Switching to fitteds (Esembly) at 8 months old?

[lcnolen2022]

Baby is 8 months old/18 lbs, and we are just now getting back into cloth diapers after a short break due to our childcare situation. We started out using Thirsties Duowrap covers with a mix of prefolds, a few flats, and preflats, and that worked great for the early days. We also have some pocket diapers (combo of micro fleece and AWJ) that we have been using, but it’s not enough for a full stash. Now, baby has outgrown our Size 1 Thirsties covers as well as our prefold stash, so we are looking to add to our diaper rotation.

Would it make sense to jump to fitteds at this time, or should we just stick to what we know? The reason we didn’t start witho Esembly was the cost, the concern about runny newborn poop getting stuck in the stitching, and my own fear of dealing with snap closures on a delicate newborn, which of course isn’t an issue now! I do like how trim Esembly diapers seem, especially now that baby is moving and crawling around more.

 

[graceadele]

@lcnolen2022 I feel the opposite, esembly is super super bulky on my mobile 9 month old. You can see her kinda shift her butt around when she sits and you can tell she’s like sitting on a wad, she protests the esembly diapers but doesn’t with pockets. The more she moves around the more they seem to wad up in the crotch area and when I take it off it’s like just a hunk of wet fabric, she’s definitely not a super chunky baby so they fit her well it’s just a lot of fabric. Cloth is already a bigger diaper butt than disposables but esembly is like a real big diaper butt lol, they’re very bulky. She’s right at 18 pounds though so maybe they will fit better as she gets bigger. I actually was thinking this morning when I responded to a different post that I wish I hadn’t gotten all size 2 for our esembly stash because I feel like they’d be great on a newborn or non mobile baby and could use them for the next bub. That could all be totally just my opinion and our experience!

 

[rochmatthews]

@lcnolen2022 I’ve used assembly from about 2 months? Second the commenter who said the outers rock. We use the outers over disposables occasionally to help with blowouts. They also double as swim diapers which is nice. I used the detergent but then switched to Tide from Costco to save money. Both worked well. I haven’t had an issue with poop in the stitches. But I’ll admit I use the disposable liners now that my kiddo is on solids and it’s the only way I got my husband to keep doing cloth. Can’t recommend them enough!

 

[17xande]

@lcnolen2022 I’ve been doing Esembly from the start. They do have a gently used section on their website as well!

 

[servant10]

@lcnolen2022 If you sign up for Esembly’s class, you also get a discount (I believe it’s 20%) after the class happens.

I started with the Esembly detergent and haven’t finished it yet, but it definitely works well. I just plan to switch soon to save some $.

I wouldn’t recommend the Esembly wipes, if you’re considering those.

I LOVE the outers - they are so cute, feel really nice, and I’ve never had a blowout. I also believe they’re the only recycled PUL outer on the market. Only wish is that they would be double gusseted (although I’ve never had a blowout, this would be great for peace of mind).

I’ve also tried the GMD workhorse inners and think they’re very similar to the Esembly inners. I would just check out the GMD website to see if the inners would fit your baby better since they have 5 size options, instead of 2 sizes.

 

[jimwif]

@lcnolen2022 Regarding the poop on the threads, I’ve found it’s more staining than actual poo. If I dry outside the stain bleaches out right away.

 

[britxleir]

@lcnolen2022 I was the opposite - I did esembly first because flats scared me! Esembly is very easy; you won't really have a learning curve. They should also fit for a long while. We still have a snap left on the size 2s with my 36 pound, 36" toddler.

Regarding your concerns... Target has them on sale for 20% pretty regularly. That's an easy way to try a couple on sale and with free shipping. As long as I have enough agitation in the wash, I don't have any issues with poop in the inner threads.

 

[lcnolen2022]

@britxleir Thanks! And good to know that they should hopefully last us through potty training. I will have to keep an eye out for the sales… I don’t mind splurging on some now, but as a FTM i didn’t want to spend a ton of money up front before baby even arrived lol.

One more question— do you use the other Esembly products for your wash routine, or do you just use normal detergent? We currently have a good system that is working for our laundry set up (old top loader machine + hard water) and i’m reluctant to mess with that…

 

[britxleir]

@lcnolen2022 I understand! I wish that we had gone all in on esembly, but it seemed so expensive when I started!

I wouldn't mess with your wash routine if it works! I have tried the esembly detergent, but I started having some ammonia problems and switched to Tide Free and Gentle.