Cloth Nappies - My Thoughts

Ok, so after months and months of researching the wonderful world of MCN's I am almost ready to embark on making my purchases.

I thought I would ask for your tried and true ideas and thoughts prior, to ensure I am on the right track.

I want to use MCN's from as early on as possible. So I have thought the following plan may work:

- Purchase some NB sized ecobots or real nappies while the baby is too small to fit into small pockets.

and then.........

- Use pockets in Small size in a few different brands so I can get a feel for what I like.

Is this a good idea to buy the ecobots or real nappies in the early days or is it a waste of money? Pockets are what I prefer but I understand that they might not fit them while they are still teeny?? I dont really want to spend a small fortune purchasing XS pockets for a couple of weeks/months.

Also, do you lovely ladies have a preferance for brands of prefolds/covers. I say ecobots and Real Nappies as they are the ones that seem to stand out the best so far.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Edited by Ladybird84

I did exactly that.  Used prefolds and covers to start with and bought all sorts of different pockets to "experiment" with.  Worked well.

I've heard a lot of good things about Real Nappies for newborns, but not so much for mobile babies (rolling etc), this is usually when I get my customers switching to pockets

We used pockets from day 1, Fuzzi Bunz and now we use Honey Child pockets

i used prefolds/covers on charli from 5wks til she was about 4mths, then switched to pockets. i still use the prefolds as a pocket stuffer

the pockets are alot easier to use on older babies, but great for newborns

I had some prefolds to use with my DD as a newborn, but she was a big baby so I was able to have her in Bum Genius one size pockets from around 3 wks old. We just used disposables for the 1st 3 weeks while we got used to the whole parent-hood thing! I had one small pocket nappy but it was a bit of a waste as she didn't fit it for long. XS would definately have been a waste of money!
We had no idea we were having a big baby until she was born, so in hindsight pleased we didn't worry about little nappies!

6 covers and 24 nappies sounds like a good amount.

I'd say just get the prefolds for now, and then buy a few different kinds of other nappies to see what you like as your baby gets bigger. What will work for you depends a lot on what size your baby is.

I used size small bummis covers and small snazzipants prefolds from about 3wks (DD was 9lbs ish then). She was in small size until around 7mths, so we had heaps of use out of them - a good investment. I also still use them to stuff pockets, and when all the large size prefolds are in the wash.

I'm actually finding prefolds easier to use now that DD is older - they are no harder to get on her than any other nappy (we have no rolling on the change table rule). I use a liner and the solids poos are easily flushable, so no nappy or cover scrubbing required.

peapods are quite big... eden only started fitting her small at about 5.5 mths... but fits a med fuzzi... my fave small pockets are baby harmony, great fit and colours and price too. i nearly wanted my whole stash in them i loved them that much...

if you get 12 prefolds you wont need 6 covers... maybe 4.

i brought newborn prefolds for eden and they were great but now at 5 mths they are better pocket stuffers ... so depending on the size of the baby will depend on how long you can use them for. i couldnt get pockets to fit her but others have had success with them

I would suggest you check out the snazzipants site. they have a great comparison chart of the different types of nappies and lots of cool trial packs and heaps of info and pics and stuff...

snazzipants

also i brought the snazzipants prefolds as well as real nappies ones and couldnt tell the difference.

Edited by Bizzy

you shouldnt need to wash the covers every time...unless they get pooped on. Just air it out and use the other one. the PUL is breathable anyway and shouldnt hold on to the smells.
when i first started i used to use cheap covers from the baby factory. they were fine while baby was immobile, so dont think you have to get expensive covers either.

peapods are pockets not covers and probably wouldnt fit a newborn, they didnt fit mine and she was 4000gms. i used the little elf brand covers i think on my second child when i started and he was about 5 mths old.
this time round i used fitteds and prefolds on my newborn and it wasnt till about 4 mths i think that she started fitting some of her pockets properly. and the best ones i have found for her are baby harmony.
and that is the problem with modern cloth is that not all babies are the same and they dont all fit nappies the same way so what works for one wont necessarily work for another.

i started a thread when i first started cloth that got quite long, i will bump it up for you, it has lots of info from lots of mums on here. its called my foray into cloth.