Cloth Nappies . . . a minefield!

The first week we had Isaac at home we had a whole bin bag full of disposable nappies. It really upset me to see so much waste from one family especially as we are used to having less than a bin bag full a week. As the next couple of weeks went on my hatred for disposables increased. They feel horrible; like thick paper, they smell like toxic chemicals as soon as baby wees, they started to give baby a nasty rash and they are not good for keeping explosive new born poo inside! I quickly came round to the idea of starting to use cloth nappies. I realised that it may be hard work but wanted to save the environment, baby’s bottom and my purse!

Luckily I had two friends who had used cloth with their little ones and they pointed me in the right direction to what I needed to start off.   I surfed the web and visited my local Tesco’s and armed myself with 6 new nappies. I started off with a plain wonderoo v2, a giraffe print baba and boo, some tots bots easy fit v2 (a cosmic and a starburst) and a bum genius flip in butternut. Washed and ready I couldn’t wait to get started but I have to say that my first day was a bit of a disaster.  I couldn’t get a good fit with the poppers, I had wee leaking from the leg and on baby’s tummy and the paper liners stuck to his bottom, plus hubby was really not sold on the idea.

I put the nappies in the wash with the intention of trying again the next day. I started to do some research and found quite a lot of helpful hints on the web. I found out the more you wash the nappies the more absorbent they become with some nappy companies recommending 10 washes to reach full absorbency. Bearing this in mind I changed baby every 2 hours, the flip performed best butI really struggled to get a good fit with the nappies that had poppers.

A couple of weeks later and I’d purchased over 30 nappies from different companies. Here are my reviews of the ones I’ve tried.

Tots Bots Easyfit V2: All in One nappy                                                                        8/10

I purchased some prints when they were in the sale at Tesco, and a couple of whites. They are very easy to use, completely Dad proof as they go on just like disposables. Easily fit from around 11lb as I bought aplix  so could be fastened fairly snug on baby. Once fitted they are quite slim fitting but on a new born do look a little bulky. I didn’t find them very absorbent at first and did get one or two leaks but the more often I washed them the better they performed. They do take quite a long time to dry when you can’t get them outside but that is their only drawback. Over all a very good nappy especially for those who want an easy start to cloth.

Tots Bots Easyfit V3: All in One nappy                                                                      9/10

These nappies came out in April 2012 and I purchased a London print pack containing 4 nappies. I chose aplix again and found them to be a really excellent nappy.  Exactly the same to put on as the V2 but Tots Bots have improved the nappy in several ways. Firstly the inside is super soft against babies skin, second they appear to be more absorbent and performed well after 2 pre-washes. The nappy is also slimmer fitting than the V2, it looks good under trousers. Lastly the drying time is excellent! Just 3 hours indoors! The only reason I gave this nappy 9 and not 10 out of 10 is the cost. £16.50 per nappy is quite expensive, but some would say totally worth it!

Bum genius freetime: All in One nappy                                                                    8/10

As with the Tots Bots the freetime is an all in one nappy and I again chose aplix over poppers. It is a very absorbent nappy as it comes with 2 inserts and space for boosting if required. The fit was excellent but quite bulky, I think this would improve as baby grows. Again it takes a while to dry but the inserts do fold out which helps especially if you can get the nappy outside. A good performer and easy to use.

Bum genius flips: A wrap with inserts.                                                         10/10

I had been told that this was a slim fitting nappy so purchased a few to try. I bought the aplix version with stay dry inserts. Each wrap comes with 2 inserts and you can buy organic or staydry. Putting the wrap on the smallest fit means that the insert requires folding but I found that helpful  as it self-boosted the front – excellent for a boy! The fit is excellent snug around even newborn legs. Easy to use and great when you are out because you only need change the insert, the wrap can be used again. They look slim under clothes and they are quick drying. They are good value for money too and you can get packs of different sizes that work out very good value. The only draw back is having to put the insert in yourself but it is so easy I find it no effort at all. One of my favourites (I currently own 6 wraps and 12 inserts!)

Tiny Nippers Aplix: a pocket nappy.                                                         7/10

I saw these on line and was mainly drawn to the good value for money. At just £7.99 I thought it must be worth a punt. Each nappy came with 2 inserts but putting both in did make the nappy rather bulky so I put one in and added a pop in booster which are very thin. A really excellent fit, once stuffed this nappy went on as easy as the Easyfit or Free time. Using the aplix gave a good snug fit and there was not gap round the legs. Absorbency was good especially with the added booster and it was excellent against newborn poo explosion! Drawbacks include inserts taking a while to dry and if you are not used to cloth stuffing can be fiddly at first. All in all a very good nappy though especially for the price. I now own 4 and will be saving for the new prints due out summer 2012.