Top 10 Cloth Nappy Tips & Strategies

1. Dip your toes. Consider only using cloth wipes and a mini wet bag to start off with. This will be much less daunting. You can then simply add the cloth wipes and mini wet bag to a laundry bag and they can get washed with your normal washing.
2. Part time cloth nappy. Consider trialling day time only for cloth nappies and then disposables for nights.
3. Fit check. Check out Cloth Nappy Association's Fit Check Fact Sheet. Cloth nappies contain newborn poo explosions better than disposables when fitted well. No stained clothes and bedding! Less leakage overall compared to disposables.
4. Cloth Nappy rebate. One of the many reasons that drew Mai into using cloth was the council’s initiative “Halve Waste” council rebate. I had never heard of this before, and thought it was a great incentive to be introduced or try out cloth nappy. If you’re not sure if your council offers this, the Australian Nappy Association has a Council Letter Template you can use to write to your council and ask them about their plans to support reusable nappy usage.
5. Absorption. Highly recommend choosing a brand that uses very absorbent natural fibres such as bamboo, hemp and cotton in their inserts, or a combo of hemp and bamboo; they are very absorbent!
6. Bag the bad bag. Store the soiled nappy in a mini wet bag, and then place that inside of the large wet bag. Remember, these wet bags can be and should be washed. Wash the bag inside out as this ensures you’re rinsing away all the goodies.
7. Good solid food = good solid poos. Offer foods with whole grains, fruit & veg, nuts and seeds plus plenty of water. E.g. snack: vita wheats with cheese and fruit on the side, or muesli bar. This helps with well formed solid waste for babies over 12 months. Formed solid waste is easier to remove from nappies!
8. Illness & diarrhoea. I would probably turn to disposable for when bubs has the runs. It’ll also help avoid any cross contamination and hopefully means you won’t catch anything.
9. Sticky, wet poos. When this happens, scrape as much of the poo off as possible. The cloth nappy needs to be rinsed with warm water and soap, rung out, then placed in a dry pail.
10. Dry pail? A dry pail is something to hold dirty nappies until they are washed. The ideal cloth nappy dry pail is an airy basket without a lid. Lots of air flow is the key. No soaking as this is outdated, a drowning risk and not to mention bad for your back as a bucket will get heavy.

Looking for tips on how to pack your nappy bag if using cloth nappies?

Check out our blog article: How to Pack a Baby Bag with Cloth Nappies

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