When I was pregnant I must have read half the internet trying to decide if I wanted to buy cloth diapers for newborns. I kept reading that my one-size stash would not fit until at least 8lbs and since I was having twins I was pretty sure it would take us couple months to reach that size.
Indeed our babies were born at 5lbs4oz and 6lbs even. The one-size diapers I have just now fit my bigger baby Roman well at 12lbs and I still have my smaller baby Ira (10lbs) in some of the diapers I bought for my newborn stash. My babies are a week away from turning three months old and we've been in cloth since around 6 weeks (though we still use disposables at night). Here's what I bought and how I like them:
Thirsties size one covers: These made up the majority of my newborn stash and I'm glad they did because they are my absolute favorite! I use them with Green Mountain Diaper prefolds and a snappi.
Pros: Fit great I'd say starting around 7lbs and they have a snap down rise, so although they are not one-size diapers, they do grow with baby and will last a good long while (their site says to 18lbs or around 9 months). I love these so much that even though Roman fits my one-size diapers now, I still put him in these. I will use them on both babies as long as they fit! The leg gussets are awesome; while I have had a number of blow outs in disposables, I have never had a leak with these even through some epic "how does such a little person create so much- uh- "waste"?!" poops.
Cons: The only con I can think of is that it takes a little time and skill to change a prefold and cover. But as my dear, sensitive brother likes to say when it comes to doing "hard" things: people dumber than you have figured it out. ;-) Yes it takes a few tries to get the hang of it, but don't be intimidated! You can do it.
Bum Genius XS all-in-ones: These diapers were great for tiny babes. I admit we did not get a ton of use out of them because we used disposables longer than I thought we would (while we figured out this whole parenting twins thing!), but when we did use them I liked them.
Pros: They are super easy to use. They fit small babies perfectly.
Cons: A lot of people say the absorbency on these isn't that great; we did not have that problem because we were changing diapers so often (hello newborns pooping every 45 minutes!) however that leads me to my biggest con which is price. To use these full time would be too expensive since you have to change so frequently when they are little enough to fit in them! I liked these diapers to pack in the diaper bag for easy on-the-go changes.
Bummis covers in newborn size: Great covers but very small.
Pros: Great quality cover, easy to use, leg gussets keep the newborn poop in the diaper.
Cons: Very small diaper! I think these are the smallest diaper covers you can buy. We started cloth when our guys were about 7lbs and they were almost too small by then. The company says they fit to 9lbs; I'd say it's more like 8. I would probable use these earlier with a singleton, but with the busy-ness of twins in hindsight instead of these I would just get more of the Thirsties size 1 covers.
Econobum diaper covers in XS. I didn't love these covers.
Pros: great price if you are committed to cloth diapering from the very start. They do the job most of the time.
Cons: No leg gussets = leaks. They say these fit to 12lbs but I have a hard time believing that. Ira is only 10lbs and he doesn't fit these anymore.
AppleCheeks size one pocket diapers: I wanted to love these diapers because they are made in my home and native land (Oh Canada!) but they always leak. Not even out the sides either but right through the water resistant PUL!
Pros: Super cute looking. Pretty Trim. Good for babies with skinny legs since there are two layers of snaps, you can get a very custom fit.
Cons: For me, these leak which defeats the whole purpose of a diaper. The best I could do with these was to put my most absorbent hemp prefold in the pocket and that gives me 90 minutes, max before a change. If you love these diapers give me some advice: what am I doing wrong?
In summary, here's what I would do if I could do it all over again: I would make my whole newborn stash Thirsties size one diapers with Green Mountain Diaper prefolds and a snappi. For the short time before they fit in these diapers I would use disposables.
What about you? Did you use cloth on your newborn(s)? What worked? What didn't? Share in the comments here or join in the convo on Facebook!
xo
Indeed our babies were born at 5lbs4oz and 6lbs even. The one-size diapers I have just now fit my bigger baby Roman well at 12lbs and I still have my smaller baby Ira (10lbs) in some of the diapers I bought for my newborn stash. My babies are a week away from turning three months old and we've been in cloth since around 6 weeks (though we still use disposables at night). Here's what I bought and how I like them:
The Winner!
Thirsties size one covers: These made up the majority of my newborn stash and I'm glad they did because they are my absolute favorite! I use them with Green Mountain Diaper prefolds and a snappi.
Pros: Fit great I'd say starting around 7lbs and they have a snap down rise, so although they are not one-size diapers, they do grow with baby and will last a good long while (their site says to 18lbs or around 9 months). I love these so much that even though Roman fits my one-size diapers now, I still put him in these. I will use them on both babies as long as they fit! The leg gussets are awesome; while I have had a number of blow outs in disposables, I have never had a leak with these even through some epic "how does such a little person create so much- uh- "waste"?!" poops.
Cons: The only con I can think of is that it takes a little time and skill to change a prefold and cover. But as my dear, sensitive brother likes to say when it comes to doing "hard" things: people dumber than you have figured it out. ;-) Yes it takes a few tries to get the hang of it, but don't be intimidated! You can do it.
Runners Up
Bum Genius XS all-in-ones: These diapers were great for tiny babes. I admit we did not get a ton of use out of them because we used disposables longer than I thought we would (while we figured out this whole parenting twins thing!), but when we did use them I liked them.
Pros: They are super easy to use. They fit small babies perfectly.
