Mums Share: Cloth Nappies & Humidity (or, Can cloth be done in the tropics?)

A few months ago a conversation happened on our Facebook page that was very useful for those who want to use cloth nappies but live in areas of high humidity. We would hate for that information to disappear into Facebook history, so we've copied the comments here in the hope that others may find them useful in the future. If you have experience with using cloth nappies in the tropics, please feel free to add your own comments in the comments section.


Here was the initial post:
We've has some queries from mums asking what nappies are best in a tropical climate. High rainfall & humid weather can make it hard to get nappies dry, and how do you stop baby's bum from getting too sweaty? So, all of you who have lived in tropical areas, what have been your experiences? What worked for you?


And the responses from those in the know:
Rebecca J
I live in the tropics and use pockets with hemp inserts. The outers dry really quickly and hemp is much faster drying than bamboo. Green Kids are my pick of the pockets!!

Melanie R
I've done holidays with cloth nappies in Nth Qld. I would go pockets as well. I love my Blueberries with either hemp or bamboo boosters. Are usually dry within a day.

Kim B
I third pockets, though I sometimes use a bamboo fitted (like a BBH) without a cover....they kinda airdry. Regular changes, I think, are the only thing that keeps them from getting too sweaty.

Jessica T
Definately pockets - with a microfibre + hemp booster and a good liner to avoid rash & frequent changes.

Shannon du P
I'm in Cairns and find pockets the fastest to dry. Bamboo takes longer, but if you find a nappy that comes in pieces (eg. all in two) or one with snap-in boosters, then drying will take less time. The sunshine up here means everything I have (including all-in-ones) dries in a day (hang out in morning, take it in by the afternoon). Wet season is another story!
I've never had a problem with "sweaty" babies... and I use a combination of fitteds with both PUL and wool covers, AIO, AI2, pockets... I use everything.

Vicky D-S
I live in Queensland & found pockets are the best for the climate, they are easy to use and quick to dry. My favs are Green Kids and Itti Bitti d'lish but they do take longer to dry. so I mix up my stash with microfibre insert nappies like Happy Heiny that dry faster. Regular nappy changes prevent a sweaty bum and lots of nappy free time :o)

Janneke D
Wow thank you all so much, this is really helpful. We will be moving to Arnhemland, so top humidity! So hemp dries quicker then bamboo? I'm building up my stash so any help is welcome!

Melanie W
I agree with Shannon re the "sweaty" babies - I live near Cairns and we don't seem to notice that as a problem.
I've got a range of nappies in my stash and they've all been great, although we save the BBH bamboo fitteds for night-times, ...and use mostly pockets and prefolds during the day. I wouldn't use bamboo fitteds exclusively up here, just because of the drying time. Most of the year that's not a problem, but in the wet season when they're not drying in the sun they take ages to dry (and start getting a little stinky if they're not getting regular sun). We use wool covers at night too, which might be why we've never had sweat / nappy-rash problems - love wool covers!
Cloth is especially perfect up here when it's not rainy - they dry so fast and the beautiful tropical sun keeps them stain-free and smelling gorgeous.

Kristy G
I'm in the NT and I use AIO, AI2 and Pockets - yes pockets dry faster but I have found up here that the bamboo is the best to keep bums dry. I have a mix of nappies from Haute, Itti Bitti, Fuzzy's but my fav and my girls fav's are the Itti's - even in the wet season after weeks of non stop rain they dry fine inside overnight without smelling. Janneke, if you are moving up here to Arnhemland don't think of the wet season as the issue - the build up is the worst for nappy rash as the humidity is so high and hard to keep them little bums dry - but once it rains it cools down a lot and you'll still get a few hours of sunshine most days. Hope I've helped =)

Miss B
I live in Darwin, and I have no problems. I stick with pockets and fitteds, sometimes a fitted without a cover.
I'm yet to have a problem with drying, only a tots tots bamboozle (bamboo) takes a while to dry.
I use loads of microfibre.

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