Wanting to start using cloth nappies ... anyone have any tips???

[ogsmum]

I used cloth nappies for the first 2 weeks or so of my little boys' life, but found it too difficult with the way that babies clothes are made to fit disposables. But I've recently decided to go back to cloth nappies while at home - especially now that it's summer and he can team it with just a shirt. He's 15 months old now, and I have a baby due in March. I'm reading here that there are Modern Cloth Nappies, and feel excited by the concept ... but I have no idea. All I have is the white terry-toweling square cloths that we got from Target. How different are the new types? I've never actually seen them!!

Can anyone out there who uses cloth nappies on their toddlers give me some hints as to the best types to buy and the place to get them? I'd really appreciate it :)

[SpottySocks]

I don't have any experience of MCN with toddlers - I used towelling squares with my first 2 girls. I'm now using MCN's with my 4 1/2 month old and they are FANTASTIC and so much easier to use. I am mainly using Itti Bitti D'lish in size medium. The only trouble with sized nappies is that you need to buy more when as they grow. But they are a really nice trim nappy, really absorbant and easy to use. I used to use disposables when we left the house but now I'm using MCN's because they are just as convenient (no leaks etc).

I do have 2 One Size Fits Most (OSFM) nappies which are supposed to fit from newborn to toddlers but they are very big on my 4 month old at the moment. I just can't seem to get them to work properly.

I like the Nurture Nappies website and the Itti Bitti one as well. Nurture Nappies sell a good range of various types & they are very helpful if you have any questions.

Nuture Nappies website has good information pages that helps explain some of the jargon.

I also like the Baby Bee Hinds Minky Magic-all. Also a sized nappy - but a bigger fit than the Itti Bitti nappy so would probably last for longer. The only problem I find with them is they take a long time to dry.

When I first started I ordered;

1 x BBH Magic-all
1 x trial pack of Itti Bitti's (from their website -gives you 2 nappies and shows you the different types)
1 x Cushie Tushie Couture OSFM
1 x OSFM from a WAHM

This gave me 5 types to try. Also once you are able to actually hold & see the nappy it makes all the various terms a bit easier to understand.

Beware though - it is addictive!! Once you start seaching some of the nappy websites you wont be able to stop!!

Goodluck!

[julietv8]

I agree, if you can actually get your hands on some and have a look it really helps! If you can, it might be worth coming down to Brissie on Saturday to check out the nappy week meet up. Theres gonna be a whole bunch of expert nappy users there.

How heavy is your toddler? Is he chubby or slim? Some nappies fit different shapes better. IMO avoid the cushie tushies, I can't get them to fit on my 7 month old.

[Lil Mamma]

I am a MCN newbie, so can't help much in the way of which brands/styles are best. Check out the oz cloth nappy website, they have heaps of info on MCN and washing instructions etc.

From what I know, there are several types of nappy and different people like them for differnet reasons.
*There are AIO's (all in ones) where nothing is required, you just pop them on. The downside is they can be more expensive and take longer to dry.
*AI2's (all in twos or almost all in ones), I think these are the same only you have to snap in or attach the booster yourself. They dry quicker cos you can dry them separately, only hassle is you have more bits to find and put together.
* Fitteds - which are shaped fabric nappies that require a separate cover.
*Pocket nappies - they allow you to customise the level of absorbancy cos you stuff them yourself, they can be stuffed with anything absorbant.

You live in Canberra right?? Theres a shop in Mitchell which stocks MCN's called A Little Miracle, Ive heard theres also a shop in Jerrabomberra (a bit of a drive though) which is a cloth nappy shop.

Ive bought about 10 different brands/styles so I will be trialing them over the next few weeks and seeing which ones I like best.

All the best :wave:

[OJandMe]

I started using cloth when my twins were 2.

IMO I'd say Haute pockets, bum genius pockets, green kids and blueberry pockets are the best for toddlers... well they were for mine.

I got all one-size-fits-all/most as I was pregnant and wanted to be able to use them on my new bub.

I chose pockets as I could add more boosting at the times O and J were going for a nap.. so I knew they'd stay dry even at heavy wetting times.

I'm glad with the choices I made... onto bub #4 and still using the same nappies!

Check out Green Kids website Bum Genius website and Darlings Downunder..... just google them.

[pinkgingham]

the only advice i can give that hasnt been given is dont always trust recommended weight ranges on nappies and advice from other people about what nappies are best can be the best thing ever or the biggest waste of your time. what works for someone else doesnt work for all. like people swear by greenkids...i hate them. i also dont really like blueberrys. i dont think they are that great. i'm with julietv8...i bought a cushie tushies couture and found the fit to be awful and absorbancy to be really poor. but others really like them. if you have a bubba with extra chubby legs or a bubba with extra skinny legs you are going to have problems finding what works (i had the chubby bubba with really chubby thighs and trying to find MCNs to fit when she was about 7-12 months was a nightmare, she slimmed down when she started crawling which helped in terms of fit with MCN's)