Not sure? read my experience from Pampers to cloth (Reusable Nappies in General)

Member Name: shroud

Product:	Reusable Nappies in General
Date:	31/03/03 (1145 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: environmentally friendly and can try before you buy, can be passed on to next child or sold on, no running out to buy more nappies in the middle of the night

Disadvantages: not all councils give cash incentives yet

I love Pampers. When my first child was born 11 years ago, I wanted to be green. I bought some birdseye prefold American nappies and pins. What a disaster. He was allergic to his wee and got thrush infection after thrush infection. The bleach smelled the house up and the flat smelled of bleach, and dirty nappies. :( I gave up. Tried brand after brand of disposables, finally had success with Pampers. I used Pampers on all my kids.No soggy bottoms, very little rash, was a happy little bunny. Came to expect the arrival of E. and while looking through the Mothercare catalogue, new husband Jon saw Kooshies and gauze in the pages. You ARE NOT using cloth he said, which I said was fine because I preferred Pampers. He shared stories of smelling the boil wash his mum had to do with his sister and brother's terries, and the soggy bottoms. I shared about J.'s sore bottom and the wet sheets. We felt rather superior knowing that if we used cloth, the cost of all the creams and environmental impact of boiling hot washes and bleach would offset any real benefit.

Then a couple of the companies I freelanced to went bust. I went without any real pay for several months. I found other writing gigs, but the money will take time to build back up. I heard about the new ways cloth nappies are used, and how you can wash in 40 or even 50 degree wash with eco friendly anti microbial washing goop, and how you can use waterproof wraps. Even flushable liners that are biodegradable that catch the poo. I confided to a few VERY close friends about my money dilemmas and how I hated to lay out for cloth when the initial outlay was SO very expensive. One of the ladies sent me some terries to trial. Another sent me some Kooshies her kids had outgrown, as well as the left over pack of bio degradable liners. I agreed to take the challenge to see if it really WAS greener, money saving, and livable, seeing as they were generous enough to send me freebies to trial. After reading the Rea
l Nappy Lady website and chatting with cloth using mums of experience, discovered my methods of washing dear son's nappies all those years ago was probably actually the reason for his original problems! Oh no!

First thing I did was make a small amount of the washing goop. I did one load of our clothes with Fairy, and the next similar load with goop. The clothes washed in the goop were just as clean, smelled great, and dried a lot softer ont he line. The goop also cost practically nothing but spare change in the sofa and hubby's trouser pockets to make for a month's worth. OK, that was deffo cheaper and livable. Next I tried the terries (I got them first in the post). I think the terries would have been easier to use if I had had wraps, pins, or nippas to fasten them with. As it was I ended up with very soggy baby clothes and my frozen food clips are a bit bent LOL relief was in sight however as I later bought a Cotton bottoms Bummis super whisper wrap in which to just fold up the terries, and lay inside the wrap, closing it up like a disposable.

Next I received the Kooshies.For those not in the know, Kooshies are a preshaped nappy. They are fitted just like a disposable nappy, with two velco stips that run all the way across the front so you can customise the fit. The size I received was for 22 to 45 pounds in weight, so basically should fit til she is potty trained. Not bad. the outside of the nappy is a cotton/polyester blend that keeps the clothes from getting soggied up.

I looked up the price for new Kooshies. They are about £45 for a pack of 5, and sell for between £3.50 to £5 apiece used on UK Parents nappy buy and sell forum. They have a buillt in soaker pad, as well as a flap for you to put in an extra soaker flannel (incl.) Now Emily had a very nasty thrush rash that was healing up, and while trialing the terries, I used Pampers at night. I decided to throw myself off the deep end and try JUST Kooshies, as I had ro
ughly a 3 days' supply worth, with the terries for back up.

Day 1,(July 25) E. started telling me when she needed a nappy change. She has never done this before. Upon changing her I notice she can "feel" the damp, but her skin is not actually wet per se. Her rash sems to be healing in leaps and bounds upon being placed in breathable cotton nappies such as Kooshies.

Day 2,(July 26) E. smiles when she sees the Kooshies, I have had no problems with any yucky nappy odours in the house, and the poo in the liners go downs the loo where it belongs. Rash looks nearly healed today already. Washed a load of nappies in 40 degree wash with goop and hung out in the afternoon. Came out clean and smelling fresh. Nappies do take a long time to line dry as the nappy is padded with a lot of cotton for absorbency, but I still have a day's supply so not worried.

Day 3 (July 27)hubby has came home and is skeptical. By tea time he has to dmit he does not smell the nappies waiting to be washed and is very pleased at how much faster her raw skin has healed. E. does a big wee and signs nappy while sat on Daddy's lap, but his lap is dry when I take her for her Happy Nappy.

Day 4,(July 28) Hubby looks at his work clothes that I washed in goop. Says he likes the clean smell to them and was impressed I made it myself in about 10 minutes. Also impressed with he cleaning and disinfecting they do on her nappies, no boil washes smelling of hot wee and poo! Explained about the liners. He decides to wait till much later to go buy our next pack of Pampers, these Kooshies seem great and we may get some covers for the terries (makes a nappy similiar to Kooshies only assembled. (The super whisper wrap I already mentioned was ordered then).


Day 5, (July 29) E.'s skin has completely healed, and I have not had to use any barrier creams between the three times daily Daktarin (has to be used for ten days to treat nappy thrush). No
redness, no soreness, just healthy skin on her. Woohoo!

