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Completely overwhelmed

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pascoa341
Clothie
Clothie

Completely overwhelmed

Postby pascoa341 » Sun Mar 18, 2012 5:50 pm

And I thought this reusable nappies was going to be easy. Me and my partner have done a lot of reading and thinking about the nappies, but still have some questions. In particular

Money is short at the moment so we do not want to spend too much money. Hence why we will probably try to go for 2nd hands. As we would not really would like to buy things twice, we are thinking of going for onesizes On the other hand I read here that onesizes don't really work very well on newborns. Is this true?

Typewise, I think that All in ones, all in twos, and pockets would be easier than two part. On the other hand it would appear that the two parts are most absorbing. We are planning on breastfeeding. Does this influence the type of poo and hence the type of nappy?

We are currently doubting between using Tots Bots Bamboozles and Little Lambs bamboos as workhorses (these seem to be the most popular brands). The bamboozles in size 2 seem to more or less be suitable from birth, whereas the Little Lambs should have to be a size 1, so we would have to buy another stash later. This makes me think the bamboozles are the better buy. On the other hand, they must be massive on a newborn. Motherease sandys are also mentioned quite regularly for newborns, but my partner is not too keen on poppers. Any other brands/types that are good but tend to be cheaper 2nd hand because they are not so well known.

Wraps wise, we were thinking of something with gussets. Are there great differences between different brands here, or is it all pretty similar?

Have any of you used AIO/AI2/Pocket nappies on newborns and can that work well? We are now thinking of buying some for on the side, just to see if we like them (they seem much easier to me than 2 part, but it seems to be very personal and there are a lot of 2 part fans on this forum as well).

Finally, is our idea of using 1 nappy from birth to potty easily do-able ro would buying some special newborn nappies be worth it? If so, how many and which ones would you recommend.

Thanks for any answers!!

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Louise
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Re: Completely overwhelmed

Postby Louise » Sun Mar 18, 2012 6:04 pm

Personally I have never found pockets particularly reliable and would choose fitteds every time. I had a few pockets for my latest baby but we didn't get on with them at all. I would get some prefolds and small terries for the newborn stage if you are trying to keep the cost low until the BTPs fit. Most BTPs are far too big on newborn babies unless you have a very large baby. Little Lamb have a special offer on atm though 10 nappies for £30 and 5 wraps for £15 via the link on their facebook page. If you bought them new you'd have no problems selling them on for £3 each when they were outgrown. http://www.littlelambnappies.com/facebook

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monsterm
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Re: Completely overwhelmed

Postby monsterm » Sun Mar 18, 2012 6:09 pm

Didn't want to read & run but I don't have time to write a detailed answer right now.

Unless your newborn is going to be 10 or 11lbs, chances are slim that a btp (birth to potty) will fit. I also think that size 2 bamboozles will be huge on a newborn.

Truth of the matter is that it all depends on how much of a wetter your baby is & what nappies suit you. IMO AI1 &AI2 would be the least reliable of nappies, followed by pockets, followed by fitted & flats with wraps & the best are fitted & flats with wool.

The cheapest options would probably be bamboo terry squares. You can get them in a couple of sizes & they are not very expensive but you have to be willing to put the time into the folding. They are great on newborns. I would also have size 1 little lambs bamboo as part of my stash. I would not buy size 2's until you are absolutely sure that they work well for your little one. We had LL bamboo in size 1 but as we were coming to size 2s, dd suddenly became a very heavy wetter & the size 2 did not work for us.

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Cyrillia
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Re: Completely overwhelmed

Postby Cyrillia » Sun Mar 18, 2012 6:35 pm

Thanks for that link Louise! :D

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bekhi1983
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Re: Completely overwhelmed

Postby bekhi1983 » Sun Mar 18, 2012 7:57 pm

Bamboozles are great I loved them. I would strongly recommend 2 parters up till weaning, I found Callum pee'd for England whilst on a milk only diet, he'd out pee most pockets and there was only so much stuffing they would take before it effected the fit. Once his milk intake went down pockets were great. Pocket wise I have a range of them as became a classifieds whore :oops: but the cheapies have been great. I've found that finding the right inserts are more important than the shell. Avoid applix, ours are rubbish after a years use, they don't stick properly (Bum Genius) and there not toddler proof. I'm considering moving back to 2 parters as he will be getting closer to potty training soon and I don't think pockets will cope with the power piddles. If I were you I would concentrate on building a size 1 two parter stash as these are the most reliable, then once babies here experiment with a few pockets from classifieds as and when funds allow.

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paw foot
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Re: Completely overwhelmed

Postby paw foot » Sun Mar 18, 2012 9:40 pm

In my experience btp would be too large for a newborn, my little one is about 12 pounds now and even now some are just too big and bulky on him. IMO the best way to keep cost down is to use prefolds for the early days. You can then use them as cloths, mats for nappy off time or laying a sicky baby down to save bedding/furniture and stuffing pockets later on. If you do want to sell them on after they seem to go pretty quick. The downsize with prefolds if baby does poo it tends to go on the wrap too. Wraps can be washed and dried quick though. Thirstie duo wraps have a good resale value and fitted my 5.5 baby and he is still in them now with plenty of growing room.

If you are going to buy fitted go for one that has a good resale value, works out cheaper in the long run as you can get money back. Or snap up bargains in classified. Swaddlebees fitted Have a good weight range, newborn is very similar in size to the small.

A good btp IMO is close parent pop in, a little bulky on tiny babies but you get a good fit with no leg gape. You might be able to pick up some quiet cheaply because they have just brought out a newer sytle.

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pascoa341
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Re: Completely overwhelmed

Postby pascoa341 » Mon Mar 19, 2012 5:46 pm

Thanks for all these replies. Really useful. The link for the Little Lambs seem particularly useful. We'll probably wait for a nearly new sale on Sunday to see what they have there, but then may go for them. Would 10 be enough, or is 20 better? Also, how many wraps would be best for newborns (other nicely coloured wrap recommendations would be great as well!).

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Louise
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Re: Completely overwhelmed

Postby Louise » Mon Mar 19, 2012 5:54 pm

TBH I wouldn't wait too long. The offer has been running a while now so you may find there won't be much left if you leave it another week. Also in my experience there aren't many reusable nappies atr nearly new sales. I don't use wraps at all and haven't for years (we use wool with fitteds) but Thirsties Duo seem to be popular.

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Cyrillia
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Re: Completely overwhelmed

Postby Cyrillia » Mon Mar 19, 2012 6:19 pm

Numbers wise it really depends - if you want to try a variety of nappies I'd say to just go for the 10 Little Lambs, and then make it up to 20 with others. I think I'll go for a mix - I've got 10 of those Little Lambs coming, and I'm going to get a few Diddy Diapers, some prefolds, and a few other nice ones (WN, HL, etc...). If you don't want that though, I'd say that 20 might or might not be enough depending on how often you're going to be washing. If it's every other day, you might find that you need a few more than 20 as bamboo takes a little longer to dry. :D

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