What brand of nappy should I purchase? Do I buy the one-piece or two piece nappy? Do I need liners or extra pads? Are there advantages to having velcro or popper fastenings? When I was a baby my Mum had the option of Terry Towelling nappies and the conventional nappy pin to hold them together. However there is an increasing range of cloth nappies on the market and they all do things slightly differently.

So not knowing exactly where to begin, I bought the ‘Birth to Potty’ set of nappies from Bambino Mio (see blog post part 1) It came with everything I needed to make a start in reducing the amount of disposables I was using.

Bambino Mio two-piece nappy system uses a nappy cover which is the colourful outer part and a nappy which is essentially a big piece of cloth, folded and placed into the nappy cover. There are optional additions depending on your baby. My little girl tends to do her poos during the day, with the main aim of ruining any outfit I put her in, so I add a biodegradable liner. The liners aid the removal of the sloppy mustard-yellow mess. Over night I add a booster pad to increase absorbency because of the longer periods between changes (by writing this I’ve probably jinxed myself, goodbye sleep!). There have been leaks on the occasions where I’ve forgotten to add the booster.

I have kept a stash of disposable nappies for those ‘just in case’ moments and have used them here and there. For example, when trying to wash reusables on holiday, the washing machine didn’t spin my wash as well as the one at home and line-drying took twice as long. Where there has been an almighty poop explosion while out and about and it’s the one time I’ve forgotten to refill the change bag with clean nappy covers.

When there has been a particularly big explosion the nappy covers do often end up with poo on them so I will change the whole lot. When the nappy is wet I just change the nappy and reuse that cover for the day. With the reusable nappies I have only had a couple of poo leakages which I am sure would have happened if I had been using disposables and I think the effect would have been worse. All told the reusable nappies keep the usual day to day situations contained.

I have found that the nappies wash best when there’s not too many in the laundry net and there are a few other items in with them rather than nappies alone. The ones that have had poo on them never come out completely spotless but hanging them out in the sun, recommended by the company, does actually seem to help bleach out the stains. I always add a scoop of Laundry Fresh powder to my usual non-bio as it helps to prevent the build up of ammonia and stains. On one occasion I didn’t add the Laundry Fresh powder the nappies came out slightly more stained and not smelling quite as fresh; however this was during the holiday trip with the rubbish washing machine so that may not have helped.

To have enough for washing, drying and ready for use my little stock of reusables consists of around twenty-four nappies and six nappy covers. Obviously every baby is different and their ‘output’ will be different too depending on age, how and what they are fed but the amount of nappies I have comfortably complete a wash cycle if I put a wash on every other day or so.

The company also sell matching wet bags in which to carry the dirty nappies while on the move. I decided not to purchase one of these as I couldn’t see what size they were and I wasn’t worried about having matching patterns. I bought a larger (twelve litres) dry bag from else where. The colour isn’t as pleasing to the eye but it holds several nappies and still folds down small when not in use. I don’t know exactly how many dirty nappies it holds as I haven’t put more than four in…yet.

Writing this post got me thinking about firsts. The first tar-like maconeum poo that went everywhere, twice. The first sleep deprived night spent feeding, cuddling, checking on her every few minutes to see if she was still breathing and then repeating the whole process again every time she woke up. The first nappy change, worrying if it was on right or if it was too tight or too loose. And like anything new, it takes a little bit of getting used to. I found this with the reusable nappies at first, learning how to fold and assemble them, what to do when they get soiled and how many I might need for the wash cycle. I soon got the hang of folding, assembling and washing the reusables and I don’t find them anymore difficult or time-consuming than using disposables.

This must put me up for nominations in the ‘sad mum’ category but I’m so excited about my order of reusable nappies which arrived this week.

I looked at a couple of different brands online and decided to purchase Bambino Mio. The website explains how to use the all-in-one and the two-piece nappies. I went for the two-piece nappies as my little girl tends to sleep mostly through the night at the moment and they are meant to be a bit more absorbent. As there was 15% off the first order I decided to purchase a reusable swim nappy too.

The initial cost was quite expensive and I know I’ll have to do more washing (my washing machine will want a knighthood soon). I know we will save money in the long run however it was the ever mounting pile of disposable nappies being thrown away that was causing me distress.

One thing about the order that was disappointing though, was the amount of plastic wrapping it came in. Each individual nappy cover was packaged in plastic as well as most of the other products. I understand that the company want to make sure customers get their parcel in the best condition possible; however I did feel the amount of packaging was over kill considering the reason I had switched to reusable nappies was to cut down on the amount waste.The nappy covers come in cute and colourful designs and the nappies seem absorbent and easy to fold. There are added extras such as, biodegradable liners and boosters, for ease of use and increased absorbancy.

In part 2 I will be writing about what they are like to use.