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| 3 day old Ethan in extra-small FuzziBunz |
When I was pregnant with Braden I knew I was going to cloth diaper him. But I also knew, that I didn't want to learn how to do the cloth diapering thing
and learn how to take care of a newborn in a sleep deprived state at the same time. So, I started at 1 month old with size small FuzziBunz. He swam in them a bit...but in no time we were using cloth 100% and did so until he was potty trained.
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| Ethan in Rumparooz Lil Joeys |
This time, it was a different story. I felt confident in my mother-of-a-newborn skills, so I wanted to use cloth from the moment he was born - literally. My sisters-in-law and I all went in on a newborn stash of fluff together. Abigail was born in April, Blake was born in August and then Ethan made his early arrival in October, so we knew the babies would each get their turn in fluff and could pass on to the next! Plus, babies are only in newborn size for anywhere from a week to a month or so. Ethan is now 3 weeks old and has outgrown his Lil Joeys...technically they still fit but with how heavy of a wetter he is...they only last an hour, two tops.
So here's what I've found most useful this time around!
- Go in on your stash with a friend or family member - it literally cuts the cost in half...or thirds...or fourths! Even if your babies are months or years apart, you know you'll use them eventually.
- Don't fear meconium! You can use them in the hospital, from day 1! All I did was use fleece liners and you know what...it washed out perfectly. I had heard a "myth" to absolutely NO meconium on cloth...but I didn't have a problem at all, it washed out perfectly.
- Don't bring a lot of diapers to the hospital. I brought a bag full as I forgot that newborns literally only pee & poop once or twice the first couple of days of their life! I was checking his bum every few hours and it always seemed to be dry. I think I changed about 4 or 5 diapers in the first 24 hours he was born.
- Don't buy preemie sized diapers, unless you know you're going to have a baby on the smaller side, there are other options that will work on a smaller baby and still fit a bigger newborn. We had about a dozen preemie sized cloth diapers (5-8lbs) and my baby was the only of 3 who could use them!
- Umbilical snap down feature was really handy to have, but not necessary.
- Buy used diapers on sites such as DiaperSwappers.com. Newborns are only in newborn size anywhere from 1 week to 1 month+ depending on their size, so we bought mostly used and they were in excellent condition...because babies grow so quickly and don't use them that long!
- Look on bargain sites such as MamaBargains.com, BabySteals.com, BabyHalfOff.com, & EcoBabyBuys.com for cloth diaper & accessory deals. I have bought from all of those sites and they do sell newborn stuff on occasion.
- Have some prefolds, hemp, and/or bamboo inserts in your newborn stash to use for extra absorbancy! Once my baby turned 2 weeks he suddenly became a super soaker and needed extra inserts/absorbancy for his longer stretches of sleep at night.
- While not essential, the bigger your stash, the better. My SIL's and I went a little crazy and have a HUGE stash of newborn diapers. I'm talking about 40+! But you know what? It's come in really, really useful. I only wash my diapers every 2-3 days or whenever my diaper pail is full and still have a day's worth of diapers to use. I don't feel rushed or like I'm waiting for my diapers to dry to keep using them. Plus, you're changing a newborn bum every 1-3 hours!
- If you you're using cloth diapers, use cloth wipes too! I have a wipes warmer full of cloth wipes and it's so nice to be able to reuse my wipes too and to have them nice and warm to use on his little bum!
- Just a personal one from me...take lots of pics of your newborn in their fluff - how cute!
I absolutely love using soft, fuzzy, cloth on my newborn's bum! And moms and moms-to-be...it's really not that scary! I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have, please feel free to leave a comment (I always reply!) or fire off an
email!
