don't want to be spending heaps of money buying new ones every time she grows out of them but will they fit her now?? Or should I wait to start using them til she's a bit bigger?

You might be lucky and get ones that fit her now. THe Pop in is excellent for younger bubbies. If she has chubby thighs you should mostly be ok, because the main problem in fitting is the leg gape - which you get with skinny chicken legged bubs. Oh - and they are more bulky too - so don't forget that. If you are after a trim nappy - I wouldn't necessary go for a OSFM.

What brands do you recommend? DD is a chubby bubby, not skinny at all, lol. What ones would fit her shape best?

Totally depends on whether she can suit a wide crotch or not. My kids are more trimmer crotch kids - but they can do a wide crotch as well - they get slight "camel toe" action but the nappies don't leak.

I would recommend heaps, but I have favourites that go from fitteds, covers, pockets, AIO's and AI2's.

All off them have their pros and cons of course.

HTH!!!

[CrystalBoo]

I found OSFA to not suit DD at all and she has chunky thighs. Especially if they are snap ones because the lower rows of snaps roll out to rub on her inner legs. With velcro (like Green Kids) the problem is at the hips - tight enough on the waist means too tight around the leg. I am really happy with the fit of Ittis on her though.
If someone is offering to let you try, I'd definitely take up the offer!

[Heaven]

Wow, thankyou all for your advice!!
Oscaroscar- that would be great!! Would be good to see them IRL!

omg I've been looking at some really cute ones, must try not to get addicted and overspend.

[MrsB26]

omg I've been looking at some really cute ones, must try not to get addicted and overspend.

um, yeah good luck with that..........

[OceanPrincess]

I've just seen a new MCN in the shop where my sister works - its a Tots Bots AIO, called the EasyFit, looks great! Haven't tried it but I use Tots Bots nappies - Bamboozles and Flexi-tots, these are fitted nappies that need covers.

The Tots Bots AIO looks nice and slim fitting, might be worth looking into! Its an OSFA as well.

Thoughts on the ones I use - the Flexi-tots are extremely slim fitting and the Bamboozles are great for overnight, very absorbent.

The itti bitti d'lish is really slim fitting as well and comes in great colours.

GL with your decision.

[Shanti]

Wow, thankyou all for your advice!!
Oscaroscar- that would be great!! Would be good to see them IRL!

omg I've been looking at some really cute ones, must try not to get addicted and overspend.

haha!! You'll be totally ADDICTED!! once you buy 1 that's it!!! hooked!!
Glad you're going to be adventurous too..... MCNs are the best and soooo cute.
I can't wait to get my next fluffy mail.... yeah!!!

[alioops]

Yep, Ren is right. It is pretty hard to avoid getting addicted, but if you can afford to feed your addiction you get to live vicariously through the other girls in the cloth thread Or you could start selling them and put lots of orders through for other people, problem is that you dont get the fluffy mail unless it is sent via you (good for customers living locally though!!)

[Gigi]

I found OSFA to not suit DD at all and she has chunky thighs. Especially if they are snap ones because the lower rows of snaps roll out to rub on her inner legs. With velcro (like Green Kids) the problem is at the hips - tight enough on the waist means too tight around the leg. I am really happy with the fit of Ittis on her though.

what you describe, is how FRONT SNAPPING mcn fitted (or rather didn't fit) my DD.

i posted about that, got advised to try SIDE SNAPPING mcn, and that solved our fit problems.

Velcro closing nappies, once again are FRONT closing nappies.

the best solution for us, turned out to be sized, narrow crotched, side snapping nappies, with a few exceptions of osfm, narrow crotch, side snappers.

side snappers allow you to adjust the waist setting, independently of the leg setting.

my bub spent the majority of her nappy life, in one size of nappies, so we didn't have to buy heaps in each size.
(nb - prefolds and covers
from 6/7kgs - toilet trained at 11.6kg - in mediums e.g swaddlebees (5-11kg) and size 2's e.g wahm brands like dragonflymagik (7-15kg)
i had larges ready, but they barely got touched before tt-ing happened. Some NEVER got worn. i thought she would be in nappies until 3 at least.

so my initial thing of "must buy everythign OSFA" quickly changed. you just don't know until baby is there, what kind of body shape they will have and what will suit. so all those people who said "only buy one of each sort, until you know" - they were telling me the good oil.

and i was all set to go 100% aio - that changed too! I loved how quick the pockets and ai2's dried.

oh well, live n learn heh - just like the rest of parenting.

[Gigi]

Ok, so I decided to use disposables bc I thought I was too lazy for all the washing, lol.

-DD has been getting nappy rash It's better since I stopped using wipes and just started using a cloth and water, but it's still there a bit so I was thinking it might be from the chemicals in the nappies So, do you get less nappy rash with MCNs?


-Are they all really chunky?? The pics I've seen of some seem really big, I would rather get some that were slimmer. DD mainly wears little one piece suits and they wouldn't fit underneath!!

