Once you start to see the many advantages of modern cloth diapering, it really isn't hard to make the decision to switch. But what about newborn diapers? If you learn about the options when your baby is older, you might jump right in, purchasing a complete system that meets your needs. However, starting from scratch with a brand new baby can be an entirely different story. You definitely want to save money, so a one-size system looks appealing. However, any experienced cloth diapering parent will freely admit that one-size diapers don't really fit newborns that well. That is where newborn diapers come in. Regardless of what system you ultimately decide on, it's worth the money to invest in an initial batch of diapers that really fit your little one during those first precious weeks.Why Bother?
When you use a one-size system, they are certainly designed to be used on small babies. However, when you look at how they accomplish the smaller size range, you begin to see the advantages of using newborn diapers for those first months. A one-size diaper always has the same amount of fabric to distribute around your baby's body. For smaller sizes, adjustments are made to the rise and waist measurements, but that fabric has to be stuffed somewhere. As your baby grows, it won't be as much of an issue. But for newborns that is an awful lot of bulk! In addition, if you have very tiny newborns, a one-size diaper may not accommodate them at all- most designs will work with a baby that is around ten pounds, leaving a gap in your diapering plan. Newborn diapers provide a more customized fit when your baby is tiny.
What Are the Options?Most newborn diapers will be a fitted diaper that will require a separate cover. The most popular newborn diapers are offered by the Kissaluvs diapering brand. Their newborn diapers are designated as a size 0 and will fit from about 5 lbs all the way to 15.
This means that even if your baby is premature, or you just tend to have little newborns, this diaper will accommodate your needs. The waist and leg elastic keep messes well contained, and the design allows for the diaper front to be secured out of the way while the umbilical cord heals. Plastic snaps keep these newborn diapers tightly closed and only the softest fabric ever touches your newborn's sensitive skin.If you prefer an AIO type, brands such as Rumparooz offer newborn diapers with many of the features mentioned above, including umbilical cord accommodation. Every parent wants what is best for their baby, which is one of the reasons why cloth diapers are growing in popularity. If you are beginning your adventure with the birth of your child, or haven't yet cloth diapered a newborn, it's a great time to look at newborn diapers. They allow the ultimate in fit and flexibility in Cloth Diapers while your baby is still tiny.
15 comments:
I've been trying to decide what to do when our baby is born. This helps. Some moms have said to use sposies until baby is big enough for OS, but that makes no sense to me since I am NOT a fan of sposies.
Love the Lil Joey diapers! So cute!
Great post! I am expecting my first baby end of June, and I really want to cloth diaper. I bought a few one-size diapers to see how they work, and I agree, they will definitely be big on a newborn. I decided to try a newborn prefold/wrap system called "Real Nappies". Hopefully these will fit better for the first few months.
I loved my newborn diapers... so small and cute. I made most of them myself though; which is another good option and more affordable.
I'm definitely getting some newborn diapers next time around. Then i can cloth diaper from day 1.
I bought some Bumgenius AIO XS for the newborn stage. I also have some of the new tiny Gdiapers that I have flushable and cloth inserts for. I think I will use the flushable inserts for the sticky new poo and then use the cloth when the stickies are gone.
Our DS is now 2 mos old and has been in cloth since day one in the hospital. I love cloth diapering a newborn! I'm still a fan of simple prefolds and covers, but our newborn stash also had some Muttaquin Baby fitteds and Thirsties Duo pockets.
Even my husband says that cloth diapers are one of the best decisions we could've made for our child. :)
We are past the point of newborn, and were lucky in that our second was supah chunky in the thighs and was able to use our smalls and one size right away. As much as I love cloth and despise disposable, I would have been hard pressed to spring for a newborn stash, considering how many dipes they go through in a day.
BUT - if I could have 'rented' a newborn stash, say from a reputable cloth diaper store, I would have done so in a heartbeat. Hint Hint.
My first baby was 8 lbs,11 oz when he was born and up to 9 lbs within a week. He didn't fit into his newborn clothes, so I doubt I would have gotten much use out of NB diapers either. I can't really afford a set of NB diapers either, so I guess I will just have to deal with the added bulk of the one size diapers.
I was scared to use a diaper that needs a cover but the kissaluvs are so cute. I asked lots of questions and they don't seem to be to scary. I think that is what I will use for our next baby.
I just went through this. My stash is mainly one size diapers, but we did get a newborn 'stash' too and I'm glad we did as our little boy was born weighing just 5lbs 13oz. I didn't start using cloth until he was a week old (when his cord stump fell off and his circ was pretty much healed)and he weighed about 6lbs at that point. I made a lot of my own newborn fitteds and used them with the Thirsties Duo Wraps size 1 and it was a great combo. I did find some one size fit from the start, Haute Pockets and Rocky Mountain fit at 2 weeks old (6.5lbs). BumGenius, FuzziBunz, and Smartipants didn't fit until he was about 10 lbs, Fuzzi Bunz OS took longer because it doesn't have any crossover snaps, I'm sure it would have fit his scrawny legs much earlier otherwise.
I was definitely glad to have newborn diapers though, we may have only used them for 6 weeks but with how many diapers newborns go through, it is worth it. I preferred my fitteds because I made them stay dry, the prefolds seemed to leave him red even though I was changing him at least every 2 hours, if not more. That got better once he lost he got a little older but I still prefer fitteds and pockets over prefolds.
Amanda C
We used Kissaluvs for the first 3 months and loved them! They fit up to 15 lbs, I think, and easily fit our daughter, even w/ her mega-chunk thighs (that she was BORN with, lol!). :) I loved how well they held the messes in and how soft and comfy they seemed.
I am definitely keeping this in mind. My hubby is ready for baby #2 and we only had 15 diapers for the smaller size the first time around! I can't imagine doing laundry again every day with a toddler running around too! Thanks for the newborn spotlight. We aren't there yet, but it's only a matter of time!
We bought 2 lil joey diapers from Rumparooz for our newborn, and LOVE them. Our baby was born at 6 lbs 11 oz. and is still comfortbale wearing them 5 weeks later at 8 lbs 9 oz. We also are using some homemade diapers that are just prefolds sewen into a tiny newborn shape and have 2 covers to go over them. Because we don't have very many newborn size diapers we are currently doing one day of cloth, one day of disposables (got lots from friends who knew we cloth diapered but knew we'd be stressed out...this is baby #3).
Days we get to use cloth we do have some urine leaks during the day, but never ever any blowouts. Days we use disposables we have at least one time a day of poop up the back YUCK!!!!
We'll be back to 100% cloth once she can fit into her "regular" diapers...right now they are WAY too big :o)
It's hard to know how big your babies will be ahead of time so I think if it's your fist child it's usually a wait and see thing.
We have small children so we used newborn diapers for our second child (he was 6lbs 2 oz). He wore most of them until 3 months old. The newborn size Sandy's by Mother-ease are my favourite- really absorbent but not as bulky as the Kissaluvs.
I used Fuzzibunz XS size on my baby. He was born 9.1# so I could have probably used the small size but anyhow they fit from birth and still fit him now at 14# but are starting to look like a bekini, if you know what I mean. But at this point the one size diapers fit great too. FB xs or s are great newborn diapers too for you pocket style lovers!
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