I am so jealous, I would have LOVED to have swam in the sea today!! It's soooooooo hot
and congrats to your newly pregnant friend!!
I am a HUGE itti bitti fan. They are probably the slimmest fitting out there, and totally dad-proof... you can get them as AIO (all in one) and SIO (snap in one)- the only difference being the AIOs take longer to dry, obviously. I'll be using fleece liners with all of my nappies just to reduce poo stains, but you don't need to really with itti's as they are super soft. If you look in the Natural Parenting section on here there is a 'nappy swap and sell' thread, and there's always itti's preloved up for grabs- when you buy one and feel it am sure you'll be converted!!! And i'll be using disposables at night, too. The downside of itti's is the cost- as they are sized (small med large) they work out more expensive than Birth-to-Potty sized nappies- but the downside of those is that they are huge on newborns. I prefer sized, personally.
Washing wise- from what I gather it's only about two loads a week. Especially if you're only using them in the day. Just get a airtight bucket, rinse off the poo if necessary then dry pail them till full. Use 1/4 detergent and that's it- not really much extra work at all. I gave up with Rory when he was six months old but that's because we were a family of six and the washing machine was NEVER off!! Now it's just us and the baby and i'm totally capable
If you use SIO itti's you can in theory just change the inserts if they've only wee'd, but if they are heavy wetters then you'll be changing the whole thing. Most people just change the whole nappy, like a disposable. Also being so slim they don't hold a lot of wee so they will need changing reguarly. You also can't tell if they will suit babies body shapes or not- don't just buy one type, buy a few because nappies really are like marmite. Certain types only fit skinny legs, for example.
My stash is basically mostly smalls, then BTPs for after- I am a huge fan of the new Flips! They ARE the type of nappy that you use the shell time after time and just stick new inserts in every time- completely different to itti's and they work out VERY economical!
Hope that helps- ask away! xx