We had a lovely customer Laura D, email us recently to thank us for our Night Nappy (25% OFF) solution. We invited Laura to share her experience of using cloth nappies at night BBH style & give her side of the story along with some great tips & tricks. Even we learnt something new with her DIY Lanolin Spray! So here is a fabulous guide on how using Cloth Nappies for night times really isn’t that intimidating when you have the right tools at hand. Thank you Laura for your wonderful words & we hope you enjoy her story!
BBH Night Nappy on Mr H just before bed time.
When my son was born, I had full intentions of using MCNs (Modern Cloth Nappies). I bought up a huge stash while I was pregnant of a different brand of nappies. Little be known at this stage they wouldn’t fit well or absorb much for my baby. I gave up on MCNs and felt defeated although I had tried them quite a few times to make them work. Especially since I had spent the money already. That is until I discovered Baby Beehinds (BBH) nappies and their night nappies with wool covers. In some way I believe they changed my life.
My son had just turned 2 and still not toilet trained. I had always wished cloth nappies had worked, as they are better for the environment, I wouldn’t have to run to the shop if I ran out of nappies, less expensive but more importantly are way more comfortable for my son. A friend of mine had posted a picture with her bub on facebook with his cute little baby beehind nappy on. It made me want to give MCNs one last try.
I ordered my Night Nappy Trial Pack from Baby Beehinds to see if they would work for me. My son is a heavy wetter and I figured the night time trial pack had to work. And even if they didn’t work I hadn’t spent a fortune on them at all and a trial pack was a fantastic idea because I also got to try a Bamboo Fitted for nights or days! Bonus! That night I got to using them and I haven’t looked back since.
I believe the Baby Beehind Night Nappy pack is what made me love MCNs again. I had a million questions at first as was overwhelming for a non cloth user, but Baby Beehinds service was fantastic and I didn’t feel stupid for asking! Since I started I have learned a few things and discovered how Baby Beehinds work for so many mums. Sometimes I get upset with myself for not discovering them earlier!
With the Night Nappies and Wool covers, I did some research of different ideas around and I came up with a solution for lanolising to make things easier. At first having only the one wool cover & having a big nap a day & a 12 hour sleep at night made things a little difficult when I needed to wash and lanolise the wool cover and try and dry it for the next nap/sleep. So here is how I wash and lanolise:
Step1. Wool Cover Wash
To wash my bbh wool covers, fill a soaking bucket (or bucket or laundry tub) with a few inches of cold water and a capful of wool wash. I let mine soak for a little while maybe half hour? Just to get that clean fresh smell in my wool covers. Maybe me being pregnant but the eucalyptus smell is great right now! After washing, pour out water of bucket & rinse the wool cover under cold water until the bubbles have gone. Remember to treat them gently & don’t rub! I wash my wool covers maybe once a week. Depending on how much they smell. Otherwise they get aired out in between uses and they smell as good as new. I have a few now so I can alternate my covers between uses.
Step 2. Lanolising
Before I bought my BBH nappies I had NO idea what lanolising was. I recognised the lanolin tube from breastfeeding but at the time I guess I didn’t know what it really was. So, this is the stuff you waterproof your wool covers with. It feels almost sticky to touch your covers once lanolised. Don’t worry this is normal. I lanolise my covers after every wool wash but you can do it a little less often.
Soaking method: To lanolise by soaking, Fill soaking bucket about an inch with Hot water from the tap. Add a pea size amount of Lanolin to the water and I give it a quick stir with my finger to dissolve/melt it. Top up another inch or so with Cold water to cool the water (wool should only be HAND washed etc in COLD water never hot or it will shrink). Add your wool cover and soak from 3 hours to 24 hours to really soak up that lanolin. Once done, don’t rinse your cover! Take out, squeeze out excess water and dry flat.
Spray Method: So my issue with the lanolin Soaking Method, was it was taking too long to lanolise especially since now I couldn’t live without my wool cover and night nappies! While building my stash of nappies, at first I didn’t have time to wait for my wool covers to dry. So I took to trying to make a spray of some sort. Especially since a lot of sprays out there were out of my price range and I like to be frugal and make my own creations from home. So here is my final recipe after cruising the internet for ideas.
- 100ml of boiling water
- Dash of Wool Wash
- 2 pea size amounts of Lanolin
Add boiling water to jug, dash of wool wash, and finally lanolin. Stir it around until the lanolin is dissolved/melt, and pop in fridge to cool down. Once cool, add to spray bottle.
I now give my wool covers a spray every few days and air out. The good thing with the spray is it takes only minutes to dry. Therefore no more waiting for your covers! And always lanolise your covers after a wool wash & you get a better result if your wool covers are still slightly damp from the wash.
As I was building my stash I had run out of clean night nappies one night so I popped him in a disposable. The disposable leaked. Never again! I now use Baby Beehinds for my MCNs and am looking forward to using them all and more for my new bub (currently in the oven) and have developed a slight obsession with nappies. I guess they become addictive especially when you find something that works well! Im guessing I’m not the only one too! Just don’t be scared of the processes involved with the wool covers either. All you pretty much need to do is wool wash your covers and lanolise once a week or every couple of weeks when they get smelly. A lot easier then you think! It also doesn’t hurt to have quick help from such a great company. Love my Baby Beehinds nappies and I thank them for being around. Just wish I had done my research and discovered them earlier! Couldn’t imagine going back now!
Laura – regular stay at home mother of 1.5
To make drying quicker you can spin your wool cover in a salad spinner after lanolising, works and absolute treat. Just dry it flat so it stays in shape.
You can do this with other hand wash wool things like socks, bonnet’s booties etc.
I have never thought of that but I love it! Tried it myself yesterday on wool covers & a few other baby items and OMG best ever!
Wowza, problem solved like it never haeednpp.
Thank you for your tips about using nappies. I have thought about using cloth diapers for a while. I never knew you had to lanolise the diapers. Hopefully, this will be an alternative to disposable diapers.