All your nappying needs covered! (Ella's House Nappies)

Member Name: jonkitlib

Product:	Ella's House Nappies
Date:	05/06/09 (41 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Eco-friendly, long-term money saving, nice to use, effective

Disadvantages: Up-front costs

As the drawbacks to disposable nappies become clear, many are turning to cloth again. One of the drawbacks to using cloth nappies can be the "Does my bum look big in this?" effect. That Tellytubby shape looks cute, but it can make it awkward to find clothes that fit! Yet without all those layers, how is an earth-friendly nappy to be absorbent enough to cope with everything your baby throws at it?

One answer is to think about the kind of material you use for the layers. Cotton is good at absorbing quickly, but it is relatively bulky and there are various issues around cotton production and its effect on the environment, given that it needs lots of water and is vulnerable to pests. Hemp, on the other hand, grows in most conditions without pesticides or fertiliser. In fact, it inhibits weed growth, enriches the soil and needs little water, making it an ecologically sound choice. Hemp fibres are naturally long and strong, which means that they can be used to make hardwearing textiles, while the hemp plant itself is reputed to have more than 30,000 known uses (none of them to do with drugs - this is hemp, not marijuana!). Not only is hemp ten times stronger than cotton, it also produces twice the yield per hectare and hemp fibres are more absorbent. Fabric made from hemp also has antibacterial and antifungal properties, making it ideal to use for nappies. If your concern is the size of that bum, though, what matters most is that hemp is considerably more absorbent than cotton, so you don't need as many layers to get the same result. You just might be able to squeeze that clothy bum into those cute trousers ;)

Having decided to use hemp, where do you go next? Ella's House is the answer! They have a selection of nappies, all made from a hemp and cotton combination, and accessories such as boosters, liners, inserts and wipes. Their keynote product, if I can describe it as such, is the Bum Hugger, so I'll start there.


Ella's House Bum Hugger (£9.95):

These are just scrummy! Snuggly, funky fleece on the inside keeps your baby feeling dry while multiple layers of hemp and cotton fleece absorb and hold any wetness. The fleece also catches solids and is stretchy enough that you can jut shake them off into the toilet at changing time, avoiding those nasty scraping/flushing/wiping sessions (and if the thought of having to scrape poo off your baby's nappy makes you reach for the disposables then you should bear in mind that you should be doing it no matter what type of nappy you use, as it is illegal to put human faeces into the bin) - a couple of pulls and twists and the Bum Hugger is clean enough to pop into the nappy bucket. An extra bonus of the fleece lining is that it makes for a soft cushy layer next to your baby's skin, which is especially reassuring if you live in a hard water area where nappies can get rather "crunchy" and less than soft.

Bum Huggers have been re-designed recently, with a soaker which pulls out for better washing and faster drying. This is a real improvement, as the only fault I had with the old style ones was that the absorbent pad was lots of layers of hemp all together with no way of opening them out. Since hemp takes ages to dry anyway this meant that my Bum Huggers were by far the slowest drying nappies I had and we reserved them for nights and long journeys because we simply could not get them washed and dried fast enough to use for every nappy change. The new style pull-out soaker not only speeds up drying but also allows you to put extra absorbency where it's needed, folding extra at the front for boys or spreading more evenly for girls.

Bum Huggers come in a range of sizes (small, large, extra large - although for most babies small and large will be enough) and with a choice of aplix (like velcro) or popper fastening. Aplix is quicker to use, but personally I much prefer poppers as all of my children seem to have mastered velcro very early on but found poppers more of a challenge - it doesn't matter how absorbent the nappy is if your baby takes it off before weeing all over the floor! Once on, the Bum Hugger fits snugly at legs and waist thanks to good elastication. We have found them to be completely bombproof!


Hemp Nappy (£8.95):

The Bum Hugger is great, but some babies react to fleece and you don't always need quite so much absorbency. If you're just looking for a simple nappy which does the job then the Ella's House plain hemp nappy could be the one for you. It shares many of the Bum Hugger's features - elastication for good fit, pull out soaker for quick drying and targetted absorbency, choice of aplix or popper fastening, range of sizes - in a neat trim nappy. Like the Bum Hugger the basic nappy is a creamy coloured natural hemp/cotton fleece, but you can customise it by adding coloured stitching and by choosing the colour of the poppers from a range of about 12. If, like us, you have a heavy wetter then you may find that you need to add extra absorbency in the form of a booster.


Boosters (£3.25 each or 5 for £15.25):

Slightly shaped, with three layers of hemp or two layers of hemp and one of polyester fleece, to add just that little extra bit of absorbency where and when you need it, these fit snugly inside a nappy or between nappy and wrap if you don't want to cover up the fleece on your Bum Hugger. There's not a lot more to say about them, except that they are useful for heavy wetters, for night times and for adding a little extra oomph without making your baby look like John Wayne! We find they fit nicely on those little clippy hangers you can get from pound shops and camping stores, which means you can dry lots of them in a small space.


Liners (90p each or 5 for £4.25):

Shaped to fit nicely inside a nappy, Ella's House polyester fleece liners give a stay dry layer between the nappy and your baby and make the nappy easier to clean because they catch any solids, which can then be shaken off into the toilet. Basically they do the same job as flushable/disposable paper liners, but with the advantage of being washable and reusable. If you're on a budget you could always make them yourself by cutting up an old fleece jumper or blanket, or you can choose from the 20-odd prints on offer at Ella's House.


Wipes (5 for £2 or 10 for £3.50):

Using washable wipes could actually save you as much money as using washable nappies! Ella's House wipes are just the right size to fit in your hand and can be used with lotions and potions or just plain water. Ideal for babies' bottoms, but also for any other time you would use a baby wipe - noses, faces, sticky fingers... If you're washing nappies anyway you can just bung them in the nappy bucket; otherwise just put them in with the next load of washing you do. Again they dry nicely on clippy hangers or you can use them straight from the wash if you want them damp anyway ;o) Of course, you could just use flannels, but these are a better size, I find (flannels lop around a bit too much!) and they come in bright funky patterns and a variety of fabrics, often with different ones each side.


One more thing:

When you first use hemp you may find it disappointing, after all these claims of absorbency. This is because hemp has lots of natural oils which will gradually disappear with washing. As the oils are stripped the absorbency increases, so the more you use it and wash it the better hemp gets!

Summary: Great nappies which don't cost the earth!