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Dear Ladies, I saw a thread before on the basics one needs to know on cloth nappies but cant seem to find it. I am expecting my first child and am finding this cloth nappied business very daunting...
any help will be appreciated.
How many nappies do i need to start of with?
Which brands are good/
What else apart from the nappies do i need?
:wall:
Thanks
Gaya
Hi there, Gaya
Good on you for giving cloth nappies a shot!
We started with
* 40 square flats (those towelling things) (24 white, 16 coloured)
* 6 pilchers (magic plastic pants) in each size (000, 00, 0)
* 9 snappy fasteners
* 10 modern cloth nappies with thick inserts
* a roll of 500 biodegradable flushable liners
* baby wipes and cotton wool balls
* baby powder (corn starch is apparently just as good though)
* sorbalene
* sudocrem (though we still haven't finished the little pots from the Bounty bags!)
* one pack of disposables for while the meconium is still coming
* two nappy buckets with clip on lids
* a BIG thing of laundry soaker
we "cheated" at the start, using disposables while in hospital and while the poo was still meconium, because we'd been warned that it's much harder to clean ...
we haven't needed to use the powder or the sudocrem more than a handfull of times, because we find that a generous slather of sorbalene solves bubba's dry skin pretty well, and he almost never gets nappy rash.
DS's skin is pretty resilient, and so we were able to use normal wipes from birth. we're considering getting some microflece or flannel fabric to make washable ones, though, as they're much cheaper in the long run and better for the environment (and his little badonka-butt, too!).
We use the flat terries with a snappy and pilcher during the day, and the MCNs at night, with two inserts for absorbency (meaning he sleeps for up to 12 hours! bliss!).
We have found that one nappy bucket would have been fine, because our washing machine has a "soak" function, so instead of one bucket for soaking and one for dry-pailing, we just wait until there's enough for a half load (generally every other day) and then wash. The other bucket gets used for clothes, or just sits there looking cute.
We don't always use the liners, and I haven't seen any major change in behaviour or absorbency with or without it ... it will be different when his poos are solid, but for now, they seem a bit unnecessary.
With the square flats, 40 might sound like a *lot* but we use them for perking rags, something to go under him on his play mat during no-nappy time, on top of his chest in the car or pram if he's recently eaten, underneath me when b/f if I'm particularly full and might leak, etc. If you were using them solely as nappies, 24 would be enough if you're planning on washing at least every other day, but because they're so handy, we went for more, so that we're never short of a nappy!
Brands -
for most things, we went with the Dymples brands from Big W (uber cheap) (about $2 per white nappy, $0.65 per pilcher, etc).
we got the big softies colour suqares ones (more expensive, but nicer colours than the cheaper ones)
we found our MCN on ebay, and they are great and very cheap and rarely leak. but there's lots of ladies here on BB who make them too :)
we went with the cheap plastic pilchers instead of the more expensive fabric ones, and have found they're fine - he leaks sometimes, but not often.
other bits and pieces were just whatever was cheapest at Big W or Target ...
ummm ... I think that's it?
re feeling a bit overwhelmed - I personally have found it's not that much extra work. One load of washing every other day, and they dry really quickly hanging up outside, or on an airer inside. I have found that the money saved (and the feel good vibe!) has been way worth the trouble.
and I always keep a few disposables just in case (eg: if we're out for a while, and a dirty nappy in the car is not in the plan). I don't beat myself up about it, because it's not too often, and it's more important that we're able to get out and about easily without stressing! :D
good luck!! feel free to ask any other questions.
Hi Gayatri,
PumpkinZulu started a thread on this in the main section of the nappies forum, there is lots of good advice there.