Question 4 – Do you want a stay dry lining?

A washable will never be as dry as a disposable.  Disposables contain chemical gels which suck up any moisture in the nappy, drying out the baby’s skin in the process.

Wetness next to your baby’s skin will not affect the skin or bother your baby and the wetness does not cause nappy rash.  Nappy rash is caused by factors such as acid in the urine burning the skin or faeces reacting with urine.  Certain foods can make urine more acidic as can teething. Rash is therefore not linked to the type of nappy being worn by the baby.  The only thing the wetness can sometimes hinder is the recovery of a rash and you may sometimes need to use disposables for a couple of days until the skin has recovered.

You may however feel you want a dry nappy next to your baby’s skin and some washable nappies have brilliant inbuilt stay dry liners.  These liners are made of a polyester fabric that sits next to the baby’s skin and wicks moisture away from the babies bottom into the core of the nappy.  The liner acts as a one way barrier locking the moisture away from the skin.

If you want a natural fibre sitting directly next to your babies skin then avoid the nappies that have these inbuilt stay dry liners.  As we have said above, the wetness will not bother your baby or his/her skin and a natural fibre next to the skin has definite breathability advantages.

If you like a particular nappy which doesn’t have an inbuilt fleece liner, but you would like moisture to be drawn away from the skin then use a separate fleece liner and place this inside the nappy

If you would like to use a natural fibre nappy but live in a hard water area and don’t want to tumble dry your nappies, then nappies lined with a stay dry liner have another advantage. The stay dry material is polyester based so will stay soft whatever the water type and however the nappy is dried.  It is this liner that sits directly next to the skin so your baby will only feel this softness even if the rest of the nappy has hardened a little. 


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