Cloth Diapering: The Newborn Stash--Prefolds and Covers

Right, so, I've been meaning to write a post for awhile on the cloth diaper stash that I have built for the newborn phase.  Newborns are tricky.  You don't know what size they're going to be and all but the biggest are too small to fit into one-size cloth diapers.  There's also the fact that they apparently excrete constantly.  "They" say that you should plan to use 12-18 diapers a day for a newborn.  Whoa.  That's a lot of dipes.  Because of this, although I said that I wouldn't ever go there, I decided to build a stash that is at least half prefold diapers with covers to go over them.  Why?  Because they're cheaper!  And apparently work really well at containing the newborn runny poos.  Yay. 

What's a prefold, you ask?  They are squares of fabric, typically cotton and/or gauze that are sewn in such a way that the middle third contains multiple layers of the fabric while the outer two thirds are thinner.  When you fold them around your baby's bottom, the middle layers are there to add extra absorbancy, while the outer layers allow for easy manipulation around baby.  When you purchase prefolds they look completely unimpressive--kind of like a tea towel, thin, not very absorbent.  It's in the wash that they magic happens.  Yes, you must wash prefolds (like most other cloth diapers) before use.  Prefolds require 4-5 washes to quilt up properly and will become even more absorbent with subsequent washes.  With each wash, they get quiltier and fluffier.  Don't believe me?  Here's a great blog post that illustrates just how much prefolds fluff up.  These are actually the same brand that I purchased from Green Mountain Diapers.  I now have 1 dozen newborn and 1 dozen small prefolds prepped and ready to go.



There are a ton of ways to fold these things.  Youtube is actually a great resource for learning how to fold prefolds.  Most people use a closure system of either old-school pin or a snappi.  A snappi is a plastic device with 3 "arms" that have little teeth on them to grab the prefold material.   We went with snappis because pins scare me.  Here's the little beast now:



And a quick image to show you how it's used:



The thing about prefolds is that one their own they are not waterproof.  That's where the diaper covers come in!  They provide a waterproof layer so baby doesn't pee all over you, or worse.  There are a TON of different companies that make diaper covers.  I did some research to find the ones that would be most likely to fit newborns, with a little bit of room to grow since I'm really only planning on using them for a couple months. 

Covers...  I have seven of them right now.  This should be more than enough since they are reusable and do not require washing after every use because (hopefully) the dirty stuff only gets on the prefold!  

I have 1 Mommy's Touch Adjustable Newborn Cover, which I mostly purchased to round out my order from Green Mountain with the prefolds.  :)  It's the only snap cover that I have, the velcro is supposed to be better for the newborn phase because it's more adjustable (and the babes aren't strong enough to rip them off yet either).  It's supposed to fit from 4-10 pounds.  On the plus side it does snap-down to avoid irritating a newborn's healing umbilical stump (as seen in the picture on the yellow cover).  On the minus side, these covers don't have leg gussets, which you'll see soon and help contain the dirty stuff.



I have 3 Rumparooz Newborn Size Diaper Covers, in aplix (velcro!).  These are supposed to fit from 4-12 pounds.  They're cute, cheap and the newborn size have the dip for the umbilical cord as well.  They also have the highly-desired leg gussets!  *gasp*  See that extra bit of material peeking out of the leg opening in the picture?  That's another layer of fabric with elastic that is there to prevent leaks.  Leaks=bad.



I have 2 Thirsties Diaper Covers in size Extra Small.  Again, in aplix.  They're supposed to fit from 6-12 pounds.  These also have gussets and a cut out for the umbilical cord.



Finally, I have 1 of the much-loved among cloth-diapering mommies Bummis Super Brite Wraps in the newborn size.  I only bought one of these because the newborn size is supposed to fit from 4-9 pounds.  Heck, at that rate I'm not sure I'll be able to use it at all!  We shall see.  These have gussets and the waterproof material on the inside is exposed, which makes them really wipe-able in between uses. 



Once diaper changes become less frequent and baby gets big enough to fit into our one-size stash, I do plan to retire the diaper covers.  The prefolds however, can remain useful as they can be used to add absorbency to other kinds of diapers.  Just tri-fold the prefold and shove it in a pocket, or lay it right inside a diaper to add a bit more oomph without adding too much bulkiness.

This has gotten really long, so I will save the other types of newborn dipes that I've purchased for another post.  Technically, between the covers and the prefolds that I have, that should be enough to go a day and a half between washes already.  But I just could not resist purchasing some of the super-easy (and super-cute) all-in-one diapers.  I figured these would also be easier for the grandparents to use so hopefully I can convince them to give it a try.