The Cloth Nappy Set-Up

With baby Rae-Rae getting ever closer, I thought it would be fun to go through our current Set-Ups. We will look at the Nursery, Travel System (pram), Cloth Nappies, Changing Bag, and Baby Toys. Once Rae-Rae has arrived we'll do a look back and see just how under-prepared we really were.

So here is a not so fun fact for you all: It is estimated that it can take up to 500 years for a standard disposable nappy to degrade in a landfill. I am not going to pretend that I am super hot on recycling, and that I was automatically leaning toward cloth nappies because they just look awesome. But I mean, 500 years? At the rate that babies go through their nappies too. I just couldn't bring myself to add to that. Now I know that people use disposable nappies for a variety of reasons, and I am not here to moralise you on the subject, but I would ask you all to consider using reusable nappies for your children, especially if you are in a position to do so.

So the one draw back to using cloth nappies can be the upfront cost of getting everything you need. In the long run it costs less than disposables, but you do need to front most of that at the beginning. We knew that we were going to be using cloth nappies before we got pregnant, and we buying up everything we could as soon as we found out we were expecting. The joys of the cloth nappies market is that there are plenty of pre-loved nappies, and we got some of those, and some new ones to bring our stash together.

The majority of our pre-loved nappies are Tots Bots EasyFit Star all-in-one style nappies. Ours came in pretty good condition, and after a a couple of washes, and one evening spent cleaning the velcro, these are ready to go. As these are second-hand the style is no longer available from Tots Bots, but I have to say I am very happy that they are fairy-tale themed. These seem pretty thick, and absorbent so I am hoping that they will be good for the overnight stretch.

We also purchased a set of Little Lamb Onesize Pocket Nappies. These are mostly in bold block colours, but we've also bough a few Hawaiian shirt themed ones. These use poppers not just to adjust the size, but also to fasten them closed.

We have dithered on the subject of newborn cloth nappies. At first we thought we'd pick up some biodegradable ones and call it a day, but after doing a little more research we decided to take the plunge and buy some newborn reusables. When considering containment and seepage (something nobody wants to think about) we decided that two-pieces nappies were the best, with an absorbent centre and outer waterproof wrap. We've purchased a mixture of Little Lamb Bamboo and Microfibre nappies, Bamboo are extremely absorbent but slow to dry, while the Microfibre hold less but come out of the washing machine practically dry.

To cover the Little Lamb nappies we've bought some Motherease Rikki Wrap Covers which combine nicely with the Little Lambs to (supposedly) provide a leak-free experience. We liked these covers partly for the aesthetic but also the apparent ease of use, going on suggestions we found online. In the end we got a couple of these in different sizes so that we will be properly covered until she is big enough for the all-in-ones.

Bonus: So I am throwing this on the end here as I've got nowhere better to put it! We are going to be using reusable wipes too (at least in the house). After doing a bit of research we found that most people suggest using the Terrycloth wipes for bums instead of the microfibe ones (something which I think could be clearer). We've gone for Cheeky Wipes Terrycloths, coupled with their wet-box for clean wipes, and a lavender essential oil. The plan  is to just throw the used cloths in the pail along with the used nappy.

Well that's everything! I'll do a follow-up when she gets here, looking at whether everything went as we planned.

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