Cons: A lot of people say the absorbency on these isn't that great; we did not have that problem because we were changing diapers so often (hello newborns pooping every 45 minutes!) however that leads me to my biggest con which is price. To use these full time would be too expensive since you have to change so frequently when they are little enough to fit in them! I liked these diapers to pack in the diaper bag for easy on-the-go changes.
Bummis covers in newborn size: Great covers but very small.
Pros: Great quality cover, easy to use, leg gussets keep the newborn poop in the diaper.
Cons: Very small diaper! I think these are the smallest diaper covers you can buy. We started cloth when our guys were about 7lbs and they were almost too small by then. The company says they fit to 9lbs; I'd say it's more like 8. I would probable use these earlier with a singleton, but with the busy-ness of twins in hindsight instead of these I would just get more of the Thirsties size 1 covers.
Would not repurchase:
Econobum diaper covers in XS. I didn't love these covers.
Pros: great price if you are committed to cloth diapering from the very start. They do the job most of the time.
Cons: No leg gussets = leaks. They say these fit to 12lbs but I have a hard time believing that. Ira is only 10lbs and he doesn't fit these anymore.
AppleCheeks size one pocket diapers: I wanted to love these diapers because they are made in my home and native land (Oh Canada!) but they always leak. Not even out the sides either but right through the water resistant PUL!
Pros: Super cute looking. Pretty Trim. Good for babies with skinny legs since there are two layers of snaps, you can get a very custom fit.
Cons: For me, these leak which defeats the whole purpose of a diaper. The best I could do with these was to put my most absorbent hemp prefold in the pocket and that gives me 90 minutes, max before a change. If you love these diapers give me some advice: what am I doing wrong?
In summary, here's what I would do if I could do it all over again: I would make my whole newborn stash Thirsties size one diapers with Green Mountain Diaper prefolds and a snappi. For the short time before they fit in these diapers I would use disposables.
What about you? Did you use cloth on your newborn(s)? What worked? What didn't? Share in the comments here or join in the convo on Facebook!
xo
I desperately wanted Lil Joeys to be amazing. I was gifted a stash, but added some second hand ones to it, but wish I hadn't. They leaked horribly. I stripped, treated, read everything I could get my hands on, but they never worked. So, we just ended up in disposable from week 3 until about week 7. We then started using Charlie Banana, BumGenius, and Best Bottom. I LOVE Best bottom and wish my stash only consisted of them. Bum genius would be second and I would never, ever purchase Charlie Banana.
ReplyDeleteI am a first-time grandma who babysits our granddaughter one day a week then as needed. My daughter-in-law is cloth diapering, and since they didn't look difficult, baby wears them here too. I do not have any diaper cleaning to do, just take off and throw in the "wet bag" she sends along. I cannot say for sure what she uses but they look so comfy for baby.
ReplyDeleteI love, love, love GMD prefolds and Thirsties covers for newborns. I've diapered both of my boys through several months of cloth before fitting into BumGenius one size and that was my winning combo as well. They were absorbent but not too bulky for their tiny selves. I even took to putting the thirsties covers over their disposables to prevent blowouts overnight and while traveling!
ReplyDeleteWe started with g-diapers at about 8 weeks due to the extended stay in the hospital, but Norah had such skinny legs that we ended up switching to Flips because of leaks. We still use them the majority of the time at 18 months with Flip Stay-Dry inserts and/or g-diaper inserts. We started using Grovia ONE diapers at night a couple of months ago due to nighttime leaks (which work FANTASTIC, but are bulky). I've tried the Smartbottom Too Smart Covers and loved them as they had a double gusset which works great for skinny legs, but we are working toward potty training so I doubt I'll get more. It takes trial and error to find what works best for each baby, but I love doing cloth!
ReplyDeleteClap Clap Clap emojis for Thirsties! I used them one two singletons and they are still going strong on my friend's baby! I'm sure with twins, you can't do this, but I also could afford to go three or four days before washing my diapers. I used bleach every time and they still held up!
ReplyDeleteBoth my kids were over 8 pounds at birth, so I don't really know about little diapers, but the size ones fit for a couple months, even on my lil chubbos.
I honestly cannot recall what we used for the newborn stage, but I remember really liking Blueberries for the stage between newborn and OS. Once our son grew out of these we used BumGenius AIO (everyday diaper) and GroVia O.N.E.s (for night and long day trips).
ReplyDeleteWhen we found out we were expecting again we bought BestBottoms Covers and AppleCheeks. We LOVE our BestBottoms Covers and use GroVia inserts. AppleCheeks worked for our vacation with GroVia disposable pads, but we haven't used them with cloth inserts yet...
My husband hates Thirsties so we rarely use them.
AMP diapers are awesome too! My favourite along with Bum Genius!
ReplyDeleteMy favorites are GMD fitteds and Flip covers. I miss my stash!
ReplyDeleteI did cloth with my youngest two girls who are a year apart. My favs were kawaii overnighters! They were bulletproof for over night!!!! My fav. Day time diaper was the Bumgenius 4.0 All in ones loved the easyness of them... No extra stuff with them. But the price hurt a little with 2 of them in diapers...
ReplyDeleteI also Tried the hybrid diaper gdiapers and wasn't impressed
So glad a friend told me about your blog - I'm expecting triplets in Nov/Dec and plan on cloth diapering. Your recommendations and tips are priceless!
ReplyDelete