Cloth nappies?

Just reading one of the older posts about the weekly grocery bill, and wondering if anyone has had luck using cloth diapers? I've had a few friends back in the States who have tried them with mixed success. Any stories, tips, or brands to recommend?

People are always happy to discuss this topic here, but while you are waiting for a reply... do a search on the forum for the cloth diapers and cloth nappies...lots of old threads about it. My oldest is 5 now so my recommendations are out-dated I'm afraid.

get trial packs or borrow from friends or nappy services to see which suits your little one's shape before investing heavily.  We're on baby number two using Bambino Mio.

We're using Bum Genius on our 11 week old, so far so good!

One of the ladies in our NCT class is using the Mothercare brand ones but has found that she needs to use disposable at night or gets leaks.

Be aware that you have to bring disposables with you into the hospital! Or, at least, you did at the one where I gave borth.

Go to thenappylady.co.uk!  Tons of information on cloth nappies and you can fill out a survey and she'll make a recommendation based on your answers.

Also, check your council's website to see if they have any particular nappy services.  Some of them offer discounts, some do cleaning services and others (like mine) will lend out sample packs for free so you can see which type you like the best.  If you still have more questions, I've found online pregnancy forums to be really helpful.  I'm on pregnancyforum.org.uk and there are lots and lots of women who use cloth nappies who give great advice, lots of threads full of info and you can even buy used ones for cheap on there.

We tried a Mothercare one with Jean but I found the inner bit took ages to dry because it was so thick (the bambino mios fold in thirds to insert so they dry a bit faster).

I recommend getting a free consultation from thenappylady.co.uk .  Then don't waste your money on brand new nappies, which are EXPENSIVE, get yourself some cheap sets from http://www.thenappysite.co.uk/ or http://www.usednappies.co.uk .  We love Motherease one-size with Motherease Airflow (popper) wraps.  I personally recommend NOT using an all-in-one system, as I think they leak worse and do not absorb as well (and take longer to dry!). 

Do you have a tumble dryer?  Don't fear if not, we don't - I bought an indoor heated airer from Lakeland (£75/80) that dries our nappies overnight.

We're planning on using cloth nappies for our baby, and our midwife told us that there's someone who sells really good cheapo nappies off ebay for £2 a piece. Haven't tried them yet, but midwife says she knows a few people who have used them and they're pretty good if you don't want to spend loads of money on some of the other more expensive brands.

What we're planning on doing is using disposables for the first 2 weeks or so and then switching over. The nappies that are 'one size fits all' tend to be a bit big on newborn's buns, that and I think I'm going to be too zonked to deal with all that washing for the first few weeks! 

Congrats by the way!

We've used a huge variety of things and my best advice to you would be to try a few different types (get them second hand so you aren't wasting a lot of money on something that might not work for you).  Also, as your baby grows and changes, something that might have worked perfectly a few weeks ago might be leaking all over the place.  I've had to change my entire stash a few different times because he had a growth spurt and suddenly nothing worked anymore.

My son was very skinny so we had a really hard time find things that were the correct shape to prevent gaping at the legs (which causes major leaking).  Now that he's plumped up some, pretty much anything works for us.  We have prefolds, pockets, all-in-ones and all-in-twos and I use all of them.

I have a few of the ebay cheapies and they do work well for us now...although it wasn't until about a month ago that we could get them to fit correctly and not leak.  We also had to buy additional inserts because the one they come with isn't enough.

I especially love that we use cloth nappies now that I'm back in the states where it is hot, hot, hot.  My son hasn't worn clothes (except when we go somewhere) for about 2 weeks so he gets to make a fashion statement running around in his pretty nappies.

We love our cloth nappies.  I agree with the advice others have given about a variety of used items to see what works for you.  There is a dizzying amount of options out there and what works great for one baby may not for another. 

We have been using prefolds and covers almost exclusively since birth and have had no problems.  We got nearly all of our covers used and purchased the prefolds online.  We also have a few All-in-one diapers that we use from time to time but they take up so much more space in the diaper bag that they end up going unused most of the time.  Our son is now 6 months old and we have easily covered the cost compared to buying disposables. 

Along with Cloth Diapers I would recommend you look into Elimination Communication (EC).  We just love it and have gone over a month without a poopie diaper because of it.  Not having to deal with that has really made the Cloth Nappies much easier.

Good luck and congrats on the new baby!