Cloth diapers on a newborn

I've had this post in my head for quite a while now, so it's time to get it down on "paper" - ha ha.

Now that I've cloth diapered a baby from birth, I have a lot better information to make recommendations to customers. With Blake, we didn't find "real" cloth diapers (as opposed to those lovely Gerber birdseye prefolds stuffed with polyester filling) until he was 4 months old, so we went straight into mediums. Joanna has worn probably 4 or 5 disposable diapers in her short lifetime so far, otherwise it's been cloth all the way.

First, a few general observations. Meconium is totally no big deal. :-) I did use fleece liners for the first few days, but I washed everything together and there was no staining at all. Also, I am using way more wipes than I anticipated! 3 dozen wipes is not too many to have for a newborn. I may have to revise some of my packages.

I've also noticed that newborn breastfed poop does stain! As long as I check for stains before I put things in the dryer, though, and put them outside in the sun for a few hours, the stains disappear really quickly. So if you want to keep your diapers nice and stain-free, it's pretty easy. Certain materials tend to resist stains really well - like the flannel of Wallypop fitted diapers, and the new fleece on Happy Heiny's pocket diapers.

Joanna surprised us when she arrived weighing only 6 lbs 7 oz. So most of the "small" diapers I had washed up and ready didn't work at all! Luckily, all I had to do was pull some things out of inventory. :-) The first thing I pulled was a dozen preemie size Chinese prefolds. I can't believe she was tiny enough at first that I could fasten one of those around her with a Snappi! We used those with the newborn Prorap covers I had ready (with the umbilical dip). I also pulled out a few newborn Bummis snap wraps (also with an umbilical dip), and those fit a little better than the Proraps for her really tiny stage. The size 0 Kissaluvs (aren't those everyone's favorite newborn diaper??) were the only other diaper I had prepared that fit her right away (they also have a snap down for the umbilical cord).

I also pulled out some newborn size Heiny Huggers. Similar to Kissaluvs, but small enough they don't even need to snap down - they fit under the umbilical cord right away. Of course she outgrew them by 10 lbs, but I have lots of friends having babies right now, so we're just passing them around. :-) Those and the Bummis snap wraps were the easiest to use on her that first week.

I also pulled out some Tiny Heinys (xs Happy Heiny's) and Preemie (xs) Fuzzi Bunz. But even those didn't work until her cord fell off, because her rise was so short. Her cord came off at 6 days, though, so after that we loved using the pocket diapers, especially when we weren't at home. She grew out of the Fuzzi Bunz around 9 lbs, and the Tiny Heinys around 11 lbs.

I also pulled out a couple newborn size Stacinator Stretch Wool covers, to splurge. Those are wonderful over any fitted or Snappied prefold - I like that I can feel the warmth the miniute she wets so that I can change her right away.

At about 9 lbs we switched from the preemie prefolds to the thicker infant size, and slowly started switching out of the other "preemie/newborn" stuff into smalls. So at 2 months and just over 11 lbs, our favorites were:

1. small Happy Heinys, stuffed with a preemie prefold and a small hemp oval
2. small Fuzzi Bunz (microfiber inserts)
3. small Wallypop fitteds with wool covers or small Bummis super whisper wraps
4. small Heiny Huggers or Kissaluvs size 0 with wool or Bummis cover
5. thicker infant prefolds, fastened with a Snappi, with wool or Bummis cover

Of course I had to pull out some of the gorgeous new girly print Happy Heinys. That's what I always have in the diaper bag, and I do attract attention when I change her. Our favorites are Red Roses, Pink Hawaiian, Polka Dot, and of course Pink Camo (she does have a big brother in the Army, after all).

Happy diapering!