Day 6 (July 30) Still just using the Kooshies. Decided I really like them and eveluating the extra expense of washes, realised over past week it only equalled one extra load really, as prior to this I had done a few half loads to accomodate our needs. I washed her nappies with my clothes and towels to make up a full load, so no extra cost there really. And washing in 40 degrees with the antibacterial washing goop has kept her nappies sanitised, as has the sun (sunlight is a natural bleaching agent and antibacterial drying method). As for being harder, only extra effort has been flushing the liner down the loo and popping the wet nappy into a bucket or the washer to wait for washing (I do not soak them). No harder really than fishing out a nappy sack and making way to a bin or using my Sangenic. Discovered that adding white vinegar to the final rinse softens the fabric without compromising the absorbency. Also promotes whiteness and no vinegary smell afterwards :)

Day 7 (July31) It is grey, cool and damp today, and I find myself cursing the lack of a dryer. The problem with AIO (All in One) nappies like Kooshies are they are thicker than the assembled type and take a while to dry. Enough air dried inside for me to have a day's worth of nappies yesterday and today, but I have a load washing now that likely will not be dry for tomorrow for the day after. I have some wraps coming for the terries, and on days like this where the forecast is not favorable to line drying, think I will use those more as they will definitely be dry once hung in the airing cupboard! I really love the Kooshies though, I have only had to use boosters at night, and then just a small flannel pad. Hubby is getting used to her having them on and commented she looked adorable in the light blue nappy with her yellow frock on sunday as it had little blue flowers on the hem in same shade of blue! I have had such good luc
k I am mulling over taking her into town tomorrow in cloth, even though we will be gone from lunchtime til after 6. I do think these will help her potty train sooner though, as in addition to her asking for a nappy change, she has called to me in the mornings with her very wet night nappy and has undone the velcro waiting to be changed!!!!!!! She never bothers with the velcro otherwise, so I am sure it is because she wants dry Happy Nappy.

Day 8 (Aug. 1) Well, yet again it is overcast, I just hope it does not come pelting down while we are out, as I absolutely hate that feeling cold and soggy for hours til we get home grrrrr. Well, I decided to try the Kooshies while out today. I figured no worse than keeping a wrapped pampers in its nappy sack, so i am taking nappy sacks, wipes, boosters, and spare Kooshies.Hoping I don't regret it! (Visions of people wondering why my bag smells suspiciously of wee). We have to go to the bank and then ride the bus to the train station to pick up my step daughter and her boyfriend . They are visiting E. for her first birthday, and have not seen her in the cloth yet. I hope it doesn't mean they will be afaid to give her the usual cuddles as she always expects to be spoiled whenever she sees them! Ah.the benfits of having a sister 16 years older than you, lol.

Day 12 (Aug 5) E. again spent the day in cloth, this time in a folded terry nappy inside a Bummi Whisper Wrap. She stayed all nice and comfy and I felt guilty putting her in the pampers when we had to go out the other day, but I knew it was going to be hours and hours and hours before we returned home and my bag simply won't hold moore than 2 big thick nappies. We were out for about 5 hours, made it home and she needed yet another change. Back into cloth she went . I am poitive she prefers the soft cloth against her skin because when I removed her from her pram, she crawled over to my basket and pulled out an AIO from the middle of the basket. She
brought it to me smiling away and wurbling for a nappy change. There were Pampers sat out from where I had packed her nappy bag earlier and she had passed them by to get to the basket. She grinned big as could be when I changed her into her selected nappy. AWWWWWWWWWW babies are so cute!
I myself spent the morning getting the kids ready to go back home on the train and making goop. They seemed fascinated at the notion that I ACTUALLy made my clothes soap! LOL

Think I will pack terries and a spare wrap in my nappy bag from now on. They don't take up too much room like Kooshies do.

Day 13 (Aug 6) After having done a week end of entertaining and then catching up on chores, I took the day off. It was play with E. and read, and relax. AHHHHHHH. Well, except for feeding us and changing napies of course. Those Bummi wraps are great. You just change the terry inside so one wrap is good to go all day.


We have never looked back. our daughter has stayed in cloth, and with the impending arrival of our new baby this May (2003) we are getting prefolds and wraps and will only use disposables at the hospital. It was nowhere as difficult, smelly, or time consuming as we thought, nor as expensive. Total to add the new aby's nappy kit using prefolds and wraps to our collection? £70 for newborn to early toddler. After that, it inherits the passed alongs! We also in the meantime discovered you can get fleece liners to keep the skin as dry as a disposable. Just put on top, and if using a flushable liner, put that on top of the fleece. Cost of 10 fleece liners runs about £5. Those were factored into the costs I quoted above. Additional cost of washing...£25 in extra electric and soap ingredientswas all we noticed over the year and we scrutinised, and the real nappy Network has shown independent figures of an average of £50 a year in electric/gas for washing and tumble drying over 1 year.

Kooshies are best for children who are not heav
y wetters. there are more absorbent brands out there. If thinking you want to give cloth a try, but are unsure about what type suits you, I recommend Plushpants.co.uk as they do a nappy hire scheme (yes wraps too) for £1 a week per nappy.They also have a bonus point scheme for those of you who love to save using bonus points, LOL. They ship UK and worldwide and are very reputable. If you work or are otherwise to busy to wash yourself, look into a nappy laundering service. They cost about the same as disposables to use, but are much more environmentally friendly, generally using Cotton Bottoms prefolds and wraps that get delivered to your door every week cleaned to NHS standards. You just put a bucket with your dirty ones inside, and they take them away and leave you clean ones. Also check as many local councils now give parents cash incentives to use real nappies, and this can offset any costs of purchasing nappies or using a service. many childminderrs and nurseries actaully do not mind taking a child in reusables, so don't let that put you off. Good luck!

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