Let's just get to the good part. The part that any cloth-diapering mother loves. The newborn stash.
Now, I am not as into this as some mamas. Some ladies make a real habit of curating the perfect beginning supply for that precious bundle. I'm a bit more utilitarian. And that presents the problem.
There are a lot of "ifs" when it comes to cloth diapering a newborn. Will my baby be huge or tiny? Will he have slender legs or thick thighs? Will he wet a lot at once or more moderately throughout the day? Will he have sensitive skin? It's enough to almost just make me put it off and make a purchase after the baby is born. But then I know it will never happen.
There's also the added layer of Vicki and her diapers. She is in one-size Fuzzibunz pocket diapers with snap closures (we also have a few Kawaiis that we got as a gift, and they are nice too - especially for overnight with a doubler). This means they are adjustable, and they still fit her quite well. I really like these diapers, and once I figured out how to properly wash them, we have had no issues with them at all. I'd like to reuse them with another baby. But that means Vicki needs to be done with them first. (Cue dramatic sigh related to toilet learning.) It also means that the new baby needs to have a similar body shape (slim thigh, round middle) - and who knows if that will happen!?
The Fuzzibunz did not fit her as a newborn, and I don't think they would fit any but the very largest newborns (like 10 lb or more). With Vicki almost at 7 lb 1 oz at almost 40 weeks gestation, I don't suspect her brother will be that much larger.
I got a couple size small Thirsties covers from a friend who didn't want them. They are pink and orange, but who cares? Not me, or my son, hopefully!
So, I have a couple of choices. I want to use the Thirsties Duo covers that I already have, and I think I only need a couple more because you can get by with not so many of those. They just need a wipe between changes, and a wash every 10 or 12 changes, unless there's a horrid blowout or something.
The big decision is what to stuff the covers with. Prefolds? We already have a ton of those, and that would be no problem. But they would be a bit bulky for a tiny one. I've been eyeing these Green Mountain Diapers (GMD) fitteds. They are kind of the best of both worlds: a prefold that they cut and sewed into a fitted.
They have options with snaps and without. I will probably go without snaps, since they will be in a cover usually. I might have to get some Snappis, which I find to be the most obnoxiously named product of all time. Just in case we want to go cover-less at home, you know. These fitted diapers are not expensive at all. The newborn size are $5.50 each. So let's say I bought twelve, or even twenty of those. It would only be $110, plus $24.50 for two more covers, and that's it! $135.50 to diaper my newborn. Can't beat it.
A note on velcro vs. snaps - I hate velcro. It never washes right, it gets crud all stuck in it, it irritated Vicki's stomach where it would come unstuck. So, I go with snaps. People tend to have strong opinions on this, so form your own!
But before I get too far down the Green Mountain Diapers yellow brick road, I stop to think about the time-honored Kissaluv. These are by far the most popular newborn fitted diaper.
They are also more pricey. $12.95 apiece, with a little bit off if you order in bulk.
If you know me, you know my legendary cheapness, so you can guess which way I'm leaning. I might do six Kissaluvs and six GMDs and see which is better after a few days, then make a full order. A bit more stress with a newborn, but it would be worth it not to be stuck with a bunch of fitted diapers that don't work for us.
Cloth mamas out there: what worked for you? How did you decide on your newborn stash? What did you spend?
4 comments:
Last time I checked, Cotton Babies was having their seconds sale on their website, and they had newborn size Bum Genius for about 7 bucks each, which is a pretty good deal. So you might check that out. If you find a good deal on velcro diapers, they sell cloth diaper snaps and the press thingy at craft stores and online, though I borrowed one from a friend and converted all the velcro ones in our collection into snaps. I personally don't have any newborn sizes because we didn't start cloth with Henry until he was around 5 months old, and since he was over 8 lbs at birth I wanted to wait with this kiddo to see if we could get away with what we already have. We got a lot of hand-me-down cloth diapers in various brands, and then I've probably spent a couple hundred or so since then, mostly Bum Genius pockets and Econobum cotton prefolds. I just ordered a few Flip covers on clearance to try, so we'll see how that goes...luckily Henry is potty-trained now so I won't have to be changing two sets of diapers, but I think the beginning is still going to be rough. I'm planning on just using disposables to survive the first couple weeks living with a toddler and a newborn, then see how our existing cloth diapers fit and go from there.
Oh - good idea on turning velcro into snaps! I didn't even think about that. I have thought about disposables for the first little while. I've kind of forgotten about newborn poop and how intense it is. We always have some around - we aren't a diehard cloth family - so I'll probably do half and half or something like that, depending on how I feel.
Yeah, I don't even want to think about how tough that meconium would be to get off a cloth diaper! This is what the diaper snap tool thing looks like, in case you decide to get one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005P1T20I
The same brand also makes the snaps in a variety of colors, and I'm sure there are other brands, too. I lucked out because one of my friends is a big crafter and she already had one of the kits, so I was able to borrow hers. There are also websites where you can mail your diapers in and have someone else convert them, but thats like $2-$3 or more per diaper so it's probably only cost effective if you just don't have time to do it yourself. Plus if you have the supplies, you can get used velcro dipes on the cheap and convert them to snaps, or add them to the prefolds if you want. Or, my friend originally bought the kit to use on some kind of homemade reusable paper towel craft project, so I guess it can have multiple uses...If you have a Joann's craft store near you, I think they sell the snap stuff too and I get their coupons, so I can send you one of the 50% off coupons if you want. It really wasn't very hard and probably only took a few hours to do well over a dozen diapers. I can track down the online tutorial I used if you need it.
I'm interested in those Green Mountain newborn diapers you posted! I'm thinking they could work with the Flip covers I got on clearance, but I'm still holding out hope I can transition straight to the diapers we already have and can just skip the newborn size. I guess I just have to wait a couple more weeks to find out if this baby comes out as a chunkster : )
Yeah, the GMDs are interesting . . . and so inexpensive. I just wonder how the fit is? I have a good friend who used them for her newborn, but her baby was born big and stayed quite large, so not sure how that might translate for our situation. FWIW, the friend loved them.
Post a Comment