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Making a choice that suits your baby, your budget and your washing facilities is all-important. If your cloth nappies are going to work for you and your little one then you need to take into account some basic issues:
Are you intending to use cloth on your baby from birth, or are you switching your baby from disposables?
If you're going to use cloth on your newborn baby you'll need a solution that suits your tiny baby to start with but will also take him or her through to potty training.
This might mean using a one size 'birth to toddler' nappy (such as the Mother-ease One Size). Although these can be bulky on a newborn baby, particularly a small one it means that in theory you only have to buy one set of nappies to see you right through.
Alternatively, you could use a sized nappy (like Sandy's or Tots Bots) which require you to purchase larger nappies as your baby grows - from newborn you may require up to 3 sizes to get to potty training. This will cost you more but you'll get a better fitting nappy right through.
A third approach is to use prefolds or terry squares while your baby is very small and then move on to a one size or sized nappy after a couple of months once your baby has put on a few pounds and the one size nappies become less bulky, or you can move straight to a size 2 nappy. Bear in mind that the terry squares will still be a bulky nappy on a newborn baby but it's a much cheaper option than investing in shaped nappies straight off.
If you are switching a baby that's been in disposables to cloth, depending on their age and size, you may be able to get away with just one size nappy - or go for a 'birth to toddler' nappy that can be reused for future children. Always consider whether you might use your nappies for additional children in years to come as this can help justify the initial cost of a good selection of nappies for a child that's only got a few months in nappies left.
How are you drying your nappies?
If you intend to tumble dry your nappies then drying time isn't really an issue when deciding what nappies to purchase. You shouldn't forget though, that tumble-drying a full load of nappies every other day or so will use a considerable amount of electricity so adds to the overall cost of using the nappies.
If, like us, you will be line-drying or using a ceiling airer or radiators then you need to take this into account when choosing nappies. We've tried to give an idea of the average drying time for most of the nappies we sell but as a general rule:
- 'all-in-ones' take the longest to dry as the waterproof wrap can't be separated and this means air doesn't pass through the nappy while it's drying.
- 'shaped' nappies that are solely layers of terry are quite slow to dry - the ones with fleece components, boosters/liners that fold out and those with less layers will dry more quickly (but less layers also means less absorbency).
- 'pocket style nappies' are quick to dry as the padding can be dried separately and the outer is usually PUL with a fleece lining.
- flat terry nappies are perhaps the quickest to dry - for obvious reasons.
How important is ease of use?
If you want the convenience of disposables without the guilty conscience then 'all-in-ones' are the best option for you (providing you can get them dry!) as they are in essence no different from disposables aside from the washing. However, they can be less good at containing poo (especially the breastfed newborn baby kind!) than some of the nappies requiring a separate wrap. They make a good part-time option for child minders, nurseries, reluctant grandparents (or indeed fathers!) etc.
'pocket style nappies' are probably the next easiest to use as you can 'stuff' a batch in the morning effectively turning them into all-in-ones when it comes to changing time.
The various 'shaped' nappies take a little longer as they all require a separate wrap. However, once you've used them a few times it really doesn't take more than a few extra seconds to put the wrap on over the top of the nappy.
The most time consuming to use are flat terry squares as you'll need to fold the nappy and secure it with a pin or nippa before covering with a wrap. Prefolds are usually used 'pad-folded' without a pin inside a snug wrap so are slightly easier to use than terry squares but less absorbent.
All the same or a selection?
Now, here's the tricky one! You may do your research carefully and decide to buy 24 Tots Bots, or 18 Mother-ease One Size, find they work exactly as you'd hoped on your baby and never look at another nappy web site, if this is the case your research was thorough and you are stronger willed than most of us!
On the other hand, you might decide to sample a few different nappies, just couple of each to find one you really like and this way you'll end up with a small selection and one favourite that you stock up on. This way you may feel like you've wasted some money buying nappies that you only use when all the others are in the wash but at least you know that your favourite is justifiably so. Also, bear in mind that a lot of shaped nappies have a reasonable second hand value - especially if they've hardly been used.
A third scenario is that you get sucked into the world of cloth nappies and have to turn off the computer to stop yourself buying yet another 'cute' nappy or wrap when you've already got 3 dozen in the drawer and a baby that thinks nappy wraps are a fashion accessory that must match their outfit before you can leave the house!
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