New to CN and need some advice!

[Amalie]

Hello all ^^

After many ( unsuccessful attempts) to join several Cloth Diaper communities, I'M hoping you lovely mama's and dada's can help me out!

I recently started Cloth Nappies for my son ( 9 months) and am really liking it. However I do need some advice in the following areas.

1.) I recently bought some nappies on ebay from a WAHM, and although ok during the day,(as long as I change them every half hour) they still leak dreadfully and are impossible to put him in at night. What are some really good Australian brand cloth nappies that deal with heavy wetters and/or how do you deal with this problem yourself?

2.) Im going to be travelling down to Tassie next week for AI convention ( Anime Island convention, filled with Anime and gaming etc.) and I really want to cloth nappy but not sure how to go about it, I wont have access to a washing machine for most of the trip. Just wanted to know how do you deal with travelling interstate and cloth nappying?

3.) I want to increase my nappy collection, at the moment I'm only using cloth nappies part time ( I have 7 nappies atm but im washing them 1-2 times a day )and want to go full time, Im not adverse either to making my own. What are some good reccomendations for brands and or patterns that work well?

THank you so so so much for any advice you can provide me with ^^

Circe

[flutiemum]

I think it might be important to work out why your nappies are leaking.. are they a bad fit, or they just not absorbant enough?

Fitwise I've had lots of trouble with my bubba because she doesn't have fat legs, alot of nappies we got gape around her legs so they nearly always leak when she does a poo:hair:.
I've just gotten some different ones that have 2 snaps vertically on either side and they fit heaps better.

If not absorbant enough you could either invest in some nappies with better absorbancy or buy some boosters to go with the ones you have. Bamboo and hemp are probably the most absorbant fabrics. For night time I would suggest a fitted and cover, then you could use pockets or aio's for the day.

[SpottySocks]

It may be that the cloth nappies you have are made only out of terry towelling or cotton and just aren't absorbant enough. The best material for MCN's are hemp or bamboo. You can get inserts made from either of these that would boost the absorbancy of the nappies you already have.

When I was 1st looking into MCN I got myself 5 different types and from there decided which one's I liked best and ordered more.

The 5 types I got were:

Itti Bitti D'lish Trial Pack - 2 nappies - a snap-in-one and a sewn-in-one. Both Mediums

Baby Beehinds Magicall medium sized

Cushie Tushies One Size Fits Most OSFM)

A WAHM OSFM.

From these 5 I decided that I liked the Itti Snap-in-One the best and then I bit the bullet and ordered a bulk pack of 13. Expensive but I haven't used a disposable in 5 months so defineately worth it in the long run.

Also the Nuture Nappies web site is a good place to look - and they are really helpful and will answer any questions you have. The itti Bitti site is also good and they are helpful too.

I am amazed at the absorbancy of the Itti Snap-in's, they are made from bamboo and hold a lot of wee!!!! I change my DD every 2 - 3 hours but if she falls asleep before I get the chance she has been in one for 5 - 6 hours without any leaks.

As your son is already 9 months old you may be able to go straight into the large sized itti's which should last him till he's TT. The trial pack from their web site is good value and a good place to start.

I don't know about travelling with MCN - but you would probably need a good sized wet bag - have a look on the nurture nappies site.

Another favourite site of mine is Baby Soft Landings and she is in Launceston - so if you're coming to this end of Tassie you could go in and have a look at her nappies.

Goodluck and welcome to the addictive world of cloth nappies!!!

[Amalie]

Thanks so much for the advice! Ill definately look into those websites.

I'm thinking of investing in some bamboo material and making some boosters for these nappies that I have. so we wll see if that helps. I checked the nappies as to why they are leaking and its just not absorbent enough, Im seriously thinking of unpickinging some of them and inserting a bamboo booster ust to help make it more absorbent. :)

[mummeeto2]

You don't really have to unpick them, just lay the booster in the nappy & top with a liner if you use liners.

What detergent/powder are you using to wash with? Avoid anything with softners added as they coat the material which decreases the absorbency. Also you only need about half the amount of detergent/powder you'd normally use

Invest in some woollen soakers for night times. They're well worth the money, if you can knit they're so cheap to make