Navigating the world of real nappies can feel a bit overwhelming - especially when you have very little spare time! I don't pretend to be a reusable nappy expert (they do exist). Still, I feel that I've enough experience now to share it with you on this blog.
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| Can those Motherease airflow wraps keep my son's pyjamas dry at night? |
I'll give you a detailed description of the nappies and nappy accessories that I've been using so that you can figure out what's the hell we're talking about when we talk about booster pads, liners, wraps/covers etc.
Beware buying reusable nappies can turn into a bit of an addiction...There are lots of cute patterns out there!
At night, my son (who is almost 11 months and weighs more than 9 kilos) wears a Little lamb bamboo nappy size 2 with a reusable Little lamb fleecy liner (to catch poos and limit stains). I put a large Motherease airflow wrap/cover on top to keep his pyjamas dry. I LOVE Motherease wraps. They're a godsend.
I bought a brand new set of Little lambs. The 20 nappy pack came with 6 wraps - and also liners, a nappy bin and a laundry bag. The nappies are fine but I've had a lot of leaks at night with those Little lamb wraps 😫. Having to deal with a screaming baby who needs changing in the middle of the night is not fun...
UPDATE: I've found a solution to this problem. Inserting a folded booster at the front of the nappy does prevent leaks!
So I bought 4 second hand Motherease airflow wraps on the Pre-loved Cloth nappies and accessories Facebook group. I paid £13 for the first two I and £4.75 for the second set of two (postage included in both cases). Brand new one Motherease airflow wrap costs about £13 (without postage). I'm quite proud of myself for getting more or less 4 wraps for the price of one. (Except that I've just realised the second set is not the right size for my son! My fault.)
I was hoping that the Motherease covers would be bomb proof. Although we had a string of dry pyjamas nights, I'm sorry to report that we had a massive leak yesterday night. I don't have a clue to why it happened. So tonight I will boost B's Little lamb nappy with 2 bamboo pads, I will put a Motherease wrap on top and I'll cross my fingers. UPDATE: those wraps work very well at keeping B's pyjamas dry. Make sure that the elastic is in good condition though.
During the day, B wears:
-Little lamb bamboo nappies + Little lamb wraps;
-all-in-one Bambino Mio with a Totsbots bamboo booster pad;
-Close Pop-In nappies with a Totsbots bamboo booster or a Close Pop-In Night time booster;
-Totsbots bamboozle stretch nappies with Totsbots wrap.
UPDATE: I've found a solution to this problem. Inserting a folded booster at the front of the nappy does prevent leaks!
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| Little lamb bamboo nappy. You need to put a wrap/cover on top. It can be used both during the day and at night. |
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| Opened Little lamb bamboo nappy. It has a booster sewn on the inside. Very absorbent but takes ages to dry. |
So I bought 4 second hand Motherease airflow wraps on the Pre-loved Cloth nappies and accessories Facebook group. I paid £13 for the first two I and £4.75 for the second set of two (postage included in both cases). Brand new one Motherease airflow wrap costs about £13 (without postage). I'm quite proud of myself for getting more or less 4 wraps for the price of one. (Except that I've just realised the second set is not the right size for my son! My fault.)
I was hoping that the Motherease covers would be bomb proof. Although we had a string of dry pyjamas nights, I'm sorry to report that we had a massive leak yesterday night. I don't have a clue to why it happened. So tonight I will boost B's Little lamb nappy with 2 bamboo pads, I will put a Motherease wrap on top and I'll cross my fingers. UPDATE: those wraps work very well at keeping B's pyjamas dry. Make sure that the elastic is in good condition though.
During the day, B wears:
-Little lamb bamboo nappies + Little lamb wraps;
-all-in-one Bambino Mio with a Totsbots bamboo booster pad;
-Close Pop-In nappies with a Totsbots bamboo booster or a Close Pop-In Night time booster;
-Totsbots bamboozle stretch nappies with Totsbots wrap.
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| All-in-one Bambino Mio. It's part of a pack of 6 miosolos bought brand new. Very popular model. You can find lots of them second hand in the UK. |
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| Close Pop-In |
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| Same nappy with a Night time booster that we use during the day. |
I've bought some nappies, covers and boosters brand new. Other items are second hand bought on the Pre-loved Cloth nappies and accessories Facebook group or Gumtree (it's where I got the Close Pop-In from).
My 5 tips:
1) Do your research. Consult the Nappy lady website. There's such a great wealth of information there! Drying speed, absorbency, ease of use etc.: whatever the brand or model you're considering, none of your questions will remained unanswered.
2) Take your time. Resist the temptation to buy nappies that you haven't tried on your baby!
I talk from experience there. I bought some second hand Totsbots easyfit on eBay. They don't fit my son! I've wasted my money. 😕
3) Buy second hand if possible. You'll save lots of money and time. I had to wash the Little lamb bamboo nappies 3 times before using them. Quite an effort before you've even started using the nappies.
4) Pace yourself. Start with reusable nappies during the day and see how that works for you and your baby. Using reusables at night is clearly more challenging (see above). You may decide that it's too much for you and it's absolutely fine.
5) Don't skimp on nappy accessories. Get a good stash of good boosters! Also, get a nappy bucket. Very useful to contain the smells...Buy at least one wet bag to carry wet nappies when you are out and about. Totsbots does really cute wet bags, although they don't seem to have any in store just yet. I recommend their dry and wet bags. They have two pouches: one for clean nappies, another for wet/dirty nappies.
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| Totsbots bamboo boosters are sold as a set of three by Totsbots. |
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| This is not a booster. It's a fleece liner. |
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| This is a reusable cotton Cheeky wipe. Ecofriendly and super economical! I can't recommend reusable wipes enough. |