Newborn Cloth Diaper Roundup

We have been cloth diapering Daniela since she was a day old, and it’s been going swimmingly! She has a whole stash of one size diapers that she has yet to grow into, but we also had a smaller stash of tiny newborn sized diapers to get us through the first several weeks.  I did lots of research beforehand into cloth diapes that will fit brand new babies, and wanted to share my experiences with some of them here!  First, some diapers that Daniela has been photographed wearing ; )

#1- Size 0 Newborn Kissaluvs

These were our go to diapers for the first few days.  They’re not waterproof, but they’re organic unbleached cotton, and snap down to avoid hitting the umbilical cord stump.  While I was just making colostrum, these were sufficient without a cover – she wasn’t peeing enough to soak through them.  Once she needed a diaper cover over these, I stopped liking them, as much as I wanted to- putting on two separate garments felt like too much work, and the velcro on the outside of the newborn sized covers we were using would scratch me when I was breastfeeding skin to skin (which was every time in those days).  They also got quite bulky with the covers on top.  I still loved these for those first days, but wouldn’t have stocked up as much as I did had I known how little I’d use them after that.

Daniela is about 10 days old, and about 7.5 lbs in all of these three upcoming photos, by the way!

#2 – Lil Joeys by Kangaroos

I LOVE these all in one diapers! They are sized diapers and quite small, but at 6 and a half weeks, she still hasn’t quite outgrown them and I’m using them all I can before she does!  They snap down to accomodate the umbilical cord stump, and they fit her wonderfully from day 1.  She weighed 7 lbs 4 oz, and had pretty skinny legs at birth.  They have never leaked thanks to the built in gussets, and don’t take too long to dry (a common complaint about the all in one diapers).  They’re also trim and cute, and I must say that the ease of all in one diapers is wonderful.

#3 – Small sized G Diapers

Not to be confused with the newborn sized all in ones that G Diapers is now making, but we had her in their standard size Small hybrid diapers from about a week old on, and they fit her well! We did go through a period where they were leaking, but I think it was due to user error (we weren’t lining the plastic hammock part up in the fold of her legs correctly).  I am loving these – the only thing preventing me from using them as our main cloth diapering solution in the future is that they are sized and we’d need to invest in a stash of Small, then Medium, then Large pants and cloth inserts (whereas the Grovia hybrid diapers are one sized / adjustable, so I want to try them out when she grows into them before deciding).  We only had one small sized G cover to start, and I immediately ordered 4 more of them.  They are now our main day to day diapers for her, and since the Small will fit up to 14 lbs, they will be for some time yet.  I really like both the G diaper brand cloth inserts for these, the G brand disposable (biodegradable and flushable) inserts, and have also found that other brands inserts usually also work in these, as long as they reach the ends of the plastic hammock.  The disposable inserts have flushed easily, and they are more absorbent than the cloth inserts- a great option for when we’re on the go.  They also get major bonus points for being so darned cute!

#4 – Tot bots Teeny Fit diapers

These are sized diapers that are sort of halfway in between an all in one and a pocket diaper- the insert is affixed to the diaper, but as a separate piece that flaps out and that you tuck into a little partial pocket.  The reason for this is that it makes them wash out more thoroughly (some people complain that all in ones get smelly quicker), and dry more quickly.  These have fit her great from day 1, never leaked, and are also pretty darned cute and trim.  They come in cute patterns, but we just have a few solids that we picked up from a daily deal site.  I like these a lot, but for our longterm solution, plan to use a hybrid system – either G Diapers or Grovia – because of the flexibility to use disposable inserts.  I also don’t want to keep using sized diapers in the long term, since I’d rather invest in one size diapers that will grow with her if I can!

#5 – Blueberry Mini Deluxe One Size Pocket Diaper

This is our cutest print diaper that fit her virtually from birth!  I LOVE these little handprints, and they come in a lot of other cute prints too.  These are little tiny sized pocket diapers and we’ve had no issues with them, although they are slightly bulky on her.  For a pocket diaper that will fit tiny babies, this is a great option.  I don’t plan on making pocket diapers our main solution though, for the same reasons discussed above.

I can’t wait until she grows into her Grovia one size hybrid diapers, so I can fully compare them to the G Diapers.  What I love about both of them (besides having both cloth and disposable insert options) is that rather than being a pocket diaper, the inserts lay directly against the skin.  This way, unless the diaper is really really  messy, you can theoretically only wash the insert, thereby saving water and saving money because you don’t need to own a pair of the pants for every insert.  This has indeed worked out with the G pants so far – I have to wash the plastic hammock but not the cotton pants maybe one in two or three times we change her (and they can be ordered separately, so we have extras on hand), and I probably wash the pants maybe every fourth or fifth time we change her.

Hope someone finds this useful – more to follow when she’s gotten to try the rest of our stash!