Where to begin?

[evansli]

21 weeks pregnant, FTM 37 y.o. already mostly living a low-waste/low-plastic lifestyle and intending to cloth diaper. I've been following the sub for a while now but really haven't absorbed (ha) too much as there's so much terminology and so many brands I'm unfamiliar with. I have a trial pack on my registry from Esembly and a two week supply sampler of 'natural' disposable diapers from Honest Co., Dyper, and Coterie.

What I have gathered generally is that cloth isn't great for newborns and you may want to have an alternative for the early days or overnights (hence the disposable sampler). There are different fabrics for different needs, and different lining designs as well. Stuff about pre-soaking and bleaching.

So, any recommendations for an initial stash? Other tips? Reading materials? I feel like I have a pretty good handle on the other areas of baby prep and I'm starting to get nervous that I'm going to be sidelined by diapering and really want to avoid that.

Thanks all and you rock for normalizing cloth diapering!

 

[relle25]

@evansli I will add an alternative perspective about cloth diapering not being great for newborns- we actually had a really positive experience cloth diapering from week one. Both my babies were born on the small side (6 lb 5 oz, 7 lb 3 oz respectively) and I expected #3 isn't going to be huge either. They didn't fit into one size diapers till anywhere from 6-12 weeks depending on the brand so they wore newborn sized diapers, also depending on brand, from 6-12 weeks. Since they were both EBF, there was no need to rinse or spray poop so laundry was very easy. We avoided the dreaded "newborn blowouts" that are common with disposable diapers and the diapers were in good condition for the next baby and for baby #3, newborn cloth diapers also re-sell well.

And, it's the time in their lives where they go through the most diapers per day. My babies both peed and pooped through anyhwere from 8-12 diapers daily during the newborn phase so that would've been expensive buying all those disposables.

So just throwing that out there if you want to perhaps try newborn cloth diapering. We also try to be low-waste and I was using reusable postpartum pads and breast pads anyways, so it all got washed together and it was only an extra 2 loads of laundry a week, you can also throw towels in.

 

[evansli]

@relle25 Thank you! So for EBF the diapers just went straight in the prewash without rinsing?

I’m going to get some newborn sized cloth options to try out. Figure it’s best to just get everyone used to it from the start. What brands do you use?

One more question I assume you found reusable menstrual pads effective for postpartum bleeding? Did you make padcicles with them?

 

[relle25]

@evansli They do! In fact, even if you use formula, as long as the poo is liquidy enough, they can theoretically go into the wash too without a need for rinsing off first. It's pretty brilliant! Of course, once they start solids, you'll have to use liners or rinse, but by that point they're in one size diaper anyways

Overall our favorite newborn cloth diapers were covers with prefolds (we loved Milovia and Close Pop In covers) and the Blueberry AIOs. The Smartbottoms newborn AIOs were excellent too but they got out-peed a bit earlier on. The Blueberry newborn AIOs lasted the longest- both my boys could fit into them for 3 months solid.

I did find menstrual pads great for postpartum bleeding! What I did was I layered them in the mesh underwear the first few days/weeks and then switched to regular underwear once it was comfy enough/less bleeding. A good way to go is for the really heavy initial bleeding is use 1-2 mega thick cloth pads with one liner on top for layering and then you can switch to just one pad without the liner, then eventually just liners once the flow tapers off.

 

[onlyhuman777]

@evansli I read this community and basically got everything from Amazon. Baby wears wegreco and adenous. They're inexpensive and no issues. They come with liners that work fine but we also bought some Gerber unbleached prefolds which work really well for smaller babies and night time. I used disposable diapers until baby was about 4 weeks old because parenting is a HUGE adjustment. My husband is on board so we watched a few YouTube videos on diapering and organization.

We started with 30 pocket diapers and I think 18 prefolds and 45 wipes. We bought a set of two large wetbags and each set of covers comes with a small wetbag, which stay in the bedroom. That's a lot so I was washing only every other day to stay ahead of it. As baby's bladder gets bigger and they don't pee as often, now we wash every third day. I noticed that baby's poos slowed down before the pees.

We still use disposables at night, but I'm trying to psych myself up to let this be the last box. They just last so long using one per day (she's in size 3 which is like 15-28lb).

