The First Nappy!

I dedicated most of last 2 weeks surfing the overwhelming world wide web for all things diaper related. I'm gonna be a new mummy in about 8 weeks, more or less and one of the things to stock up on would be diapers. Unlike some luckier others, I don't have older siblings nor too many mumsy friends to bestow a wealth of diapering advice this way, so it's helluva lotta research for me!

I'm no expert as yet but from what I've seen so far; there are basically 3 types of diapers which we will experiment with; disposables, cloth nappies and pocket cloth diapers.

1. Disposables are a no-brainer; ridiculously easy to use, convenient and hygienic. The main downside for me is the effect on the environment and if it will cause diaper rash and allergies on baby's sensitive skin. It's also very pricey in the long run, depending on what brands you use.
2. Cloth nappies are obviously economical, breathable and environment friendly, but it's the most hassle of the lot. These are the huge white muslin squares our Asian parents are used to. My mum will know how to deal with this and this is important as she'll be DEALING alot with it in the first few weeks *grin* Anyway the issue I have with these are mainly the aesthetics, the washing and sadly you can only use it within the convenience of the home.
3. The pocket cloth diapers are relatively a newer invention, I'm not sure if my mum will know how to deal with these. But they are OH-SO-GORGEOUS, comes in a variety of colors, designs, material and you can even choose from a dizzying array of materials, organic, bamboo etc. The thing with these are the PRICE. Super pricey, they range from RM70 to RM100 for 1 pocket diaper shell and you'll need to buy lots of inserts, ranging from RM10 onwards each. I bought 2 sets for experimental purpose. I ordered some from this online site; Baby Pit Stop and I find they have quite a good variety, the seller is also helpful and delivery is fast. Anyway these stuff are supposed to last for years hence it offsets the initial high starting cost, I guess we'll see aabout that :)

Anyway, this post is about cloth nappies ... I just finished laundering the entire stack of new muslin nappies and then I was like uh-oh, how on earth do you fold these things??? Naturally I googled images for a diagram and I found some useful help on this Earthlings site. The fold I was looking for is the "Origami" fold or also known as the "Chinese fold".  Below is the diagram extracted from the site:

Looks easy enough. I need to experiment with it and since the baby's not here yet, I found the perfect candidate for some practise, and voila here's the result ...

I decided to try out both the nappy and the disposable, just to be sure I know how this works and not look like a fool when the real deal comes.

Somehow the first nappy looks rather loose but the disposable one fits very snugly. Any poo is gonna slip right outta my origami nappy in no time. Guess I need more practise :)