CD'ing for a newborn

[tbriese]

we're expecting our first around the holidays and i've decided to try cloth diapering. it seems like a lot of people started CD'ing later. am i shooting myself in the foot by starting right away? is there any special suggestions i should know? we are going to start with some CPF and covers (some prowraps & bummis). we got some fitted diapers off ebay as well as some small FB for a little later.

thanks! :-)

[mudder17]

I started CD'ing from the day Kaya got home from the hospital. It is totally doable as long as you keep it simple. There have been some recent threads on CD'ing for newborns and in fact a couple mothers here are expecting a newborn soon. However, let me just get you started (partly because I'm too lazy to go search for the old threads, LOL).

I started with 24 preemie EPFs (CPFs are fine) and newborn prowrap classics. I snappi'd all of my PFs, which helped contain the leaky poop a bit better, so that I wasn't having to rinse poop off the covers at EVERY change. This allowed me to start with the minimum of 4 newborn proraps. I also had a dozen kissaluv 0 to start with, which was great for those night time changes. This allowed me to do the laundry every 2 days.

Bummis are okay, but they don't have gussets around the legs, so they tend to leak out the poop a bit more. I would suggest sticking to prowraps or bumkins until the poop slows down a little or at least until you get the hang of snappi'ing your PFs. And by the way, snappi'ing a prefold is not as hard as it seems. Folding a prefold is not as difficult as it seems, either. It just takes practice and usually a newborn isn't squirmy enough that you do end up getting the practice. :) In that sense, learnin how to do the PF thing with a newborn is easier than with an older baby.

Depending on how often you want to do the wash (I do it every 2 days), I would suggest maybe 2 dozen preemie PFs and 1 dozen kissaluv 0s, at least 4 covers, and maybe a snappi or two (I'm still rotating with the same two that I've used since she was a newborn).

If you think you're going to have a small baby, that'll be perfect for the first month or so. If you think you're going to have a large baby, then you may want to start with infant prefolds and kissaluv 0s. DD was 7 pounds even when she was born and I was able to use the preemie PFs for at least 4-6 weeks? Something like that. And I still use them as doublers now. So if you think you're babe is going to be less than 8 pounds, I would suggest getting some preemie PFs in addition to infant prefolds. After Kaya outgrew the preemies and started using the infants, she was still able to use the kissaluv 0s for a little longer.

Also, if you have 4 newborn proraps, I would also get 4 small ones (bummis/proraps) for when your baby reaches that stage.

Hope this gets you started! Congratulations and welcome to the club. :)

Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://www.babysfirstsite.org/newtickers/ticker/16994.birthday.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_garnet_6m.gif Breastfed 8 months and counting

[tbriese]

WOW! thanks for the info and support. it makes me feel better :-) when people look at me funny for wanting to do this i just tell them i never thought i'd get this excited over changing a diaper LOL

[mudder17]

:) Yup! I don't mind changing diapers, and I look forward to putting on different diapers and knowing that it's so much more comfortable than a plastic diaper. :)

I think my mother's group are convinced it's a good thing and some of them might even try it one of these days, but they all think it's too much work. I don't think it's that much more work and it's definitely worth it! Good job!

Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://www.babysfirstsite.org/newtickers/ticker/16994.birthday.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_garnet_6m.gif Breastfed 8 months and counting

[kensjen]

I think it is great that you will CD from the beginning. I wish I would have! And if you start right away, you won't know any different, and it will become habit. Since you haven't used the "easy disposables" you won't know what you are missing...does that make sense? It might make it harder to fall off the wagon! ;)

Sounds like you have a good start with your stash, the ladies here will help you shop if you need it! :) Good luck, I think you are making a great choice. Cloth is great!!

[lizajane]

we started right away. well, after a few weeks. we had a big baby so we didn't buy newborn covers, just waited until he fit well into the smalls. which was 2 or 3 weeks old!

honestly, you are doing yourself a favor by starting right away! if you use CDs from the start, using them becomes they way it is done in your house. we don't think cds are a big deal at all, because to use, cds ARE diapers. they are just "how it is" around here. does that make sense?

we used prefolds and proraps. poop can leak onto the covers (stays off clothes! yay!) so i would have no fewer than 6 covers. and no fewer than 2 dozen prefolds. we used FBs at night when he fit into the mediums. (about 2 months for us!) and we rotated 4 pairs, stuffed with one infant prefold and one joeybunz for about an 8 hour night. which became a 12 hour night by 5 months.

for this baby, we got better infant prefolds and more covers. i now have 11 small covers and about 30 premium infant prefolds. we will borrow some fitteds and i might make some. and we have more FBs now, since i got some used, etc. later on for schuyler. but we never felt like we were lacking anything for schuyler. i am excited about trying the snappi for this newborn, because we didn't use one for schuyler- we trifolded the prefold and laid it into the prorap. the snappi should help the poop stay off the cover.

[kitmama]

I have very little to add- excellent advice already! I just wanted to say that we started CDing from the beginning, too, and it's been great! We also used PFs with snappis and NB prorap covers. As soon as littleman's cord fell off, though, our favorite cover was a NB Bumpy Day. And if I get the chance to do it all again, I'll add some Kissaluvs fitteds to our NB stash. And now that I have cloth wipes I like those much better than disposables. But really, I didn't feel like we needed anything other than our PFs, covers and snappis.