-What brands do you recommend? DD is a chubby bubby, not skinny at all, lol. What ones would fit her shape best?

Ok, I probably have lots more questions but that's all I can remember for now. Feel free to tell me anything else you think would be useful too!!

TIA mwah xxxx

WASHING - if you have a washing machine and a little squirt, imo, washing nappies is easy. WIthout the little squirt, i doubt i would have coped with the poo nappies. Little Squirt is like a water toy for your dh, it's your best friend (deals with poo so easily). i would not suggest you do mcn without one.

install the little squirt to your toilet, use it to squirt the poo off every poo nappy, then you throw them all into the nappy bucket (no napisan, no waterbtw).

when bucket is full, transfer contents into your washing machine (with gloves)

use super sensitive washing powder, so your baby doesn't get rash. only use half what the box says to use.

CLOTHING

mcn IS bulkier than sposies.

you need to have a mind shift about sizing. CLothing is usually manufactured to accomodate sposies. So if you want to put a mcn'd bub in clothing, you can

- buy pants and onesies at least one size up
- forget pyjama pantss and use flongies (twins in cloth on ozebaby) or woollen longies (e.g possumpouches) instead (they are nappy cover and pj pants in one)
- buy clothing esp designed to be worn over mcn (usually more expensive than kmart) e.g earthlings, fluffylime, twinklelily
so it can be done, quite easily.

this last summer, i had my mcn'd little girl in size 2 shorts, to accomodate her mcn.
now she's toilet trained, she's in size 1 shorts.
(she's stayed within half a kilo the whole summer, so it's not her that's changed, it's the mcn that took up more space.)
that should give you the idea.

tops - same size as usual
bottoms - size up

i found any shorts/jeans with the adjustable waists to be very good for going over mcn too.


NAPPY RASH
so many things give kids nappy rash!

here are a few, so you know they exist, to hopefully avoid them with your child

- fabric
some kids need their skin to be next to NATURAL fibres, some kids can come with SYNTHETIC fibres. In mcn, you will find BOTH. So if you notice your child reacts to one, try the other.

- washing
there are a heck of alot of chemicals, perfumes, preservatives in normal washing detergents. most adults tolerate them, some don't. but baby's skin is 5 times thinner than ours, they get affected more. A few gentle wash powders, that you can get at supermarket, are Ecostore adn Aware Sensitive by Planet Ark. Soapnuts, just water, Euca, are a few other things people use. It's really about what you can access and what suits YOUR bub.

- baby wipes. 99% of the supermarktet baby wipes contain propylene glycol, fragrance etc. Even the ones from "trusted wellknown brands", ones that say "suitable for newborns", "no fragrance". you really need to read the ingredient panel. My bub had rash for first six weeks - i used JJ and Amolin Sensitive baby wipes. The day i used cloth wipes and water - no rash!

- i come across heaps of people whose babies rash to sposies, so yes, you're right.

- LINERS
avoid the supermarket ones
try buying half a metre of micropolarfleece (little additions) at spotlight, cut it up into strips, say 30 x 10cm for a nb, have a play with shapes, whatever suits your bby's nappies. If baby reacts to these, stop using them.

i made my own cotton velour liners, when my child could not tolerate micofleece liners, that worked fine, but being Absorbent fabric, i had to really be on top of changes.

when your bub is at the age of FORMED or even PASTEY poos, flushable liners are great - if you buy the SOFT ones - some brands are like sandpaper! i found the tots bots and the bummis ones nice n soft. go for softness, not how mnay hundred you get. no use having 499 sandpaper ones you can't use cos your bub hates them.

good place to school up on mcn

ozclothnappies
read the faq link

nappycino
read the "nappying a newborn" section

welcome!

[Temeeka]

Hmmm- It's kind of hard to answer- tbh- everyone has their own style they like- etc etc

I won't give you alot of advice- the girls have done well- But just to confuse you more- and give you more brand names LoL

I personally- am a HUGE fan of Pockets- More specifically Haute's & Bumgenius.
However- Of Late- It's more about the look(Which won't be so gr8 in Winter)
I love itti's(not for their all in one though- But I can live with them)
Any kind of Minky Nappy , I will go for.

Even the Couture Cushie Tushie- GREAT nappies- Fave is Pink Camo.


I try to find more Working at Home Mum's doing them- to give them a go- Although I haven't found any that are cheaper than the best brands(imo) - The bigger brands I am happy to pay 30 and 40 for a nappy- People I don't know or Have heard of I steer Clear- Hopefully I'll find someone soon.

I haven't got a little squirt & TBH- not interested in getting one- I've done well with both flat's and Mcn's without it- But- that;s like the nappies- everyone has their own likes etc.

Good luck mate- it's a fun & very obsessive thing to get into! LOL
You'll spend FAR too much money :P --- But- that's half the fun! hah