Cloth Nappies/Nappy Service-HELP!

[Manxie]

Hi

Am just starting to make enquiries about cloth nappies/nappy service and already I'm lost !

We have decided to do our bit for the enviroment and use cloth nappies during the day and only use disposable at night and if we are going out somewhere.

Hubby's family have offered to pay for a laundry service for the first little while, I have spoken to Stork Linen Services in Adelaide (Does anyone else provide the service here?). It costs $165.00 for 6 weeks, 7th week free) and you get 60 nappies a week, or for a 4 week block its $102. Is it worth me doing this? What else will I need to buy.

I'm a bit cack handed and am worried that the nappies will fall off bub! The service provide flannellete diapers, are these the old fashioned jobs with safety pins? What about the velcro ones you can get or are they just outers?

Am keen to do my bit but as you can see am terribly confused by the whole thing, ANY advice please

Thanks

[Belly]

Hello,

I use cloth nappies during the day as well. I had no idea about them and I found a web site with all sorts of useful information. It tells you about 12 different folds you can use. It lists what you need, how to wash them and everything.

The site is: http://www.thenappylady.co.uk/Default.asp

I'm not too sure about nappy services because I clean them myself, it's really easy (as my little breastfeed girl only does a number 2 about once a week.)

Good luck.

Belly

[mamafelix]

Heya

I don't know about nappy services but- the flannette ones will either need a pin, or a pilcher (cover for the nappy). Flannelette is great for newborns but when they get bigger they need something more absorbent- so you can then go for terry flats instead. With these you can again use a cover or a snappi (stretchy thing with grips to hold the nappy closed).
The alternative, if you are buying your own nappies is to go for a fitted style nappy, you can get all in one ones which are waterproof, you ca get 'pockets' which you can stuff for maximum absorbency, or use a fitted plus cover.
There are A LOT of great nappies out there these days, most of the best ones are only available online. Things to look for include hemp- which is super absorbent, fleece- (polar fleece or microfleece) which keeps bubs dry (as it wicks away moisture) and a good fit.

A great new forum has started up just to discuss cloth nappies- might be worth a browse: www.ecobubbba.com
if you do a google with 'WAHM' (work at home mum) and Nappy and Australia you'll come up with most of the websites selling them. Or try ebay- there's usually a heap up for grabs there.

feel free to ask any more questions- especially about washing etc....

[lilizzysmommy]

my bub is 1yro and she won't hold her bottle. It's getting a bit frustrating cos I have to sit with her everytime she feeds and i can't get anything done and when we are in the car I have to hold her bottle from the front sit and its quite painful. Is not like she doesn't know how to hold her bottle but when she is hungry she usually grabs it and hands it over to me and if I refuse to hold it for her she cries. I also tried giving her milk in a beacker but if its not water she won't drink it. does anyone know how I can solve that problem???

[ziggi]

With my first, we used cloth the whole time (day and night) and only started on disposables at night and for going out when he started to get more mobile.

Don't worry about them falling off - you end up going through so many, there's bound to be the odd one that isn't going to hang in until the end! We used Snappis and plastic pilchers over the nappy (although some sources suggest that this doesn't allow the nappy to breathe), and this saved us I can't even count how many times.

My question is: I have #2 due in a couple of weeks and will use cloth again. But this time my mum has suggested that she'll get me a nappy service for the first month. Can anyone recommend a good, and reasonably priced service, in the Sydney Metro area?

Z.