Is it worth buying cloth diapers for a newborn baby? Disposables are admittedly very convenient. Plus, we often get them as gifts, so why not use them up and save some time and money?
Mary Kate is about 4 weeks old now. I was thinking again today about our decision to cloth diaper her from birth and the reasons it works well for our family.
Reason #1: This is the time that a baby goes through the most diapers; that means you’ll have to buy more disposables than usual. So from a cost-savings perspective, this is the ideal time to use cloth instead of throw-away.
Reason #2: Newborns grow fast (sniff sniff) so they won’t use those tiny diapers for too long. That means they are usually in good shape when you’re done. Pack them away for the next little one (most of our newborn diapers have been used at least 2, even 3 times over), or sell/swap online. They have excellent resale value. I listed some the other day and they were gone within HOURS. Tiny, adorable diapers pretty much sell themselves.
Reason #3: You can tell when they’re wet so it’s easy to track a newborn’s output. A cloth diaper will feel wet and heavy when your baby has peed. Very simple! But with super-absorbent, stay-dry disposables, it’s harder to tell. This is something I especially appreciate as a breastfeeding mother because you can’t actually see the quantity of milk that’s going in.
Reason #4: Newborns have such sensitive skin. It makes perfect sense to diaper them in soft, fluffy cloth. I don’t wear crackly plastic underwear, and I don’t think Mary Kate would choose that if she could. 😉
Reason #5: Our newborn diapers fit better than the newborn disposables, especially those with double gussets which snugly encase newborn “bird legs” and keep blowouts in. That means less outfit changes – and laundry.
Reason #6: “Honey, can you grab some more diapers at the store?” I haven’t said those words ONCE since Mary Kate was born. With cloth, you can put an end to the constant buying cycle.
Reason #7: With cloth, you’re less likely to overbuy. A lot of us go overboard in the beginning and get stuck with unused newborn or size one disposables. With cloth, you can buy a few things to try and then get more of what you like. Nothing will be wasted or left unused. And you can always re-sell later.
Reason #8: Newborn diapers can actually fit longer than their disposable counterparts, so you don’t have to constantly move up sizes. Many newborn/small covers have one or two sets of snaps on the rise to ensure baby can wear them past the newborn phase. Doublers and inserts can be added for very little money to help boost the absorbency of your newborn diapers as baby grows.
If you’ve cloth diapered a newborn, I’d like to hear how it worked out for you. Or, if you have questions, let me know in a comment below!
What brand/style do you like for newborn diapers? We cloth diaper full time so when my second was a newborn we tried to cloth diaper from birth. I had newborn BumGenius AIOs, newborn Thirsties AIOs, and small gDiapers. The BumGenius and Thirsties would leak within 45 minutes, so I would be changing not only diapers, but outfits, and sheets as well. Not only would the diaper leak, they also rubbed the umbilical stump even when they were snapped down. I was so frustrated. If that would have been my first experience with cloth diapers, I definitely would not have continued. Once the umbilical stump fell off, the small gDiapers worked great and soon after that we could use our one size diapers without any problems. I’m expecting #3 and was planning on using disposables until we can use gDiapers and one size, but would love to hear which newborn diapers you used to make it work for you.
I used the THX newborn diapers for my last baby and plan to use them again this time. They worked great for us! Once she was a couple weeks old (I can’t remember exactly when), the diapers still fit well but they were no longer absorbent enough so I would fold a small bamboo washcloth in half and put it in the diaper. It didn’t seem to make the diaper any bulkier and gave the perfect amount of extra absorbancy. I was able to use them until she was around 6 weeks old. I also had no problems with them rubbing the umbilical stump when they were snapped down. Lil Joeys are very similar to THX, although they are much pricier.
Hi Jessica, that’s a tough question to answer since we’ve reviewed so many newborn diapers! (They are all listed here http://www.zephyrhillblog.com/newborn-diapers/)
I also found that the newborn bumGenius was not as absorbent as I would have liked. My go-to diapers are bamboo newborn prefolds with covers (Diaper Rite, Sweet Pea, Nicki’s, etc.). One of the most absorbent AIO’s I have tried is the new Diaper Rite newborn AIO. Another reliable one is the Tots Bots TeenyFit.
Anne
I actually love using flats on newborns. If you don’t want to learn the folds (which work great to keep in blow outs) you can just pad fold them inside a cover. They wash well and are absorbent. And can be used as boosters to one size diapers later and are very economical.
I have about 6 small flats that fit just right in our newborn covers and love them for the same reasons you do, Katie! ~Anne