Babywearing Safety Tips

• Your baby's head should be close enough to kiss
• Your baby should never have his head resting on his chest (you should be able to fit two fingers between his neck and chin.)
• Your baby's head should be above the rest of his body.
• Your baby's knees should be higher than their bottom in the sling/wrap.
• Your baby's head should be fully supported right the way up to their earlobes.
• Your baby's face should not be covered by fabric.
  

Cloth Nappy Adventures - Washing Your Nappies

Your Brand New Nappies

For new any brand new nappies that you buy, you should wash them at least 2-3 times before use to remove any fabric coatings used by manufacturers and to bump up their absorbency. Certain fabrics, like hemp and bamboo, will usually need at least 5-6 washes beforehand, however you can use them after 2-3 washes, just be aware that they won’t be ‘at their best’.

With all pre-washes, it is important to follow the usual washing instructions, however there is no need to dry the nappies in between each wash. Also note that you might want to wash deep or darkly coloured nappies separately to lighter/white nappies for the first few washes to ensure the dye doesn’t run!

Storing Dirty Nappies

When a nappy is soiled, dispose of any pooh down the toilet by either flushing your disposable liner or sluicing the reusable liner in the flush.

Modern washing machines are very efficient and so the days of soaking of terry nappies are past and nappies can be 'dry pailed' without soaking solution in a lidded bucket or a waterproof wet bag. You can still soak if you wish, however please do note that some PUL wraps may not last so well if soaked. It is important if choosing to soak to keep the bucket out of reach of young children (ideally use one with a lockable lid) and change the soaking solution frequently.

A nappy mesh can be used inside a bucket to reduce handling of the nappies and, if you are soaking, can help with the draining of the bucket before changing the soaking solution or before washing. When your bucket is full (or you want/need to do a wash!) pop the mesh open into the machine to allow the nappies to tumble out when washing. A few drops of tea tree oil or lavender oil on a muslin cloth in the bucket can be included to minimise smells.

Washing Your Nappies

So – you have your pile of dirty nappies ready to wash? Excellent! First off, spot treat any stains as you wish to – many mums I have spoken to swear by the Vanish bar. Next, make sure you have secured any aplix fastenings either together (with the nappy turned inside out works best) or attach to laundry tabs if your nappies have them. Ideally, you’ll get into the habit of doing this before popping the nappy in the bucket and so save yourself that extra task come wash time.

Most nappies wash at 40 or 60^oC, and you only need use between one third to one half of the usual amount of non-biological detergent you normally would to prevent build up of the detergent in the nappies. (In hard water areas you may need to experiment to find the level of detergent that is effective for you.) I used 2 tblsps of Fairy Non Bio.

Do NOT use fabric conditioner, as this coats the fibres of the nappies and drastically reduces absorbency (not something you want!). If you are concerned about your nappies going a bit hard, try using a splash of white vinegar in the conditioner drawer (don’t worry, your nappies will NOT smell vinegary). This is especially good for hard water areas. You can add a few drops of a chosen essential oil to the drawer too, if you wish.

There is only one type of combined detergent and conditioner that can be used for nappy washes, so if you’re really struggling to maintain softness you may want to give it a try – it is Bold 2 in 1, and it is a clay based softener and so shouldn’t coat the fabrics in the same way as regular conditioners.

All of your boosters and reusable liners should be suitable for laundering together, however if you do very hot washes do keep any bamboo separate as heat cooks the fibres and makes it less effective. Nappy wraps (except wool wraps) can generally be included with the cloth nappy wash.

You may wish to do a prewash or cold rinse cycle prior to the main cycle if you dry pail your nappies, or if they are particularly soiled as this helps remove stains when hot water can sometimes set them.

For wool nappy wraps, hand wash using wool shampoo and re-lanolise afterwards by soaking in a dilute solution of wool cure (lanoliser) overnight. Air dry wool nappy outers without rinsing the lanolin from the fabric. Wool wraps do not require washing and lanolising after each use - just air dry and reuse then wash every one to two weeks or sooner if the waterproof properties fail.

Drying Your Nappies

Air drying cloth nappies is the most environmentally friendly option (if that’s the reason you got into cloth in the first place) but for me, best of all, it’s free! An airier or ceiling rack can be used for winter, or almost every season in this country when sun without rain is a rarity and so line drying is difficult! Don’t put PUL nappy wraps, pocket/all in two outers or all in one nappies directly on a radiator as their waterproof properties may be affected, and the same goes for tumble drying them.

A tumble dryer on a low heat can generally be used for nappies (however, you should always check washing instructions label). Tumble drying occasionally can be an effective way to soften up nappies that have hardened slightly. You CAN also do this manually by banging the nappies against a wall or pretending to ring out a dry nappy and rubbing the fibres together, too!

Stains and Smells

I was recommended the usual Vanish bar for stains and it works a treat. Also, for some reason hanging nappies on the line will bleach out stains (or you can pop them on a windowsill in direct sunlight)…I have no idea why this works, but it ACTUALLY does.

