I am researching eco friendly nappy options and the tots bots fluffles sound good but I am wondering whether the synthetic fabric is as good for baby's skin as natural fibres. Does the moisture draw away from the skin leaving them dry with the polyester fluffles? Any other advice welcome...

I have 4 Tots Bots Bamboozles and 1 Fluffle. The Fluffle does have a fleece liner and does seem to keep DS nice and dry and feels lovely and soft (albeit a bit weird compared to natural fibre nappies) and they dry very quickly.... But they're very bulky. Trimness is a big factor for me, so it's not one of my favourites at all. Would be great if you're in an area where drying time is an issue though (being in sunny QLD, I don't have that problem).

Fluffles have a built in liner and my baby seems to stay as dry, if not dryer compared to any of our other nappy/liner combinations. They don't seem any hotter, my baby seems quite comfortable in them and they are great to use. Never the less I tend to feel you want them in fairly equal rotation with some natural fiber nappies.

Edited to add - I have to completely disagree on the bulkiness thing. Because you can remove the liner and because they squish down so nicely under a snug wrap you can really get a nice trim fit with a fluffle, particularly an appropriately sized one, but even a sz2 fluffle, without the booster is nice and trim on my 7kg 6 month old (under a ME Rikki). I have 2 sz1 fluffles that I use with booster in and 10 sz2 that I use without boosting and they are bulkier but the sz2 fluffle (without liner) is still smaller than a sz1 cotton tots.

I love the fluffle. I find, like Sebela that baby is as dry or dryer compared to a baby beehinds (the only other type of nappy I have).

I also find that it is trimmer than a baby beehinds (I use ME rikki covers) and definatrly much trimmer than the Tots cotton (I used those for DD2).

Absorbancy... about the same as the BBB. Perhaps a bit less?? I use the fluffle during the day without the booster (because its so trim) and save the BBB for overnight and when I am washing the fluffles.

Thanks all, I am starting to get the hang of it I think! I forgot to ask in my first post, If I go for the BBs which is better, hemp or bamboo - or whats the difference?

I prefer bamboo, I find it softer after 'baking' in the line.... and more absorbent.

A Fluffle with no booster is lucky to last 1 hour on my boy!! I can tell straight away from a distance if DH has put the Fluffle on DS because it's so bulky, even without the booster (which DH always forgets). And it's the right size for him....

Hmm, maybe I did a really good job with all my homemade fitteds, that they look so much trimmer than the Fluffle and are more absorbant....

Karla - does it actually leak after an hour or just feel wet? Fluffles sort of feel different and distribute the wee differently when wet to my natural fiber nappies, they can feel wet (on the outside) with even a tiny bit of wee in them but they have to get REALLY wet to actually leak. I found it quite interesting to pour the same amount of water into each of the different types of nappy I was using and see how they all felt. I was actually a lot happier with my fluffles after I did this.

Do you have aplix or snappi fluffles and what sort of cover do you use? I know that my fluffles look a lot bulkier now that we have moved on from Rikkis to Air Flows as the wrap is no longer smooshing it in, though they look the same again once we put pants on her. I am pretty sure aplix fastening fluffles would look bigger than snappi fasteing though... For us the trimness of fluffles comes from snappi fastening and a snug fitting wrap that pulls it all in.

fluffles are one of my favourite nappies - i have never had one leak and tehy are our trimemst nappies - trimmer than teh bamboozles even I thinkk (because the booster can be removed I guess).

Now that dd is 7kg lookinga t her with clothes on i can't tell if she has a size 1 or size 2 fluffle on as they both squish down well. We use ME covers too - either rikki or airflow. The rikki look trimmer but once she has pants on there is no difference.

I was so shocked by your post Karla - are you sure we're talking about the same nappy? tots bots fluffles?

Yup, I'm talking about the Tots Bots Fluffles too.

The one I have is a snap/popper one - maybe that's why it's so much bulkier. I like to use fleece covers at home during the day so DS gets a bit more air circulation, and without the booster he'll leak through that in about an hour (longer if in a PUL cover).

The fleece covers make every nappy look bulkier, but the Fluffle is still bulkier than my others on DS. And the PUL covers I use are ME Airflows, and they're still bulkier under them than my other nappies. As I said, I can tell from a mile away if DH has put the Fluffle on DS, as it is so bulky on him...

Different babies and different nappies I guess....

I use mainly Tots Cotton and Bamboozles with a few Fluffles as well. I can understand what Karla is saying about the bulk, although I refer to it as 'springiness' .They sort of have a mind of their own and I do find them slightly more difficult to snappi on with my wriggly 16mo DS, whereas with at least a cotton or bamboo one, i can hold the nappy in place with one hand while i use the other to try and restrain him!

It does work extremely well as a nappy, but I am still biased towards the cotton and bamboo tots - i dunno-maybe because they are natural fibres and in my mind i think they are better and more breathable?? (Probably not really factual here, but this is always in my mind. Also live in Qld so tend to be fanatical about wearing natural fibres myself). That said, i am glad i have a few Fluffles, because they dry so fast, they are my wash day nappies .

Karla - tots don't make a snap/popper fluffle, so are you sure we are talking about the same thing? If you are then I would say that the nature of the fabric is probably not well suited to use without a cover or with a fleece or wool cover so that may explain your leak issues. And mine definitely look a lot bulkier under an air flow than a Rikki.

Snoozer - I find my fluffles to be the easiest to snappi, my cottons I have to be more precise with and the bamboozles simply aren't snappiable at all any more... I use one hand to hold DD down, one to get it wrapped around her and then I use one hand to hold her down with the nappy on while I use the other for the snappi, same technique for all tots nappies but it works best with fluffles. funny how we all have our different issues.

Umm, then what's this sebela -

http://www.totsbots.com/nappies/range/fluffle/

They don't have Aplix-fastening Fluffles, but they do have snap/popper ones and Snappi ones. And I just checked the Aus store too (mine came over with MIL from the UK) and they're the same..... Maybe we are talking a different nappy then....

I know they're not ideal under a fleece wrap, but living in QLD, breathability is an issue. And DS can't go nappy-free anymore as he wees through the whole house!

Ah, I stand corrected, when I bought mine it was the other way around, aplix but no poppers - but the way the fabric grabs things I imagine poppers are much better than aplix! And although I had looked at the site recently I realise now I had only looked at bamboo as I have enough fluffles. My apologies!

Have you tried using a snappi on your popper fasting fluffle? It might help the trimness. I don't have one so I don't know how well it would work, just an idea. But it sounds like it's not really the best style of nappy for your needs anyway.

No, I haven't tried a snappi over the top. Half the reason I bought it was so I didn't have to use a snappi so DS can wear it during coverless time, but that doesn't work as they're not the best nappy for that. He also undoes velcro/aplix, so even my Bamboozles are out.

I hate Snappi's though, and so does DH... Only topped by my hate of pins!

I generally use pockets for going out anyway (nice and trim but absorbent enough), so the bulk isn't too much of an issue around the house.