Hi
I know it is probably unlikely someone who failed at trying modern cloth nappy would be reading a nappy forum, but just in case I thougth I would post here. I was wondering if any failures out there had any tips for a newbie as to where they failed and why? I have purchased a small stash of mixed prefolds and mcns in advance of the arrival of the baby, but now am worried I will fail (full time work as well as baby) and have wasted my money. Any insight greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Amelie
Great thread! I will be interested to hear some responses b/c this is why I haven't bought any cloth nappies, I'm scared I would give up and waste my money!
i'm with kitten - i'm only having cloth - if i don't have sposies, i can't use them as a fall back - and it's at least a 40k round trip to buy any sposies, so i can't fold and just get them!!
i think if you're determined, you'll make it work - and if you really can't, most mcn's that are in good nick have good resale value...
My eldest 2 were in cloth until they were 3 months old. I stoped because my terry flats just weren't holidng up and MCN weren't known to me at that stage.
My 3rd child has been in cloth since 2 months...really I suppose she was in cloth from day dot (terries ) and then we discovered the joys of MCN's...my youngest has been in them since birth.
Positive thinking has alot to do with your attitude with anything. If you thinking about failing...9/10 your gearing yourself up to fail. Regardless of using cloth or disposables..its really a preference what you find works for you.
I know that by using cloth I am leaving less damaging footsteps behind me and allowing the earth to breath instead of being suffocated by waste. Im not only saving money but saving my childrens future!
I think that any amount of time you use them for is benefit to your baby and to the environment so it's impossible to "fail"
I used mcn's on my first son for 14 months and while the huge amount of less rubbish was better for the environment, it unfortunately wasn't worth my time and i knew i wouldn't manage the washing with 2 in cloth so i sold my stash and got half of what it cost me to buy... so overall for the 14 months we were way ahead financially when compared to disposables.
If you are really concerned about not managing it timewise - because it IS more washing and hanging - then its not too late to sell them new and make back your money
I went through a period for a while where i felt that i'd failed at cloth, but my hubby reassured me that he would rather see me spending that time with my kids than washing/hanging/putting together, as it was time consuming.
If you are concerned about time, I would think about nappies that can go in the dryer. I usually hang my nappies on the line, but when we are having one of those weeks, I chuck them through the dryer.
The BBH - I dry on low heat (because I know that the heat damages the elastic in the legs). The Greenkids - I dry the insert in the dryer (on low or high) & I just hang out the outer on the line. Flats/prefolds should be fine in the dryer too.
Just wanted to say, I agree with mummab..using just some cloth nappies, or mcn is a good thing! So don't worry about failing as such. Just have fun with it, and play around with it. Some days it will be easy as, other days there may be a big basket full of nappy bits and pieces that just seems to sit in your lounge room forever waiting to be folded!! hehe like with me atm!
I think it is smart however, to maybe not go out and spend HEAPS of $$ on MCN when it's your first bub though, as you are right, full time cloth doesn't suit everyone.. plus adjusting to mummyhood.. But even just using one MCN a day is a great thing!
I know what you mean, I was the same when I started out. I think the important things to remember is to try a few different types (pocket, fitted and cover, AIO) as different types will work for different people. Don't be afraid to use them. When I only had a couple I wuld "save" them for certain occassions and often didn't end up using them. It wasn't until I just used them that I really got into the swing. And yes I too hd to stop myself from buying disosables to go 100% cloth but once they weren't there I didn't notice.
Give yourself easy routines to follow so it doesn't seem lke extra work. Figure out your bucket system (we had 2 a poo bucket outside the toilet and a wee bucket in the laundry) work out a system of getting them back to the change table. A stash of nappies buried somewhere with the clean clothes is going to be 'too hard' when running round with bub. I put all my nappies into a seperate pile and on a good day, stuff pockets get them all nice looking and plonk them on the change table and on a bad day I dump the entire pile under the change table and make them up as I go.
Last of all if you are having problems with the nappy itself, leaking/ not fitting right get in touch with the seller or post a question here don't just assume that they are garbage etc. A lot of times people I have met who gave up on mcn could have had their problems easily solved had they just asked someone a question.
BellyBelly Life Member - Love all your MCN friends
Jun 2004
The Festival State
3,008
over the last two years, i have come across people in all sorts of situations who use MCN on their child/children and make it work
e.g mums with seven children
mums who work fulltime
mums who study and work part time
i agree with PP, it is in part to do with attitude.
and you know yourself best, you know what you need to do to make something work.
if you are not set up to do something, it has a good chance of failure.
but if you plan, get the stuff you need for it to succeed, it has a good chance of success.
here are some things i did to make MCN work for us (as a newbie to it all)
- got good backup organised (joined ozclothnappies yahoo group, nappycino forum, these are two great MCN advocacy sites, great to browse thru for learning about MCN, then post questions when you get stuck, plus helps you meet people IRL who are using MCN too - if that's what you want
- got two nappy buckets (one to live in the loo, while other one is upside down in bathtub, drying from being washed out when i last emptied it). Where you put YOUR buckets, will depend on the layout of where you live. Some people have their baby changetable setup in the laundry for example.
