For those of you wondering about how you’d go about cloth diapering a newborn, take Lauren, from The Median Mommy’s story about prefolds into consideration. Lauren is a a 35 year-old breastfeeding, cloth-diapering, baby-wearing first time mom and wife, writing about fumbling her way through natural parenting and adjusting to SAHmommyhood on her blog The Median Mommy.
When I began my cloth diapering (CDing) journey, I took the time to research all of the options available to me, as well as weeding through the mountain of CDing information out there. For some reason, I saw All-in-Ones (AIOs) and pocket diapers as ‘wasteful’ early on, and developed a preference for prefolds and covers. I’m not sure what I was thinking, maybe it was because AIOs and pockets had to be discarded after each use like a disposable, whereas covers could be used over (if not soiled). Regardless, I ended up buying 10-11 pockets for my stash, just to try out, but they don’t really get used.
Once Declan was here, we quickly discovered that prefolds were our best option. Never did I think that I, a six foot tall woman, would deliver a small baby. In fact, my midwife was prepping me for an almost nine-pounder by her predictions with his weight gain and measurements in-utero. Thus, all of our pockets and one size covers were for 8lbs. and up – a bit big for our little peanut, who left the hospital at a little over six pounds. In fact, our little guy didn’t hit the 8lb. mark until he was 2 months old!
Thank goodness for our prefolds and Thirsties covers! We did try some of our pockets in those early days, but our lean baby’s explosive breast milk poos constantly leaked from the gaps in the legs. I was so glad that I had, on a whim, purchased a dozen newborn prefolds. The fit was perfect – no major folding over or adjusting, making first time CDing with prefolds a breeze. Best of all, no explosive poo leaks! The prefolds, with the added barrier of the inner leg gussets in the cover, meant that we avoided some potentially messy situations.
While I often feel like a minority in the CDing world with my prefold preference, I’m gradually warming to the idea of breaking out some of those pockets. Now that my son has filled out a bit, with the introduction of solids, I feel more confident adding pocket diapers to our daily routine. However, unless someone can convince me otherwise, I’ll be stocking up on more newborn prefolds and using them with subsequent babies (if we’re so blessed).
I’m a creative young mom, wife and entrepreneur loving life in rural Idaho and having a crazy time filling it with laughter and handmade treasures.
I tend to be a pocket gal, but only once they are older and squirmy. For newborns, I swear by prefolds and covers, with as many diapers as a newborn can soil in a day, they just make more sense!