nappies for twins

[Googoogaga]

Hi all,

Im a first time mum-to-be expecting twins, and would like to hear your views on if its a good idea to have cloth nappies or not. Is it gonna be too time consuming, and is it gonna be cost effective?
Also people have told me that its ok to top-and-tail the twins in the same cot when they are first born (to save on getting two cots until they get bigger and cant share anymore), is this a safe practice?

[Fostermum]

I have a friend who had triplets in the same cot until they were about 5 months old. Also as far as nappies go I think you only want cloth if you get a nappy service, sorry hate washing here. How far along are you?

[Rainbowbrite]

Hi Googoogaga and congrats on the twins :D My cousin had twins 7 years ago and used disposables for them for convenience more than anything I believe.

I am expecting my first baby in 8 weeks and am also very interested in the cloth vrs disposable debate. I have heard mixed reviews on both types and will more than likely use a mixture of both myself. But I would like to put a question out there to all with experience.

What disposable nappies would you all recommend and how much will they cost on average on a weekly basis or how much will I use?

Probably not an easy question i know. All I know is that when i go into hospital to deliver they have told me that i need to supply all my babies nappies (they stipulate disposable) for the duration of the hospital stay.

Thanks in advance for the information
Rainbow

[kerrie]

Hi All,
I'm expecting my first in July and both my Hubby & I are committed to the cloth idea...for a few reasons. A) it works out much cheeper...I'm not sure exactly how much disposables costs but I've read estimates of $3000-5000 for each bambino is in nappies for about 3 years. B) If I can reduce what I contribute to the landfill problem them I'll be happy. C) I'll be at home so doing a w.load every 1-2 days wont take up too much time for me. D) Aparently less nappy rash with cloth.

There are a heap of cloth nappy sites out there....it's a whole new world !
I've just sewn a heap of fitted cloth nappies to have in addittion to my terry squares. Fitted cloths are like disposables, except their cloth ;) The convienence of disposable but reusable :)

I'm not a purest, I think if I had twins I'd use a combo of disposables and cloth for ease......If environmentally friendly disposable like Ennies were as cheep as the other disposables on the market I'd used those in preference, but unfortunatly their about twice as expensive :(
Kerrie :)

[Baby Girl]

Congrats to all the mums-to-be and welcome to one of the first of many decisions you will have to make over the next few years!!

I did not have twins, just one bubby! I used cloth nappies at home until she was about eight weeks old. I found that disposables were great when we had to go out anywhere. Much better than carrying dirty cloth nappies home in the bag!! One thing I did notice was that while my daughter was in cloth she was prone to nappy rash no matter what creams I put on her or how quickly I changed her. The disposables were better for her due to this fact, because they draw the moisture away from bubs unlike the cloth ones.

At about eight weeks we stayed at a relatives place overnight and I took disposables with me for the easiness while being away from home. Bub slept the whole night so I kept using the cloth through the day for a few more weeks but used disposables at night as she slept better.

I had to return to work when she was 12 weeks and she was at home with her Dad. He used the disposables because it was easier for him. Hence she was full time in disposables by 12 weeks.

I am sure that none of us love washing but I got into a routine pretty quickly with my nappy bucket soak and washing method for her nappies, I found hot water was best to wash cloth nappies in, they stayed fluffier and softer.

It all depends on how organised you are and how your bubby goes. I would try cloth nappies for a while and then try disposable and see which ones you prefer!
Sorry to ramble on......Good Luck.

[Kassiasmum]

Hi there,
I use a combo of both cloth and disposables. We use cloth while at home and disposables for when we go out and for her night sleep. I didn't start using cloth until my daughter was about 3 months old, just too much work for when she was so little, she was also feeding every 2 hours during the day and every 3 hours nightly, so just wasn't capable of washing nappies. As for nappy rash with cloth, I make my own wipes and my daughter hardly ever gets nappy rash, if I use a commercial wipe, she gets nappy rash.
Good luck with your twins
Tracey

[nkenward]

Hi Kassiasmum,

Just interested what did you use to make your own wipes?

Thanks.
Natalie.

[Kassiasmum]

Hi nkenward,
I use papertowel (you have to get a good one, I use Jeeves, about middle of the range in price, I have tried others both cheap and expensive and found these to be the better ones). I also make sure that I get the plain white one, that way no one is the wiser when you are out that you have made your own. Pull the sheets off the roll, fold them in half and then put them in a container and pour over them with hot water and olive oil. I only do about 1/2 a roll at a time otherwise they dry out before you can use all of them. It's about 1 tablespoon of oil to 1 cup of water, it does take a bit of experimenting to get the right consistancy for how you like it. I save heaps of money by making my own, it costs about $2.85 for 160 wipes and no need for nappy rash creams etc.
good luck
Tracey

[mamafelix]

I also used my own wipes- but cloth ones- I just cut up some old flannelette nappies into nice big squares. I didn't use anything except water to clean Felix's bum but put on some olive oil after every change- and he never had a rash! Cheap too!
(and yes I ONLY used cloth nappies... )

[Googoogaga]

Hi Fostermum,

Sorry Id been away for the last couple of days and unable to reply back to you. The twins are due in early July, so Im 27 weeks preggy. As with them sharing a cot Ill probably make my mind up the closer I get to the due date. I already have a cot at home just incase they do come earlier than expected (which a lot of twins do).
As for the 'great nappy debate', from what the other mums have suggested, I think I may resort to a bit of both (cloth/disposable). I dont like the idea of slaving away day after day washing double quantities of nappies.
Also it had never occured to me either that you can make your own baby wipes... the ideas coming through are just fantastic.

Thanks heaps
Googoogaga