- got a Little squirt installed in the toilet, to make rinsing off poo super easy, we use it every day, worth every cent
- bought enough nappies for two days, wash once a day
- got a clothes horse to hang up little things, instead of pegging
- bought sensitive washing powder for the nappies to avoid nappy rash
- bought half a metre of micropolar fleece from spotlight, cut up into liners, no sewing required
- two wetbags, one for the nappy bag ready to go out, one in the wash. Even very early on, going out with baby, unless you have a wetbag, too tempting to use sposies.
- nappy bag that will actually fit cloth nappies, most are made for sposies and are too small for MCN.
- re drying times, there are some MCN that dry faster than others. Esp for newborn stage, drying time is not really a big issue. Prefolds and covers dry superfast. When they get bigger, pocket nappies dry superfast, just make sure you buy MORE inserts, than you buy pocket nappies and you'll be fine.
There ARE tricks of the trade, read up on these whilst on maternity leave, get chatty on teh advocacy sites, people are only too happy to help the newbies. If you WANT this to work, there is alot you CAN do to make it work.
i would suggest you don't get all hyped up and buy a gazillion of one nappy. it sounds the easy way out, but i would hold off doing that.
Sewing some MCN whilst on maternity leave could be another option too, great DIY MCN threads on nappycino, here at belly belly and other forums too. If you can sew a straight line, for a rectangle, you can sew a trifold. (Fold a trifold in three, you get a pad, put that pad inside a cover - that's all that a prefold and cover is. Baby gets older, you stick that padfolded trifold into the pocket - it's the insert for the pocket nappy. Trifolds are SO useful, SO easy.
Sewing nappies is trickier, cos elastic is involved, but possible.
if you knit, sewing woolly covers called soakers, is another possibility.
Wool covers keep baby dry (you lanolise the cover to make this happen).
so many possibilities - and if you don't sew, plenty of stuff available online to buy, and a few IRL stores too.
MCN is not for everyone, nothing suits EVERYBODY, it's up to you.
People who know they are a bit patchy about remembering to wash the mcn, buy HEAPS of mcn, so it doesn't matter, they don't run out.
People who can be very discliplined about remembering to put the wash on every day, can get away with buying less nappies and just cycle thru the same nappies often.
i like the middle ground, so you have some leeway, for times when baby won't sleep, or you get sick, or whatever happenes, happens.
the MIXED packages are a good idea, to get an idea of what you do and don't like, before you commit to a type, or brand.
nurturenappies, darlingsdownunder, berry baby, babyblossom all do mixed packages. that's where you buy a package that is made up of a VARIETY of nappy styles. e.g
fitted and cover
pocket
all in one
that way you try several styles, to help you decide what you prefer.
People who DO use MCN are not superhuman, they have ordinary lives. They're just like you, people doing the best they can.
IMO, have washing machine (and the little squirt), not a problem! wihtout washing machine, i don't htink i'd be using MCN LOL. The little squirt sure does make it easy too. Not everyone that uses MCN has one, but for us, it's a very handy thing to have.
It's not the washing (I can handle that)
It's not the scraping and rinsing poo (I can handle that)
it's the lack of knowledge on what is a good nappy brand what is not, the inconscitencay (sp) in sizing, I have spent $300 (which to us is alot of money) on only 10 nappies and yet can only use 6 as the other 4 are either too small or way too huge...I was converting to cloth to in the long run save money but it is costing me more at this stage as I never know if the nappies I purchase are going to work.
you need to get informed hun. There are forums dedicated to JUST cloth nappying. I don't think I can mention a specific one here? Google nappy forums.
Then trawl through the threads.
The ones that are way too huge will be good later on.
I can name some good ones for you
Itti Bitti D'lish
Bum Genius
Wild Child
Baby Beehinds (they make a fantastic one size fits most which I have heaps of)
If $300 is a lot to you then imagine spending that in 2 months on disposables
My person experience is that you can't go by sizing in all nappies, you have to take into account the WEIGHT of your child. Some have larger smalls (peapods), some have trimmer nappies making them SEEM smaller (Itti Bitti, Lotus). Not all nappies will fit all children the same. Good thing about this is there is places you can buy second hand nappies to try before buying more. Buyforbaby is a good auction site. Google that
I joined nappycino before I had ashton, when I was about 5 month pregnant. I soaked up all the info I could about washing, sizing, good brands, ways to use prefolds/flats, good covers etc and when Ashton arrived I was so confident that I could do it. 3 months on I haven't had one hiccup! Researching and talking to other MCN users is SO handy!!
there is a lot of information out there. Please, please, ask questions.
One thing to remember - because all children are sized differently - it is important to MEASURE your child with a tape to see what their measurements are - and see if they will fit into the measurements given in the nappy details online. If they aren't listed - EMAIL the seller and ASK.
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MCN Failures?
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) and then we discovered the joys of MCN's...my youngest has been in them since birth.
there is a lot of information out there. Please, please, ask questions.
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