I am in love.
For months we’ve tried and failed to find an overnight nappy that doesn’t leak. Over the last few weeks, David has been soaking through his Bumgenius and itti bitti nappies during his morning nap, too. We tried terries: ha! Terry nappies and wriggly toddlers don’t work well AT ALL. The only time that one stayed on for more than five minutes was the time that Grandma fitted it.
…and then I found this.
It’s FUZZY!
It’s spotty!
And best of all? It’s the reason we don’t need overnight disposables any more.
It’s a two-part nappy made from an inner, absorbent bamboo bit and a wrap around the outside. For naptime and night use, you can add extra boosters. We use two- one attaches to the nappy and is folded into three for extra front absorbency, and a second booster goes on top. I haven’t tried as we haven’t needed to, but I reckon we could add another booster on top of that and still not bulk it out too much.
Bamboo fibre is wonderfully absorbent. So absorbent, in fact, that it lasted three and a half hours (two of which were a nap) without leaking, and without pre-washing. Now that they’ve been washed, they happily last twelve or thirteen hours overnight, and I have a feeling they’d last longer if David slept for longer.
After four washes, they’re still beautifully soft. I wash them on a normal wash cycle at 60 degrees, followed by an extra rinse. Because we’ve only got two and both need to be washed and dried in the space of about four hours, I’ve been really bad and tumble-dried them on low: this takes about an hour and a half to get them completely dry. When a couple more arrive in the post tomorrow and I’m not quite so pressed for time, they’ll dry overnight on the Aga.
Although you can use any wrap with the nappy, the Tots Bots wraps are particularly good. They’re soft and breathable, and they come in lots of pretty colours. The elastic around the leg-holes is soft and doesn’t dig in at all. You can use one wrap over and over again, or if you’re a little paranoid about germs (like me) you can change it every time.
This is honestly the best overnight nappy we’ve ever tried. David is comfortable in them, they don’t leak, and they’re pretty. I’m not sure I’d use them as an everyday nappy: it’s hard enough to find nice clothes that fit over slimmer cloth ones. However, they’re brilliant at what we use them for, and I can’t recommend them highly enough!
A long time ago, I wrote a review of the cloth nappies that David is still using most of the time: the Bumgenius V3. I still love them, don’t get me wrong, but I’m constantly pushed for time, and re-assembling nappies after they’ve been washed was pretty low down on the to-do list. We ended up using far more disposables than we should.
Enter the Bitti D’lish All-in-One. An outer with a sewn-in booster. No need to separate it when you wash it, and no need to put it back together again when it’s dry. It’s an absolute godsend for busy parents and people who find even modern cloth nappies inconvenient. I wish they’d been available when David was teeny: if they had, I don’t think we would ever have used a disposable.
The nappy has a soft and waterproof velour outer, and they’re available in fifteen different funky colours. The first time David wore one (without anything over it) he spent about half an hour stroking his bum. The inside is also lovely and soft.
David, well, he’s an active baby who doesn’t like having nappies put on, because it involves lying down and staying still. We’ve had the all-in-ones since just before Christmas, and he still lies still every time I put them on: they must feel really nice. They’re also easier to put on than the Bumgenius, possibly because they’re less bulky. They’re just a little bit thicker than a disposable, so fit under more of his clothes! (On that subject, why do so few people make baby clothes that fit over cloth nappies?)
I’ll let this picture do the rest of the talking.
We got our Bitti D’lish AIOs from Green Baby, who are currently running a competition. If you’ve got a child in Bitti D’lish nappies, post a photo of them on Green Baby’s Facebook page, and you could win a limited edition Bitti Brite nappy. Go on, have a go…
Before David was born, we planned to use cloth nappies. We did a little bit of research, but never got round to buying any. We’d balked at the initial outlay and the idea of washing them. Then, in the fuzz of the first few weeks and months of parenthood, we kept him in biodegradeable disposables: he was getting through so many of them, and we couldn’t see that we’d have time to wash and dry nappies and clothes and everything that the poor stressed cats had peed on. My mother was very negative about the whole idea of cloth nappies: why go to all that expense and work when you could buy a packet of Pampers?
Pretty soon, the biodegradeable disposables started getting expensive, so we moved onto whichever nappy was on special at the supermarket. (Thankfully, they often discounted the eco-friendly ones, and I’d insist on stockpiling them.) Huggies seemed uncomfortable and we had major leakage problems; Pampers were even worse, and they irritated his skin; the Sainsbury’s eco nappies were alright, but prone to leaking. The only disposable we actually liked was costing us a small fortune.
Thankfully, when David was about three months old, we met Anna from The Cotton Nappy Company at a baby clinic. Despite our initial doubt, especially involving the expense, she introduced us to the Bumgenius V3.
The Bumgenius nappy comes in four parts: a quick-dry outer waterproof layer with a soft lining, two inserts (which you can use together or separately), and flusable nappy liners which go on the very inside. They will adjust to fit your child’s size by way of poppers: they will fit newborns to children up to 40lbs. The outer liner and the inner layer both adjust and grow with your child. They fasten with Velcro, so there are no nasty pins and no risk of pricking your baby They’re available in a variety of colours, too.
The best thing about these? The flushable liners. These are once-washable if they’ve just been peed on, but they come into their own when they’re dirty. Just whip the liner out, throw it into the toilet, and there’s (hopefully) not much more to clean up. Formula-fed babies’ nappies are never very nice, but I actually found that this was easier than dealing with disposables.
If you buy a starter pack, there’s a nappy bin with a mesh bag liner included. When the nappies are wet or dirty, the parts need to be separated and thrown into the bucket. When it’s time to wash them, you can just take the mesh bag out and put it into the washing machine. One thing we did find was that the velcro tabs on the outers needed to be stuck down, or all the nappies would stick together. We started off with ten nappies and using the biodegradeable disposables overnight. We’d wash them and put them out to dry in the evening, and by the morning they’d be dry. We were able to put the absorbent bits on the radiator and the outer liners on a washing rack, and they really did dry quickly. The Cotton Nappy Company recommend you start with 20, and I’d back this up: we’ve now bought an extra five, and that means we can wash every two days. If I was starting with a newborn, I’d want 20.
Bumgenius nappies are very, very absorbent after the first few washes, and rarely leak. (You do need to do them up firmly, although not tightly.) We’ve only had one leak in the last three months. I didn’t initially believe that they’d contain David’s “explosions”, but they’ve fared the best out of everything we’ve tried. Now that David is older, they’re lasting for longer between changes; they’ve also stood up to crawling and bum-shuffling. He seems much more comfortable in them than in most disposables, but seems more aware of when he needs changing.
Now, the last point I’d like to make: the price. The average cost of a nappy increases as the child gets older, and estimates suggest that the cost of nappies up until the age of two is about £800. The BumGenius birth-to-potty kit costs about £270.00. If you plan on having more than one child, cloth nappies will pay for themselves over and over again. The initial outlay is steep, but it saves a lot of money in the longer-term. (We also use washable wipes when we’re at home, which cuts costs down even more.)
Our conclusion: we’re saving the planet, saving an awful lot of money, having a happier baby, and having a cleaner conscience about his environmental impact.
Disclaimer: I don’t work for the Cotton Nappy Company. I use their prices and refer you to their website because they’ve provided excellent service, they’re cheaper than buying from Mothercare, and they’re a local, family-run company.
Update: The Cotton Nappy Company are opening a shop in Leamington Spa on the 27th June: if you’re local, pop in and say hi. They’re selling slings and toiletries and a load of other stuff, too!
