One Size Fits All Pocket Nappies

[kattilz]

Hiya
I'm am a mother-to-be and terrified by the world of cloth nappies - I'm keen as to persue using them as early on as possible. I'm just wanting to know if OSFA Nappies are suitable from newborn (as I don't want to constantly upgrade in sizing), and can anyone recommend some good brands...?
I didn't realise they are so many choices!! NZ Made brands are preferrable.
Also what is the best way to care for the nappies naturally? Eg, laundry wash Vs. Baking soda etc?
Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated!
CHEERS!

[Annah]

I have used homemade pockets for my son and now on my daughter, but I just got a couple of Bebops nappies for the cute factor, and they are really awesome. Great fit round the thighs of my 5 week old, I am really pleased with them.

[Dunners]

Congrats Mum-to-be!

I am not a fan of one-size nappies. My personal opinion being that they tend to not fit well at the smaller & larger ends of the scale (e.g. gapey legs that don't seal well on a small baby, and builder's crack with too short a rise on a toddler). My preference is for "sized" nappies, they usually fit better for that particular stage, though of course most babies will need at least 2 different sizes from birth to toilet training. (and also there can be quite significant differences in fit between brands).

I started sewing for my kids really early on, so the cost of having sized nappies was pretty insignificant (I could make a pocket nappy for about $6 each - since labour was free of course ). Only basic skills are needed if you think you may want to give it a go!

If you do decide to invest in ready-made sized nappies, keep in mind that although it appears to be a costly "up front" way to go, it will still be cheaper than using sposies. And I hold onto the belief that the more nappies one has in their stash, the better condition they will be in for the next baby or on-selling, so be kind to yourself and have a good stash to help with the washing stress side of things (wet days, sickness, etc).

And my advice as always, avoid buying a lot of one type of nappy until you've given it a good test that it fits your baby well & that it works for your family (e.g. check that Grandmother can actually use snaps and DP/DH can stuff the pockets). Some recommend using sposies on a newborn baby, but I used cloth from birth for my boys (discovered cloth when #1 was 3 months old, so have bad memories of inferior sposies for her With her pooing up her back all the time, cloth nappies would have been less washing.)

So, my personal recommendation;
Hire a newborn/small kit (this should give you a taste of the different systems; AIOs, pockets, fitteds & covers, prefolds & covers, etc), or watch the trading post on here for cheap preloved nappies, or use sposies for the first weeks until you get your ahead around the sleep deprivation, cracked nipples, and finding a rhythm with your new stage of your journey.
Once baby has chubbied up a bit (or not, my boys were never chubby) and you've been able to test various brands/styles, you may wish to invest in a set of one brand, or continue with having a mix of nappies. Just keep in mind that your baby's shape is likely to change a number of times over their nappying days. It's not a problem when they're sposies and you can use up a packet then buy differently, but you don't want that happening if you've both 2 dozen pockets that are supposed to last to toilet training.

Sorry for the waffle, hope it helps

[linkingirl]

Leanne has pretty much said it all

But as she's said, what works for one kid, won't work for another (I've learnt that just between my 2 kids.) Get a newborn hire kit (lots of online nappy stores do them) and try it out and see which style and type work for you. Being your first child, you may even want to use sposies until you have gotten over that initial shock of motherhood.

When I first started with cloth, I quickly found out I preferred OSFA pocket nappies, and went out and bought one of lots of different brands. I quickly found my favourites and bought quite a few of them to up my stash.

And make sure you buy reputable brands, not the cheaply made in China ones off TM, they generally won't last more than 6 mths. (I like to support WAHM anyway.)

I know the world of cloth initially seems very daunting, but it actually gets very easy after a short time and you'll LOVE not spending $30+ every week on nappies. Best of luck!

[rootoo]

with my first boy OSFA nappies were hopeless so we went for sized, although he's a pretty small kid so he's TTing now in medium (or medium high-rise) nappies. With my second I had newborn fitteds and covers and small pockets all ready for him and he wore the nb nappies for maybe 6-7 weeks and then the smalls didn't fit right They're just 2 very differently shaped boys! He actually fits OSFA nappies really well, so has a stash of itti bitti tuttos, a few older bumgenius osfa pockets, size 1 baby blush and a few small nappies that fit well (ecobubs and old style fuzzis), but he's about to grow out of

I would definitely recommend a hire kit, should have got one myself second time around but at the time I actually kind of enjoyed sewing the tiny nappies... however they really aren't in them for long at all and if you don't sew I would recommend hiring to decide which brands to buy. OSFA are a good option for some kids, although I do suspect that DS2 will end up being too big for his one-size nappies by the time he TTs, but who knows his growth might slow down a bit later on. But I don't know that there are any osfa that fit well on really tiny newborns, i found they started fitting DS2 well about the 8 weeks mark, or around 6kg+, past the chicken legs stage So you'll want to get something for the first few weeks... prefolds and covers are a good cheap option if you don't want to hire

[NPMum]

We use OSFA nappies but they didn't start fitting well until until about 3months of age. I used a new born hire kit which I would highly recommend because it gives you a chance to try the different styles and you might be suprised which ones you end up preferring. I didn't think I would like prefolds but both DH and I found them really good for new borns and use the real nappies ones as our back up nappies on washing days.
I mainly use bitti tuttos and have a few grovia and a couple of different brands of pockets.