Tried and tested - 3 years of MCN - What lasts the distance

I spent a lot of money on cloth nappies!  It is hard to know what works until you tried it and I tried so many nappies but ended up using only a few after the 6 month age.  Here are my experiences and recommendations (including vendor interactions!)

Longest lasting nappies

Baby Beehinds - in fact all of my BBH have had excellent wear and use over 3 years and I would say they still had one more baby in them!  The Bamboo fitteds were fantastic and hardy, the inserts last ages and don't fray or decay, and I found them the best in terms of leakage protection (but then again I had a cover on them).  I had one Hemp fitted which is a little bit coarse but still a decent nappy.  I used lots of the trifold boosters inside the nappies leaving my kids with huge bums but great absorbency.  I had a few magicalls which were fantastic for carers/nannies/grandparents as they are so simple and they also were excellent wear - I think the velcro was better than the snaps though in terms of fit.  And the Baby Beehind Nights are fantastic, if I could buy just one night nappy it would probably be these, because the really are absorbent and hard wearing. The Baby Beehind Petites are good for quick out and abouts but they don't last long, but at least they are slim and fit well under clothes. The I think that you could satsify all your nappying needs with just Baby Beehinds.  And did I mention they are great value too?  Davina the founder was who I dealt with when I did a lot of my orders and she probably now has such a big business that she doesn't so much sales or promos anymore but the BBH sales and service has always been friendly and helpful.

Most beautiful nappies

Wild child nappies - I really love my Wild Childs - a shame that the inserts didn't last that long!  I had to have them replaced after a year, and then they were looking tatty again recently.  I'm not sure if it's because I use them a lot or whether the kids just have toxic wee!  I had one all in one but I didn't really like it that much, the fit was ok but the design was not that great with the leg part curling outwards a lot.  However the fitteds and night nappies were superb and I would often reach for these.  Though Michelle at WC was courteous I often got the feeling that she thought I was a pain in the butt (though maybe I was being sensitive).  I would highly recommend this nappy.

Best customer Service

Sustainable Hemp Products - I bought the Sandman night nappies and some of the newborn nappies which were great up to 6 months.  Michelle was the best salesperson of the lot - friendly and helpful and really made me want to go back and get more.  Though her nappies weren't the best fit ( I did have a lot of issues with wing droops but when it's in a nappy cover who notices right?), she always seemed to remember me and send such lovely emails and seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say about her product.  The bamboo night nappies were the best night nappies I think!  And they have lasted for a long time - good wear and tear nappies these ones!

Easiest to use nappies

Ittibitti nappies - These were great nappies but didn't absorb much, even with that tiny little booster in them.  However the earlier versions seemed to better made in my opinion!  The later versions started to fray a lot earlier and have issues with snaps coming off and inserts wearing out and that crunchy funny feeling that you get when the PUL starts to peel off from inside the nappy.  However, they were trim and always sat really well on my kids.  Great under jeans!  I would have to recommend the medium size, they had the longest wear in my opinion.

Honourable mentions

Cute Tooshies - these nappies though not very absorbent seemed to last from birth till toilet training for us, even though lots of people said they had issues with low rise and plumber's crack but it wasn't much of an issue in my family.  I bought a whole bunch of them cheap too, and I did boost them rather heavily.  By the end of 3 years they did start to show their wear and tear though.  These were one of the first nappies I bought!  I never got any blue ones ut I had the plain and the pinks.

Blueberry - My favourite pocket nappies, I found these are the only pocket nappies that I didn't have leaks out of.  Excellent for carers and fast drying - I only had minky ones and they were really good nappies.  They are American so they are a bit pricey but I think they were well worth it.  You can buy them at Baby Blossom, The Weewuns, and Baby Soft Landings.  And they are one size fit all, so you can use them for 2 years!  I wish I had bought more of these, I think I only had 3.  I bought a few as gifts for friends with new babies, but I was SOOO tempted to keep them for myself.

Cloth wipes

I started out cutting out squares of flannel, but what worked really well was these baby face towels you can buy from Woolworths or BigW (I think they are called Little Wishes or something) and I used those for bum wiping.  However, the BEST cloth wipes I got were bought on oztions.com.au (now called quicksales.com.au) by beautbots, and they are the BEST wipes ever, I use them for wiping snotty noses and dirty food covered faces, and in the shower/bath.  I also pack them for taking out.  They are cute flannel print one side and sherpa cotton the other side, and I must have bought 3 lots of 5 because I loved them so much!

Images are courtesy of all the shops that I've linked, and I just had to say that this post was inspired by my nappy cleanout!  I culled my huge pile down recently to what I like to use and these are the ones which made it into the keepers (whoops, except the Cute Tooshies which all had to be retired because of wear and tear)

Nappy addiction waning

I can tell that my nappy addiction is fading away - last month was the Great Down Under Nappy Hunt competition and for the first time in 2.5 years I wasn't doing the nappy hunt!  I did it from when Erika was born and I did the last one in March this year (and I won a prize too!  But I didn't do much hunting).

