Julius at two weeks, in a prefold with Snappi and a Thirsties duo size 1 cover.
I am currently cloth diapering Julius part time, and using disposables part time; being the frugal sort, I had a hard time committing to a new stash of newborn or small diapers for him, especially without knowing what I would like to use for a new baby. Ultimately I settled with the prefold + cover stash that a friend sent me, plus a couple of used covers I picked up on the cheap, and a handful of one-size pockets that Miles has outgrown. This collection has him in cloth roughly half the time and me doing diaper laundry every other day (including Miles’s diapers). Both kids wear disposables overnight because they are both heavy wetters and it’s just easier.
Julius weighed 7 lbs 14 oz at birth and started out in newborn sized disposables. Somewhere around 8 lbs he could fit into newborn-sized prefolds, of which I had only a half dozen, and Thirsties small or duo size 1 covers, of which I had three – so that was just kind of dipping a toe into cloth diapering at that point. The pockets didn’t really fit yet. But that stage only lasted about a week and suddenly the newborn prefolds were too small already!
Right now at almost 4 weeks – I don’t know his weight but I’d guess 9ish? – he’s wearing small prefolds with the Thirsties covers and Bummis small covers, plus I have two one-size FuzziBunz and one precious one-size Charlie Banana.
The bulkiness factor of cloth diapering a newborn really can’t be understated. I knew this would be an issue and it does annoy me. I like the custom fit of the prefold + cover arrangement, but man are they humongous on his little body, particularly the Bummis. He can still wear 0-3 onesies and sleepers but they look a little ridiculous. The Charlie Banana is probably my trimmest and least absurd looking diaper right now.
As far as covers go, I kinda love the Thirsties! Was not a huge fan of them for my toddler, but for the little guy they are pretty great. Nice shape, love the leg gussets, and the duos are pretty sweet in that they go all the way from 6 to 18 lbs – you know I love a good value.
I’m also experimenting with using Flip inserts and some old gDiaper inserts I kept in the covers instead of prefolds. They seem to work and are trimmer than prefolds.
I continue to dislike OS FuzziBunz, I’m sorry to say. I’d hoped I’d like them more on a little baby than I did on my big baby, but they’re still kind of a hot mess. TOO MANY ADJUSTMENTS. I feel like I am doing carpentry trying to get all the measurements right, and then as soon as I think I have it, the dang baby grows some more and it’s all messed up again. The first time I put him in a FB his leg turned purple because it was cutting off his circulation. The only positive thing I can say about these diapers is that despite my fit issues they don’t leak… at least not any more than my other cloth arrangements.
Halfway cloth diapering at this stage seems appropriate because I am only halfway in love with cloth diapering a newborn. On the plus side you have everything that’s positive about cloth diapering, and the fact that newborns blow through disposables like they’re going out of style and those suckers ain’t cheap. Plus, I find them way more absorbent of newborn poop, so when I change him his butt’s already pretty clean and just needs a quick swipe (saving on wipes too!).
The downsides are the ginormous baby butt and the leaks. No poop blowouts, but we have pretty frequent pee leaks. I know that this is probably mostly my fault for not getting a perfect fit with either the prefolds or the adjustable pockets, but come ON. In fairness, we’ve had pee leaks with Huggies too. Kid pees a lot, I guess (and YES, I am pointing it down! I was amazed to see the on call pediatrician at the hospital did NOT do this, you’d think he would know better).
For now I’m holding off on buying more cloth diapers, but likely I will have to expand my stash since potty training Miles does not seem to be on the horizon just yet. If it were totally up to me I would probably do more Thirsties covers and inserts of some sort, because I think they’re such a great deal – but Mike is kind of over the whole cover + insert situation and does not like prefolds at all. He would definitely prefer more pockets, and you know that anything that helps Daddy change more diapers makes me happy.
At some point I still have to add some reviews for used diapers I’ve picked up in the last year, including BumGenius 3.0s and sized FuzziBunz…
I actually loved the big fluffy butt on my girls–it felt SO WEIRD when we’d travel and put them in disposables, like WHERE’D THE BOOTY GO? It’s easier to hold onto them with a fluffy butt! We do a mix of prefolds and fitted diapers, and when they were little babies, we loved the Kissaluvs fitteds since they held in the poop with the leg gussets.
I do wonder if it’s easier with baby girls? – because you can just do dress + diaper? Little baby tshirts are hard to come by so it’s all onesies and sleepers over here. Pants are almost impossible with the bulkier diapers.
Honestly, we cut off the bottoms of a LOT of onesies so we’d have t-shirts. But you’re right–the dress part ROCKS in the summer.
We didn’t do a newborn stash, but I did invest in smalls and I think that they are some of the only diapers that are going to make it to the next baby. They were pretty trim and lasted from 4-6 months depending on the brand, except for the Fuzzibunz, which he is somehow still wearing at almost 21 months. If you want some suggestions on affordable small diaper that work well and hold up let me know.
Thanks Meagan! I might play around a little with some of the OS diapers we are using for Miles and see if I like any of them on Julius. I do, strangely, like the sized FB, just not the OS… so I would consider those too.
I think every mama should invest in one Aristocrats wool cover to use with prefolds. They don’t leak and you can use them again and again without washing – when my youngest was just born I think we went several weeks without having to wash, which sounds gross but really wasn’t. Plus, I knew it was all-natural and breathable, so he never had diaper rash and always smelled sweet. Once you
get into wool, all the rest seems like a waste of money – I’m still using that little Aristocrats on my now 18-month-old, and it is in great shape. Perfect for nighttime – although yes, massively bulky butt.