#perfectnappy

After my disaster with the gNappies, and it was a disaster, I was back to the drawing board. I did some more research, again still searching for that elusive perfect nappy and still not finding it. I needed some kind of focus, something to distil all the makes and types in to something tangible.

So, I went on ebay and looked for nappies for sale in my area. There was someone selling a big bucket of Tots Bots easy fits. She had 18 nappies and some fleece liners, a nappy bucket, you name it! So, I thought, what the hell. They seemed as good as anything else I’d read about.

I was impressed with their fit [my daughter was 2 months old by this time]. The bold colours were lovely and there were so easy to put on. But, then I was hit by the leaks again! This time, it was just a little bit of wetness around the outside of the crotch area. But, as it was winter and my daughter was wearing lots of layers, this caused major problems!

When starting out in the world of reusable nappies, I decided to go second hand. This had several advantages

Cheaper

No need to do the initial washing

If you’re lucky, you can get some advice from the previous owner

I started with gNappies, which I got via someone in work. What I did was buy a bundle of the newborn size gnappies and a few of the small size. I had read some good things about these nappies. I liked the fact that the disposable insert was compostable [without poo!] and that you could use either a disposable or reusable insert. These did indeed sound perfect!

In my humble opinion, the newborn gNappies were fab. I used them with the compostable inserts and had no trouble with them what so ever. They held even the most explosive of nappy contents. They were also a really good fit, I got many compliments from the midwives about how well the nappies fitted my little girl [7lb13oz born].

I did, however, experience issues when I moved on to the bigger size. Every nappy leaked. It was just soul-destroying. I tried so many things and followed every suggestion online about how to put them on etc but I just could not get on with them at all. I was really quite upset, because I really wanted the real nappies to work having committed to them. I had to use disposables, particularly when I went out because I couldn’t deal with all the leaks.

I had always thought that I’d use cloth nappies. Not that I’m an environmental crusader, nor was it just for the money-saving aspect [although that did appeal!] Basically, I just don’t like sorting out our rubbish! And if there’s one thing that disposables do, they create rubbish! I have always preferred to re-use rather than use once, and so re-usable nappies seemed like the right way to go.

I don’t have anything against disposable nappies, or their users. I can completely understand why so many people use them. I’m not here to be sanctimonious about my nappies, to berate those who don’t do as I do. I’m just here to talk through some of the things I’ve learned along the way; and all the things I am yet to learn, about using reusable nappies.

I had one friend who had used reusable nappies successfully, without fuss or celebration so I decided that I would do the same.