Diapering a 1 year old “newborn”

My baby was in no way a micro preemie, but being born at just under 5 pounds did pose some challenges, but many benefits to cloth diapering!

At almost 12 months, she is JUST NOW unable to fit into her last newborn diaper.  I am sadly having to put away her Tots Bots Tiny Fits, and she weighs around 14 pounds.  They still fit in the waist, but the rise is getting a little short, so they’re starting to leave red marks around the top of her legs.

So, what has this meant to our stash for the first year?

She stayed in the hospital for the first 7 weeks of her life.  I was a first time parent and had never even seen anyone use a cloth diaper, and I was nervous enough about putting on a disposable diaper on such a tiny baby.  So, we used disposables in the hospital, then when she came home I learned how to use her cute and tiny little preemie prefolds, but we were still using disposables at night, with one change (so 2 per night).  I eventually got brave and started using double stuffed ALVA bamboo pocket diapers (one bamboo and one hemp insert) when they finally started to fit her little chicken legs.

Grovia covers fit from the start, even over those giant KL0’s, then I found bamboo alternatives (Imagine newborn fitteds).  Those were awesome but she outgrew the rise before the waist.  The Grovia covers started making her reflux problems worse at around 6 months, so we stopped using them.  They fit weird with our larger prefolds anyway.

Ahh….prefolds.  Those cute little flat clouds that we call Bummis preemie prefolds.  I loved them so much, but had to start using the next size up because she would out pee them, even with a small cotton doubler, and I couldn’t snappi them around her waist anymore.  I think that was around 6 months too.  Not bad at all, I got 4 months use out of those little prefolds (remember she was in the hospital for almost 2 months).

At 6 months, she was probably around 10 lbs, and the ALVAs and the next size up of prefolds (green edge, but bleached and “Chinese”) were working well.  Oh, I forgot about the Flip covers!!!!  I couldn’t believe it, but they started fitting at around 7.5 lbs!!!  I’ve been using them ever since!!!  She’s still on the tightest setting, at 14 lbs, but I’ve let out one of the rise snaps, and she’s almost ready for letting out the waist one snap.

The Itti Bitti Boos were a different story, and the only ones we got less use than expected.  I had to size up to a medium due to fit issues, probably at around 11 or 12 pounds.  I will be keeping the smalls for any future newborn, but I really wish they had fit longer.  At least they’ll be in good condition and have good resale value, right?

So, so sum up our awesome experience with cloth diapers thusfar, they CAN work for small babies, and I wholeheartedly recommend using them for newborns!!!  I’m even happier I got to use most of my newborn diapers for a longer period of time, they’re just so darn cute!!!  Get some of those tiny preemie prefolds and you’ll be good to go.  Before you know it, they’ll be fitting in their one size Flip covers!!!  I can’t recommend these two items enough!!!

If you’re just starting a stash for a new little one, here is my advise:

1) start with preemie or newborn prefolds

2) find a cover you like (everyone’s different, there’s aplix or snaps, one size or sized, PUL or TPU, even wool to consider)… try getting a few of several different brands/types because you don’t know what will fit your baby best anyway, then buy more of what you like!!!

3) buy bigger prefolds

4) buy some Flip covers

5) experiment with wool, fitteds, AIO, pockets, whatever you think you may like…now you’ll have an economical and reliable base stash of prefolds and covers AND you’ll have some cloth diapering experience under your belt!

My simple wash routine (did I mention I’m microfiber FREE???!!!)

I doubt that many of you will be that interested, but for those of you starting out, I thought I would post my wash routine.  I will preface this by saying that I have a basic, top loading washer, hard water, and the water here in FL is very chlorinated too (I don’t know if that makes a difference, but I thought I’d mention it just in case).

I wash when my 13.5 gallon trash can is half full (usually every 3rd day).  We use Kanga Care (Rumparooz) pail liners that I got as seconds for $5 each!!!  The seam sealing has come off, but I don’t have any leaks and its in the trash can anyway if it does happen to leak.  The can came with a swing open lid that I keep swung open (if that makes any sense) in order to let more air circulate.

I rinse all my diapers (poo or pee) and wring them out, and then put them in the pail until it’s time to wash.  I think this minimizes stinkiness, especially with the overnight diapers.

On wash day I dump everything into the machine, it’s a medium load and I set it to a cold rinse, then stop the cycle and let them soak for 30 minutes.  Then I finish the cycle.  Then I run a hot cycle (cold rinse) with half a scoop of Country Save.  Sometimes I add a dash of Calgon, and once a month I will do a wash with one RLR packet (1.35 oz) and then an extra warm cycle (wash then cold rinse again).  That’s it!!!

I dry my prefolds and cloth wipes in the dryer for 30 min, hang everything else up (covers, bamboo inserts, itti bitti boos, bg elemental, bamboozles), then the prefolds and wipes are hung up too.  Everything except the fitteds & my one BGE is dry by around 10 a.m. the next morning, after hanging them to dry by around 10 p.m.  I have never tried sunning or bleaching (though I probably should try sunning just for the poo stains).  I have zero stink issues after 9 months.  If I’m lazy, everything except the covers can dry for 1.5 hours in the dryer and be ready for me to pluck from the dryer the next morning without the 10 minute “hassle” of hanging everything up (some nights I’m just tooooo tired, and they’re so much softer this way!!!).  I do try to minimize dry time because it puts unnecessary wear on the diapers, and our electric bill!

So, to recap/sum up:

1) Rinse ALL diapers

2) Dry pail with lid left open

3) Cold 30 minute soak

4) Hot wash with 1/2 scoop detergent

5) 30 minutes in the dryer (except for things with PUL or bamboo)

6) Hang PUL & bamboo items

7) Hang prefolds & wipes to finish drying by morning

That’s it, that’s my diaper care system.  Please feel free to ask questions or comment, all non-spam type things are welcome!

