Flat nappy discussion

[Malyna]

Hi Girls,

I want to use flats.. well at least try them at first. I saw some in Big W and was wondering if I should by a 12-24 now, and a couple of the covers now (6mths pregnant) and then give them a whirl when bubs arrives, and go from there?

I am tempted to go for pre-folds... Would appreciate any advice for a first timer that anyone has to offer.

I'm in the process of convincing DH that cloth is the way to go, so I'll need something that is husband proof (IYKWIM).

[SunnyRain]

If I had my time over I would buy some prefolds for my newborn. I have migrated to using 100% cloth nappies, but I have a small baby and I'm not at all convinced about their effectiveness even with the covers that I invested in if he ever does one of those award winning newborn poos. Luckily he poos when I am feeding him so he never spends too much time in a pooey nappy, or else it would leak out the legs.

I use the fleecy cotton flats from Big W with motherease and tots bots covers, plus 6 Bum Genius that I use for convenience at night time, but he really needs to fatten up in the legs and I think prefolds would have been soooo much easier than flats.

[onthefly]

Never a truer thing said!!!! I ponder this daily! Bring on the Global Credit Crisis and rid the world of all it's greed and excess and sub-standard quality! It would do the us over consuming Westerners good to get back to basics... and embrace cloth nappies for a start! LOL At least a Depression would force us to be more frugal... and maybe even save the planet at the same time. Or maybe I'm just being overly romantic about it all

My goodness - are you related to my husband...? You sound just like him

Re poospolsions - motherease rikki's have saved us many times! The ONLY time we've had leakage beyond the cover is when he's been in a disposable, which are crap at containing crap.

Now he's on some solids the poos are really getting ewwwy. Thinking about disposable liners - do they work ok? Or is there some easy, less 'hands-on' way to get the poo out? I'm not sure about the little squirts... worth the money?

[NaNa]

welcome Tarkine - yes get the flats! do it for your country! heheh, no, I'm not going to push you, as you probably wont get much use out of them till your bubs is a bit bigger than newborn. Prefolds are a great option for the early weeks/months, altho I personally didn't have any... I went for flannelette flats, and I'm glad now that I did mainly because I have a happy chucker and they've since saved many changes of clothes for both him and me! Multi-purpose, I likes! But yeah, enough sidetracking. Prefolds are easy for DHs, and a snappi and printed instructions for terry flats is good too!
kuraiza - congratulations on your little man! Well done on going 100% cloth already. I know the Thirsties covers in extra-small size are good for little legs (nurture nappies stock them) and they're gusseted too. The BumGenius will be great when they fit better. They all will be, hopefully! But even sposies are messy and a bit useless on little bubs, so I think all that laundry is just something we have to go through (like we need the extra challenge!).
Marcellus - flushable liners are pretty good, but I find some (like the eenees ones) tend to slide around a bit. But that could have something to do with DS being on the go all the time!! He's such a wriggler! Getting some Bummis ones this week, so I'll let you know if I think they're better. I have a LS but haven't even re-installed it since we moved into this place over a month ago... must do that today! DS is teething and starting on solids, so it will be useful for preventing staining from that toxic gunk (TMI?!). I think they're worth the money, mainly because I just can't bring myself to scrape that mess off! Especially now that things are getting, as you put it, ewwwy! There is a bit of a knack to using them tho, without it squirting a little too hard. I got mine a bit cheaper with a package of BumGenius from nurture nappies, and even without that discount, I haven't seen them cheaper anywhere alse.

[Rivlas]

I think my favourite cover is the motherease. Have used some others but like the way they fit around the leg, especially a skinny one. My Son in Law is a wonder with cloth, can get some of them on better than I can. You learn as you go with getting it right. I remember them folding and putting them on a large teddy they have just to get the feel, not a bad idea when you think about it, the teddy doesn't squirm like a baby. If you haven't already, pop into the general nappy section as they are old hands with cloth and a wealth of info. They will also let you know about different types of covers and also the many different nappies there are, some with covers included.

[onthefly]

There is a bit of a knack to using them tho, without it squirting a little too hard.

I have visions of spraying poo in my face....
I know I've read somewhere someone recommending holding nappy/liner in toilet and flushing - that didn't work for me! Please do let me know if those other ones work better - I was kinda thinking they might scrunch up or something...

[NaNa]

um, yeah... it's better not to visualise that! Keep eyes and mouth SHUT! Sorry, that's gross! But you have to get the pressure just right. I also tried holding the fleece liners in the loo and flushing, but that didn't work here either. Not yet anyway.
The eenee liners that come in a pack, as opposed to a roll, are folded and I've tried cutting them up into a size to fit the nappy fold or the MCN I was using (also being economical) but found they slid all over the place regardless and didn't really work to keep poo off the nappy. They seem a little bit hard/scratchy, and not very pliable. Can't be comfy, but yeh, teething-toxic-bum's no fun for either of us! I'm sure there are others that are softer, and hopefully the ones I've ordered are. Hope they dont scrunch up, or stick to DS's boy bits so much!
Rivlas - I've been lurking in the other thread now and then, but can't keep up! They've given me some great ideas just by default, and I would drop in there more often and chat but I'm spending waaaaay too much time on BB already. If I gave in to the temptation to buy every MCN they recommend I'd be flat broke! It really is addictive!
I need to get out more...

