New to Cloth Nappies But it's all going wrong help!

[MelanieSweets]

Hello ladies,

Well after hearing how bad disposable nappies are for the environment i decided to have a go at cloth nappies on my son, so i am currently trying out some from my local council as they really encourage it, however i have tried to to do my best to do as it as they say and pad them out with liners and he is still soaking them, I am gutted can anyone think what I am doing wrong? do any of your LO's really soak yours? cause if this is going to happen all the time I may aswell use disposable ones.

 

[littlestar]

a little mo info will help here, honey.

what kind of nappies are they?
how often are you changing them?

 

[xerinx]

wss^

 

[MelanieSweets]

they are all different kinds ... itti bitti snap all in one .... they dont even last an hour ... ummm lollipop bamboo ones I think .... they dont even last an hour either, he has sandys motherease ones on now so maybe they'll be better will soon find out.

 

[xerinx]

Were they new or preused? If new have you prewashed them 3/4 times to increase absorbancy.. Have you got wraps for the lollipops and motherease ones? It may sound like a silly question but you never know what the council have told you!!

 

[Lynz16]

I shall be keeping my eye on this one as I was going to ask the exact same thing
My mum bought me a sample pack of the little lamb nappies which have a bamboo, cotton, microfibre and pocket nappy in and I am finding that even after an hour my wee man is completely soaking through them. I've tried padding them out with extra boosters and putting them on tighter and I've been using them with a wrap but he still manages to get his clothes soaking.
I have also washed them loads without fabric softner as I heard this makes the absorbancy better but it has not helped so any suggestions to what I'm doing wrong would be great!

 

[xerinx]

DO NOT WASH WITH FABRIC SOFTENER!!!!!

That stops all absorbancy as it coats the fabric!! You will need to do a strip wash now on them to get rid of it hun. Whoever said use fabric softener was very wrong!! Its the worst thing you can use on cloth nappies!!!

 

[Lynz16]

Sorry I've washed them without softener not with

 

[xerinx]

How much powder/liquid are you putting in with them?

 

[becstar]

I found this at first but it got better the longer we used them... we only use a tablespoon or two of powder and use an extra rinse.

 

[Lynz16]

prob about a quarter of what I'd put in for a normal wash, do you think I should try running them through a few times without powder? would that make any difference?

I really do want to keep trying as I really like the idea of reusables, maybe I should have a go with a different make to see if there any better

 

[Mary Jo]

I shall be keeping my eye on this one as I was going to ask the exact same thing
My mum bought me a sample pack of the little lamb nappies which have a bamboo, cotton, microfibre and pocket nappy in and I am finding that even after an hour my wee man is completely soaking through them. I've tried padding them out with extra boosters and putting them on tighter and I've been using them with a wrap but he still manages to get his clothes soaking.
I have also washed them loads without fabric softner as I heard this makes the absorbancy better but it has not helped so any suggestions to what I'm doing wrong would be great!

Are you using Little Lamb wraps? My experience with them was that if they were not put on exactly right they leaked. Also they tended to wick liquid out at the edging on the legs and round the waist, especially if Adam was wearing anything that was at all tight/fitted/snug (trousers, for example, or a bodysuit). I switched to Motherease Airflow wraps and never again had a leak. I am a Little Lamb fan, but TBH only the bamboo worked well for us, and the wraps are not great. The bamboo does take a lot of washing to be up to optimum absorbancy. I've never tried the pockets, they are new since I was trialling the different types of LL, but I have tried all the others. I don't rate microfibre at all, it leaked for us pretty much every time. Cotton is ok but not as good as bamboo.

 

[littlestar]

Most nappies that require wrap will soak the entire body of the nappy - it's totally normal, as the entire nappy acts like a sponge.
not everyone realises this is normal, it's preference as to whether you prefer this 'style' of nappy or not.
Nappies like the Flip for example is a nappy that requires a wrap but because the insert don't wrap around the baby so only the gusset area where the insert is gets wet.

nappies like the itti, or a pocket nappy only the absorbent part will get wet. so it doesn't get wet round the sides. most people prefer this type of nappy at they normally go on in one piece and are closet to a disposable.

As someone mentioned earlier, natural fibres like cotton and bamboo do require a good few washes (8-10) and absorbency improves with use.

 

[Lynz16]

Also they tended to wick liquid out at the edging on the legs and round the waist, especially if Adam was wearing anything that was at all tight/fitted/snug (trousers, for example, or a bodysuit).

Yep this is exactly what is happening, its always around his legs and waist.
Thank you everyone for all the information! I think that I'll try putting these through another few washes and in the mean time might try some different makes to see if I have the same problem (if I do then its prob me doing something wrong so I'll know for sure )

 

[MelanieSweets]

hey girls well now i seem to be getting on better the council sent me a leaflet of which ones have wraps, i hae to say sandys are brilliant ... very absorbant nappy for the little crawly toddler, we're getting there, although i've heard tots bots would be good? anyone had any good experience with these? x