Today I'm continuing a mini series all about how I cloth diaper! This post will be how I cloth diapered our 7 lb 3.5 oz newborn along with reviews of my choices and some tips and tricks! Again, this is just MY personal stash and opinions- some may work for you and some may not. So be flexible when you start to cloth diaper your newborn :)
Personally, I generally love snaps and natural fibers. You'll notice a lot of cotton, hemp, and a bit of bamboo in my stash. I lean towards snaps on my covers, but some hook & loop (aka. velcro) since it's so adjustable, especially at the super tiny NB phase!
Supplies:
2 diaper pail liners
diaper pail
6 newborn covers
12+ fitted diapers
4+ doublers
2 dozen flat diapers
3 dozen cloth wipes
spray bottle (filled with water/witch hazel blend)
small container (filled with coconut oil)
EcoNuts Baby powdered detergent
Scentsy (warmer or room spray)
Reviews:
The top picture I've laid out kind of in order, my top choices down to my second-string newborn diapers & newborn covers. So here's what we've got, in order...
Imagine NB Diaper Cover (bright green): One of my favorite newborn covers. Three rise settings and four waist snap settings. This fit well past my other newborn diaper covers. No leakage issues, and the gathered elastic in the front mean no issues with the umbilical cord stump.
Thirsties XS Sized Cover (light blue): Thirsties is my go-to brand for covers, and their XS is perfect for the newborn phase. No leaks and good room for extra nighttime stuffing. The hook & loop closure, which includes a crossover tab, allows for a great custom fit.
Thirsties Size 1 Duo Wrap Cover (pictured below): my go-to for once they're a touch bigger - you can see it pictured below, it's just a bit bulky for my NB, and didn't leave ample room for the umbilical cord, but was in our regular lineup within the first month. I also only use the snap closure on this cover- their new version of hook & loop, while super sticky, is just really thick and I noticed it left angry red marks on my little ones (who have a tendency to have sensitive skin like their mama!) because it IS so sturdy and thick.
Imagine NB Bamboo Fitted Diaper (light yellow): This is my favorite favorite newborn diaper! I love fitteds in general, as they keep breastfed poop contained really well. Imagine's are super soft, wash well, fit great, and have an umbilical cord snap down too. This is one that I ordered extras of after our initial purchase!
Organic Caboose NB Snap Fitted Diaper (natural with black tag): This one fits great for the early weeks & months. It's the thinnest diaper in my line up, bamboo, and is nice and trim. I always add a doubler under it just to be safe though. A great fit and includes an umbilical cord snap down. I think it was the first to be outgrown of the fitteds, but I got a lot of use out of it.
Cloth-eez NB Organic Cotton Workhorse Fitted Diaper (orange trim): A great diaper! My first experience with Cloth-eez brand, but I can highly recommend them. A close second favorite, after my Imagine fitteds. They have a crossover snap, so they work well even for the tinniest of waisted newborns! They wash well, and are just as nice as when they came home. Made exclusively for Green Mountain Diapers, which is a Christian cloth diaper store!
Thirsties Size 1 Fitted Diaper (white): Again, I love Thirsties. Their fitteds hold a good amount, and I used them with a booster as my overnight diapers. They do great for a half night- I'm always paranoid about letting newborns go all night without a change, for fear of leaks or diaper rash or just generally being uncomfortable. Sadly these don't stay quite as soft as when I first bought them, but still plenty comfy. My husband's exact words when we first bought them, "I wish they made underware like that for ME!" lol. They have three snaps in the rise, and include a crossover snap at the waist, so the waist is super adjustable, but you can see in the picture below that there's a bit of a gap in the legs on my ~7 pounder!
Bummis Super Brite NB Diaper Cover (bright pink): The only reason this is part of my "second string" is because they were the first to be outgrown out of all my covers. They are perfect for the NB phase though! Since they really are so small, and have the adjustable hook & loop closure, they fit even tiny ones super well. I'd probably get a few more for our next go around honestly- they just worked THAT well for the earliest newborn days. They really are pretty trim, so a trim fitted diaper or flat diaper works best under them, in my experience. This was actually the first cover that my littlest ever wore! With crossover tabs too, this could probably fit even premies.
Little Bee Size 1 Hemp Fitted Diaper (natural with yellow/red tag): This brand went out of business a while back, and this fitted is leftover from my first babe. You can still find these kicking around on the secondhand market usually. Made well, but the hook & loop closer is so thick that I don't know how comfortable it is for little ones. It washes well though and stays pretty soft & smooth, so it's a solid second string fitted. It tended to be a nighttime back up diaper for me.
Kissaluvs Size 0 NB Cotton/Hemp Fitted Diaper (natural with tan trim): Another one that I really wanted to love. They're a great American brand, Christian too, and sadly just went out of business. , and I love the snap down umbilical cord closure, but it's so bulky and not that soft, so it is never the first one I reach for... though it IS my backup nighttime diaper for the NB stage. Very absorbent, especially with an added doubler. There's also a ton of snap options on the front of this diaper- I honestly don't even know how it's supposed to snap up, but it gives a lot of options of how it can fit! Hehe. It also lasted the longest of my NB fitteds.
