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!!!

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