How many nappies?

Sorry, this is probably a really stupid question but I really don't know how many I need to buy.

Hi Vic!

I'm thinking about using the OSFA pocket nappies. I don't mind doing a load of washing a day, however they may take longer than a day to dry in Auckland's climate. Currently it takes me at least 2 days to dry a load of washing on a clothes rack in front of the dehumidifier. I'd also love start using them a week or 2 after birth.

Thanks first!

Can anyone tell me how long it takes to dry pocket nappies inside on a clothes rack in a humid place like Auckland?

I'd also like to know how many nappies your babies fill on average per day.

Hey Treen

I use sized naps as well (honeychild pockets) and they work really well. I have 15 nappies in rotation at the moment and I usually wash every night - naps dry by morning under the heatpump so you'll have no worries there
I haven't had any experience with OSFM nappies but would imagine them to be quite bulky on a newborn. Also you may want to keep in mind - are you using the nappies for any more children? If so, sized nappies will last longer, as in they won't have had as much use as OSFM nappies IYKWIM.

We started using cloth part time (as only had 5 smalls 2-6kgs) and moved into mediums by around 7wks which is when we went to full-time cloth. We paid a set of 24 honeychilds off over the pregnancy BUT would strongly recommend that you don't do this LOL
It was a good thing that DD fits her naps very well and we've had no problems, however all babies fit different nappies differently.. for instance most of my IRL friends who use honeychilds find them brilliant, but one friend has no success with them because her little man is very slim.

I really wished I had got my A into G sooner and started using cloth fulltime from day one as it really is easy (coming from a very disorganised person!) I'm going to go full time cloth with our subsequent babies from day one and what i've planned is to use prefolds/flats with covers till he/she is big enough to go into med nappies - flats dry in a jiffy and they are cheap as chips.

Anyway, what I would strongly suggest you do is pop over to the nappy network site where there is lots of information and lovely ladies that can answer any questions you may have. Heres the link
And lastly if you're wanting to go full time cloth, I'd say save your pingers and wait to see what nappies work best for you and more importantly what works for your bubs.

HTH

Pocket nappies dry pretty quickly, especially if you're using microfibre inserts or trifolds. The outers will dry in a matter of hours and the inserts will dry easily during the day. Like someone else suggested, get half as many extra inserts as you have nappies, that way if you're stretched for washing time you can use your extra inserts in the dry nappies while your other inserts are still drying (if that make sense?).

I'm also a fan of sized nappies, but don't let that put you off, it's just what I prefer. I think that OSFA are a bit of a false economy - sure you only have to buy once for your baby but because they're used for the whole time your child is in nappies they would rarely be in a good enough condition to be used on a second child or resold. On the other hand if you buy a couple of different sizes of nappies you can either keep them for the next child or resell them when they grow out of the smaller size, recouping some of your costs. If you went for something like Honeychild (pockets) or Itti Bittis (all-in-ones) your baby could probably fit the mediums from 6-8wks old, then you'd only have to buy med & large. You could always use a hire kit for the first 6wks so you could try out different styles/brands of nappies and also save money on the tiny napppies. Most OSFA nappies wouldn't fit a newborn well, unless they were 9lbs+ at birth.

Vic xx

if you put the rack outside the clothes and nappies will dry faster. auckland weather isnt that bad!

Edited by Bizzy

I am in Aickland and during winter I can't get my washing dry. Even inside the house is so damp that the clothes will stay damp for a few days and that's with the dehymidifier running 24/7. Really sucks.
I dry the outers of my itti bittis overnight though and can get my inserts mostly dry in 24hours (i tend to use the dry in winter though). Summer time whole different story. You can put them out and 2 hours later they are dry.

Sweet, thanks for the good advice ClothMummy and First!