I have decided that I do not want to go down the flats and covers path, despite my mother's nagging. Just personal choice.
Because I will be studying post-graduate full time in 2009 I have decided I like the one size, AIO option. So far I like Bum Genius one size AIO and Cushie Tushies. I am assuming I will have a large baby and be able to put them in the 'newborn fold' right away as I was 68cm long when born 3 months premature and hubby was a 9 pound 11 ounce baby. But I might be wrong!
Baby will be born in winter and we do not have a drier, nor do we want one. Will I need 24 or 36 nappies? Can I use flushable liners instead of a little squirt?
Because these AIOs are sort of on the pricey side if I get extras for winter, do they actually end up cheaper than disposables???
Cheaper than sposies... yes! definately! plus if you invest in well know brands they will resell well
BG i use on DS. He is almost 6 kg and the legs are still a bit big and prone to leaks. Especially on his side. unless you plan on having a 7kg baby lol the OSFM pockets may not be the best to start with a newborn.
You can get fitteds for newborns.. i honestly think new bubs should have sized nappies that fit well rather than a OSFM in the early months to minimise leaks and poo plosions. So i would go some bamboo fitteds in NB/Small and PUL covers. Covers are an excellent way to keep the squirts contained. i know you didnt want to do flats so perhaps fitteds are the way to go .
As for liners. I use liners and the poo still gets on the nappy. It is liquid and squishes tot he sides and through the liner. I think if i didnt have the LS i would have not lasted lol... so i would invest as they are wonderful!!!
i was every 2 days (i have 2 in cloth though). and i have 12 AIO and 12 fitteds and never run out with DS. (i have more for DD = these are just what i use for him). I dont change him overnight either as he is in a Night nappy and sleeps through. But perhaps aim for 8-10 nappies a day in the first month or 2. Then i change DS 3-4hourly now if he is in a good bamboo nappy.
We went straight into OSFA from about 2-3wks and had no trouble with fit. We had Bum G, Haute and a Baby beehinds to start with.
The good thing about OSFA is that a lot of them are pockets and dry quicker than your AIO so a good choice if you want to minimise drying times however if you want to look at some OSFA AIO try cuddlesncloth abbygro and nappylicious and bum g make one also but I don't know how well it sits on a newborn as the booster folds up at the back of the nappy and looks a little uncomfy.
If your expecting a big bubba and you really want AIO go for the medium size 5-11kg as you will get more use out of them then a small (usually around 2.5 - 6-8kg)
As for how many we started with 5 plus some flats and I washed every night, but I had a dryer. Minimum I would recommend with no dryer is 14 but this is assuming your winters are reasonably dry. I would go for 22 to be safe and try lots of different brands, some pockets, some AIO so you can see which fit your bub the best. Some stores do a multipack with differnt brands: darlings downunder, nappybucket, nurture nappies, maybe baby blossom?
I like both Cushies and BumG, for one baby over winter if you are washing everyday 24 should be fine, but if you are being lazy then i would say 36
24 nappies will cost you approx $840
36 will cost you approx $1260
Remember to shop around for discounts and sales and you get discount for buying bulk
so you will sace at least around the 2k mark... which is alo of money and not to mention alot of waste you arent throwing away
Flushable liners are better for more solid poo's but will help alot with newborn poos. but i would honestly recomend if you are doing cloth full time a little squirt is a great investment.
Thanks for all the info so far it has been really helpful.
A big question about NOT using a little squirt:
We are in a rental and there is actually no tap on the toilet tap - meaning there is no turny bit, no handle - and the whole pipes and etc is all corroded up. So a LS is a definate no-no. We just cannot install one.
How do I rinse the nappies without a little squirt? Hence the question about flushable liners...are they enough?
Angela, I have never used a little squirt and had no problems. We tried flushable liners but I found them a bit rough and wouldn't have wanted them on my bot.
When DD was little I threw everything in a bucket with cold water. Breastmilk is completely biodegradable and breaks down in water so nothing remains.
When she got to 4-6 months and her poos changes to a slightly more sticky consistency we kept a poo bucket near the toilet and another bucket in the laundry. We would rinse the poo off with water from the laundry into the bucket and flush that water down the toilet.
At 9-12mth when we started getting more solid poos they just roll straight into the loo. If we have any messy ones I soak them in a bucket of water and I have tongs to pluck them out and flush that water.
It sounds more complicated then it was now that I have written it all out but it really is super easy
I have BG's one-size pocket nappies, stuffing the pockets takes no time at all when you've taken them off the line, they dry super quick even inside when it is a rainy day out, they are really absorbent and excellent at containing runny poo explosions.
I don't think that there is any question that cloth nappies save you money, they are definitely worth the investment. I also like pocket nappies because as DS got older and became a much heavier wetter I could stuff a bamboo booster in with the microfibre for extra absorbency.
Flushable liners are good but I don't usually bother unless DS has nappy rash cream on and I don't have a little squirt here, I normally just wipe the poo into the toilet with some toilet paper and then put the nappy straight into the dry pail. The sun gets out all the stains.
On liners... We dont' have the LS. When DS was very little, we didn't do anything with the poo, just chucked nappies straight in the nappy bin (using flats then) and washed every day. With BM it all just rinsed out very easily. As he got older we rinsed the nappies before putting them in the bucket - just used the laundry sink.
We used microfleece liners, which are great for keeping bums dry. The liquid poos can't really be kept off the nappies anyway, so I agree that the disposable liners probably aren't much good early on.
Recently I began using disposable liners. Now that he's on solids they do catch the poo quite well. However, they also hold moisture against his skin and he's been getting a bit rashy, so I only use them in the morning, when he's most likely to poo. The solids go in the toilet (we also use toilet paper with this, especially if he's not in a flushable liner when he poos) and we rinse the nappy in the sink. I just clean the sink out with pino-clean after.
The sun is great for getting the stains out.
MCN decisions - have some questions
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