[KrisM]

We started after a week or so. It's no big deal. There was a learning curve with disposables, too, so learning cloth was just another thing to do.

We use prefolds and covers (Bumpy's) during the day and FuzziBunz at night.

Good luck!

[jlk_curious]

great discussion!

we, too, are expecting our first early December. In fact, I just received my first CD package on Monday...so excited! Here's what we bought:

12 infant indian prefolds
6 kissaluvs 0
3 prorap classics newborn
3 bummis wraps newborn (super whisper wrap and super snap)
2 fuzzibunz small
1 sugarpeas wool flannel cover, small
1 bumpkins AIO
4 joey bunz hemparoo small (to stuff the FB's)
some snappis

so, I probably went a bit over board but I *had* to have one of those wool covers...too cute (see the addiction is already setting in) and I really wanted to see if I liked the AIO's.

here's a few questions to add to the pot:

sounds like I should get some more PF's, don't you think? I'm debating what size, tho.

although I haven't washed the infant IPF's yet, they seem so big to fit into the proraps or bummis... even if they shrink 5 - 10%, you think they'll fit or should I go with the recommendation to get some PF's in preemie? At 36 weeks, baby is about 5.5 lbs says midwife so I'll probably have a smaller baby...

if my baby is on the small side, the FB's will be too big for a newborn, no? In the mean time, for nighttime, would a kissaluvs & prorap or the wool cover be fine? Or, what are your suggestions?

Thanks again for the information!!

Jen

[kitmama]

Yes, you will need more PFs. Sometimes we'd go through 12 in a day! You could get some preemies, or you can just fold the extra of the infant ones over- this is what we did, and though it's a tad bulky it worked well for us.

Yes, the small FB will be too big at first- but the babies grow awfully fast! There's no need to worry about a particular nighttime diapering solution right at first, anyway- you will be getting up and feeding and changing diapers at night just as frequently as you do during the day. It's only as they start sleeping long stretches at night that you need to find a very absorbant solution.

[tarahsolazy]

Kit's right on! I'd suggest a dozen more infant Indians, they're great. I had pretty much the same stash as you, without the AIO or wool cover, and slightly different types of NB/SM covers, and it worked great. And, we used KL at night, because they were quicker to change at first, while we were getting our snappi skills up to par. You might want to get some cheap polarfleece, and cut some liners for your PFs, and you need a pail, liner, wetbag, and some cloth wipes, and you are set!

[jlk_curious]

Thanks Kit & Tarah! I really appreciate it!

Yep, sounds like I for sure need some more PF's. So, Tarah, you use the polar fleece to wick away moisture from baby into the PF?

For the wipes, do you guys just run them under warm water before using or have you found the wipe warmer and/or putting wipes into a solution (I've seen some recipes)? Perhaps a bit off topic for this thread so I'll look for answers elsewhere as well.

Thanks again for the help and good luck to Tara (tbriese), too!

Jen
EDD #1 12/6/04

[Saartje]

Not Tarah, but yes, that's what you'd use the polar fleece for. Personally, though, I wouldn't and didn't bother with fleece liners for a newborn; you change them so often anyway that it didn't seem necessary. DS is closing in on six months, and I'm just now feeling the need to get out the fleece I purchased five months ago.

For wipes, I either wet them as needed or pour water + a drop of tea tree/lavender oil over a stack of them. I'm thinking of trying something else, though, as I don't feel very organized about my wipes just now.

[tbriese]

liza,

how did you feel about trifolding the prefold into the cover? i've gotten the impression that it doesn't contain poop as well. was this a big problem for you? while my husband is very supportive of my desire to CD, i want to keep him supportive :-)

i'm buying some snappis as well to try out but we'll see how the middle of the night goes!

[mommyj_2]

I'm getting to this thread late. I CDed my DS from the day he got home from the hospital. For the newborn phase, I used infant UCPFs, Kissaluvs 0s, and Bummis whisper pants (the pull on nylon ones). They were the only covers that didn't irritate his skin. When he was a little older, I also used Bumpy covers, but mostly used whisper pants. They're still my favorite cover.
For wipes, I just put hot water in a thermos and then pour it on the wipe when I'm ready to use it. I didn't want to mess with a wipe warmer. I always use plain water, because DS has sensitive skin, so I figured why mess with things that might bother his skin.
I have been CDing for almost 16 months now, and I have to say it's been a blast. I'm sure you'll love it too.

[KrisM]

We trifolded without a snappi for a few months. The poop got on the cover, but didn't escape. Washing the cover wasn't a big deal, so long as you had enough. We had 6 and that was good for 3 days.

[tbriese]

ya' know, i totally forgot to ask about the umbilical cord. i think that was one reason i thought so many people waited. do you just fold the PF down below the cord? what about the cover? will the diaper or cover irritate the cord if they cover it?

as i said in a PP, i never thought i'd be excited about changing a diaper :-).

[tarahsolazy]

We just folded the PF down, and had some covers that had notches for the cord, like proraps, also very economical. But, we used a lot of pull on covers, and just bunched it down. They rubbed a little, but on the cord, not the baby. So, they got a little cord goo, as the cord rotted off, but no big deal.