Need newborn CD suggestions...will I be able to do it?

[Kate888]

Maybe it's the nesting instinct... I've been researching CD options for NB lately. Although I CD'd DD for a long time, we didn't start until she was 1.

Last night I almost ordered some cute prefitted, but DH said it may be too hard to CD at the beginning. With a 3-year-old and a NB, how tough is it going to be to do the extra laundry and frequent changing?

Will I be able to do it? For moms who've BTDT, any thoughts about this? If I waited for 2 months to start CDing, what size should I get (DD was about 7 1/2 lbs when she was born)? We have a good stash of SOS, will that work? What cover should I use?

Sorry, so many questions :) The tie-dyed prefolds have been calling my names!


Kate
Mama to Maya 2-17-02 and Polo (my big black dog http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/dog.gif
and baby "bubble" (a BOY) due 5-11-05
http://lilypie.com/days/050511/0/12/1/-5/.png (http://lilypie.com)

[mudder17]

I don't have any experience with a 3-year old and NB, but I know several mothers here have successfully CD'd with more than one child, some at the same time (LizaJane immediately comes to mind).

I think if you have a system for laundry already, you can just wash all the diapers for both kids (assuming Maya is still in diapers?) at the same time.

If you wait 2 months...umm...I think Kaya was gaining an oz a day until then and she was 7 pounds at birth, so that would have made her over 10 pounds. At that point, the kissaluv 0s were probably getting on the small side, although I'm pretty sure I used them until she was 3 months old. I think at that point I was mostly using infant prefolds (snappi'd) inside a wrap, probably a litewrap (cheap). I didn't start pockets or fitted (other than K0s) until she started solids at 6.5 months.

I'm not personally familiar with the SOS fitteds, but if the baby is within the size range, they should work. For a cover, I would probably use one with gussets, since the poop is still pretty runny at that time (if you're breastfeeding). Litewraps are cheap versions of Bumpy's, and some people think they're more plasticky feeling, but I liked them. Bummis are nice covers, but they don't have gussets, and so don't contain leaky poop as well. Proraps and Green Earth covers also have gussets, so those would work well.

If you do decide to diaper the newborn from the beginning, I collected a bunch of relevant links for newborns in the CD101 link.

Hope this helps a little.


Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040222/0/0/1/-5/.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif Breastfed 1 Year -- Woohoo!

[jec2]

I say give it a whirl. If it's too much, then you can take some time off and sell what you don't need.

We used Kissaluvs and prefolds with Finn when he was a wee baby. We didn't CD right away, but started when he was about 6 weeks or so.

But, I think some people are liking the bitty buns newborn dipes.

http://www.diaperbabies.com/catalog.htm?category=Diapers

[mmchildress]

We intended to CD as soon as the meconium ended, however the CDs were keeping DS's umbilical cord damp and gross, so we quit until it fell off (3 weeks!!!). After that, we have been in CD's since. We used mostly IPF's and wraps (Bumpy, Bummis, and Proraps - Bumpys are my favorites, but all worked well). I did really like the Kissaluvs 0's, but my son has been a heavy wetter since day one, so these would be SOAKED... My experience is that the Bumpys fit a lot longer than advertised, Caleb was in the NB size (along with Smalls) until he was 15 lbs.

As a bonus piece of advice, we just tried Stacinator wraps for night time and they are FANTASTIC!!! They are much too bulky for daywear, but he will wear these every night now! :)

Monica
Mommy to Caleb 9/20/04

[lizajane]

you can do it! i have two in cloth right now. i don't find it to be ANY trouble at all. i would change dylan just as often in sposies just because i don't like to leave any kind of "used" diaper on my kid, so the frequency isn't a problem (of course, he sleeps a ton... so i don't change SO often right now...).

putting the cloth dipes on him doesn't take a long time or anything. it might take a little longer than a sposie, but the difference isn't affecting schuyler, i am sure. he would have to wait a minute for me to change any kind of dipe. so we already have to consider what he is doing before i stop to change dylan, no matter what diaper he is wearing.

as for the laundry, TOTALLY no big deal. i put all their dipes together in a pail upstairs by the changing table or in the diaper champ downstairs, where i set up an extra changing station so i don't have to hike upstairs, leaving schuyler alone or dylan alone with dogs. i change schuyler on the floor and dylan on the pack n play changing pad. i wash every other day (i do have tons of dipes for them both, so i don't have to be perfect about this! and since i have two pails, they don't overflow in two days.) and i kinda like folding and organzing diaper laundry and i just do it while watching tv in the evenings or during nap times, or while schuyler is playing in the living room while i fold.

now, my diaper bag IS enormous! but maybe maya isn't in diapers anymore? so you don't have to carry CDs for two? i don't really mind it. i can usually leave the bag in the car and return to the car if i need something (like at the park) or i can just bring it inside and stash it (at a friend's house or appt, etc.)

as for dipes- we are really enjoying the kissaluv o's. i added a 2 layer hemp fleece doubler and they work great. my prefitteds are starting to get small (we are approaching 12 lbs) but the prefolds are super-snappied with s small prorap. if you wait 2 months, i would just wait until mediums fit because they will last forever! our med FBs for example, lasted over a year on my skinny man.

