Muslin Cloths & Bibs

At the risk of teaching you to suck eggs,having a little un is going to inevitably mean that you get through lots of muslin cloths and bibs – and I can't emphasise the word lots enough here!! The good thing is that neither item is going to cost you the earth and the majority of stores sell them in bulk packs.

Muslin cloths are obviously a must have when it comes to winding baby – better that milk deposits end up on the cloth than on your clothes. Lily is prone to depositing milk at any given time, so we have muslins dotted all over the house just in case! As she is now teething, she also seems to take comfort from gnawing a muslin so I always have a clean one close by should she need one for that. She has even fallen asleep a few times clutching a muslin cloth so I wonder whether it might become a bit of a comforter for her. At least if it does I have plenty in reserve when it needs washing. They all look the same so she won't know she's not cuddling the original muslin!!

Because they wash and dry so quick muslin cloths will doubtless also come in handy when we start to wean Lily, helping clear up the inevitable spillages. Likewise, I am sure, when it comes to potty training!!

I firmly believe that you can never have enough bibs. When you think that we use a fresh bib every feed as well as the occasional one in between (especially at the moment as she is constantly drooling with teething and we are trying to keep her clothing dry) then that adds up to a lot of bibs a week. We would be constantly washing them had we not built up quite a collection.

I would advise against the bibs with velcro fastenings, despite the fact that this is what most bibs are. The reason being that after a few washes the bibs don't stick together like they used to. The result is that the bib ends up coming undone mid feed and you end up faffing around trying to do it back up while also trying to keep the bottle in baby's mouth! Bibs with popper fastenings have proved much more cost effective for us. You may have to hunt around to find them – we picked ours up in Tescos of all places! - but they are well worth the hunt!!

In our experience bibs with a plastic backing also have a short lifespan. Admittedly we didn't spend much on the pack we bought but after a few washes the plastic backing had started to tear and so the bibs soon ended up in the bin.

There are, of course, tie up bibs and we have a number of these in our collection. We didn't use them with Lily in the early days because they tend to be a bit larger in size. I wouldn't say they were particularly suitable for newborn babies. Now she's that bit bigger, they're great because they cover more of her and so can collect more of the spillages/deposits! It's obviously important when using such bibs that you tie the bib up tight enough so that the top is flush with the neck to avoid dribbles down the chin and onto the neck while also being careful not to tie the bib too tight.

Unlike muslin cloths, you will need to invest in new bibs as time goes on. The bigger your baby gets, the bigger the bib you will need. Then, of course, there is the weaning stage wherein bibs with special lips will doubtless come into play.

Overall my advice when it comes to bibs and muslins is buy lots but shop around for the best prices because it is entirely possible to stock up without it becoming a major expense!