Tuesday 23 November 2010

What's your top tip for real nappy users?

My top tip is to smother your baby's bottom with sweet almond oil.  It makes the skin lovely and soft and is so much better than mineral oil.  The latter stops the skin breathing, whereas vegetable oils - olive oil is good too - feed and strengthen the skin helping it perform as a protective barrier to the outside world.

And here are more tips on starting out with real nappies on this short You Tube clip

11 comments:

  1. Fuzzibuns are my favourite. Leave a wash for a couple of days. In the winter, put them in the washing machine in the evening, then on a warm radiator and they are ready for morning. In the summer, put them in the machine first thing and then on the line and they are ready by evening. Easy peasy.

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  2. If washable nappies worry you, just buy a few of them to try out to start with:
    I started using washable nappies when my baby was a few weeks old. I didn't know which ones to get so I bought one All-in-one nappy, and one bamboo nappy, and a few second-hand cotton nappies and gradually tried them all out - soon realising that they were all fine, all easy and quick to use and wash. It took me a little while to work out what else I needed to get into a routine which worked for us, (where to keep the nappy bucket, where to buy the liners, etc,) but experience, and the excellent "NappyLady' website really helped - it has so much useful information. I also discovered how satisfying it is to use nappies made of fabric, real nappies, and how the different fabrics have different qualities: I use bamboo nappies at night because they are so absorbent. The All-in-one nappies are handy for use when we are out during the day and my baby doesn't want to lie down - its possible to pop them on when she's sitting up. The cotton ones are our staple. They are easy to use and wash and dry. So, my top tip is: introduce real nappies gradually if they worry you, and that way give yourself time to work out how they will work for you. And they do work brilliantly. I love my collection of nappies now.

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  3. I agree with the previous blog - try out different nappies to get a feeling of the different sorts - e.g. via NCT or other 2nd hand sales and check whether your borough has a nappy exchange option as well as check with your borough whether they support realnappies via providing a voucher. There don't have to be high starting costs to start using real
    nappies.
    I started using real nappies quite early - some birth-to potty ones are still stored away as still to big but otherwhise all going well.

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  4. I have saved a fortune using washable nappies - really no bother - like the contributor earlier said, wash in the evening and either on the line or radiator the next morning. I used Bambino Mio prefolds which dry quite quickly as they are flat. They have lasted me for two children - and would do more if I were having more! I also found my children toilet trained quite quickly and I am sure knowing when they are wet/pooey helped this process.

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  5. I used washable nappies from the beginning with both my children and my advice would be to do the same: if you get the hang of it right from the start then it will feel really natural and 'its just what you do': you don't have to bother with any of the disposable brands and it just becomes a no-brainer. Having a new baby is such a new experience in any other way anyway, so if you can see the benefits (and there are numerous: from the environment to saving loots of money!) my advice is to just go for it and make it part of your learning curve as a parent. I never bought any new nappies, only ever second-hand, and it has worked really well. You can get nearly new nappies at www.usednappies.co.uk and www.thenappysite.co.uk/

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  6. Please use olive oil rather than almond oil on babies, especially if there is any cracked skin, as it is believed that early exposure to almond oil through the skin can cause an allergy later on.

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  7. My tip is get to some washable wipes and a wet bag for when you're out and about. I made my own wipes from dying flannels but never knew you could get a wet bag - doh! That was four years of, gulp, disposable nappy sacks.

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  8. i tried lots of different kinds of washable nappies that i liked but in the end my favorites were old-fashioned flatfolds with bummis wraps. they're very inexpensive, wash well, dry the fastest, are super-absorbent, double-up easlily, and last almost indefinitely. my kids are now 3 and 6, out of nappies, and i still use them for cleaning up around the house. washable wipes are great too--just cut up an old baby towel or something and they last forever. we use them instead of toilet paper (mostly for pee) and we save so much paper. and they're good for noses and such too. just wash them in hot water with other sheets/towels.

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  9. Mum from Deptford27 January 2011 at 15:54

    My top tip would be to think about how you are going to dry your nappies. Babies use a lot a day! We live in a 1 bedroom flat and have no tumble drier. We really wanted to use washables because we don't want to add loads of nappies to landfill sites and didn't really believe biodegradable nappies could biodegrade in landfill anyway. We decided to go for the slightly more expensive approach and have a nappy laundry service. We have someone else deal with the washing and the drying and we only pay for the weeks we need so if we are away it doesn't matter. With the laundry service you can either hire or buy the wraps and hire the nappies themselves so you don't have the initial outlay and the worry of sizing you may have otherwise.

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  10. We had the nappies sorted but hadn't thought about the wipes. I found cheeky wipes and haven't looked back, they have a great pop top lid and save lots of money and landfill. Sure, you can make your own system for cheaper but if you're washing nappies, you might as well be washing wipes too.

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  11. I agree - Cheeky wipes are fab. Go to a Baby Show to see all the nappies in real life to see what you like best. Also you usually get a better deal. Take the plunge. We can't imagine using disposables full time now.

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