As far as washing goes, simpler is better. Adenous diapers actually came with instructions. I simplified it a bit. I do a warm rinse max water level, then a hot wash with oxyclean (half cup washing soda, half cup hydrogen peroxide) and Dreft. I don't do another rinse bc I've never noticed soap buildup. I got a hanger dryer from Amazon as well. It's about 12 inches by 8 inches with a bunch of clips around it in a rectangle. I just clip on the diapers (not by the elastic) with spaces between and hang it in the bathroom and they're dry overnight. The prefolds and liners go in the dryer on medium with dryer balls.

We use a diaper sprayer/bidet attachment which was about $35 to spray solids in the toilet (sometimes I just swish in the rinse cycle which is probably not okay but it works) and a little trashcan thing with clips to hold the diapers and keep from spraying poop everywhere.

We make the wipe solution about once a month and keep it in a bottle and add it to the spray bottle with water every few days. I use baby soap, baby oil, and water. Some people use just water, or just soap and water.

It can have a large initial investment, so I'll say that it's important to do research before baby comes. The only things we bought were the trashcan thing, the prefolds, the cart to store them, and our "oxyclean" every other week, and that's because we didn't know we needed it til we did.

I'm a ftm and my husband a ftd and we had the first baby on both sides. We put almost everything on the registry (have a friend or relative with a small kid make recommendations) and family was EXTREMELY generous.

If you were to do it yourself, you could probably get started for $300. If I said anything that helped, feel free to PM for clarification or advice

 

[evansli]

@onlyhuman777 Thank you!

 

[marissa22]

@onlyhuman777 12 inches is 30.48 cm

 

[stuartb]

@evansli I watched a slew of how-to videos on YouTube which I feel has helped a lot. Granted, I’m due in a few weeks so I haven’t started our cloth journey yet but I found them to be very helpful. It also helped to google “types of cloth diapers” because I was also overwhelmed by all the different types and terminology.

Also want to add, as a second time mom, go with your gut. If someone is saying “X type of cloth diaper is the BEST and you MUST go with this one” but you feel it isn’t for you? Go with that instinct. There were a lot of baby products that, with my first, I didn’t buy (despite everyone saying it’s to die for) and I’m glad I trusted my gut instinct. Like for example the nose frida snot sucker thing? Everyone and their mom was like “YOU LITERALLY WILL DIE IF YOU DO NOT BUY THIS” and I was like “I dunno. I’m not into it” and have not ever felt the need to go out and buy one, 4 years later.

 

[joshuafranulovich]

@evansli Ask yourself some key questions to help you decide what you want out of cloth diapering. Do you have a clothes dryer/mind long dry times? Do you want the cheapest diapering option? Do you mind stuffing diapers or would you rather fold flats/prefolds? Do you want something easy for any helpers you may have (parents or daycare)? That being said, don’t overthink it! It’s just diapers and laundry. You can do it!

 

[kjadefuller]

@joshuafranulovich “It’s just diapers and laundry” made me feel a lot less overwhelmed. Just got a giant stash of diapers given to me and I needed to hear this haha

 

[guinin]

@joshuafranulovich These are excellent suggestions.

One of my considerations was limiting how much synthetic materials I wanted too wash. So pocket diapers weren’t for me since every diaper would have to be washed and they’d all containin fleece and PUL. I chose to go with covers instead since you use fewer and therefore don’t wash as many.

So then came what kind of absorbtion I wanted. Microfiber was out due to the plastics. So we started trying prefolds and fitteds. We ended with a stash of mainly fitteds, a few spare prefolds and some secondhand SIO diapers. Most of it it’s cotton, but we also have some bamboo and hemp boosters.
If necessary all our absorption can go in the dryer but we mainly line dry.

 

[evansli]

@guinin Yes this is where I’m leaning too, regarding materials and washing. Currently sitting on a shopping cart of newborn prefolds and fitteds with covers at Green Mountain Diapers.

 

[guinin]

@evansli Prefolds are never a bad investment. You can always use them as an additional insert in any other type of diaper when you need more absorbency.

And a couple of covers won’t break the bank either.