Since we have a new little bundle on the way, I've been thinking about switching to cloth nappies.
However, I would really like to have as much information as I can before making a decision. My 3 year old still wears a nappy to bed at night, and my 1 year old will not be toilet trained before this baby comes, so is it possible to get some sort of system that would work for all of them? And, I am gathering that there are MANY different kinds of cloth nappies out there - can you tell me some of the pro's and con's of the different kinds? And, if there are people out there who have used both disposable and cloth, what was your experience like? Was cloth much more or less work than you were expecting? Were there any unexpected good or bad things?
Please just pass along whatever information, tips or suggestions you might have - I'm pretty much clueless about the whole situation! Thanks!
we use the bum genius and the main selling point (apart from the fact that i love big cloth bottoms! LOL!) was that it was a one size system. it has snap locks on the front to adjust the size and the inserts also have them. they can be used from newborn right up to toilet training.
DD was a bit tiny so we had to use sposies (the safties nature nappies are awesome) for awhile.
In all honesty i find no real time difference (except that with sposies you are having to go out and buy them all the time...). these new types of cloth dont require soaking so can be rinsed off in the toilet (for the ginormous poos LOL! etc) and thrown straight into the wash. they dry really fast too!
Ok, I've got a bub in cloth and a toddler. Concievably - they could wear the same nappies because I do have OSFA - but I don't do it very often as most of the OSFA are very wide in the crotch - which is a bit too much for Miss M.
However - the ones that I do use for both of them are:-
Cute Tooshies (I think they are?? might be wrong on spelling)
Baby Beehinds Bamboo & Hemp fitted. I use these of a night time for Miss M - and during the day for Master A. I have woollen covers for nights to go over the top for her, and I have PUL covers for his nap times. So they can both wear the same nappies - but need different sizing covers.
There are some OSFA covers out there, but I can't comment cos I don't own any.
I think my main ones that I use for DS are still too big for Miss M - for her from the beginning I used mainly prefolds, and just WAHM's fitted nappies - different assortments - because you want the containment factor of a fitted plus a cover - AIO's are great - but really difficult to contain the explosive newborn poo.
HOWEVER - I use both the medium sized itti bittis on both kids at the moment (he also fits into larges, and she also fits into smalls) and I think these are great - but only because they suit my kids. What suits mine may not suit yours ya know?
I think first you have to work out what kind of system you want - fitted & covers, pockets, aio's - and then go from there.
I have all of different types - and all in different sizings - but I started out with a lot more and then culled the ones that didn't suit my kids. So its all a matter of what suits your bub and your lifestyle.
What was the other question - oh disposable and cloth - cloth is more work, no doubt. BUT its not a bad thing. I like hanging them out. I like putting them together. I don't particularly like washing the poo off into the toilet for a newborn, but I have a little squirt so its easier. I LOVE walking past the disposables and not having to buy them.
I have two in cloth full time - don't even have any disposables in the house - and don't even think about going back to them. I also work part time - so I don't have a lot of spare time - but I still manage it.
Did I miss anything? Still doped up on pain meds here AND at work, so bit brainless today..lol
Thanks for the info ladies! Sounds like I have some research to do. I would really love to be able to get away from buying nappies all the time. Once a month I make a trip to the big bulk store (Costco - do they have those in Aus?) and stock up and it generally costs about $100 just to cover their butts! With one more, it'll be even worse. Wouldn't take long for cloth to pay for itself at that rate. Think of all the things I can buy with an extra $100.....
I just want to make sure that if I make the investment into cloth, I won't regret it and start using the disposables again and wasting my money.
You know what, since most of what we would use here are australian ones (ie ittis and stuff)
Why don't you try an Ecobumz. They come in two sizes - and they have pockets and AIO's and they have just released another bamboo one. They are in canada too, so you won't have to worry about the exchange rate or huge postage.
Just a thought.
I have two of them - and they are better than what I thought they would be. I think the second size would fit your 3 year old and 1 year old... not sure about how small the other size is though - I only got the second size for DS and haven't tried it on Miss M though. They are pretty slim fitting though...
Anyway, I just thought of those cos I saw where you are from
Well, I googled cloth nappies, and have been thoroughly overwhelmed with options! Like drinking water from a fire hose.
Anyways, I found a Canadian site that offers many different lines of cloth - prefolds, all-in-ones, fitted, and I don't know what all else. They have information on each type, it's good points and bad points, what you need to go with it (inserts, what type of insert, cover, closer things.... etc.), and how many you will probably need in each size. Hurray!
I have to say I am a little shocked at the price though. They quote a total for the system from newborn to toilet training, so that's quite a bit, I guess, and you don't have to spend it all at once. But still it looks like a lot! (I just have to remember what I spend every month, and multiply that out over three years!) And, we do hope to have more babies (one or two anyways) and so we can use them again. And, if we don't have any more, I understand some cloth nappies have a decent re-sale value.
If anyone has anything else they would like to share, please let me know! I would really like to hear from mums who are actually using them, not just a website that wants to sell them to me. Thanks!
What else would you like to know ? I know its just my opinion, but I can tell you what works for us, why it works for us and answer questions about any that you may have that you have read about?
Thinking about cloth....
Thanks!
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