Cloth Nappy Tree Forum

I'm all for 'functional' over 'prettiness' as well! My stash is mainly BG's and I love them. They are so reliable and fit really well on my DD. She went through a phase of out-peeing them but once we started weaning things became more manageable. I do have to use both inserts. My fave are the organic AIO's, they fit under her normal clothes.

The catch for me is that they can be boring. But most of the time it's under her clothes so it doesn't bother me so much. I do have some prettiness to cheer me up. Even then I would only go as far as the Blueberry's. I make sure not to cover them otherwise, what's the point!

I have tried WeeNotions but can't get a good fit on my DD. Shame 'cause I think they're just gorgeous!

For me the catch with BGs was that my DD outgrew them at about 2 years old so they were not birth to potty (BTP). I did convert some of them from velcro to poppers a few months ago and she could fit in them again, but she just potty trained at 3 so that was that ....and to be honest as BGs are so slim fitting I struggled to get the absorbancy I needed to make them a viable nappy for dealing with older toddler widdle. They became one of those nappies you use between bath and bedtime etc. From about 10 months I boosted both DS and DDs BGs with an easy peasy hemp booster.

I am re-using some of her BGs on DS (the non pink ones anyway) but had to replace the leg elastic and the velcro. My BGs were my workhorse nappy (as when they fitted, they couldn't be beaten for reliability) so got pretty heavily used and with this in mind I think it is a bit unfair to slag BG for making the v4s with easy to replace elastic as I think it is aimed at those who use them second time around / use them very heavily. I'm very happy with my BGs and think I got way more than value for money out of them.

I'm looking forward to the v4 BG when it arrives in brights as pastels are not really my thing. If you go for BGs I would recommend you get some popper ones for when your baby learns how to undo velcro and also because the fit seems to be bigger and they will last longer.

The European stock of BGs is made in Egypt though, so would also recommend Tots Bots as a good UK manufactured alternative. But my personal view is that they make great 2 parters (strechy bamboozles are fab) but their All in Ones / Twos don't match BGs for reliability. And also, while BGs may be imported, a lot of them are sold by WAHMs so you are supporting them too.

I'm also more of a functional fan, especially as I don't like a lot of patterns, but I do think every cloth bum should have at least one "show-off" nappy. Don't under-estimate the power of a cute fluffy bum to convert others to cloth, or at least to get them asking / the conversation started. Blueberries are nice and trim (although again imo, not as reliable as BGs) and I would also recommend WeeNotions. DS's show off nappy is a weenotions BTP pocket in navy with a monster embroidered on the bum!

Some sized pockets last a long time, like fuzzibunz which fit my dd from 4 months to 18 months. Although the leg elastic stretched abit and is still a bit gapey on my chubby 5 month old ds but he is now wearing them. I like pretty fitteds now too.

If you've only been using bg's for a week you have plenty of time to get bored of them

We have some new fitteds and some preloved that have been used on multiple babies. Fitteds wash really well. I actually bought a bg v3 a couple of weeks ago to see what the fuss was about and it looked old after just one wash. I also think they're quite pricey for what they are. How old is your baby? I have some small fuzzibunz if you would like to try them? They're much better than bg IMO

The thing with the functional vs pretty debate is that people have different motivations for using cloth. I know a couple who use cloth on their baby and their only motivation for doing so is that it's nicer on the baby's bum. They have no whatsoever interest in the eco side of cloth.

Also, there's functionality and prettiness aren't mutually exclusive .

Geordie_Girl wrote:
Also, there's functionality and prettiness aren't mutually exclusive .

my pretty nappies are my most functional, as i have bought sized - instead of one size fits most! my large standard rise wee notion pockets fit the best on my dd, i still use my bum genius, with trousers - but the velcro is too easy for dd to undo so need to hide it from pulling fingers. and poppers don't work for us she gets really bad belly gape.

I have to say weenotions NL with wool was the best comnination I found, you dont have to have them made pretty you can also have them plain they are a fantastic british nappy, the OS pockets are fab

If your in love with bg tho the new ones are poppered and easy replace elastic, I found bgs fab my lo pt'd at just under 2 so wont get to try the new ones but they look great, I never had a problem with the inserts and popping an easy peasy hemp booster in the pocket really helped with absorbancy the only thing i didnt like was that the velcro discloured too easily but poppers seem a great solutuion

We have pretty much all pretty nappies, and faar more than we need, and IMO it's no worse for the environment, I take very good care of my nappies, the fact they are in a bog rotations means they have a longer lifespan, and all get sold on so that someone else can use them, I'm sure they will then sell them on too and so on and so forth!

A few people said BGs weren't great from birth, but I found them a lovely fit on my DD from birth and she dropped to about 7lb3 I think!

I've used BGs as my workhorse nappy with James without any problems. They fit him well, I can boost them with extra hemp or bamboo and they still fit him now he's 2yrs 4mths.
It all depends entirely on the individual child. I would always recommend BGs to anyone starting with cloth because they are very versatile without being too expensive.

BG's do last well, I bought some pre-loved almost 2 years ago and they're still going strong.

BUT they don't age well looks-wise, they look a bit of a state compared to my minkee nappies, especially the Weenotions which are minkee inside and out. And Jasmine can take them off as the aplix tabs are far too small.