Washing with boosters

[Mil]

Hi I've been lurking around for a long time and thanks to this forum have discovered the whole mcn world. So I have built up my stash and I'm now waiting for my baby to arrive any day to try them out. I've been doing all the prewashing and unsnapped the snap in boosters that are in most of my fitteds, but I'm wondering if you have to unsnap them when the nappy is dirty before you wash them, or can you just unsnap them to dry. Do they wash thoroughly if you leave the whole nappy intact?

Also when trying the fitteds for the first time should I try them with or without the boosters? cos I don't want the nappies to be bulkier than they need to be on a tiny bottom, but I'm not sure if they are designed to be used without (they are bamboo so pretty absorbent).

Thanks for answering my silly questions (they are the first ones I had that I couldn't find an answer for, so I had to be brave and introduce myself ) and thanks for the wealth of knowledge I have learnt from you all without you even knowing.

[mummygeorgie]

I often leave them in - although I think the makers generally recommend removing them to reduce stress on the snaps. Mine have never pulled out, though ...

ATM I unsnap them all as Alastair has horrible stinky toddler poo and I want to make doubly sure everything's agitating as much as possible. I never bothered with breastmilk poo

What kind of nappies are they? I know some OSFM like BabyBeehinds are designed to be used without at least some of the boosting on newbies. If they're sized I'd just use them as they are and see how you go. But then bulkiness doesn't really bother me

Oh, and welcome to NC! We do have a Getting to Know you section as well if you want to tell us a bit more about yourself

[milasmum]

Hi and welcome!

I have on occasion left boosters snapped in. The reason for unsnapping I think is more to do with them getting caught up and ripping the snaps off.

With the boosters in your fitteds you can always try without. In those first couple of weeks you are feeding so often and hence changing so often so the nappy doesnt need to be super absorbant. You can always just try and see what works for your bub. I didnt like bulky nappies on my newborn either

[mum2miya]

It really does depend on your machine. I recommend unsnapping in my care instructions as some machines are pretty rough and can put a lot of stress on the snaps if the nappy is going one way and the booster is going the other. That said...I never unsnap and have never had a casualty in over 4 years of cloth nappies

[Theresa]

I used to always unsnap just to be sure they were clean... but I'm a little anal about that sort of thing and my girls had horrible invasive poo

I think it depends on your bub too if you need the boosters or not... my pair no way would i have been able to get by without them - I used to have to boost EVERY nappy we used - even though it did tend to bulk the nappies up a lot - but then Georgie was my only newborn in cloth...

[MadMumof3]

i unsnap and i have had one snap pull but only one in 2 years so i figure thats ok. and i unsnap because i have an older top loader and i dont want to risk them catching

[kat13]

Welcome to NC .

I too unsnap prior to washing. As for the use of boosters - it's a try it an see type thing. After using MCN for so long now, I can just tell if a nappy is going to be ok with my boys or not, by knowing how many layers of absorbancy are in there to begin with.

You'll find on average nappies have around 6 layers of absorbancy for day use....I wouldn't use anything less personally.

[missymoo84]

Good questions Mil Ones I probably would have been asking in a couple of weeks but now don't have too! Welcome to NC!

[Mil]

Thank you so much for your replies. It sounds like I should definitely be unsnapping because we have quite a rough top loading machine. The fitteds that we have are some BBB, some Daysies and Bizy Bees, I think that's right but it's too hard to go and check when stuck on the couch .

Thanks for the welcome, I'll introduce myself properly when baby arrives (v soon I hope) and then I can introduce both of us, and I'm sure I'll have lots of questions once we actually get started. I don't know anybody irl that uses cloth, so I'm doing it all on what I have learnt from the net so I'm excited and nervous.

[Bek]

BBB are designed to be used with just the small booster for newborns, but sized nappies are usually designed for the absorbency to suit the age/size of the baby they fit, so I would use any boosters that come with them.
hth