Cloth Nappies

What are the environmental benefits of using cloth nappies?

Disposable nappies have an impact on the environment. Millions of disposable nappies end up in landfill everyday with 3.75 million used each day in New Zealand and Australia. This is a significant amount of landfill, with disposable nappies alone estimated to take up to 150 years to break down. Switching to reusable cloth nappies can help reduce your carbon footprint on the environment and help protect our beautiful planet.

What are the financial benefits of using Modern Cloth Nappies?

It is estimated that a single child from newborn to toddler on disposables alone will require at least 6,000 nappy changes. This equates to $3500-$6000 per single child. Switching to reusable cloth nappies can have the benefit of saving your family a significant amount of money with a one off set up cost between $800-$1000 saving you up to $5000 per child.

How many cloth nappies will I need?

If you are just getting started with using cloth nappies or you want to start using cloth nappies part-time or full-time, here is how many nappies you will require to begin. 

Getting started: We recommend trying 1-2 cloth nappies while you get familiar with how to use them and what works best for you and your baby.

Part-time: We recommend 8-10 cloth nappies, this gives you the option to use 2-4 cloth nappies per day.

Full-time: 25 to 30 cloth nappies.

How often should I be changing my baby's cloth nappy?

We recommend changing your baby's cloth nappy every 2-3 hours. If you are using cloth nappies overnight we recommend using extra absorbency to keep your baby dry for longer. Please see our Bamboo Hourglass Inserts and Bamboo Trifold Inserts for additional absorbency. 

Can I use Bebe Hive cloth nappies overnight?

Yes of course, we recommend using a combination of our Bamboo Trifold insert and Bamboo Hourglass insert with each insert snapped into the the front and the rear of nappy. This combination will give you 11 layers of absorbency and should keep your baby comfortable and dry throughout the night. 

Can I use Bebe Hive nappies on my newborn baby?

The simple answer is yes! We designed our cloth nappies to fit from newborn approximately 3.5kg all the way through to toilet training approximately 20kgs.

My cloth nappies are leaking, what do I need to do?

In many instances leaks can happen for a number of reasons, the most common reason is fit and absorbency. Please visit our Fit Guide to ensure you are fitting our cloth nappies correctly. If it’s not a fit issue it could be that your baby doesn't have the adequate amount of absorbency, or if your baby's nappy hasn't been changed often enough, make sure you are changing your baby's nappy every 2-3 hours. Leaks can also happen if your inserts haven't reached their full absorbency capacity, natural fibre inserts such as Bamboo Terry and Bamboo Cotton need at least eight washes to reach their full absorbency. Leaks can also be caused by flooding, this is when your baby holds in their wee and then let's go all at once. To help with flooding, consider boosting your nappy with one of our Bamboo Hourglass inserts or Bamboo Trifolds. 

How do I wash my cloth nappies?

Please refer to our simple washing routines here - Washing Guides 

Swim Nappies

What are swim nappies?

Our beautiful swim nappies are an eco friendly alternative to disposable swim nappies. Our swim nappies do not need any absorbency and are designed for the containment of solids only.  

How many swim nappies will I need?

It depends on how often you are taking your baby swimming, we recommend 1-2 swim nappies if you are only swimming occasionally and 2-3 if you are swimming regularly through the week.

How do I wash my swim nappies?

We recommend washing our swim nappies in a regular clothing or cloth nappy main wash cycle ensuring you are not exceeding 60° as this will cause damage to the swim nappy shell.

Wet Bags

What is a wet bag?

Our premium large wet bags are incredibly functional and an absolute essential for every eco loving parent. Our wet bags are designed with two compartments for separating and storing wet/dry items. They are waterproof, leakproof and odour free making them the perfect accessory for cloth nappies whilst out-and-about! 

How do I wash my wet bag?

We recommend washing our wet bags in a regular clothing or cloth nappy main wash cycle ensuring you are not exceeding 60° as this will cause damage to the waterproof lining.

Accessories

What items will I need to compliment my cloth nappy journey?

We have a wonderful range of reusable essentials to help you along in your cloth nappy journey here - Accessories

Reusable Cloth Wipes

What are cloth wipes?

Our reusable cloth wipes are an eco-friendly and cost effective alternative to disposable wipes. In New Zealand alone it is estimated that 700,000kg of disposable wipes, about 53 million individual disposable wipes end up in landfill each year. Making the switch to reusable cloth wipes can have the benefit of saving your family money and help reduce your carbon footprint on the environment. 

How many cloth wipes will I need?

We recommend having 10-20 cloth wipes and using 1-2 each nappy change. Simply rinse with warm water prior to nappy change, rinse off any solids after use and store in a dry pail ready for main wash cycle. Top tip - using cloth wipes out-and-about simply rinse 2-3 wipes, squeeze excess water off wipes and store in our wet bag ready for use.  

Dry Pail 

What is a dry pail?

A dry pail is a place to store dirty cloth nappies until main wash day. Ideally you may have two dry pails, one to store dirty cloth nappies and one to store pre-washed cloth nappies. We recommend having a dry pail with good airflow as shown in the photo. Having good airflow minimises mould from forming and also prevents odour.