[brigmaman]

I would have written exactly what Liza did. ;) We also have 2 in cloth right now. I do all the diaper laundry together. Right now it's every 2 days, but I have some dipes on the way so that I can hopefully stretch it to every 3 days.
We also used Kissaluvs and IPFs. I still use IPFs at home, but dh uses only fitteds on dd.
I do remember being nervous about the whole thing before dd was born. I only learned about cloth at 6 months preggo and converted my older ds at 26 months- right before dd was born. I still can't believe how easy it is. And those eensy weensy dipes are sooo cute!!
Good luck!

[Kate888]

Thanks for the input and encouragement!! I think I can do it! :)

Maya is not in diapers anymore (only at night). However, I still vividly remember how sleep deprived I was during the first 2 months of having her. That's why I was a little concerned if I'll have the energy to deal with the laundry and an active 3-year-old. But then I also remembered that the spocies were never able to contain the BF poop and I ended up doing a lot of laundry, too.

Here is what I'm thinking... maybe get a dozen Kissaluv 0's, a dozen prefitted and some PF's with 5 Bumpy or other covers. The SOS should be fit a baby from 8-35 lbs, but I've no experience of putting it on a newborn, not sure if it'll be very bulky. What do you think? Should I get less newborn dipes then?

Yay, I'm so excited to start the fun of CDing again!! Thanks guys :)




Kate
Mama to Maya 2-17-02 and Polo (my big black dog http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/dog.gif
and baby "bubble" (a BOY) due 5-11-05
http://lilypie.com/days/050511/0/12/1/-5/.png (http://lilypie.com)

[mudder17]

I think you can do it! :) I think the dozen KO's (which you can get at the outlet) and a dozen prefitted would be good. And extra prefolds are always useful, even if you don't use them as diapers. I don't have any experience with SOS dipes, but so far, any One-size diaper I've seen are enormous on newborns, even though they're supposed to be able to work. Depending on the size of your newborn, you should be able to use the K0s for at least a couple months, if not longer. And if you get infant prefitteds, I think those would last longer. You can also add doublers to the prefitteds if you need to increase absorbancy as your DS gets bigger/pees more. I'm guessing you could get all of what you're thinking for less than $150, but I don't remember how much prefitteds go for.

As for covers, I would suggest Proraps (nice and cheap), Bumpy's, and Litewraps (Bumpy knock-offs), all of which have gussets and will nicely contain even explosive poop.


Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040222/0/0/1/-5/.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif Breastfed 1 Year -- Woohoo!

[Kate888]

Thanks again, Eileen! You're the best!!

I checked the Kissaluv outlet, but it's not stocked. So I went a little crazy CD shopping at naturalbabies (K0's, K boosters, infant PF's, Litewraps and Bumpy). Also got some dyed infant PF's from SOS and Bum Wrap.

Have you ever tried prefitted? I'm thinking about getting a dozen, but not sure how well they work.



Kate
Mama to Maya 2-17-02 and Polo (my big black dog http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/dog.gif
and baby "bubble" (a BOY) due 5-11-05
http://lilypie.com/days/050511/0/12/1/-5/.png (http://lilypie.com)

[tarahsolazy]

I use prefitteds on my almost 1 yr old, and I think they would be great for newborns, who are less wiggly. They snappi on in a flash, no folding required. i got mine from www.growmearainbow.com but I sent her my own ipfs and cpfs to convert. Shandelle also makes them but I'm not sure of her website, funny farm, something like that.

[mudder17]

Shandelle's site is:

http://www.funnyfarmcreations.fourlittleducks.com/


Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040222/0/0/1/-5/.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif Breastfed 1 Year -- Woohoo!

[lizajane]

i posted a pic of my guy in his blue stripey prefitted that i made myself. they are great with a snappi and go on easily. my only complaints (since i made them myself, i can complain!) is that the snappi made the front bunch up kinda funny at first because i guess dylan had a smaller waist than (proportionally) his thighs. so i wish i had elasticized the front as well as the back and legs. now that he is a little bigger, the front stays a little flatter and the go on a little better in that regard. but the rise is getting a little small.

remember, though, i have whopper newborns, so it might be a different ballgame for a 7 or 8lber. dylan was 9.5lbs and 21 inches. so he is outgrowing his prefitteds now, at 5 weeks, but he probably weighs close to 12 lbs and maybe he 22 inches by now. (we will see tomorrow at his one month appt.)

oh, and he is a SOAKER, so i have to use a doubler with the prefitteds and the kissaluvs. but again, i made them myself, so it wasn't a big deal. (the doublers, i mean, so they were easy to acquire!)

[Kate888]

Thanks, Tara, Eileen and Liza! I spent another day in front of the computer just researching NB dipes, LOL! I'm hoping to finalize the stash and let you all see if I'm missing something. I think I'll just get 6 prefitteds then, although I preferred fitteds more. I'm worrying that the baby will outgrow NB fitted to quickly. Thanks again for your encouragement and great input :)


Kate
Mama to Maya 2-17-02 and Polo (my big black dog http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/dog.gif
and baby "bubble" (a BOY) due 5-11-05
http://lilypie.com/days/050511/0/12/1/-5/.png (http://lilypie.com)

[nbrackman]

Another option is to take advantage of a diaper service for the first few weeks if you have one nearby. This relieves you of the extra laundry as well as the need to buy super small diapers. If there's one available, you can also ask friends and relatives to give a month's service as a gift.

Just a thought! Good luck!
Nicole