Now if only I can convince other people on the use of cloth nappies then I'll be set!

I heard one of the girls at work is using or is thinking of using cloth nappies.  Maybe I could start with her by giving her a little something as a gift...

4 days of bad sleep - is it going to end?

 I don't know what the hell is wrong with Julian, he has been waking up at night constantly!  I thought maybe he was coming down with something, or maybe he's got an upset tummy... I mean on Monday he pooed in his nappy so many times I missed 3!  On Tuesday hubby said he missed a lot of poos as well.

This morning he was up at 4am and I took him to poo and he did a little one, then hubby tried to put him back to bed and then ended up giving him his milk so then Julian went to bed.  But I had to get him up about half an hour later so I could go to work, and I put him on the toilet again and he did a huge poo.

Interestingly, one of my registrars at work, Amy, who has a son a little younger than Julian told me she has a couple of cloth nappies!  Now how cool is that!  I should get her one to try, she's using peapods and she quite likes them.

Rockin Green Laundry Powder - I want to try some!

Saw heaps of posts about Rockin Green Powder on nappyaddicts forum - it's a laundry powder that has been designed especially for use with cloth nappies.  Phosphate free and supposedly eco friendly it has been getting rave reviews that I want to get some now too to try!  People have been doing soaks and been amazed about how much crap is coming out of the nappies even after they're clean.

Link to Rockin Green on Facebook!

Unfortunately it's sold out from ecocubs.com so they won't have any till mid June.  Can't wait to get my hands on a sample and see for myself how great it is.

Nappy crazy

I know I'm not supposed to be buying any more nappies - I have so many! But I just can't help myself. On Nappy Addicts, there is a BBH co-op and BBH has just released some new nappies - some AI2s that are like ittis and some night nappies - which is basically Lotus nappy type design, and I LOVE my lotus night nappy. Super absorbent. Anyway had to get some more of those now that Julian is sleeping longer hours at night.

I also bought a Wild Child night nappy as well! And I bought some nappies for Alison's new baby which is due in March. So it's kind of nice that I bought nappies but really they're a gift. I hope she likes them. I got her 2 Blueberries, 2 Bitti D'lish and 2 Wild Child fitteds. But tempted to keep one Wild child if they're really nice.


Oh and I'm bidding on some BBH on Ebay, 5 OSFM Bamboo fitteds and 5 fold ups. Unfortunately I bid on them before I knew about the co-op! Which I've now won btw for $98 including postage.

MCNs and newborns

A lot of people find nappying a newborn rather daunting, and think maybe they should wait till they're older. With my daughter, who was born weighing only 2.7kg, I found that MCNs were fine with her. Here is my guide to nappies I used for a newborn, for anyone who would like some advice on what to use.

Personally I liked fitteds and covers as the best leak protection, but AIOs were not bad either. Pictures courtesy of Darlings Down Under, The Weewuns, Cherubs Kiss, Babybeehinds, Cute Tooshies and Bubblebubs.


Kissaluvs Contours

You can get these from $14 at DDU
Not very absorbent but good enough for a newborn and quite cheap. You can use them as pocket stuffers later! I used snappis on mine but you can just lay them inside a cover.

Kissaluvs Size 0

These are fantastic nappies! They fit well, my daughter wore them till she was almost 6 months old (needed boosting then). They have a snapdown bit for the umbilical cord at birth too. I bought mine from ebay but you can get them at DDU for $22.50.


Swaddlebees OV Newborn

Great nappies and fit really well but my daughter outgrew them at about 6 weeks. Also have an umblical snap down bit. You can get these from Weewuns for $25.95. I bought mine from ebay, and I resold them on Buyforbaby so I got most of my money back from these! Great resale value.

Bubblebubs AIO

Don't need a cover so great for carers! I bought a couple from Ebay but also got some new. I used smalls and they lasted well until 8 months. I don't think I used them until she was about 2 weeks though. New ones are $27.95. Heaps of different colours and tab designs!


CK Raphaels

My husband's favourite fitted nappies. You can get a pack of 3 for $33. Used from newborn until she was about 5 months. I even managed to sell them afterwards! The velcro makes changing quick and easy.



SHP Lushies and Daysies

Haven't used these yet on a newborn but I love SHP stuff! I have a few of their night nappies and some of these. My daughter could wear them at 13 months still (and they're supposed to fit newborns!). I got mine as a bargain at $10 each but you can get bamboo ones from $16 each, discounted if you buy more.


