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Monday, August 19, 2013

My Newborn Cloth Diaper Stash

        From all the research I have done, cloth diapering a newborn can be tricky. It's mainly a guessing game since you don't know how big your baby will be or what their build will be like. Most newborn all-in-one or pocket diapers fit a baby up to 12 pounds. If I had cloth diapered Owen from the beginning, those diapers would have lasted him maybe a month and a half. There are also tons of one sized diapers that claim to fit a baby starting at about 8 pounds and while that is true, the excess fabric can be bulky under newborn clothes and you can get leaks around the leg holes if you have skinny-legged babies. And I do have a good stash of those that I use for Owen and will use for new baby, but not until he is bigger. 
       Because I know that I will be most likely having another eight pound plus baby, I decided that I wanted to try to cloth diaper our newest little guy as economically as possible. And I wanted to try a couple different things too instead of investing entirely in one style of cloth diaper that might not work. I may not have a huge stash for the little guy (as compared to some), but I figured I could always get more of what works for us best after he is born and then sell whatever isn't working for us on a cloth diaper resale website (since newborn cloth diapers have an especially good resale value). 
       So here is what we'll be working with when we start cloth diapering our newborn:
GroVia AIO newborn diaper (2): This all-in-one diaper (meaning you don't have to do anything to it except put it on your baby just like a disposable) fits babies from 5 pounds to 12 pounds or so. They are made of multiple layers of a cotton/hemp blend and covered with micro fleece. They are very soft and cute. I probably would not have bought them, but they were 30 percent off and I decided it would be interesting to try a newborn AIO.  

Thirsties AIO diapers in Size One (2): I bought these all-in-one diapers to try out during a sale on Thirsties diapers. The size one is supposed to fit babies from 6 pounds to 18 pounds. I bought them in the Hoot print and Ocean Blue color. I liked that these were sized diapers and not newborn sized diapers because I am hoping we will get more use out of them that way. I am a little concerned about them because the way the soaker (the absorbant part) is sewn in, it looks like it doesn't come far enough forward to work well for a boy. We'll see. 

Photo from The Little Bee Co. 
Bitty Bee Changed Bamboo AIO diapers (3): After hearing about this brand of diapers, I decided recently to order a small set of them to try out. The Little Bee Co. donates one diaper to an orphaned child for every diaper you buy from them. They are a Christian company that helps orphanages all around the world and each color or print of their diapers is named after a certain country and they urge buyers to remember to pray for that country whenever you change a particular color diaper. Pretty cool, huh? These diapers fit a baby up to 12 pounds. I still have not received mine yet and I can't wait to see them in person. I am not sure what colors I will receive since they try to accommodate your requests, but can't always. 

Softbums Echos and Omnis shells (4) with newborn bamboo inserts (7): These are the only one-size diapers that I have in my newborn stash. They fit a baby from six pounds to potty-training. They have a special toggle system that you use to adjust their size and they get really small compared to other one-size diapers. Supposedly you can reuse the cover if just the insert is wet, but we'll see how well that works. The bamboo is super soft though and I am happy for that part to be against baby's skin. Two of these diapers were gifts and the other two were special edition diapers that I bought. 

Fuzzibunz Perfect Size diapers in size small (10): I was interested in these sized pocket diapers because you don't have to adjust anything to make them fit and they seem really simple to use. Plus I have heard some good reviews about them. I decided to go with the size small instead of the extra small so that we would hopefully get more use out of them. The size small is said to fit a baby from 7 to 18 pounds. My mom bought these diapers for use. They are super soft and trim. 

Osocozy Unbleached Indian Prefolds (Size 1) and Stay Dry Better Fit Prefolds (Infant sized) + Four Snappis: I have heard that when diapering a newborn, prefolds and covers are the way to go to achieve the best and trimmest fit. I didn't have a lot of luck when I tried this with Owen, but I bought better prefolds this time around and I have been practicing my folding skills on his stuffed animals. Prefolds are great because they are really inexpensive and are generally made of cotton which washes well and soaks up a lot. Snappis are used to fasten the prefolds instead of diaper pins. Four should be a good number and most of these were leftover from our attempts to cloth diaper Owen as a baby.  

Thirsties Duo Diaper Covers (5) and Bumgenius Flip (1): These are the waterproof covers that go over the prefolds. Four of the Thirsties covers are leftover from when Owen was a baby and one I just recently bought. The Flip was a free diaper from a Kelly's Closet order that my sister-in-law sent me. It is a one-size cover so it is not as small as the others, but can still be used for a smaller baby. The Thirsties covers are size one and will fit a baby from 6-18 pounds. I prefer snaps with diapers for older babies because they last longer and are harder for the baby or toddler to unfasten, but I prefer aplix (aka Velcro) for little babies because you can get a better fit and they are easier for quicker changes. 

Large Planet Wise Wetbag: We will use a Planet Wise in our bedroom for diaper changes we do in there. This fairly large bag is waterproof and has a convenient strap so I can attach it to the baby's bed. That way, when laundry time comes around, I can just grab this and dump it and its contents along with our regular hanging diaper pail (in the nursery) in the washer. I have been really happy with the quality of Planet Wise's wetbags since we have been using a medium size one when out and about with Owen. We will also be using cloth wipes, but I didn't take a photo of those. I have an assortment of brands, including Thirsties, GroVia, and Planet Wise. 

And just to be completely realistic, we also have several packs of newborn and size one disposable diapers just in case. I am really excited about trying cloth diapering on a newborn again. I know so much more about cloth diapering than I did when we had Owen and I am enjoying it with him so much that I can't imagine not loving it with the new baby too. I will keep everyone up to date with how my above choices worked for us after we have a bum to actually put them on! 

3 comments:

  1. I hope cloth diapering goes really well for you and this little one! I keep thinking that any day now you are going to have him. Even though I'm only 35 weeks today, I can't help but be tired of the waiting game. I'm so ready to hold our little boy and I'm sure you are feeling the exact same way! I think its a great idea to try out different brands and styles to make sure you get the right fit.

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  2. I'm excited to hear how this stash works for Graham!He is absolutely precious, by the way. :) I'd like to start CDing Mary Alice sooner than I did Jonathan but using our Bum Genius one size stash probably won't work for that unless she's super chunky. :) Hope y'all are doing well and adjusting to life with 2!

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  3. Would LOVE to hear about your reviews on the diapers. A lot of brands I'm looking into!

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