Rumparooz Newborn Diaper Cover (dark teal): I really wanted to like these because they come in SO many cute colors & patterns. While they're almost the same as Imagine's NB diapers, these only have 3 snaps in the waist, and it seemed like my wee one was always just in-between snap sizes. So these were typically the last covers I reached for, sadly.
Infant/Newborn Unbleached Prefolds (not pictured): These were a little too bulky really for the first few weeks, but around 10lbs or so I started using these, just trifolded in cover. I have both Bummis and OsoCozy unbleached ones- both great choices.
OsoCozy Unbleached Flat Diapers (pictured below): These were our travel diapers for our oldest, and washed & held up so well that we ordered a second stash for our youngest. As a NB, we used the origami fold to create "fitted" diapers with these when we ran out of regular fitted diapers. A solid second-string choice! Personally we skipped a fastener since NBs don't really move around a ton! We now use them as our primary diapers (just pad folded) since she has now outgrown the NB prefolds.
EcoNuts Baby Powdered Detergent (not pictured above): This is my go-to detergent. Most mainstream detergents are not cloth diaper safe- they wreak havoc on the elastic and PUL in the diapers. I've used this not just on my diapers but our regular laundry too! We have hard water AND highly chlorinated, and this takes care of all those issues when it comes to diaper laundry. We've used EcoNuts Soap Nuts as well, which worked great in normal water, before we moved. If you're interested, (shameless plug) Scentsy's Laundry Liquid is also cloth diaper safe!!
Rumparooz/Kanga Care Diaper Pail Liners (pictured in "Our Setup" below): Even though I wasn't a fan of their NB diapers, I love their pail liners! Built sturdier than other brands I've tried (Thirsties lasted about 3 years, and GroVia has lasted a year but starting to show wear) and they come in most of the super cute colors & patterns that their covers come in!!
All the above photos were taken within about a week of birth, right around 7 lbs
(Top-Bottom Left-Right)
Rumparooz cover, Imagine fitted, Thirsties fitted
Imagine cover, Organic Caboose fitted, Bummis cover (put on a bit too loose here)
Thirsties XS cover, Thirsties Size 1 cover, OsoCozy flat diaper (origami fold, no fastener)
Tips:
- Do your research! There are so MANY options and brands, so read through Cloth Diaper 101 articles to see what you think may work best for you and your lifestyle!
- Order a few different styles in different brands- there are many places where you can sell your diapers second-hand if you find a particular brand or style doesn't suit you or your baby. You'll find that different brands fit different baby body types- from long and lean, to short and chubby, but there IS a brand & style for everyone!!
- Check out your local cloth diaper store or online store- many offer newborn packages where you can try different styles, often with great return policies once you decide what you do & don't like!
- Rent newborn diapers! Some stores offer newborn packages that you can rent for a few weeks so you don't have to spend as much for a full newborn diaper stash that you only use for 2-4 weeks. We plan to have future babies, Lord willing, so it made sense for us to invest in a full newborn stash! We also did not buy newborn diapers for our first baby as we didn't plan to start cloth diapering until a few weeks/months in (we started her at 2 months, our youngest we cloth diapered from birth at the hospital!).
- Nickis Diapers- my favorite online cloth retailer, check them out! Great selection, reasonable shipping costs, prompt shipping, and great rewards program! I truly can't say enough good things about them (and no, I'm not paid to say that, hehe), but we've been using them since the very beginning of our cloth diaper journey about 4 years ago and plan to continue using them for a long time to come!
Our Setup:
Here's just our personal set up. I find the regular size changing tables to be way too small, especially for cloth diapering. So we just used a regular size dresser, popped the changing pad on top along with some of our essential cloth diapering supplies in a small basket, and there ya go! We use a Simple Human tall trash can as our diaper pail. Regular pail liners fit perfectly. (You see two pails here because we had two girls in cloth diapers for about 8 months, and I separated their diapers.) Below is a close up of what I keep on top of our changing table. In each drawers, I have separated out cloth wipes, everyday diapers, overnight diapers, diaper covers, etc. This JUST fit our complete stash when we had two in cloth diapers- and in the bottom photo, you can see that I had little labels on all the drawers to remember which girl's stuff was in each drawer!!
Water & Witch Hazel spray bottle = spraying our cloth wipes to wet them as we use them
Honest Co. Diaper Cream = our personal favorite cloth-diaper safe cream for really bad rashes
Olive Oil (or Coconut Oil) = our go-to for minor rashes & irritations
Face Wipes/Washcloths = for boogers, dirt, etc!
Scentsy Warmer = an essential, in my opinion! Because it warms at just above body temperature (unlike other wax warmers on the market), it's safe for kids & pets. Both my infant and preschooler have plopped their hands in the warmer with little more than a startled whine. My oldest even poured the hot wax down her bare chest, then proceeded to ask me straight faced "what happened, mama?" LOL. Anyhoo, I turn it on after changing a poop, or sometimes leave it on all day! A Scentsy room spray would work fantastically too- and the bottle lasts a really long time!! OK, yes, admittedly I'm a bit biased since I'm a Scentsy Independent Consultant, but seriously, I love these products in the nursery!
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