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It's weird to write this in the third person, so hi! I'm Kate and I run the social media side of things for the nappy library, with help from some of our other lovely volunteers. I had a bit of a slow start to my reusable nappy journey but as you can see, I'm fully converted now!
Why did you start thinking about using cloth nappies? We've been trying to do our best to reduce our impact on the environment for a while - reducing our meat consumption, using reusable bags etc, keep cups and everything, and we had also been reading up on the environmental impact of having a baby (the essence of which is - bad idea!). Reusable nappies seemed an obvious way to reduce the amount of waste created by our new baby! When did you start looking into it? I think I had looked into it in my second trimester and got a bit confused, and then Helen (week one's blog!) had told me about the Antenatal Nappy Natter workshop so I went along to that in my third trimester. It helped explain things, but we didn't get our act together in time for Theo's arrival so he wore Kit + Kin disposables for the first 7 months of his life (we chose those as one of the more environmentally friendly options out there, plus the cute prints...not as cute as reusables though!). What were any concerns/misconceptions you had before you started? How did you overcome these? Our biggest concern was the cost; we didn't want to spend money on a nappy type we wouldn't end up using. We overcame this by hiring a kit of several different types and brands from the nappy library, plus talking to friends who used them who were able to recommend certain brands, and then doing a lot of spreadsheets to work out the most cost effective option. We did get slightly bored and ended up just throwing our hands up and going for it, but no regrets so far! We were slightly worried about the poo but actually Theo has been largely constipated since we started weaning him at 6 months so it hasn't been too much of a problem!! (Poor kid!)
When did you start using cloth nappies? Well, we spontaneously invested in a couple of Bambino Mio MioSolos (All-in-Ones) from Asda when Theo was about 3 months old, but struggled with leaks, and eventually a massive poo explosion that put us off for a while! Despite spending quite a lot of time at Big You Little You, where the nappy library is based, I only got round to talking to Anna about hiring a kit when Theo was 7.5 months but we have been full time since then.
The fateful Bambino Mio MioSolo
How did you find it? Initially a bit stressful because of many leaks and trying to sort that out, but once we overcame that (see below) we really loved them. They are just really lovely to use and I couldn't love the prints more haha. I wouldn't go back now if you paid me! How did you get past any issues you found? Where did you go for advice? I mentioned our initial foray up there, and then with the hire kit, we again struggled with leaks. I didn't think Theo was a particularly heavy wetter [a baby that wees a lot] as he didn't go through many disposables, but it turns out he definitely falls under that description! So we talked to the nappy library and some friends, upped the boosters we used, checked our fit with a friend via WhatsApp, and haven't had any problems since. No poo explosions, thank god. Any tips or tricks? Tips would just be sorting your boosters out and checking your fit via friends or the internet. Favourite brand? We used Baba+Boo and TotsBots mostly - the Bamboozle nappies are amaaazing especially as Theo basically feeds all night - but I lust after Mama Koala's prints! Favourite print? Baba+Boo Nature Detectives!
If you like any of the nappies on this page - or any of our blog posts - and would like to own them yourself, they are all sold by the Nappy Gurus and you can get 10% off anything on their site by using the code LiverpoolCloth