Reusable Nappies: Bumgenius
My name is Paige and I am a mummy to three “babies” T, E and A.
T is four, E is two and A is seventeen months and they have all been/are in cloth nappies; E and A are in cloth still.
Reusable cloth nappies were not on my ‘baby list’ with my first baby until after he was born.
I was brought up in a family where we were taught not to create unnecessary waste. However, I didn’t realise how naive and how little I understood about waste until my first baby was about 4 months old.
Just before I had my first tiny new-born almost five years ago, I bought a bulk of branded disposable nappies and to be completely honest, back then I thought I was buying the best for my forth coming baby. On the second day of him being born in to this world we discovered that his little squishy bottom was reacting badly to the nappies. The next day I was attending a breastfeeding support group. I changed my new-borns bottom in front of everyone (like you do), with cotton wool and water, then I rubbed a little coconut oil on his little bottom. A couple of mummies asked me why I was doing that and I explained about his reaction and how I was desperately trying to find an alternative. Then…literally like magic these mummies picked up their babies and wiggled their brightly clothed bums at me, I had never seen anything like it! A wonderful mum passed me some new-born cloth nappies and told me to try them for the week. Our first ever nappies were six second hand Totsbots Teenyfits from a new mummy friend; “try them and see how you get on” she said. Within three days our son’s little squishy bottom was clear of all chemical sores and we knew cloth nappies suited us. By the time I saw my new friend the following week we had added new-born BumGenius nappies and terry squares with Totsbots wraps to our collection.
And so, it was then that our (addictive) cloth nappy journey began!
We bought so many wonderful brands and different styles of cloth nappies and they all worked for our children, but my husband was struggling to fit his hands in some brands of pocket nappies. So when he buys new cloth he tends to spend the pennies on all-in-one nappies, usually BumGenius Elemental, BumGenius Free-time and Close Parent pop-ins.
My husbands favoured cloth nappy over the years for all three has been the BumGenius Organic Elemental.
The Elemental is a real all-in-one…no stuffing or flappy bits, it’s two pieces of organic cotton sewn at either end of the waterproof nappy cover. The organic cotton is super soft (honestly, every new elemental I get, I rub the organic cotton on my face…that’s not weird right?!), and uber absorbent. We only used boosters in them at night time, which is amazing because the BumGenius elemental is the slimmest cloth nappy I personally have come across.
The BumGenius Elemental is also easy to use on a very wiggly baby! Our third, A, is a right wriggler and true to his nudist urges.
I have several favourite nappies, Close Parent pop-ins, Milovia pockets and Grovia the ONE. But I do tend to buy more BumGenius Original 5.0 and Free-Times. I love the how much wee they hold!
The BumGenius Original has a gentle stay-dry lining that absorbs moisture away from sensitive skin. Two micro-fibre inserts come with the nappy, you stuff these into the pocket of the nappy and the pockets are big enough to fit any inserts for customised absorbency.
Both the nappies fit from birth to potty, they have three snap levels to adjust perfectly to your baby’s weight and height.
Top Tips when buying cloth nappies:
- If you have dry or large hands, try a cloth nappy that doesn’t involve stuffing.
- Look for birth to potty nappies, especially if you have/will have more children, the investment works out better.
- If your trying a new style just buy one and see how you, your partner and your child gets on with it.
Our investment into cloth nappies was originally because of our baby’s health, it took a couple of months to understand that we were also being kinder to our planet. And the other mummy who first introduced me to the wonderful world of cloth is now a very close friend.
You can hear more from Paige here:
Instagram: @Paigeandtheteaparty
Blog: Paige and the Tea Party
