Building my Stash: Newborn Cloth

So excited! Today I received my order of newborn diapers from amazon.com. I ordered 1 Grovia AIO and 2 Rumparooz Diaper covers. The Rumparooz will be used with prefolds (Like what your mother or grandma used).  The cover can be wiped off on the inside which allows it to be used multiple times before needing to be washed. My husband could not stop laughing with how excited I was, pulling them out of the box, and testing them out on the build-a-bear we have.

 I have been skeptical about buying newborn cloth but then I really thought about the fact that they fit 4lbs up to 15lbs. I can overlap using newborns and my regular one-size diapers until he out grows the newborns. PLUS, while in the hospital I can use the newborns with disposable inserts to save on being charged for the diapers they provide during your stay. I know it seems silly and not a huge reason but all those things add up in the end. 

Cloth diapering does not have to be exclusive; this is just the route we are deciding to take. Some parents don't start CD until their child is a month old, some do it only when at home (i.e. not at daycare, Church, or at grandma's house). Some parents start CD when they bring their newborn home and some begin from day one. It's all your comfort level. I want to dive in head first and tackle it all from day one. Doing your research and being prepared is probably the best tip I can find no matter what blog or article I have come across. 

Newborn All-in-one cloth diaper

To diaper a newborn you need about 12 changes per day. So, If you do laundry every other day you need at least 24 diapers plus a few extra. If you use diaper covers, they can stretch at least 3 changes. All you need do is grab a new prefold and wipe any wetness out of the cover. This is a great option for newborns because prefolds will fit snugly around those little newborn thighs. AIO, AI2, and pocket diapers also come in newborn size. Almost every brand of cloth diaper also sells a newborn counterpart.Below are a few different folds for a prefold under a cover. 

The World of Cloth! Entering it and not losing your mind....

One ideal I am holding to in this first pregnancy is that I want to choose the best things for my little one that I can. Also along that line I need to not go broke :)

When I first started researching Cloth Diapering (CD) I was very overwhelmed by the massive amount of work it seemed to entail. Then as I dove deeper and learned about the ways it actually can benefit your baby and save you money, my interest was heightened. I have learned so much on the side of just how financially it can save you thousands of dollars in disposable diapers and it's is really better for the landfills.

Random fact: It takes 500+ years for a disposable diaper to completely decompose in a landfill and that's due mainly to the amount of plastic and chemicals that are used.

I have gotten some funny looks when people find out my plan is to CD my kids. This is just one aspect of my approaching motherhood and if it is not for you that is totally ok! CD is not for everyone! I am just excited to share my experience, trials, and adventures with this as I figure it all out.

I have started to slowly order cloth diapers off of different websites in the past few months. I am going with the Pocket Diaper approach. There are inserts that can be stuffed inside the diaper or layered on-top and interchanged when soiled. Here are some pictures of what I have collected so far.

These are all one size fits all pocket diapers that have snaps on the front to shrink them for when baby is smaller. They are rated for 10-35lbs. The small cream diaper on the bottom left is actually a newborn AIO (All-in-one) diaper that is basically a cloth version of a disposable where you use once and wash.

This is called a wet bag. Its purpose in life is to contain wet and soiled inserts and diapers while you are on the go outside of the house. It has two zippered pockets and is water resistant on the inside. I will need to collect a few of these so you have plenty to take a clean one whenever you have an outing. You can, on laundry day, just throw it into the wash with your diapers and inserts.