Am I completely bonkers to consider reusable nappies with twins?

[CollectorofCookbooks]

I'd really like to - DH is sitting on the fence - but am I bonkers to think this is even manageable?

And presumably we would need to buy two sets of whichever brand we opt for?

Or am I just being PFB?!

[metafarcical]

I use them on my twin boys most of the time. It's as easy as anything else with twins I didn't buy double the amount just because of the up front cost, but I have added to my stock over the 18 months. Our council offered a £50 incentive for using cloth which helps.

Some retailers have a 'try cloth' package. I think fill-your-pants does a deal where you borrow 4 or 5 styles of nappies for maybe £10 and try them for a month. Different styles suit different babies.

I think it's great and totally doable.

[NormaStanleyFletcher]

I have some newborn size ones you could have for free (if I can find them). Will pop back later once I have a chance to look

[accessorizequeen]

I used them within mine for several months, it got a bit much for me in the end but I have two older children, one of whom soils so I think it was that more than the twins issue. I think buying cheap or loaning good idea.

[CollectorofCookbooks]

Oh that's so good to hear that people have been ok with them! And Norma, thank you, that would be terribly kind of you if you're sure? Very happy to pay you for them, wasn't expecting your offer at all

The other thing is, what do you use in the nappy bucket? Is it Milton or something? I really need to start looking into this a bit more

[BluddyNora]

You can dry pail now, so nappy comes off (poop down loo) into the bucket. When the bucket's full, pull mesh bag out and stick into washing machine (mesh bag on the nappy bucket is essential!) when washed hang up. When dry, use and repeat!

I've got two in cloth with a 13 month age gap and its doable :)

[gardenpixies32]

I use cloth nappies with my twins, they are 17 weeks old now and I haven't found it to be a nightmare. I bought 20 nappies for each of them and I dry pail. I did a lot of research into cloth nappies before I bought any.

My council gives 30 pounds per baby as an incentive to use resuables. I went for Little lambs with wraps, Bumgenius & Tots Bots. I wash nappies every third day.

The Nappy Lady has some good information.

[DW123]

I use reusables some of the time on mine (now 21 months). I bought one or two nappies every now and again as use increased. I've found different nappies work better on each DT (they are different builds) and at different times. I chuck them in washing machine during the day (sans poo) then put them on a rinse cycle with other yucky stuff, tjen make up a full load and wash as normal (supposed to be non bio which I used for ages - am now hetting away with bio but it depends on type of nappy).

I used www.fillyourpants.com to buy mine and have found 2 piece nappies like Smartipants and Fuzzibunz are the easiest to use and wash. I didn't get on with Tots Bots but other people love them.

If you don't have a tumble dryer winter is a bit harder with clothes racks but we can put up with it.

I do use disposables too - especially when we're out or if one of them has diarrhoea, and at night but have still saved money with reusables - and some landfill. It does take time to wash them but you don't have to go out to the bin all the time.

Good luck!

[ThroughTheRoundWindow]

If you don't have a tumble drier consider going for old skool terry squares as they dry in no time. All the shaped ones seem to take forever to dry indoors at this time of year.

And whenever you think "I must be mental", remember our granny's generation who didn't have disposables - or washing machines. Imagine scrubbing the lot in a copper boiler and then realise how easy it is to stick the machine on a hot wash and walk away! :)

[Rowan1204]

Im really glad you posted this as i have been considering them too, mainly to save money in the long run and of course do my bit towards the environment!
Will have a look into some of the suggestions above. Not sure my dp is keen on the idea though!

[gardenpixies32]

You get lovely colours and designs with cloth nappies. I love the big squishy bums the girls have when they are in cloth. We have a range from plain white to pink flowers, gingerbread man, purples, cherries, cow prints, hearts. Much more exciting than a disposable!

Also have a look at the nappies section on MN.

[CollectorofCookbooks]

There's a nappies section? Blimey!

Thanks so much to everyone for your thoughts - and I just checked, our council do £30 cash back when you spend over £50 per baby, so that's £60 cash back, which will make a real difference.

Rowan, don't think we're too far apart - I'm 21 weeks today!

[rattling]

You've had all the necessary responses now, but I can't help myself - I think using cloth nappies was the only thing I managed to stick to from my parenting "plan" when I discovered I was having twins.

We bought lovely nappies second hand - separate inside and outer as quicker to dry. We managed without a tumble drier (in Scotland - though what we lack in sunshine we make up for in wind). Nursery were happy in theory to use them - but children returned with them inside out and even backwards (how??) put me off. So with 2 days in disposables at nursery (once they were 18 months) and disposables at night we weren't fully committed.

I also had to resort to disposables just before potty training as they couldn't cope when the boys actually built up wee in their bladder and released it less frequently, but in quantity!

[rednellie]

Just to add to the clamour - I've used reusables for all 3 of mine. DD was just coming out of hers when the twins were born and I've not used anything else. Apart from any environmental impact, I must have saved thousands of pounds already. I didn't even buy thay many more for the boys, I seemed to have millions for DD!

The Nappy Lady website is fab for unbiased advice and can you give you a detailed plan of what to buy based on your circumstances. Very useful and cut through the bamboozling (sorry couldn't resist) amount of products available.

[rednellie]

Oh and I use reusable wash cloths instead of wet wipes. No more washing than you're doing anyway with nappies and much better for babies bums.

[lamprey42]

As gardenpixie said the nappy lady is good for a consultation. On her advice we weren't going to start ours in cloth until they got to 10lb to save buying 2 sizes. However someone gave us a load of prefold nappies (basically a folded rectangle that goes in a waterproof outer) (Bambino mio). These get rubbish reviews but we found they were small enough (ours were 5 weeks prem and now at 12 weeks are only 7+ 8ish lbs) and seem pretty good, no more leaks than with disposables really - also buys us time to decide which nappy to go for when they get bigger. We end up doing a wash load of nappies every other day and I try to line dry - although we have a tumble dryer if things get desperate.Like rednellie we use washable wipes - you can buy these but we just cut up a load of towels from ikea - much cheaper.

[CollectorofCookbooks]

Wow, thank you all so much. Will definitely check out the nappy lady and also look at reusable wipes, great idea

And I'll keep in mind I need to be flexible re when to start / brands due to shape and size, naively I assumed I'd be able to start after a couple of weeks and just pick a brand! Clearly I have a lot to learn