Bamboo nappies - washing before use and use from birth?

[onedaybaby]

We have full set of Little Lambs bamboo nappies. They have been washed and dried twice already.
To get them up to absorbency should I soak them or wash them a few more times? Do they need to dry in between? How long soak for?

And would you use them from birth if they fit? I'm concerned about staining from early poos as know all about that mucky meconium and in the first few weeks they poo very frequently don't they?

And how do you use paper liners? They look so big and don't look like they will be comfortable against baby's skin compared to the fleecy liner?
Will meconium rinse out of a fleecy liner?

Would love to use the nappies from birth but will buy some 'Nature Babycare' eco nappies as back up in case getting round to the washing is hard in the early days.

 

[Rachel_C]

Bamboo can take 10 washes to get fully absorbent but a newborn doesn't wee as much as an older baby so you probably won't need them fully absorbent if you use from birth. If you want to boost the absorbency you can either run them through more washes (and extra rinses count as a wash) without detergent or you could soak them in a bath full of water for 24 hours. I'd probably only do 10 max in the bath at once though. Run a full bath (it doesn't need to be warm) and then leave them. During the day, swirl the water every time you pass them and change the water every few hours. Then leave them overnight and the just dry them. Whichever way you do it, you don't have to dry them between washes for them to count.

If they fit from birth I would use them. First time mums tend to use sposies at first but second time mums just go for the cloth cos they realise that it doesn't matter! Poo will stain, it will eventually wash out. And at the end of the day, they're nappies, they're going to get pooed in loads of times!

I don't like paper liners and don't think they're much use for newborns. As you said, they don't feel as nice as cloth and young baby poo is so liquid that it tends to get all around and underneath the liner anyway. Fleece is a bit better. Meconium should rinse out but if not, you could always buy some spare cheap fleece liners to use at first. You can even make your own by chopping up a fleece blanket.

Some people like the Nature Babycare nappies but I really hate them. They feel very papery to me. I much prefer Sainsbury's Little Eco ones, they're softer. I'd just buy one pack of whatever you choose and send somebody out to get more once you know they're ok.

One thing to be aware of with Little Lambs is that they can be very bulky on a small baby. I didn't like them at all at first but now my LO is bigger I do quite like them. So don't be put off if they seem huge - LO won't care and you'll start to love the fluffy bum look!

 

[LittlePants]

We have full set of Little Lambs bamboo nappies. They have been washed and dried twice already.
To get them up to absorbency should I soak them or wash them a few more times? Do they need to dry in between? How long soak for?

It depends on what fabric you have, but to be honest, I wouldn't bother to prewash any nappies more than once, as the absorbency builds up as you wash them anyway. Just remember to change a little more frequently at first.

And would you use them from birth if they fit? I'm concerned about staining from early poos as know all about that mucky meconium and in the first few weeks they poo very frequently don't they?

Yes, if they fit. Stains will come out eventually, and it's only those very frst sticky oes which may stain in the short term. Use a flushable liner until those are past, but CUT it to size! Don't fold it! If you use the slightly more expensive ones, they are much softer than the cheap paper ones - Popli ones are the best IMO, and these can also be washed a few times if they are not soiled, so work out far more economical in the long run. Once the sticky poos are past, I wouldn't bother with flushable ones again, until after weaning. All they do with breast fed poo is spread it!

And how do you use paper liners? They look so big and don't look like they will be comfortable against baby's skin compared to the fleecy liner?
Will meconium rinse out of a fleecy liner?
Eventually yes, but they are so cheap anyway, that even if it didn't, and don't like the idea of using ones with a slight stain on, you could just throw it away

Would love to use the nappies from birth but will buy some 'Nature Babycare' eco nappies as back up in case getting round to the washing is hard in the early days.

 

[lynnikins]

I dont worry much about stains tbh lol we did use sposies at newborn just for convience really and caus we had some free packs lol,
i wouldnt bother trying to build more absorbancy in the nappies as you will be changing every 2-3 hours at first, i changed them with every feed so it was 2 1/2 hourly with EJ lol, not long enough for the nappy to get really wet anyway