Are "Modern" cloth really better?

[lenka]

We were given a nappy wash service as a gift for the first four months of bub's life. It was great - they dropped of sixty flanalette nappies a week and then picked up the bucket of dirties a week later.

When the service ran out, we bought disposables for a month or so, and hated it. Throwing out that much trash - discovering that the term "ecodisposable" is mostly just a bunch of marketing BS - so we decided to go back to cloth.

I looked into "modern" prefolded sewed up versions, but ended up going with the same old flanny squares, for a $60 investment (3 dozen). I'll probably have to upgrade to towelling, at another $60, but I couldn't make sense of why I would want to pay $20 more per nappy when it takes less than a minute to fold one, and a few seconds to pin.

Interested to hear what other people see as the advantages of sewn-up nappies, or if others are also using the dull ol' fashioned versions.

[onemummmy]

yes :p no pinning, more absorbant, cuter, just easier and cool :D I cant bring myself to use odl school flats as nappies, give me a bamboo fitted or a nice d'lish anyday :yes:

[pinkgingham]

because the old terry flats dont fit on my older one (when i was using cloth on him) no matter how i tried to fold it (but then neither did most MCN's fit either) and well i am lazy lol. people say MCN's are too much work but they arent really. but terry flats are for me and i really cant be bothered lol. also my kids are super wee'ers and a terry flat wouldnt last very long with my 2. plus i do like the cuteness factor of an MCN. and i would hate the bulk of a terry flat under clothes. had i knew more about cloth in general (well i knew nothing of it at all with my first) i would have used them when they were newborns but not now that they are older. they would pee through a terry flat in no time.

[stellarella]

Yup :D
I'd like to think if MCN were not around I'd use flats....but I'm not sure how I'd go. I don't like them. MCNs fit better, are more absorbant and perform as well as sposies IME :yes:

[QTB]

i used flats with my DS1 - for the first 9 months, then sposies til going into MCNs when he was 18months... we have never looked back, and now DS2 has been full time modern cloth since birth and wil be til hes toilet trained :D

i couldnt do it after 9 months with DS1 cos they didnt fit and werent absorbant enough... mcn we dont have that problem :D

[Mor]

I used 'traditional' terry toweling and snappi (Y-shape) on my babies until they were about 6-9 months. Nappy changing was so frequent that the value, and speed of drying was a must. I didn't personally want to buy many nb/small size nappies as they wouldn't fit for long. As the boys got older, I started using more fitted nappies as they grew 'into' them and the better fit provided a snugger, more reliable, leak proof fit.

Stopped using terry nappies about 6-9 months on both of them - my 18 month old was in bamboo terry toweling for a while while I was living overseas which was great, and when I wasn't using them as origami folds, I was using them as pocket stuffers/boosters (easiest folds around ;)) I used fitteds as the boys started sleeping longer at night too, as I found they needed something that lasted longer (funny about that) and I didn't want to use 2 or 3 terry nappies on them at a time.

There is certainly no *need* to use fitted styles. As long as someone is happy using traditional squares, they should, but if they start to encounter problems with fit, folds, bulk, wriggling, leaks, then I think it's fantastic to know that there are alternatives out there that parents can choose from :) :thumbsup:

[~Bec~]

Another advantage of MCNs is that they are usually made with liner that wicks moisture away from baby's skin keeping them very dry.

I couldn't do terry flats - I tried but James wriggles around too much to get the nappy neatly and snuggly fitted around him. With MCNs I don't have to worry about that.

MCNs often have a wide weight range so you're not constantly buying new sizes (as you do with sposies) and of course there are the osfm/a sizes which can (depending on the size of your baby) go from birth to toilet training.

[ButterflyMama]

I prefer MCN to terry flats or flanny flats for the following reasons:

Cuter
More absorbent
Keep bubs butt dry
Better fit
Quicker
More transportable

:) <3 HTH

[SuperGranny]

hi, back in the dark ages when i had my babies, cloth nappies came in one colour, one size terry towleing. I managed four children with about five dozen nappies from birth to toilet trained, i washed and folded and then pinned them on, with plastic pilchers over the top if i felt like. A bit of work but no pollution, and no problems for me.

[LivinOnAPrayer]

im just lazy :laughing::yes:

[peanutbutter&jelly]

Yup, they draw the moisture away so much better plus they're much, much trimmer. It makes wearing clothes that fully fit my boy so much easier. I have 60 or so flats and a couple of covers, but they only last my son an hour and less than that if he has a really wet day!

[OJandMe]

I use both.

Terry flats and fitteds on my newborn,

and pockets, AI2's and AIO's on my 14 month old.

I like using terry flats on the little one, coz I like to change OFTEN with him.

I love MCN's because they are just so cute, easy and absorbant.

Also, because it's hot... and I like to let him run around in just a nappy. I don't like seeing kids running around in just a sposie.... I think it looks horrid (personal opinion) but with an MCN it looks super cute. :yes:

Plus with MCN's you can send them to kindy/child care with your child.... you'd be hard pressed to find a centre which will let you send terry squares.. but most will let you send MCN's after you show them how they're just as easy as sposies.

[NewBeginnings]

I just think they are far more superior. They are more designed to pull the moisture away from bubs delicate skin. They hold a lot more... and are so much easier to use... especially when you have a kid who hates change time. I could not imagine trying to have put terry flats on DS.... even though of late putting a nappy on him is near impossible as he is TT and officially hates wearing them now! :laughing:

[mummeeto2]

I use both, terry flats at home & MCN for going out & night MCN at night. My main reason is I already had the flats from DS (didn't know about MCN then) & didn't want to spend a lot on MCN as DD was about 7mths old when I started on MCN. If all my MCN are in the wash I take terry flats when we go out with a wool soaker over the top. IMO flats are just as easy as MCN, maybe a bit easier cos DD doesn't try to pull the snappi off like she pulls at velcro/snaps

[bluey]

I use both terry flats and fitteds/AIO's . Depends on the situation and the day. Both work, in slightly different ways. We've used terry flats for our eldest two - the eldest is soon to turn 18. We coped fine with them.

I've learnt a few things since those days - even just about the terry flats and how to fold them. There are much better covers now than there was.

Each to his own I say, if you are happy using the flats that you have I say go for it. You may find you need to boost when your bubs gets older or for nights but that's about it.

[Mamalicious]

MCN's are better than flats for us. :yes:

When bubs is little I use flats or prefolds so I don't know how mcn's are there, but once bubs is older...a flat nappy would not last one wee on my boy!!! :laughing:

[kirstenriley]

I love my MCN, however with my newborn i do grab my bamboo flats first :goodvibes: they are so soft and lush...i just love them.

[stellaj]

Flats are easy if they aren't trying to run off at nappy change time. I also found I needed elastic in the leg or there was a few leaks.
I would use flats if MCN weren't available and hats off to you if you are finding they work for you but for me it is just so much easier to use MCN.

[mrsmov]

:laughing: no matter how many times people showed me how to fold a terry square, i just couldn't do it... :laughing:
Love love love my MCNs here :yes: