Cloth Nappy Update!

So I have been on my cloth nappy journey for quite some time now. Although it has had it's ups and downs, I have really enjoyed learning as I go! When I started Olive was a relatively small, immobile infant. Now she is a full on, crawling, laughing, wiggling baby! So what have I learned since I started? SOOO MUCH!

Not all nappies are created equal and not all nappies work for all babies! Olive has never been a "blow out" kind of baby. (She has had a few, mostly in the disposable nappies, maybe one in the cloth nappies.) So this was never really an issue for us. But she is defiantly a heavy wetter at night. Because I co-sleep with her she comfort feeds and therefore urinates a lot at night, this leads to sometimes springing a leak. I tried lots of different kinds of nappies, but the best ones I found for her were the Baby Bee-hinds night nappies. They are made with bamboo fleece and the entire nappy is absorbent. You use them with a waterproof nappy cover over the top. They have an intern with these long foldable pads that you arrange to suit if you have a boy or a girl. It's a genius design. If I am honest the only draw back for me is that they can get a little crunchy when you wash them. when you first buy them they are so buttery soft and lovely, but as soon as they are washed they become a little hard. you can kind of combat it by giving them a bit of a rub or a shake when you take them off the line, or you can sit on them for a bit to warm them up before you put them on.

As your baby starts solids, in many ways, it easier to cloth nappy them! when your bub is on breast milk only, their poop is sooo runny! It just goes everywhere and can be a pain to scrape out of the nappy before putting it in the wash. Same goes for if you're using a nappy liner. The poop will often run over the edge and still go on the nappy. When they start solids, they start having more solid poops! While in many ways change time gets a little more...smelly. It makes it soo much easier to dispose of the waste! I have found that if you use a good barrier cream and a bio degradable nappy liner, you can pretty much just scoop that poop right out and your nappy is more or less unscathed! A bit of a stain, but not much else!

Napisan is your friend! I am always leaning towards the most eco friendly options when caring for my baby and home, but sometimes you just have to bring out the big guns. Got a stain that won't budge or a bunch of nappies that just aren't doing their jobs properly? Strip em! Fill a packet half way with luke warm water, put in a spoon of Napisan and plonk in the offending nappies. Soak those bad boys for an hour or two and then put them through a 60* machine wash. Lastly, lay them stain side up across a clothes horse in the sun. This should get rid of any stains or smells. The sun is wonderful for eliminating any nasties, so it's always great to get some sun on your nappies!

Lastly, barrier cream! My friend, who had a son a year earlier than I had Olive, got me onto this great cream with calendula in it! It's called Calendula Nappy Change Cream by WELEDA. Her son suffered from really bad nappy rash and it was the only thing that soothed him. While Olive only sometimes gets nappy rash, I have used it as a night barrier cream to protect her skin when she is in her nappy for a longer period of time. Calendula oil is made from a kind of marigold flowers and it has anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal properties so it is perfect for treating nappy rash. (It's also great for eczema!) Use it when you see even the slightest hint of redness and it is a great preventative, just slap some on and it goes away almost within the hour.
To use the cream you just make sure bub has nice clean skin, then you only need a thin layer over the area where the nappy sits. Making sure you get it into all the leg creases! Olive is very rolly-polly, so this is important for her. then you just put a clean nappy on a voila! A happy tushy!
Just a little side note, it is an oily cream, so it's important you stay on top of stripping your nappies regularly so they stay absorbent!

I hope these updates were helpful! I am sure I will be adding more as my journey continues!
If you have any questions just ask!



*A blow out is when your baby does a BIG poop and it goes EVERYWHERE! I'm talking up the back, up the front and out the leg holes! Usually when Bub is still breastfeeding.

PSA. Any advice that I give is just what I have found helpful and that works for me. It may not work for you, you have to use your own judgment <3

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