OK, bought some stuff

[Justt]

Decided to follow your advice and get the size 1 nappies (at least) second hand.

With what ive now got (and will be receiving in post) the list is as follows:

11 tots bots
2 diddy diapers

and i will be getting 7 wambamboo's size 1 new (because they are so cheap i wouldnt be able to get cheaper second hand if i tried) and another 7 wambamboo size 2 for later.

Im assuming 20 size 1 nappies will be enough to go full time?

Im a bit stuck with the wraps. I read you need more when they are little and on average you need 3-4 wraps so how many do i need to use almost from birth? I want to wait till the cord dries up before i start using cloth so i thin from about 2 weeks i "should" be in cloth.

Im also stuck on which wraps to get. I think id prefer popper wraps to applix because i have visions of the applix rubing on the baby. Not sure which are good, wich arent as good.

Advice would be great thanks. :D

[friendlybaby]

20 Size 1 nappies should be plenty. You will probably have to wash every day when your baby is tiny as you'll probably get through 8 or 9 nappies a day at first. It shouldn't be too long before you are down to 6 nappies a day and can wash less often though.

Mother-ease wraps are generally considered to be the best. They do ones with aplix (Rikki) and ones with poppers (Air Flow). Air Flow are more popular, although lots of people like the Rikki particularly for newborns as the velcro means you can get a snug fit which can be good for explosive newborn poos. 4 wraps should be fine for a newborn.

Some people do find the aplix rubs on their skin - particularly the old style Tots Wrap. The newer version Tots Bots FlexiWrap doesn't do that (or so we have found in our testing) as they have rounded the aplix more. I'm not aware of many, if any, problems with the Mother-ease Rikki rubbing either.

[shazgh]

20 nappies will be plenty.
I preferred the aplix for a more adjustable snugger fit, depending on the fastenings of your nappies will depend on what wrap.
I used nippas on my nappies so velcro wrap was better, if I used velcro nappies I could use popper wrap, why not get 2 of each fastening.

I like totsbots, their new design wrap and motherease, I also had popolino wraps which were not unlike ME.

Have you got fleece liners? they are great for keeping baby dry and would be better over a wet cord, are you using disposibles til cord dries?
I used cloth from birth with both of mine and the cord healed fine covered with fleece liner.

[Justt]

Yep i got a pack of 10 fleece liners, got 2 nippas aswell. I also have some prefolds but im not conviced about those, keeping them just in case.

For when they are little is fleece better or paper liners?

[shazgh]

fleece definately, you don't need to ever use paper liners, but I did when the girls started doing solid poos, I used fleece then paper over the top as it was easier for disposing of poo down the loo

[Justt]

Super! Thanks for the advice everyone. I got another pack of fleece liners (pack of 10 for 2.50 inc P+P) and instead of a little bucket and lid (the ones i saw were so small i dont think id ever get a days worth in there) we got a big with a lid. Not too large, about 20 litres or so. Fit perfectly in corner of bathroom.

Ive been reading about tea tree oil and lavender oil. Do they work as well as they say they do? And does the lavender actually make the nappies smell nice?

My step-niece was asking me questions baout cloth on saturday night and i tried to answer as much as i could. Then my SIL decided to butt in and say how she would totally advise against it, how cloth is terrible, nasty, hard work, makes babies bums sore, etc etc etc. My Oh rolled his eyes and ignored her and i just said "im sure they were when you used them 20 years ago but the ones ive bought so far look very nice, very soft and easy to use, only means about a wash every other day, no soaking or anything. Dont see how it will hurt to try them at least!"

She was not happy that i had ignored her "warning".LOL

[friendlybaby]

Makes babies bums sore?!?!?!? I find that only happens when I've stupidly used a disposable!

[Justt]

Dont worry i play very little atention to what she says. I dont think a woman who thinks nothing of her 12 year running round all hours of day and night, smoking, drinking, getting up to no good, trashing her house, etc has very many things id like to listen to and take into account.

Does make me wonder how my ste-nice came out so normal tbh. Like i said to her the cloth she used 20 years ago is not what im going to use now so there is very little relevance. Its like tellign someone now to not go have an operation because of the methods they used 20 years ago.

I told my niece ill show her the nappies when she visits after the baby comes. She was interested so you never know.

[friendlybaby]

Good that your niece seems sensible!

[Justt]

Shes more sensible than her mum for sure. She has a little boy, a few months old so even tho shes a mum before i am it might be good for her to see us (myself and OH) doing things that are diferent from what her mum et all advertise. Things like breastfeeding (her mum actually convinced her to not breastfeed so she could have the baby stay with her overnight on a regular basis),cloth, using slings, not having issues with baby sleeping in our bed, etc.

Its always good to have diferent perspectives on how to do stuff, specially the more out of the ordinary things.

[littlekiwi]

sounds like you have a good set of nappies to start with, and believe it or not you can manage with 3 or 4 wraps on a newborn as long as the nappies don't leak poo. If you do want reasonably priced wraps have a look at nappyelite- they're really good ones. Don't be put off by velcro on wraps as long as it is set down low enough your baby will be fine with it.
good luck with cloth and well done for your niece too. Mine is a lot more sensible than her mother and she's 16. Set on cloth nappies, on working with small children, and on not having a bub of her own till she's settled :D

[Justt]

Thank you! :D

[Emsickle]

Just wanted to add, I swear by my tots bots and motherease airflow wraps.

I have about 10 nappies and 3 wraps and generally do a wash every day, as you do with 4 children anyway, and that works brilliantly for me (although I've just naughtily ordered a couple more nappies from Friendlybaby (thanks Wendy).

I have found that they have coped with runny poo far better than disposables (which I do use at night), I've never had a leaky reusable, but you should have seen the state of DS this morning when he woke up (ewwwwww).

[Justt]

The air flow wraps are so cute. Really cant wait to try these things out.