Sometimes nappies can become a bit whiffy. Often, this is due to a build of detergent in the fabric, and never fear, there is a simple solution known as a ‘strip wash’. This basically means doing a hot wash with your nappies with a normal amount of detergent, and you can add a sanitiser if you like although there is no actual need. Then do a quick wash or rinse with no detergent, and then keep the machine on rinse (most ladies report that on average it takes around 3 rinses) until you can see NO bubbles in the machine. It’s this rinsing until there are no bubbles that ‘strips’ the nappies of any build up. Some like to do a strip wash every month, others only when the nappies get whiffy – you can be the judge!

Tie Dye Nappy Fun!

So, I had a bit of an experiment with dyeing and tie-dyeing nappies the other day!

I bought some Dylon machine wash, pre-washed the items to be dyed as per instructions, put the dye and salt in the machine and added my items (some with elastic bands strategically wrapped around them) and here are the results...!




There are cotton terries, muslin squares, Bambino Mio wraps, Proraps, Mother Ease and Nature Babies wraps there. The wraps that took best and so photographed the darker colour were the Bambino Mios, these also tie dyed well. The other wraps did not tie dye well but took some colour. I liked the result on the Nature Babies because, previously to dyeing, the inner and gussets had been creamish and discoloured, wheras the dye just made them look a beautifully different and interesting colour.

I'm now very excited to try dyeing in other colours and maybe other items, too! Nathan absolutely loved them and wants me to do a black dye next so we can refresh a few of his older black tshirts, so maybe we'll have some funky black and white tie-dyed baby gros and Bambino Mio wraps, too!

My Cloth Nappy Guides

Here is a link page for all of my various cloth nappy guides, I hope that this helps someone!

The Basics
The Types of Nappy Available
Jargon Busting
Types of Fastenings for Nappies
Nappy Type & Age
Sized Versus One Sized Nappies
A Sample Shopping List of Essentials
Nappy Washing & Care
Where To Buy

Cloth Nappy Adventures - To Buy Sized or One Sized?

So, even once you’ve decided what system will work best, not only will you face an overwhelming array of brands, but also whether to choose One size (or Birth to Potty) nappies, or sized ones!

It here comes down to aesthetics versus economy.

One sized nappies will last your child from birth to potty, however because of this they are likely to look bulky on a newborn. They are also very useful if you are going to have two children in nappies at the same time, as you can use the same nappy on your small baby as on your toddler.

Sized nappies have a much slimmer, neater fit, which can fit better under clothing and also provide better containment for some children, however you will need to buy around three different sizes (small, medium and large) from birth to potty training.

A note on long-term economy – the more you use nappies, the more tatty they are likely to become as with clothing, even with loving care. Therefore if you ARE intending to re-use your nappies on subsequent children, you may in the long-run be better buying sized nappies as they will get less overall wear.

Cloth Nappy Adventures - Fastenings?

For every kind of nappy, there are three basic kinds of fastening; aplix (aka. Velcro), poppers and nippas.

Aplix

This is the modern nappy velcro equivalent fastening, and is also known as 'hoop and loop'. The better aplix nappies come with ‘laundry tabs’ in order that you can fold the sticky Velcro part down to prevent it snagging on your lovely soft nappies. This fastening is considered to be one of the best to obtain a snug fit however is not as long-lasting as poppers and can grey in the wash. Aplix can be easier for toddlers to undo.

Poppers (aka. press studs)

Usually plastic poppers are used, and modern nappies use a butterfly closing in order to obtain a more snug fit. Poppers are harder for toddlers to undo and harder wearing.

Nippas

Nappy nippas are the modern equivalent of a nappy pin. They consist of three ‘arms’ which have teeth to snag into the towelling fabric (creating a hook and loop idea) and can be adjusted to fit any size of baby. They are very safe, and the best comparison I can think of to explain to you is the same way in which a hair comb catches and remains in your hair.

Cloth Nappy Adventures - Nappy Type & Age

Another factor to consider in choosing your nappies is the age of your child/children.

Newborn babies on average need to be changed 12 times a day. For this reason, you’ll need a nappy you’re happy with and enough nappies for how frequently you decide to wash. Because of frequent changes, absorbency is rarely an issue. At this time choose super-soft fabrics and experiment with different styles.

Babies from around 2 – 6 months old are capable of producing the most incredibly explosive liquid poohs, and so your major nappy concern at this point will be containment! The general consensus is that the best system for containment is a two part system, so using either flat or shaped nappies and a wrap to form two lines of defence against this wave of pooh! However, this system is only as good as the wrap you use. Pockets and All in Ones can also work well if they have good enough leg and waist elastic and fit the size of your baby well.

Babies who are 6 months and upwards are usually being weaned, so their pooh begins to change to more solid and explosive poohs become more rare. However, these babies drink LOTS of liquid, and so absorbency is a major concern. This is where pocket nappies and All In One nappies and effective stuffing/boosting can be very useful.