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Cloth nappy virgin!

So I've been thinking about converting recently and having looked into it more today I see I can get totsbots and some bum genius ones here in Switzerland (something is available here!). It will cost around £400 for what I need I think so a bit more then UK prices. If I get 3 bamboo nappies for nighttime (I do a wash every other day at least) will that be enough? And then how many easy fit style ones should I buy for daytime? And how many wraps, boosters, liners? 

What happens if you go away for a few nights where there is no washing machine ie. hotel? Do you just revert to disposables?

How long does an easy fit style one last ie how often do you change just wet nappies?

Replies

  • I think we use around 4-5 nappies during the day, and we then use a disposable at night. I change the nappy every 4-5 hours in the day. We have just under 20 nappies at the moment and that's plenty. My bucket fits about 10, so I do a wash every other day.

    I use the Bumgenius freetimes, so no need for wraps. I don't use boosters either. I have bought loads of disposable liners and use 1 per nappy.

    If we go away for a night or two I put the nappies in my wetbag (which zips up) and put this in the wash when we get home. If going away for longer I think I'd use disposables yes.

  • I'd say that 3 would be fine overnight, presuming he doesn't usually need changing. £400 does sound like a lot, but you should still make a saving overall. I managed with 16 nappies for my first and washed every 2 to 3 days. I'd put a wash on when she went to bed and they were dry by morning. No. 2 pees for Britain and I have to change her every 3 hrs, so wash every other day. I've just ordered some more nappies as I've been left short on a few occasions and had to use a disposable, so 20 would give you more of a back up. The need for boosters will depend on how heavy a wetter your baby is. I didn't use any with my first until she was a toddler, I've used them from the off with no. 2. Bumgenius come with 2 boosters, so I use the newborn one of those to boost and it's been fine.

    If going out for a few hrs, I just put the dirty nappy into a nappy bag, tie it and put in my bucket when I get home. You can get wash bags, but I've never bothered as I can't be bothered to have something else to wash out. Otherwise, I revert to disposables as with 2 kids I've enough stuff to cart around without nappy buckets etc.

  • I would get at least 5 nighttime bamboo nappies. They take a long time to dry ( unless you have a tumble drier). I have 8 and that's more than enough. Five woukd give you One to wear, one in the wash, one drying, and a couple of spares in case of poo.

    Wraps - if you're just using them at night you could just have 2 or 3. They dry really quickly.

    Easyfits - I'd guess around 12 as a start with washing every other day. They dry really quickly if they're the newest version (v3 minky ones). They do need boosting though as they're not that absorbent on their own. I boost them with bamboo usually. Id change an easyfit roughly every three hours.

    Liners - depends on whether you want to use disposable liners or fleece. I use Little Lamb disposable liners and have had the TotsBots ones before too. I always use a fleece liner at night. For fleece, you'd want one for each nappy. You can just cut up a thin fleece blanket to make them though.

    When I'm away for more than a night I've used Eco disposables before. For one night I'd do as Sasasi and put them in a wet bag. I've just bought some gNappies to use when we're away/on holiday now. They have a pouch inside that you can put either biodegradable disposable pads in or cloth pads.

  • Thanks for all the info. I've found a website here that sells pocket insert ones quite cheaply so I might buy a multipack, see how we get on and then order some more. Is it weird I'm a little scared?! I suppose worst case scenario is that it's all a big faff and we go back to disposables but I like the idea of saving a bit of money on a monthly basis and baby having something soft next to her bum rather than papery crap! I do worry about space though as we only have one drier which is nearly always full. In the summer things dry fast as the flat is like an oven but in the winter it could be a slight problem as we only have slim radiators hmmm.

  • That sounds like a good plan. If you find you don't get on with them, you can always pop them over the top of a disposable nappy like pants when she's wearing dresses!

    I don't have a tumble drier. I do have the Lakeland heated airer though and that helps when I can't put them on the line outside. I've also got some of those little racks that hang over radiators. The outsides of pocket nappies dry really quick, quicker than the inserts, so it's worth getting more inserts than nappies.

  • I think I will have to get some racks for the radiator. That's a good idea about the pants under dresses, I don't like seeing the nappy on full view anyway.

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