I only stuff diapers at night

In the 9+ months we’ve been cloth diapering my daughter at home, I’ve realized I wouldn’t have my stash any other way, and that includes minimal stuffing!!!  Here’s what we use on a regular basis:

1) prefolds OR 4 layer bamboo inserts with Flip covers (prefolds are snappied or not, depending on my mood/likelihood of a #2 to appear in the diaper)

2) an occasional Itti Bitti Boo or Bumgenius New Elemental while we’re out and about

3) either Bummis Tots Bots Bamboozle fitteds OR a bamboo Alva diaper double stuffed with one bamboo insert and one hemp insert (I like the Thirsties better than the Babykicks Joey Bunz, but use both)

I LOVE my simple, straightforward routine that requires minimal stuffing (only one set of PM diapers) and virtually NO MICROFIBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Oh how I loathe you microfiber!!!!!!!!!  The only microfiber that exists in my stash is an inner layer in the Bamboozles.  That means I don’t have to touch it, feel it, or loathe it!!!!

Sorry for the rant on microfiber, can you tell I dislike it strongly?!!!

Just for fun, here are brands that I’ve tried and don’t currently use:

Grovia shells: They’re awesome for newborns, but started to make her reflux worse at around 6 months, so we’re saving them for a future baby.  I think the aplix closure is awesome, but was too rigid on her little tummy…the soakers also didn’t impress me, they didn’t absorb like I thought they should, so we just used her tiny preemie prefolds, perfect!  (I do LOVE their biosoakers, which are biodegradable disposable inserts.  They’re awesome for road trips!!!  But please do remember to still put poo where it belongs, in the toilet rather than in the garbage…just shake off the insert before you throw it out.)

Grovia Kiwi Pie fitteds:  I loved the prints, the fit was ok, but again the absorbency was less than expected.  I bought them used, so they were well prepped, I guess they just can’t beat my Itti Bitti Boo fitteds!!!!

Itti Bitti Tuttos: So minky soft & trim, I loved the fit of these and the gorgeous colors, but no matter what I did, even with different inserts and just using the outer as a cover, they leaked every time I used them.  Total bummer, but away they go…  My stash doesn’t have room for under-performers!

Sustainablebabyish Multi Snapless Fitteds: So cuddly-soft!!!!!!!!!!  I had some mini versions too, and they were adorable, fit like a dream, even the one size fitteds could fit on my tiny baby…But for some reason they were giving her a rash.  I think the terry fiber ended up holding in the heat…that’s the only thing I can think of…I tried alternating detergents, but that didn’t help.  I was so sad and wanted to love these, but I can’t keep diapers around that are too hot for my baby bum!!!!  Maybe if we lived in a cooler climate, instead of lovely, warm Florida?

Applecheeks: The covers are ruffley-cute, and the bamboo inserts are functional for both cover sizes (did I mention I LOVE bamboo), but my LO gets a heat rash very easily, and these just tend to hold in heat I guess…I can use the cover with a bamboo insert just laid in, but I don’t find that I use it in that way.  It’s the last thing I ever reach for, and I usually just place the Applecheeks bamboo insert into my Flip covers instead.

Lil Joeys: These were the cutest, most functional AIO for a newborn that I could find.  Here’s my process of elimination for other newborn sized All in One diapers:

Bumgenius xs had weird aplix pieces at the back of the diaper as laundry tabs, and I couldn’t put them against my baby’s skin, and I heard that their absorbency was quickly outgrown;

FB xs is actually a pocket diaper, which had microfiber to deal with, so that was a definite NO!;

Swaddlebees newborn had a weird fit, but would likely fit longer…I figured my prefolds would function just as well for a comparatively minimal cost;

Tots Bots Tiny Fit in the new minky were too hot for my baby’s bum (but I LOVED the original bamboo ones, too bad I didn’t break down and buy/find them until my baby was around 10 lbs!!!!);

Grovia newborn just seemed to have a design flaw from the get go…that ruffled gather for the leg elastics always looks like it would just wick on to clothing to me;

And…did I miss any?

Back to the Lil Joeys…I got maybe 4 of them to try, 2 Tulip pink because I was having a girl, and some gender neutral colors for future planning.  I thought these would be perfect, they fit well, contained to poo, I actually never had a leak in them!!!  However, when I would wash them, I just didn’t feel like they were getting clean like my other diapers.  I guess too many layers all enclosed together is not my thing.  Give me flat prefolds and inserts that I know are getting clean!!!!

In the end, my newborn AIO recommendation is the Tots Bots Tiny Fit in the old bamboo/microfiber style, but I’ll write more about them in a later post!

Bummis Super Lite: These covers were PERFECT and I will miss them…I’ve sold them all, they were all newborn size.  I had read a review about them while I was still using them.  They had said that they tend to no longer be able to contain the pee as the baby grows, in other words, they’re outgrown in the capacity department.  I was like “That’s not true, my covers are perfect!”  I think it was about a week later when the same thing happened to me.  Right at the time she started outgrowing her preemie prefolds, the Super Lite covers stopped cutting it.  I’m not sure if it’s how the leg elastics are encased?  But they just started leaking every time…the PUL was intact…it was weird, but off they went to a new newborn family

I’ll probably do a series of separate posts later, chronicling my absolute favorite diapers!!!  What are your favorites and why?  I know every baby is different, what might not work for me might very well work for you!!!  Do you like to have all pockets (which require stuffing)?  Do you love microfiber?  Let me know!!!