6 Things I wish I had known before Starting with Cloth Nappies.

Entering the world of cloth nappies can be a scary one. Joining communities like Cloth Nappies UK Facebook groups, following cloth nappy gurus on Instagram, reading blogs and watching YouTube videos are all great ways to learn but what they can give you is information over load.

When I was pregnant I immersed myself in the Cloth Nappies UK Facebook group reading everyone’s problems and questions, then reading the comments to see the advice and tips. This was great because it meant I was somewhat prepared if any of these problems came my way and I was determined to make this work. But for anyone perhaps a little less determined or a little anxious about switching to cloth it does make me worry that seeing so many problems could put you off.

What’s important to remember is that there are thousands of people in these groups. Of course some are bound to hit some bumps in the road and if that happens they are going to ask for advice. In fact their only really going to comment if they need advice. It is by nature an advice group. This condenses your worries and makes it look like people are only having problems. What you need to realize among this is that there are a ton of people on there not having problems and a ton of people giving advice that absolutely love cloth nappies.

Imagine a rainbow of cloth nappies on a doorstep placed in front of feet in mustard colored socks.

Having done so much research I thought I would breeze into it. Problem was I am sometimes a little too much of a head strong person, thought I knew it all and wouldn’t therefore hit a bump in the road. I read all the advice but didn’t take it all in, or was a little relaxed on the things I read.

Here’s everything I wish I had known (or simply taken the advice on) before I started my cloth nappy journey.

1.Try before you buy your cloth nappies.

It really is true that some nappies suit some babies better than others and you really will have a preference on the nappy you use. It is also true that what might work amazingly for your baby at 4 months might be different at 18 months.

I fall in and out of love with nappies all the time. There are some brands, such as Baba and boo that so far have always worked for us, but that doesn’t mean they will be my favorites in a years time.

For this reason I recommend trying out a few different nappies and having a few different styles in your stash. At the moment I’m loving our Motherease Wizard Unos but they come up a little on the small size so I’m not sure I’ll love them so much down the line. In the early days I didn’t rate our Close Pop Ins so much. This didn’t mean I didn’t use them. They still worked, they just weren’t my favorite. Now they give a nice fit and are probably one of my most leak proof.

Like I said it doesn’t mean I don’t use these nappies, their still useful to me, I’m just grateful I have different types and styles. I reach for my favorites of these the most at different times. Make sense?

Okay, I’ve totally confused you, to help I’ve put together my Top 5 Cloth Nappy Brands to really get you on your way to a versatile stash that will work for you from birth all the way to potty training.

Here’s where I messed up with my cloth nappy journey.

I knew all the advice I’ve just told you about. I had read the advice from pretty much everyone that said don’t buy all one brand. I followed it with my birth to potty nappies. But when it came to newborn nappies I was unsure. Unsure if I should even buy newborn nappies. Were they worth the money? I dived in and brought a set of Close Pop in Newborn nappies.

I just couldn’t get on with them. They dug into my daughters skin leaving what to me looked like more than just a sock mark. I had heard so many say they worked well for them and sock marks were not a problem. But these looked red on her perfect newborn skin with me a new mum worrying about everything. It wasn’t for me and I was devastated.

I decided to buy some cheap Little’s and Blooms newborn to see how we got on with them. These worked okay, I wouldn’t sing their praises but they did the job. We just didn’t have enough of them to go full time cloth and I was getting some leaks from them so only used them in the house. Again I was devastated.

At 4 weeks old I couldn’t wait any longer, I tried on some of her birth to potty’s that were waiting patiently in the drawer. Surprisingly, (although she was a huge baby so maybe not so surprising) they fit her. They looked huge on her and we had a good laugh but they fit and they worked. I haven’t looked back since.

Moral of the story, try before you buy.

By this I mean buy one of a type, try it out. See if you like it then buy more, but still don’t buy all of the same.

Look up your local nappy library. You may be able to hire some to really do some testing. Or try out the Fill your pants trail packs to give you a taster of what you might like.

Still confused? Here’s A Complete Guide to Cloth Nappies.

2. Don’t mess about with your cloth nappy wash routine.

I knew people spoke about good wash routines but I didn’t think it would make that much of a difference and ended up getting some smelly nappies. They smelt fine when they came out of the wash but once she wee’ed they smelt strongly of ammonia. Ended up having to strip wash them and start again. This isn’t the end of the world but it’s time consuming and annoying. To avoid this happening to you I have fine tuned our wash routine and done the research so you don’t have to. Follow what I do on How to Wash your Reusable Cloth Nappies.

3.Sunning your Cloth nappies really is the best medicine.

I didn’t believe it until I tried it. Newborn poo’s can sometimes leave a little staining. As long as your confident in your wash routine and know their clean this isn’t a problem but can be annoying. Pop them in the sun and find them white again. Even on a window sill on a cloud day. Mat didn’t believe it was possible with a horrifically stained muslin. Sunned for half and hour and couldn’t find a spot on it. He actually had to admit I was right, so now you know miracles do happen.

4.Disposable liners are more work that their worth.

Disposable liners sounds great. “That will make getting rid of the poo easy right?” Well actually no. Not in my opinion anyway.

If your going to whip out the liner and put it straight in the bin, your not going to be really able to do that without a nappy bag which kind of defeats the object, no?

Okay, so instead you whip it out pop the poo in the loo then throw it away. Well then you have to make a trip to another bin rather than balling it all up and throwing it all in the cloth nappy bin.

I find they also hold onto moisture and stick to babies bum, whereas reusable fleece liners wick the moisture away from bottoms. Depending on what type of nappy your using you may be using a fleece liner anyway so putting a disposable one on top is just a non essential extra.

Poo slides of fleeces liners pretty easy anyway so if you ask me forget the faff and just use everything reusable.

5.A little practice is everything.

Oh the fit. So many talked about a good fit. Judging by the amount of leaks I got in the early day (not all the time but some) I probably wasn’t getting a great fit. Of course now I do it with my eyes closed, as do our nursery teachers and family members and it’s really no big deal. If your worried here’s a good video to break it down.

6.Don’t be afraid to just try something.

Going back to my newborn days saga I wish I had followed popular opinion and tried muslins and a wrap. This sounded a little complicated to me so I stayed away but really one thing I found with cloth nappies is that nothing is really that complicated once you’ve tried it. Just give it ago.

Hannah xx