Sorry, another cloth diapering post!!

[sarnath]

Unfortunately, the more I read about cloth diapering, the more overwhelmed I get.  I even read about a woman training her infant to pee in the sink to save a couple of diapers…genius, I guess, but not where I want to head!  I’m afraid I am going to be overwhelmed enough being a first-time mom, and I need to try to simplify this cloth diapering

Comments

[kitchenwitch]

I think those prefolds will probably be too big for a tiny baby, and you'll need MANY more covers. The poop, it shall explode, and shall explode all over. :D You probably will not be able to use the bumGenius right away, either, depending upon, say, the amount of leg chub your baby has

[sarnath]

But can't I just fold the bigger pre-folds a bit extra? I was trying to be cheap and not buy the smaller size that will get outgrown. =)

Also, I thought I could get away with reusing diaper covers if they have a vinyl, wipe-able interior? If not, how many diaper covers would you recommend.

What you said about fitted's is a good point. I will look at trying a couple,

[kitchenwitch]

Prefolds get very, very bulky. You could, theoretically, do that, but you'll probably need to buy larger covers and larger clothes! :) I would get infant prefolds, then regular or premium for when those are outgrown.

You could reuse them, I suppose, but that's assuming they're not so messy that they can be reused easily. Personally, I would rather buy more covers and not deal with wiping poop off, because there are SO many other things I could be doing instead. So far I have 6 covers, though I am getting more. I'd like to have at least 10 for two days, just in case. I like the Prowraps for little babies; they have the added advantage of being cheap. Bummis are my overall favorite cover.

[bklyndirt]

You could repurpose the smaller infant sized-prefolds later. They can become burp cloths or you can cut them to use as doublers for and older baby.

You could do a little extra folding, but if the prefolds are too big for your covers you'll end up with gaps which will make for lots of leaks. The diaper covers are made to have their elastic waists or leg gussets be in contact with the baby's skin. If they can't do that because they are overstuffed, they will not do their job.

That said, we used prowraps (they are what the diaper service we had provided) and found them perfectly good - except when it got too hot. Our favorite wraps, by far were the Nikki diaper covers - we got the breathable poly especially.

[wtmommy]

Uhm, not sure you are going to fit a regular prefold in a newborn cover. I am really doubting it actually, but never tried myself. Infant prefolds were huge on my 6lb 6oz baby and barely fit in the newborn covers. Bummies Super Whisper Wraps were my favorite cover of that variety.

[sarnath]

Ah, I see. =( I was kind of banking on a 8-9lb newborn, but that might still be too small.

[wtmommy]

they work great to stuff pockets after the baby grows out of them

[bungalow10]

You really want infant prefolds for the beginning. Even those will seem big.

Then you want premium sized ones for after that (if you continue using prefolds). Regulars aren't as absorbent.

The BG won't fit right away. If you are breastfeeding you won't need the diapersprayer for at least six months, probably more, and maybe never (we don't use one, we just let the poop fall in the toilet now that my son's on solids).

- 6 Thirsties Diaper Cover (size X-small: 6-12 pounds)

- 3 Thirsties Diaper Cover (size Small: 12-18 pounds)

- 2-3 snappis

- 30-36 Infant Indian Pre-folds (they make great burp cloths too, and you might go through a couple in one changing if you have a boy that likes to pee on you and the clean diaper while you are changing him)

- large hanging wet-bag (esbaby or The GoodMama have nice ones)
- medium wet-bag

- Charlies - the cheapest and best I've found. Three bags will last you forever (we are going on almost two years with our three)

[bungalow10]

after you have your baby, you can do the cloth diaper trial program for $10

http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/products/clothdiapers/tryclothfor10/tryclothfor10

[fuumegami]

I agree with the above posters about needing new born prefolds and lot more covers :)

I've heard good things about Charlies soap. I bought from http://rockingreensoap.com/ because I have hard water living in the city. I've used it to wash some used diapers and so far so good :)

[tesslouise]

Actually, the only concerns I've heard about Charlie's Soap were from people using it in hard water. YMMV.

[luxeery]

You could buy the Thirsties Duo Wraps instead of the Thirsties Covers. The Duo Wrap size small will fit a baby up to 18 pounds and they're adjustable so they can just be buttoned up according to how big/small the baby is.

Also, just an idea, but have you considered a diaper service? We are planning on using a cloth diapering service for the first three months (it's about $17 per week depending on how many we rent out per week). That way, we can order whatever size we need AFTER we find out how big the baby is and we can avoid buying the two different cloth diaper sizes at the beginning (infant AND small). Plus, with the amount of diaper changing in the first few months, it seems like it will be economical to just use a service and switch to home laundering around 3 months.

[sarnath]

Unfortunately, there are no diaper services in my area. =(