Here are a number of tips that I have learnt from experience and you will find useful if you have a baby.

Disposable or Washable?

Do not use disposables. They cost loads, AND you have to carry them home from the supermarket. And they contain that GEL stuff which is apparently bad for the baby. By all means have a few for emergencies (they do hold more wee than a washable so would be good for long journeys).

Get yourself a pile of terry nappies. Don't use nappy pins, I know someone who stuck it into their baby. You can get these great stretchy-grips for holding nappies shut which are so easy to use.

You can buy shaped nappies with poppers or velcro. I do actually use a few with poppers but to be honest they are only a tad easier than terry nappies, they are far more expensive and you have to buy larger versions as the baby gets older.

You will need some waterproof covers for the nappies. You will need 4 or 6 I expect and you will need to buy larger ones when baby gets older. Some are better shaped than others, I have one that I find difficult to get all the nappy in (It's designed for a specific shape nappy I think), so it's best to try a few before buying 6.

Washing Nappies

Don't get put off about washing nappies, it's easy and not really that mucky.

I found it is useful to have another bucket where you change the baby to put the used nappies before they go to the bathroom. Also have a waterproof bin of some sort (we found a small bucket) for putting all the pooey bits, or keep a supply of carrier bags handy.

 

To soak or not to soak?

With my first kid we soaked the nappies because this is what everyone says you do....

Have 2 buckets in the bathroom for soaking napppies. Scrape of the worst of the poo or if really bad then use the toilet-brush on it and flush. Then rinse the last of the poo off under the tap and add to the soaking buckets. People say use bleach in the nappy bucket. We did for a while but I never fancied this, even though you can get 'green' versions. Bleech gives off fumes, it's not good for your skin, and you always spill the crystals in the end, and it's another worry that the baby could get hold of them. I found a quick squirt of cheap washing up liquid is good for soaking the nappies in, it stops them smelling and starts breaking down the nappy-cream. I have not noticed any difference since giving up bleach. Another idea is to soak them in a salt solution.When the 2 buckets are full (2 or 3 days worth) then dump them in the end of the bath and let them drain. If they are extra filthy (most of the time!) and I had time then I would put the plug in, add a squirt of washing up liquid, and put a few inches of hot water in the bath - then give each nappy a quick wash in the water, when all done drain the bath. You can leave the nappies now to drain and come back later, but it doesn't seem to matter if the nappies are sodden when they go in the washing machine. Put them back into the buckets and take to the washing machine.Later on - getting on to 2 years old (especially when ready to start potty training) you should find there are almost no pooey nappies and even the nighttime nappy can be almost dry, so you can just chuck them in the washing machine without soaking or rinsing them first.

With my second kid we decided that soaking was too much work so we did this...

Put all the dirty nappies into buckets with lids (not soaking). When you have 3 buckets full then sort them in the bath, the ones with just wee can go back in the buckets to go straight into the washing machine, all the ones with poo need to be cleaned first by hand. Scrape off all the lumps with the old baby wipes and throw away wipes in a carrier bag (do not flush away). Use a scrubbing brush to clean the last of the poo from the nappy, give it a rinse under the hot tap until the water comes out clear. Chuck it in the bucket ready for the washing machine.

Washing machine and Soap powder

I wash the nappies generally on the white wash (and set the machine to 70-80 degrees). About once per month I do a hot wash (90 degress) which gets the nappies bright-white, but this is not always necessary.

I found a good way of bringing the cost of washing down. Use 1/2 of the soap powder that you normally use and 1/2 washing soda. The nappies seem to come out just as clean. Washing soda can be bought from most supermarkets in the soap-powder aisle. I also add a tablespoon of salt to the wash, it helps make the water softer and therefore makes the soap powder work better. Something that I have been meaning to try is BORAX, ask your local chemist if he sells it.

I heard (and it is probably true) that the best single thing we can do in the home to save power is to use the ECO button on the washing machine. Try it to see if the nappies still get clean.

I put ones of those devices on the washing machine that tell you how much it cost, it turns out that the tumple dryer costs almost 3 times to use. So to save the most money you should dry the nappies on the line. As an added advantage the nappies will be thoroughly aired, and also sunlight has a bleaching effect. The downside is nappies dried on the line are much stiffer than tumble dried nappies.

 

Nappy Liners and Baby Wipes

We used special 'Nappy Liners' for the first year (and maybe you need them most when they are milk-fed only and the poo sticks more) but we have stopped using them for most nappies. I suppose when most nappies are pooey they are more important. Anyway, they are washable (even if they tell you to flush them down the toilet). Just chuck them in with the nappies. With my second child I just used old-washed baby wipes as nappy liners. One or two spread out in the nappy really helps. If your child always does a poo at the same time each day then make sure this nappy always has nappy-liners in.

Oh yeah, and those wipes you use on the baby's bum, well you can chuck them into the nappy wash too. In fact we tried to avoid baby-wipes because of all the chemicals on them, but sometimes you need to use them, so this is a good compromise. Save up a handful, then wet them with a bit of water and perhaps a squirt of baby oil, and stick them into an empty baby-wipe container. Now we mainly use recycled baby-wipes made wet with a sports-bottle of water when you need it. I expect you could cut up some old material to make my own re-useable baby-wipes. I still need an alternative to Baby-Oil, which is petrochemical based and should be avoided really, (perhaps Olive Oil would work?).

We often used cotten wool instead of baby-wipes for the first year. Keep a bottle of water next to the baby-changing area just for wetting the cotton wool (we found a baby bottle with no teat good for this as it doesn't spill so easy). Some people say put the cotton wool into a waterproof container with a squirt of water and baby-oil. Don't make up too much at once though, in case it goes moudly.

As soon as they are out of nappies you suddenly stop getting through all those wipes.

Talc, Baby Oil and creams

Don't bother with talcum powder. It can be bad for the baby and you just don't need it. Use a muslin to dry the baby's bottom after cleaning. The only time we ever needed it was when in the height of summer the baby had rolls of fat (they do at some stage) and it was getting sore.

As a good and safe alternative to Baby-Oil use Olive Oil. Our girl had dry legs for a while, and we used olive oil - it worked a treat.

Our baby has never really had nappy rash but has a couple of times had very sore bum from leaving a poo in the nappy too long. The only tip is to get the nappy off as soon as you smell poo. We do use barrier cream, and we found that Sudo-Cream is the best barrier/healer for sore bums, although Zinc and Castor Oil cream is very good. We used a greener cream called Smellie Ellie for a while, but it wasn't so good. I would be interested to hear of a healthier alternative to these creams.

Tips

At bath time a bit of natural bubble-bath is all you need (kids love bubbles so we can't do without it). Do not bother with soap, they come out clean enough. And don't feel you have to use shampoo very often either. The less chemicals the better.

Another fantastic tip is, get yourself 2 types of muslins. Always use one for the top and one for the bottom, otherwise you put it down and a minute later you end up chucking it in the nappy bucket because you can't remember if you wiped the dribble from the mouth or dried the bum with it. We have 2 colours, we use the yellow for the top and the green for the bottom. NEVER use the top one for the bottom (or vice versa) because bugs and infections can be transferred.

 

 

I hope these tips have given you an idea or two. If you have any comments, something new to add, or a better way of doing something, then please contact me.