My favourite cloth nappies

People often ask me what brand of cloth nappy is best. Having just been asked this three times in two days I thought I'd blog about it :)

My answer is always the same; I love different ones for different reasons. I have about nine different brands now, so I'll give you the run down on the pro's and con's of each. This is essentially The Natural Mum's 'cloth nappy review'.



Note: I only use all-in-one nappies or all-in-two nappies. If you are interested in other types this review will not really help you.

Glossary
AI1: all in one nappies are usually either a pocket nappy, or a nappy with the absorbency built it.
AI2: all in two nappies have an extra snap in booster (or three!)
OSFM: one size fits most
Pocket nappy: Has the absorbent insert 'hidden' within a pocket

Issy Bear Nappies - Day, Night and Minky all in ones
Pro's: Super cute designs, very trim fit, great quality elastic and snaps. This nappy snaps down to quite a small size and is perfect for around the house on my small bub.

Con's: For my heavy wetter I don't get more than two hours before they leak, sometimes not even that long! They come with an extra liner for night use or heavy wetters. This would be fine for bigger babies, but was too bulky for my tiny girl.

Additional features: you can take the liner out of the night nappy, and then use the cover as a swim nappy. It is the best swim nappy ever!

Baby Beehinds - Magic All's All in One
Pro's: great absorbency, and comes with a thin booster which fits in really well. These are my first choice for nap time, as on those rare days bub has a long nap they are least likely to leak.

Con's: Such a bulky nappy! It looked huge on my girl. Poor quality elastic which is already breaking down (about 12mths use).

Bambooty - Easy Dry Colours

Pro's: ultra trim and perfect for newborns and very small babies. I loved these when my baby was tiny but didn't spend the money buying bigger sizes

Con's: a sized range so you need to buy more nappies than a one size fits all. The liner is not in a pocket, so for soft poo you end up cleaning the liner and the outer. Not as absorbent as my other brands.

Note: they do have a OSFM nappy now too, but I have not used it

PeaPods
Pro's: great absorbency, easy to use, can often get second hand at good prices

Con's: another sized range, not the cutest cloth nappy ever made

Green kids - Anytimes One Size Nappies
Pro's: a nice, thin, double liner with great absorbency without the bulk

Con's: they sell the liner and covers separately! Be cautious of this as I ended up paying double postage. Doesn't snap down so rides up very high on smaller babies. A big nappy which moves around too much on my small baby causing leakages.

Bum genius - One Size 3.0
Pro's: great absorbency, lightweight and fairly trim, snaps down to a small size, dries quickly

Con's: the material on the cover is not very durable and I find you need to use caution when undoing the snaps, has a funny tab system which allows it to move more than others, boring designs

Note: These nappies can be quite expensive. I recommend searching eBay as there are a few sellers there who have a better price. There is a newer version out now too; version 4.0

Bonnibuns - Rapid Dry

Pro's: trim design, lovely colours (I have a lovely mint colour)

Con's: the liner is not very absorbent, AI2 so poo gets on the liner and cover, there is no way this would fit the weight range they give. My girl is tiny, tiny, tiny and it's already getting too small for her

Note: This brand will custom make footy nappies for your baby. My footy mad hubby has just ordered some!

No-name brand aka cheap Chinese imports
Pro's: very cheap, surprisingly good absorbency, dries quickly

Con's: outer material very cheap and wearing out after only a few months, liner is no frills and doesn't snap down for smaller sizes

Cheeky butts - Smarty Pants
Pro's: trim design, good absorbency, dries quickly

Con's: TERRIBLE quality snaps. They are almost unusable now.

Note: This is the only brand I would not recommend people buy. All the others have things I like about them, but the snaps make these a bad investment.

GroVia - Hybrid
Pro's: Lovely trim design, fits really well, great absorbency, probably the best nappy I have used on my small baby

Con's: Takes forever to dry

Note: This is a really cool nappy, as it is designed to have the liner snapped out and a clean one snapped in, without changing the outer nappy shell. I don't use it like this, but do carry extra liners in my nappy bag in case I do want to make a quick change. They also have a disposable insert, which I have not used.

Itti bitti - Tutto
Pro's: Really trim design for a OSFM, lovely soft minky outer, really good absorbency.

Con's: An AI2, with three pieces to the liner. It makes it a little confusing, but not overly bulky. The trim design would not suit a bigger baby

Quick guide
In response to one of the comments below, I thought I would post a quick 'best for' guide. Please not these are based on the nappies tested above - not the whole range

Best for small babies: GroVia, Itti bitti, Issy bear
Best for big babies: Baby beehinds, Green kids
Best for heavy wetters: GroVia, Baby beehinds, Green kids, Bumgenius

So that's it (so far!). As you can see there really is good and bad points to every nappy I have tried. My advice is to buy a few nappies from 3 or 4 different ranges and try them out. You might find one you love, and then you can stock up on those. Or like me, you might love them all for different reasons, and choose to keep different brands on hand for all those different reasons.

I do have a bit of a problem with cloth nappies though; they are addictive! I just ordered a new brand the other day, so I will keep updating this list as I keep trying out different nappies.

If you would like to know where I bought my nappies, then write a comment below, including the brand/s you are interested in and I'll post links