Toilet Learning Twins Part 2 - Cloth Nappies

Before A & G arrived, I surfed the Internet looking for information on cloth nappies. Boy oh, boy! There is so much information on cloth nappies, I was overwhelmed.  I just could not decide what to buy, so in the end I didn't buy any cloth nappies at all. I did own those flat square terry towel nappies (which I used as burp and clean up cloths.)

In the first three months of my twins lives they were in disposal nappies, whilst I adjusted to our new life as a family of four. When the girls were about 4 months I started researching cloth nappies again, and yes, I was still very confused about what to buy. I really wanted to spend my money wisely and on the right nappy system for us. The weather was warming up at this time, so I started to let the girls have more nappy free time, but continued to use disposables for night time and going out. Honestly they were in disposable a lot more than I would have liked them to be. At this time I hadn't read anything on ECing. Perhaps if I had they would have had more nappy free time than they did and I would have been more in tune with their toileting ques.


Eventually I made the decision to buy and I have not regretted this decision. The extra laundry hasn't been onerous at all. For me, it has been more convenient to wash cloth nappies than it has been to buy disposable nappies. As most parents know, and especially twin parents, buying involves,

• getting the girls ready to go out,
• packing the nappy bag,
• getting myself ready,
• planning where we are going (will the twin pram fit through the door or checkout, will we be able to get a parking space where I can open both doors and how many nappies will I be able to carry and push a pram?)
• planning the outing around the next feed or sleep

As an alternative, if I realised in advance that we were running low on disposables I was able to ask my other half to pick some up on his way home. Not always ideal, as there were many evenings I was so eager for him to get home in the evenings to give me a breather. I begrudged anything that delayed his arrival home.

So here is my experience with cloth nappies.

We own three types of nappies. They are as follows

Baby Beehind - Magic Alls. (The blue ones.)

These are similar to a disposable in terms of ease of use. They were particularly useful, when the girls went through their various stages of fighting nappy changes. G started crawling at 6 months and about this stage we started nappy changes at ground level. The change table was moved into the garage shortly thereafter. G was also, a known culprit for rolling over and crawling off midway through a nappy change. I would often have to chase a crawling baby whilst attempting to secure a nappy. This is where the Velcro tabs on this particular nappy came into its own, as the Velcro was quick and easy to secure.

These nappies come in different sizes from small, medium, large and extra large. We own four of these types of nappies in size medium.  G has been able to wear these from age 6 months to 14 months (she very petite.) Find out more here.

Pros

• Good for easy and quick nappy changes
• They look great
• If you like big bum babies these are very cute
• Daycare friendly, dad friendly and visitor friendly
• In my opinion everyone should have a few nappies similar to these in their nappy stash

Cons

• Very bulking nappy
• Hard to find pants that fit over these
• Takes longer to dry
• If you have a baby that likes to take off their nappy and you are not toilet learning I would steer away from Velcro closures

I preferred the girls to wear these types of nappies by themselves with just a singlet top or t-shirt.

Babyland one size fits most, Pocket Nappy. The yellow one

This particular nappy is a Pocket nappy and consist of a waterproof outer and a fleece inner booster. The back of the nappy has an opening through which the booster can be inserted and additional booster pad can be added to increase the absorbency. Ours were purchased from Ebay and are pre-loved. We own 25 pairs in various unisex colours. Total cost for the lot was $45 or $1.80 each. . We used these the most during winter (quick drying) or when we are going out (easy of use).

Pros

• They are very easy to wash and dry very quick
• Cheap to buy brand new
• Even cheaper if you can buy pre-loved

Cons

• Not as fitting
• Not as absorbent as other nappies.
• Easy to find pants that fit over these nappies, as they are slightly bulkier than a disposable
• For toilet learning, the outer waterproof liner makes it difficult for the parent/care giver to know if the nappy is wet.

I love these nappies. They fit A better. On G they are rather saggy, because she is a slimmer child, so well suited for chubby babies. Not as absorbent as the Magic Alls, however for $1.80 I felt they were an excellent buy. Since I wasn't after a cloth nappy that wicked moisture away like a disposable nappy I wasn't fussed about how absorbent they were.

Baby Behind, Bamboo One size fits most (The white ones).

Designed to fit most little ones from birth through to toddlerhood (15kg).  The fit and absorbency, can be adjusted to suit using the smaller or longer booster. Find out more from their website here

Pros

• These will last forever, so if you are planning to have more children these will last the distance.
• Will fit most babies
• Very versatile, use them as a water proof nappy with a wool cover or Waterproof (PUL) cover. 
• These can also be used as training pants (without the water proof cover and boosters)
• On A, we use these as a night nappy, by adding the boosters and a wool cover.

Cons

• These take longer to dry than the Pocket Nappies.

I currently use these more as training pants/undies than nappies so no waterproof cover except when we go out. When the weather is warm and we are are at home, my objective is to keep the girls dry by catching as many wee's as possible. When we have a miss they are changed, so the waterproof covers are unnecessary as the lack of water proof covering makes it easier for me to see/feel if the girls are wet. These also have a piece of elastic at the back so they can be pull up or down, just like big girl pants. I think we will be able to use these right up to when the girls are fully toilet aware.

Baby Beehinds PUL covers

Water Proof Covers/Soakers

We own a handful of Baby Beehinds PUL covers and one Baby Beehinds wool cover, which is a similar designed to the PUL. Unfortunately they don't sell this type anymore, but they do have a wool pull up version see here.  I purchased my Baby Beehinds wool cover pre-loved from Ebay. We use the wool cover at night.

I knitted two wool soakers, and these work very well. The secret to wool soakers is how lanolised the wool is. Here is a link to a site about knitted wool soakers.

Reuseable Cloth Wipes

Along with the use of cloth nappies I purchased cloth wipes. Why? Most commercial wipes not flushable. When you use cloth nappies, any nappy waste is flushed, the used nappy is placed in a bucket in the laundry and since the commercial wipes can't be flushed you need to take a walk to the rubbish bin to dispose of the used wipe. This personally annoyed me, so I purchased cloth wipes. One trip to the laundry and the wipes were washed with the nappies.

In summary, as mentioned at the beginning of this post, I haven't regretting using cloth. If you are considering cloth, perhaps buy a few to try and then decide if cloth is for you. I would also recommend buying different types, as some nappy systems are easier to use than others.

Toileting Pre-reading posted here

Part 1 - Our beginning posted here

Part 2 - Cloth nappies

Part 3 - Training pants

Part 4 - Prepared environment for toileting