[Relly23]

I'm in my second trimester, and just like my pregnancy book says - everyone will start having an opinion on my parenting - already. I get judged for having the odd coffee once a week (which I wouldn't if it wasn't safe), I get asked about breastfeeding, and now nappies "will you use cloth or disposable?"

I honestly didn't think this was an issue, I thought it was personal preference. But when I instantly reacted with "disposable, I don't need all that extra washing" - I got "I did it with twins...", and "disposable nappies are just money in the bin". Oh dear, so now i'm lazy and I waste money.

But seeing as I know nothing about nappies - I looked into it. Modern cloth look nice, but are SO expensive for the outlay (I know its cheaper in the long run and even more so if you have more children - but we only intend on having one, so I can't factor that in to the price".

Then there's the old school terry squares (the ones I wore as a kid), and now you can get flushable liners, just peel out the liner and flush it down the toilet. But you need to change these more often to prevent happy rash.

I'm actually leaning towards using the terry cloths in the day time when baby is at home and maybe disposables when we go out (to make things easier)... Maybe even investing in a few modern cloths to see what they are like? And switching to modern cloth and disposables when I go back to work to make everything easier.

Has anyone actually gone the terry square route by choice? Or even modern cloth? Was it a lot of extra work for you? Did you find it was effective?

Pregnant woman just trying to get organised here

[spottydog]

You can ge MCNs second hand, in great condition cheap, you can get china cheapies, which are around $40 for 10 nappies, in the long run you will save a heap. If you wash them according to instructions you can keep them looking good and even resell them when you are finished.

You can get sized ones, or OSFM, which would work out cheaper too.

Good luck.

spotty.

[salti]

I'd suggest waiting until you have had bub and settled in. You can use Terry squares if you want to use cloth from the get go or just use disposables until you are ready. There are many nappy librarys these days so you can trial nappies before buying.
Heres one:
http://babymumma.com.au/nappy-library/
Or buy a couple of trial packs from a couple of suppliers and go from there.
Don't overthink it cos it is a maze of choices! Good luck

[K+M+A+P]

You don't need to buy the most expensive MCNs.
I have a few expensive ones but majority of my stash is made up of cheaper brands. I originally bought 24 of the cheap brand and it cost me $240. They are still going strong on our second child but are starting to look like they will need new inserts but they are not very expensive.

I've also got a heap of terry towelling nappies but I can never get the fold right

So we use MCNs during the day but disposable overnight. Also tend to use disposable if I'm going to be out the majority of the day as MCNs take up a bit of space in the nappy bag. I've done holidays with MCNs though.
They are not an extra lot of work like some will make you believe. I wash them every second/third day depending on how full the nappy bin is. Hang them out and bring them back in just like I do with our other washing.

[I'mBeachedAs]

I use terry squares for my 6 week old son. I don't find them hard to use or wash. Cheap as chips to buy, quick to dry. Perfect for us!

[babycat]

I used disposables with my first two, but am going to cloth nappy my twins. I've got flat terry squares with covers and a friend is giving me some fitted nappies to try. I've also bought some MCN's to try and will decide what works once they arrive. It may be more work washing etc, but I can't justify or afford the cost of disposables for twins (plus a 2 year old).

[Lorem ipsum]

It is great that you're thinking about using cloth, but really I think it is one of those things you have to want to do. If you are going to be doing it for others then you may find it difficult to stick with it.

Having said that I have been using cloth full time from birth (DS almost 4 months) and I really haven't found it that much work. An extra load of washing every 2 days and a bit of time to peg them out and fold them.

Personally I do it for environmental reasons. But I am the only person I know irl that is using them. So don't worry about being judged for using disposables.

PP suggestion of osfm is good if you do decide on using mcns

[purple_daisy]

I bought 4 new MCNs from ebay sellers before DD was born but as the newborn weeks were very overwhelming I used disposables for the first 8 weeks to give myself some breathing space.

I then tried the MCNs and also terry squares. I found the terry squares were terrible for DD as she was a very heavy wetter. By comparison, the MCNs (I used itti bitti tuttos - the one size that goes from birth up to toilet training) worked like a dream. So I was glad I hadn't gone overboard buying terry squares/covers/liners/pins etc.

It will of course depend on your child and whether you are happy handling the terry squares - personally, I found them a bit yucky whereas the MCNs had a dry cover to hold onto, but that might just have been because of DD's heavy wetting.

I would recommend buying a couple of MCNs (maybe 3 or 4) off ebay so it is cheaper from different brands. Then wait and see what you like, but don't worry if you need to have a couple of months using disposables till you feel ready to cope with the washing etc.

Good luck, and maybe next time someone is being critical of your nappy choice you could just say that you don't believe in nappies and will let your child run free that should keep them guessing!!

[Guest_Dinah_Harris_*]

I have some BumGenius all-in-ones (wash them in machine, hang them out to dry and that's it) that I have for sale.
PM me if you are interested, ill send some photos.

[Furfeathersfleec...]

I used terry squares for the first 7 months (we've been temporarily living at my parents house while ours is being sold so have switched to disposable temporarily for convenience).

I used terrys with a disposable liner from big w and baby beehinds cover and snappis. Worked a treat! Never had nappy rash but they do get wet a bit quicker than disposables so need more frequent changing. Not hard to put on, means an extra load of washing every couple days but otherwise I think they're a great way of doing nappies.