[NaNa]

marcellus - I can definitely recommend the Bummis liners. Nice and soft, and the right size straight off the roll. No scrunching or sticking so far, and I tried them with terry flats and a few pockets and AIOs as well.
Re-installed the LS, so I'm happy about that. I managed to do it myself and not make a mess too! It's so wierd the things that bring me joy these days!

[onthefly]

Thanks NaNa - think I'll try some

[Malyna]

Ok girls.. I'm back....

I ordered a Tots bots flexi wrap PUL cover and a Bamboo Fleece/Terry prefold as well as a chinese cotton prefold. If it was my bum that was going in the nappy, I think I'd rather have the Bamboo fleece.

So while I practice on a teddy bear - and I know it's no where near as wriggly as bubs will be, but at least we can get the idea of how to put one together.

I'm wondering if bubs turns out to be a little one, is it possible to stuff the nappy (ie put two prefolds in) to fill out the PUL?

QUESTION 1
I'm not sure also when to start buying nappies - I'm 6.5mths and feel that I should gradually start stocking up (so its not such a big hit to the bank account)..

QUESTION 2
with prefolds - when bubs gets bigger, do you just buy bigger prefolds and then can you use the smaller ones as extra padding?

I feel like I ask the obvious sometimes but I don't have a lot of $$ to spend on all those lovely looking nappies and would rather get something that I could reuse from the start.

[NaNa]

hey tarkine! how did I let that slip past me for so long? sorry...
I'm not an expert on prefolds, I think the best person to track down for that info is Nelle and you'll find she's posted a sticky on help for new users, might be something there. I think, tho, that if bubs is small, you're better off going for a couple of NB or extra-small size covers rather than putting extra bulk to fill up the cover. I know Thirsties covers in extra-small are great, and have a little pocket bit at the front just for using with prefolds. Mine lasted DS until about 3.5 months and he was 3544g at birth (so fairly "average"). The tots bots covers only come in size 1 and 2 I think. I just got some size 2 and they seem huuuuuge! Don't know about the flexi tots tho, they're pretty new. I'd be interested to hear how you go with them.
IMO, and I'm terribly opinionated... it's good to start getting a stash organised as you can afford it. It's nice to have a good idea how to use all the nappies you have before bubs arrives (and so DH to practise too!), but a lot of useful info gets lost after bubs is born. I think it's called baby-brain... I can't remember If you're not sure about sticking with flats, and want to try MCNs, a starter pack from somewhere like nurture nappies is great. Also great for getting you started on a serious addiction, tho! mmmm baby bonus.... All the OSFA nappies can be used right thru to TT, so it might seem like a big outlay at first but will actually save you heaps. Or just go with prefolds and flats, and upsize the covers as bubs grows. You can use the small prefolds as boosters, or grab a few microfibre, hemp or bamboo boosters/inserts to fold into whatever you're using. There's no rules, so whatever works for you and bubs is good.
HTH!

[onthefly]

Tarkine, I definitely agree about getting x-small covers for newborns. 2 reasons - otherwise they're just too bulky; and you chnage them so often it's not really necessary to have lots of absorbency (cause they poo, like, all the time...)
The motherease rikki x-small is great for thinner flats/prefolds

We used flannel nappies (that I made from nappy flannel from spotlight) to begin with, but switched to terry cloth once he was about a month old as they just weren't absorbent enough (i think some of the flannel ones you can buy are better..). But we still use them inside the terry ones as boosters.

so yeah, what NaNa said...
seriously, be careful cause those MCNs are really addictive...

[Malyna]

too late she cried! I think I'm already addicted to the MCNs.. I've bought a couple of samples, so I can show them to DH and will decide which way to go.

Thanks for the advice.. I will find the post by Nellie

[Maruschke]

Silly question... a friend has given me all of her old terry flats, about 40 in total, some have been through two children and need softening. But... is that OK? can I use old flats? Do they have a lifespan?

Ta

[onthefly]

Pretty sure they'll be fine to use Oscar

Uh oh Tarkine!

[Rivlas]

Yes you can use them again. What I did as we only had flats was fold two together for added thickness especially at night. If some are a bit thin you could always use then for spew cloths, cut up some for wipes etc.
Tarkine: Will get on to Nelle to answer your question.

[Nelle]

What question? Oh, found it. Um...start buying whenever you want Tarkine. Now isn't a bad time because you will still have the energy to prewash. And there's nought safer than flats. If you were buying MCN, I'd have different advice, because you don't want to buy a million of one type and find you don't like them. But flats will always come in handy for something, if not catching poop.

As for question 2, when bubs gets bigger, you can either buy bigger prefolds if you're gonna go prefolds all the way, and yep smaller prefolds can be used to boost absorbency (as can purpose made boosters from materials like bamboo - hope that's not too fancy for you keepin' it simple types! ).
Or as bub gets bigger you can cross over (muahaha) to MCN. Up to you really!

ETA: Oh, and with covers, just look at the weight range when buying. I think my newborn covers started at about 3.5kg? That's pretty safe for a newie. You can always get snibs that tie on from the chemist or some online stores, they're pretty cheap I think.

[Malyna]

thanks for the advice girls. I'm going to start looking to buy some fabric and have a whirl at making some prefolds myself. I figure that I've got a few months to see how I go and if I go down in a blaze of glory, then I can always purchase premade ones.

Beginning to think that the choice of nappy is really a personal choice - whether to go for MCN, prefolds, all inones etc..

I have got a trial pack of the one size nappy, bamboo snap in liner and a Small Rikki cover; small prefolds (cotton and bamboo/terry) and another PUL cover in small. Shall start looking for the newborn covers.