Cute Tooshies OSFM

These side snapping nappies are so lush and soft! I bought a starter pack of these and then I got some on super special (seconds) so I have heaps! Don't have a stay dry layer so might need a fleecy liner. Buy new for $25.95 with discounts for bulk buys. They'd probably fit up to TT (and start at 1 month)


Baby beehinds Bamboo OSFM

One of the most popular fitted nappies in the Autralian market. These fit my daughter from about 1 month and will probably fit until she's toilet trained! Great value for money. Retail for $25 each but you can get bulk discounts (and you can always find heaps on ebay too!)

PUL covers

I used Bummis and Baby beehinds covers. And smalls last for ages! I did have 2 NB sizes which lasted about 2-3 months, and then smalls I used until she was almost 1.

Cloth Nappies

People often wonder why I use cloth nappies. The funny thing is people still think that cloth nappies are terry squares that you fold and pin and need lots and lots of work...

But that's not the case at all!

I can't remember how I started, but when I was pregnant with my first child, I came across reusable nappies and thought I think I'd like to give that a try. I did lots of research and read lots of articles and lots of posts in forums such as Nappycino and BubHub, and talked to my husband about it and he seemed happy to give them a try. I swore that I would do all the work for them, because I knew deep down that if it was hard work then he wouldn't be interested in it at all and go to disposables.

Why don't I want to use disposables?
Disposables are convenient, inexpensive (per nappy), and make cleanups a breeze. Why don't I want to use them? The reason that I don't want to use disposables is because I abhor the amount of rubbish that it creates. All that plastic... just thrown into landfill, sitting there for years and years. True they probably keep you drier than cloth nappies, which may help with nappy rash, but do we go around all day wearing disposable undies? Eeew NO! I love the feel of cotton undies thank you! And I'm sure babies like to wear woven material against their skin too.

What a waste of water!
I get this comment ALL the time from people! They tell me how bad I am for the environment and so on, wasting water, polluting the waterways blah blah blah! But, I look at my water bill and my family uses less than 250L a day, and that's with a small house and garden, with me and my husband and daughter and our cloth nappies! I challenge anyone to try and beat that when they do a load of nappies every second day! And I use Earth Choice laundry powder in my front loader.

Here are some facts about disposables I bet people didn't know!

• Between USA, Australia, and the UK, we dispose of 60 million Disposable nappies a day. That’s a huge amount of wasted plastic and human excrement entering our landfills and possibly water tables. Human waste is best dealt with using sewerage systems which are built to deal with this sort of pollution.
• Landbank Consultancy concluded that disposable diapers create 2.3 times as much water waste, use 3.5 times as much energy, use 8.3 times the non-regenerable raw materials, use 90 times the renewable raw materials and 4 to 30 times as much land for growing raw materials.
• 1 billion trees per year are destroyed to make disposable diapers---approximately 4.5 for each baby who uses them.
• It takes 1 cup of crude oil to make the plastic for 1 disposable diaper.
• Disposable diapers contain chemicals that were banned in the 1980s in women's tampons, but continue to be used today to improve absorbency in children's diapers.
• 18 billion disposable diapers are used in the U.S. each year - enough to stretch to the moon and back 9 times

Information taken from: http://www.whatcanonepersondo.com/blog/index.php?/archives/29-Disposable-Nappies-1-billion-trees-per-year-are-destroyed-to-make-em,-and-thats-just-the-start!.html

Here is a link to Sydney Water's water efficient households page:
http://www.sydneywater.com.au/SavingWater/InYourHome/WaterEfficientTargets/HouseholdTargets.cfm

You mean cloth nappies aren't white squares?? What are they then?
Well! Where do I start!
Modern cloth nappies are what savvy cloth nappy users are using these days. These nappies are made of materials such as bamboo and hemp, which are more absorbent than cotton, and claim to have some antibacterial properties as well. And to keep baby's bot bot dry, you can line them with microfleece or suedecloth to keep a stay dry layer against their skin to avoid nappy rash and sogginess.
But of course cloth leaks through to the other side, so you can also buy special covers in pretty patterns to cover your nappies with so you don't get wet clothes OR you can get special nappies which have a PUL liner against the outside so that wetness doesnt seep through.
And to make them nice on the OUTSIDE, you can have fancy quilting cottons on the outside of the nappy, or you can have minky or fancy fleece, or you can have them embroidered with patterns or your babies' name!

Still confused? Here are some pictures of MCNs so you can see what I mean!


This was a custom order made by Kristy from Bundles of Buns for my daughter. Embroidered minky YUM! Unfortunately she doesn't do customs anymore I feel lucky I managed to nab some!
http://bundlesofbuns.blogspot.com/



These are made by Michelle at Sustainable Hemp Products - newborn size! I have a few (not of this print but it's a gorgeous print nappy!) of her newborn ones for my next baby.
http://www.sustainablehempproducts.com.au/




Blueberry one size pocket nappies are my favourite nappy!



For all that you could ever want to know about modern cloth nappies these links are great:
http://www.ozclothnappies.org/info.html
http://www.modernclothnappies.org/glossary.htm