New Born Nappies

Justine: I used "flats", cloth nappies old-fashioned-style: large squares that you fold and secure with a nappy pin. I used them from day 1 with my first baby. My husband was very supportive as we didn't have much money at that stage. We were also living in an apartment without a tumble drier and I had to trek down a flight of stairs to hang them out to dry. BUT it wasn't so bad. Even if I had had the money to buy disposables I would have still used cloth. I actually found that folding them became part of my routine. I found it strangely therapeutic :redface: My mother posted down a whole heap of cloth nappy paraphrenalia: nylon triangle liners, pins, pilchers and later on when they got a bit thin she made terry towelling booster inserts. So for 2 years virtually all my daughters nappy requirements cost us the grand total of $40 (in 1994 this was the cost of a packet of about 30 flannel square nappies). Of course you need to add the cost of washing them.... but it would have come to nowhere near the $5000 you could be looking at for using disposables for 2 years. Over the years my mother has knitted me wool "soakers" etc and extra towelling nappies. She worked in a fabric store for a while and got materials and fabric cheap.

Anyhow, what I'm trying to say is that you might find the whole process easier than you think. Checkout the cloth nappy threads. I personally am a fan of flats as the baby doesn't grow out of them... but it's always convenient to have a few sizes of the modern pre-folded nappies, I had a few that I would take with me on outings so that changing the nappy away from home was as easy as using a disposable.

With a newborn baby, especially if they are breastfed, they can poo very very regularly. Given that some disposable nappies can cost 50c a pop imagine putting on a fresh nappy only to have your baby poo in it about 2 minutes later.... on goes another 50c.... and you can easily go through 10-12 over a 24hour period. You do the maths ;) At least when they poo 2 minutes later in a fabric nappy you don't cringe at the cost so much... 'cos you know you can just use it again.... and again... and again...

Is there anywhere on this website that discusses the benefits of cloth over disposable or vice versa, I'm with Justine in that I though cloth would be too much hassle, but I keep hearing recommendations to go that way as it's easier on the hip pocket and better for bubs...but I still have no idea!! I've got awhile to go, but would love to read up on it to make an educated decision ;D

Once you get into the swing of cloth, it's easy as :D And of course, if you're having a bad day (or week ;)) there's nothing to say that you can't use sposies for a few days to make things easier if you feel the need. But I honestly find cloth easier as we get so many more leaks (and therefore clothes and linen changes) with disposables. Once you know how to use cloth properly it is much more reliable.

I use a combo of MCN (modern cloth nappies) and terry towelling flats (old fashioned squares). I really like the MCN for when we go out. I haven't use a sposie for ages, I have about two left in the house, it's almost like a point of pride not to have to buy anymore!

If you google the 'Modern Cloth Nappies' website and then go to facts and figures you will find some interesting info ;)

Good luck, and please feel free to join us in the cloth nappy threads for any questions you have. https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ilet-training/ We were all new to cloth at some point, I promise we'll be friendly, so drop into the cloth nappy discussion thread!

Oliver fit into Huggies Newborn for 5 weeks, then Infant for 8 weeks after that (to 13 weeks).

I used cloth from day 2 and didn't find it difficult at all, however I only had 12 fitted NB nappies which wasn't nearly enough so also used disposables. He was going through minimum 12 nappies a day total in the early weeks, and like previous posters have said, for the first couple of weeks he pooed every feed. He has gone totally the opposite now and only poos once every 10-12 days, but still goes through 7-8 nappies a day (1-2 disposables for at night/when out, the rest cloth). We used Huggies to start as thats what I was given at my baby shower, then changed to the Aldi Mammia nappies when the Aldi within walking distance opened. The Aldi nappies do feel cheaper but work just as well on Oliver - no leaking - so thats good enough for us. I currently go through about one packet of Aldi nappies a month.

Yes - girls get your bum's over into the nappy thread and we'll help you out.
I must warn you...it is very scarey at first but once you know all the jargan involved...you'll get hooked

Noticed today that Aldi did have small nappies 3-6kg, so they should be ok to fit a newborn, they might be a bit roomy to start with. I suppose though like with all nappies you wont know what brand and what size will fit till you try them.

Thanks for that Astrid!

I found the NB aldi nappies where similar in size to the Infant sized huggies.

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I found the NB aldi nappies where similar in size to the Infant sized huggies.

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They are very much like the Woolworths Select Infant nappies, they also fit 3-6kg. The main difference between them (other than the picture) is that the Aldi nappy has thinner tabs, otherwise they are almot identical.

Hi, just adding to the cloth vs dispoable debate - we've been in cloth since birth and havn't found it difficult at all. in fact, i'm in love with our nappies! but, for the past 2 weeks we've been using disposables as our washing nachine broke down (and looking like it'll be another 2 weeks to be fixed!) and can't believe how expensive it is buying nappies & disposable wipes. they're also much smellier and don't contain leaks as well.
just my 2c worth ;)
wish we had aldi over here

Go with cloth!!! :D
Waaaay better for bub's butt and the environment.... and washing them will be easy as! It's not hard at all, you just need to do your research and find out what MCN (modern cloth nappy) suits you and your bub the best.....

I was turned off disposables months ago when i read about the effects they have on our environment..... takes at least 100yrs to break down one single disposable nappy in landfill :( now thats bad!! BUT i don't judge anyone who uses them because we are all different and some people simply don't have the time to use cloth. Plus at times convenience is important.....

I've just invested in some Baby Beehinds (only a few) and quite a few of the "Peapods" you can google these names and find their websites and read about the nappies and how to use them and wash them....
thats how i started just reading websites and all about them.

We are only going to buy 1 pack of NB disposables as a 'back up' only and keep the receipt ;)

This is our first bub.

another thing to remember when using sposies is that buy law its illegal to put human waste in the bin, therefore you are ment to flush the poo down the toilet, so is you do taht you might as well use cloth!!

good point AJP. So most people using disposables break the law everyday because i'll be damned if anyone can work out how to flush newborn poo down the toilet when it soaks into the nappy the way it does! Even with my 2yo he has the odd runny poo that no-way-known can be "flushed" away from the nappy... it just seeps in too much. It's very scary how much human waste is going to be filtering into our water table under the ground!!!!

dont worry bath ive often wondered the same!! the water table is aconcern!!

Don't forget that people may give you nappies.

We only bought 1 packet of Aldi newborn nappies prior to the birth. We then got given a box of Huggies and some Safeway ones. They are all different sizes. The Huggies were the smallest so we used them first. The Safeway ones are a little bigger and Aldi ones are even bigger therefore we will be able to use them a bit longer. They've all been really good. The Safeway ones are great cos you can tell without opening the nappy if bubs has wee'd - I could never tell with the Huggies until I opened it.

My baby was 7lb 13 at birth and at 3 weeks the Huggies ones were a tad on the small side so I wouldn't buy too many of them if I were you.

I'd recommend stocking up on wipes though, they are not cheap and you can go through heaps of them if bubs does a messy nappy and then sits in it for a while. I recommend Pigeon ones - they are available at independent grocery stores.

I've got a box and the large bag of huggies newborn then I bought a box of boys infant as we know what we're having, I figure I can buy another box after he's born if we need it!
Best of luck with your baby shopping.
Snoopea

We used 4 boxes with Lachlan but most supermarkets etc will let you exchange them for a bigger size if they are unopened. Don't worry, I was equally organised. I'll be buying my first box this fortnight too.

Justine mate, if it's money saving you're after, go the cloth. In the last 18months I've spent MAYBE $300 on nappies....imagine that'd be like 12-14weeks in sposies.....
and how much does an extra load of washing every couple of days cost really?