All nappies must be washed at least once prior to wearing and reach maximum absorbency after 6-8 washes… please do not wash them this many times before using on their own!! You can pop the inserts in with anything else you are washing and don’t need to be dried in between. Or in the first few wears, just change the nappy a bit more frequently until you have reached the 6-8 washes.
Choosing a cloth nappy is a decision that is based on the age of your child, how much they “wet”, what materials you want for your children, personal preference… among other things! Sometimes the best thing to do after a bit of reading about what all the terms mean and sizing, is just getting a trial pack to test them out! Then you can buy more of what you love.
There is a “Nappy Lingo” section on our website that gives you a breakdown of what the words all mean.
Alternatively, you can join our Facebook group “Earth Babes Community”, we have an awesome supportive group of mums who have lots of experience using and even making cloth nappies! Details can be found on our Facebook page.
This is a very commonly asked question! It can be quite easy to work out a minimum number of nappies you need if your babe is already here. Start taking note of how many you use in a day, this will depend on baby’s age, if they are in a dedicated night nappy or if they still poop overnight, so need changing through the night.
For a newborn, they will feed (and need to be changed) approximately every 3 hours, around the clock. So that is 8 nappies (minimum) in 24 hours. Then multiply that by how often you want to wash (usually every second day) and then add a day for them to dry. So a minimum number to start with is 24 nappies.
Wellllll....
I say this very loosely because:
-Sometimes you will put a nappy on them, and they poop straight away
-They have their vaccinations and get loose poop and then need changing every 2 hours
-Then as they have longer stretches at night time, or stop pooping overnight and you won’t need as many for a 24 hour period- yay!
-But then its winter and all of a sudden things are taking much longer to dry!
Gahhhhhh!!
So the answer is variable. 24 is a good round number often thrown around, however if your child is 1 and a half years old and sleeps from 7pm – 7am in the same nappy, then you change them every 3 hours during the day, you will only need 6 nappies per day!
Starting off slow with your stash if you aren’t preparing for cloth from birth is always my recommendation. Then the cost isn’t so great all in one go and you can try multiple different brands to see what you like most. There is a great second hand nappy market in Australia because we have awesome fancy washing machines and good quality detergents, once you have a good wash routine, and follow the right advice, you can sanitise second hand nappies quite easily. So the nappies you get and don’t love, is not completely dead money. You can’t on-sell your pre-used disposables!
I recommend one wipe for wees and 2-3 wipes for poos. Cloth wipes are so much thicker than disposable wipes, so you won’t need anywhere near as many wipes for nappy change time.
If your baby is not a newborn, just calculate how many poos they normally do a day x how often you will be washing and add a day for drying. For example; If bubs poos normally twice a day, changing nappy every 3 hours, you will need around 10 cloth wipes to get you through one day as a minimum. If you wash every second day, 30 is what I would recommend, because some days they’ll throw you off and do 3 in one day or more!!
If you plan on starting from birth and so can’t plan based on what baby is doing now; Newborns need changing every 2-3 hours, but their poos are generally smaller so sometimes one wipe is enough, so that is 8-12 nappy changes in one day. They need to go back to sleep with a clean bottom so changing them at every feed time is what most families do. Either right before a feed or after, if you find that they tend to poo while they are feeding (They need to make room for more!). As they get older and feeds are more spaced out you won’t need to change them as often because it will be longer between feeds. So from birth you will need around 12-16 wipes per day, washing every second day is 36-48 wipes. That might sound like a lot! However that is all your should need to buy until your child is toilet trained!
Cloth wipes are also fantastic flannels for bath time, great for sticky hands and faces once they start food. They can be used for toilet wipes for adults if you would like to further reduce your waste at home! If every woman used a cloth wipe for wees alone, imagine how much less toilet paper would need to be made, and then the reduced packaging that goes with it! It also reduces your weekly shopping budget!
Please see our page of words and definitions, that are commonly used in the cloth nappy world, but make no sense to anyone else!
If there's more fancy cloth nappy words that you don't understand, please let me know so that I can help you understand, and add it in here for future cloth nappy families!
We have lots of information about cloth nappy washing. Make sure you look at these pages that can be found at the bottom of your screen.
We ship to Australian addresses only. You can choose at the checkout:
Shipping within Australia
We offer flat rate of shipping across Australia! Standard shipping which is automatically “authority to leave” is $9.95
We no longer offer free standard shipping over a certain amount spent.
Express shipping “authority to leave” $17.95
If you have a preference for your order going with Australia Post or Sendle, please add it into the comments and we will try to use your preferred method where possible
*COVID UPDATE* Australia Post is no longer guaranteeing their normal express delivery times. Your order is likely to take up to 5 days longer than normal. We have chosen to keep express as a shipping method because it is still the fastest way to get your order to you, please check the Australia Post website if you would like approximate delivery times when selecting express shipping.
We use Australia Post, Sendle and other couriers for delivery of goods. I pack and post orders once per week while we have our three beautiful (young) babes and we live in an unknown world with Covid. That means that depending on when your order is places, it may go the next day, or it could be up to 5 business days of you placing your order.
All orders are sent with tracking. Please keep an eye on your inbox and check the tracking information with the delivery provider. We would expect that you receive them within 5-10 business days. If there has been a delay longer than this, please check your shipping notifications first and then the company it was shipped with, if there has been an extended delay or any other issue, please contact us.
*COVID UPDATE* There is currently longer than normal times for delivery at the moment, we appreciate your patience.
If you are living in Perth, you can save money on postage by collecting directly from us in Forrestfield!
Unless it says “Pre-Order”, all stock is always here on hand. Your order will be ready to collect within 5 business days from when it is placed and you will receive an email to let you know when it is ready. I try to get local pickup orders ready the next day, but this isn't always possible.
When your order is ready for collection, you will receive an email with a link to book in a time to collect. All orders are "click and collect" style and left out by our front door. It is very well protected from the weather and not visible from the street. If the times on your email aren't suitable, please text me to arrange an alternate time.
Sarah: 0481759943
Bedhead Hats FAQ
We recommend measuring your child's head to ensure you are purchasing the correct size. Unfortunately we cannot accept returns for change of mind or because you ordered the wrong size.
However, We are here to help!
Using a measuring tape measure your childs head circumference around the widest part of their head where the hat is going to sit. If you don't have a measuring tape, you can use a piece of string or ribbon and then compare against a ruler.
Once you have the measurement, have a look at the hat sizes that are available:
37cm / XXS / 0-3 months
42cm / XS / 3-6 months
47cm / S / 6-12 months
50cm / M / 1-2 years
52cm / L / 2-3 years
The ages are a guide only, please use the measurement to purchase your childs hat. Hats will stretch between 2-4cm depending on the style chosen. If close to a size, go with the closest one. However if your child has a 39cm head circumference, I would recommend going up a size to the 42cm for longevity. The chin strap will help to keep the hat in place :)
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