Cloth Nappies

Recently I have been reading and watching a lot of stuff about Cloth nappies. Now generally my thoughts towards this was "urgh no way! Hand me the pampers" but after finding a bit more out about cloth nappies I felt inspired to give it a go. Better late than never eh!

So I am a complete novice to all this but from what I gathered there are a few different versions of cloth nappies but I choose the "pocket" version. Basically, a cloth insert fits into a pocket in the nappy and this absorbs all the wee and other lovely stuff. When it comes to changing you just take the insert out and chuck them in a nappy pail ( a bucket with a lid) ready for wash day. (Oh forgot to mention, that you also place a liner on top of the nappy and this just gets chucked down the toilet, brilliant for number 2's as you just flush away and its not nearly as digesting as I originally though!)

Everyones favourite cloth nappies seem to be either Bumgenious or Fuzzybunz so I had a look at these but they just seemed a bit pricey and what if it didn't work out? So off i trundled to good old Ebay where I found a lovely deal for 5 nappies. They arrived promptly and so I began the pre washing process where you chuck them in the machine a few times to increase their absorbency.

Two days ago was our first "Cloth day" and it went like a dream, now we are just doing this part time until the stash is built up so we alternate one disposable and one cloth. The cloth nappies were just as easy as the disposables, the only difference is that you chuck it in the nappy pail instead of the bin.

After Day 1 I was hooked! I went and had a look at the other variations of the nappies and came across the Flip. This differs as instead of having to wash two parts of the nappy, you just take out the insert and wash that, and give the cover a wipe down, ready to be used with the next insert. Sounded brill so off I went and ordered one cover and a few inserts. They arrived today and will do the pre washing tomorrow so they will be ready to be used over the weekend.

If you are thinking about cloth nappy-ing but seem a bit confused by it all then don't worry - its actually really simple and most proper should have access to real nappy experts in their are who they can have a chat with. Also I *think* that if you live in England or Wales then you get a grant from your local authority to purchase some cloth nappies, so that may be worth a wee look.

If you are reading this and already use cloth nappies (or diapers) and have used both the bumgenious/ other branded nappies and the Ebay cheapies can you let me know the difference? and if one is better etc?

PS If any one is put off by the bulkiness of cloth nappies then don't be, there really is hardly any difference!