Best place to shop for covers?

Hi everyone! well I am new to the cloth nappy game, and am having some serious trouble locating any nappy covers in my relatively small town!! So far I have tried 2 supermarkets, Best & Less, the chemist and Target where I did find 1type although unfortunataly not in the right size! I got as close as I could, and it is woRking ok but I obviously need more than 1 :). As it is a bit of a trek to the nearest town any advice before i go would be appreciated ie the best shops for covers. thanks ladies. i saw someone said big w so i'll try that aswell. or maybe some useful websites??

You will find the best covers on line. Often covers in the stores you mention are not made of breathable plastic. If you are after a plastic type cover to go over a flat nappy, i would recommend PUL, as it is waterproof and breathable. Ones i have tried that are great include totsbots, motherease riki, bambinoneo.
I have also found fleece covers great. Many people swear by wool too.

Some stores you could try online include;
WAHMNAPS
theweewuns
thenappybucket
babysoftlandings
darlingsdownunder
just to name a few! ;)

You might have to do a bit of googling.

I use Baby Beehind covers & maz-a-licious covers (from the WAHMNAPS website). I've tried the cheap covers that you've mentioned, but I have found it best to pay that little bit extra for good quality.

ozclothnappies website (it's an ORG site, but no AU) has a database list of IN REAL LIFE cloth nappy shops, you just click on whatever state you live in, and up pops a list. Not sure, but if Busselton is in WA, i know there are some shops selling MCN in Perth, not sure about other areas of WA. I don't even know how far Busselton is from Perth!

Old fashioned nappy covers are easily available at many big w, kmart, target type shops, what my mum's generation called PILCHERS. These are made out of PVC, sweat alot, break easily, are only waterproof a few times before going leaky, very cheap but not very worth the money at all.

The new technology (MODERN cloth nappies) uses different fabrics, which breathe much better (so does't sweat the baby), are waterproof, stay waterproof even after repeated use and washing, and do up in different ways e.g with aplix (industrial strength velcro), or front snaps or side snaps, or some are pull up style.

the fabrics you can buy covers in are:
PUL
polar fleece
malden mills fleece
minky with hidden PUL
woollen covers called soakers

Alot of people buy their MCN online, cos it's easy and convenient Covers are very light to post so shipping won't be heaps.

Online, there are SO MANY mcn shops, but i will list a few of the larger ones, who stock MANY brands of covers, so you get a chance to compare brands, prices and see what's out there.

nurturenappies (they have cover packages, e.g buy four, get a better price)
darlingsdownunder
theweewuns
babysoftlandings
so google those names, find the sites, and click on teh COVERS link to find the products available.

I have seen bambino mio, soft PUL leg gusset covers for sale at Your Child's Nursery, which is a baby shop franchise in my state. There are a couple of organic baby shops in my city that stock a range of MCN covers, but the choice online is very good.

Some brands like baby beehinds, have consultants in various cities, so if you went to the baby beehinds website, clicked on WHERE TO BUY or something similar, hopefully there might be a consultant near you - so like Tupperware or similar, they have consultants everywhere. a baby beehind cover is $11.50 - so it sounds heaps more than the cheapie pilcher at big w, but the difference is, it actually DOES keep baby, your lap, your furniture, your car seat DRY, when the cheapie might SOUND cheap, but the amount of extra laundry, scrubbing you end up doing, is not cost effective to me. I'd rather spend the extra and actually get something that works.

I have seen a brand of MCN in Foodland/IGA supermarkets but have not tried it myself to be able to say if it works or not.

However, i can vouch for cover brands like:
tots bots
bummis
bambino mio
imse vimse
baby beehinds
tinkle tots

for night covers, i would recommend
dancing bears
swaddlebees fleece
staccinator deluxe
sugarpeas

PUL and fleece covers dry really fast, so you don't need a big quantity of them (if you wash once a day).

Looks like you have an 8 month old bub, dunno how much your bub weighs, but you'll need to know bub's weight to help you decide which size to buy. E.g tots bots size 2 i think is from 8 - 16kg, so that one cover size may do your bub until toilet training.

hth

when i first found out about MCN, it was so confusing, it's quite an involved area, but places like ozclothnappies and nappycino forums, are so helpful, you are never short of somewhere to ask your questions. (like in our first week using MCN< i kept getting leaks, and it turned out, i was doing them up too loose - lovely kind people in cyberspace did troubleshooting for me, i did the covers up tighter and HEY PRESTO - no more leaks!).

the FAQ link at ozclothnappies is brilliant when it's all new to you ( and even when it's not new, when mummy brain takes over and you just need to know stuff!)

cheers

aaahhhh I see!! thanks heaps for your suggestions guys, I had an image in my mind of the old-fashioned things from what i remember my baby brother wearing, 20 years ago!! I think web sites look like the way to go, I really appreciate your tips and advice. now i'm off to do some serious googling....:)

quick update: found some awesome websites so thanks again for your suggestions. Have some covers and some AIO's on the way as we speak...wish me luck!!