Sorry for the lack of posting this week. I've been trying to get this post (and a few other one month update posts) finished for the last five days now. Lots going on with a fussy little Zane. I've also been having issues with pumping and amping up my supply to create a stash so that we have enough milk on hand while I'm at work. But I'm sure that will be a completly different post.
Zane is a month old and I thought that it was a good time for another cloth diapering update. In the last cloth diapering post we had just finished with week one. At that point we were only using the Lil' Joey diapers in our stash and loved the way they were working out. The last half of the first week, we had started to use the rest of the disposable diapers the hospital gave us when Zane was born, while we waited for him to heal from his circumcision. (We were applying a lot of Vaseline to help him heal and we didn't think that it was good for the cloth diapers.)
Zane healed pretty quickly and he was back in cloth diapers before we knew it. Since then, Zac and I have had some time to really get a routine going, try out all of the diapers in our newborn stash, and figure out what works for us and Zane.
Lil' Joey by Rumparooz: Right off the cuff, the Rumparooz Lil' Joey diapers were our favorite. The all in one diaper is super easy to put on him and we were able to get a great fit on him. These diapers are super absorbant and hold a lot of wetness. The best part about these diapers is that the pull the moisture away from his skin so he stays pretty dry even when he heavily wets the diaper.
For about a week, we were unable to get a great fit on our little guy. Zane is tall and skinny with thin little thighs. He had started to get a little belly on him so we adjusted the waist. Since the Lil' Joey diapers only have one snap to adjust the fit, extending the waist also extended the thigh holes and they were not as snug as they needed to be. He did leak a little onto his clothes as a result. This is when we really started trying out the other diapers in our stash.
Zane has grown a few inches and his belly is not as round so the fit is back to being just snug enough on both his waist and thighs. While we still love these diapers we have a few new favorites as well.
For about a week, we were unable to get a great fit on our little guy. Zane is tall and skinny with thin little thighs. He had started to get a little belly on him so we adjusted the waist. Since the Lil' Joey diapers only have one snap to adjust the fit, extending the waist also extended the thigh holes and they were not as snug as they needed to be. He did leak a little onto his clothes as a result. This is when we really started trying out the other diapers in our stash.
Zane has grown a few inches and his belly is not as round so the fit is back to being just snug enough on both his waist and thighs. While we still love these diapers we have a few new favorites as well.
Prefolds: Surprisingly, these have turned out to be our favorite diapers to use throughout the day. At first we were a bit nervous to use them. The whole folding thing left us a little intimidated. After we looked up some Youtube videos (yes we are huge fans of Youtube) we realized that it was going to be a lot easier than we thought (much like cloth diapering in general). And look how cute the covers look with his clothes.
It is definitely easier to get a custom fit on Zane with a prefold since there are no snaps to worry about. (Well at least on the prefold.) We're using newborn covers by Rumparooz which have multiple snaps and allow us to get a better fit on him as well. We've never had any leaks or blowouts while he has been wearing a prefold. We have had some almost blowout moments where the mess has gotten out of the prefold, but the double gusset leg holes and the great fit of the covers have held everything in nicely. We also like that (permitted we don't have an almost blowout moment) we can use the covers several times a day before needing to wash them.
The one thing about using prefolds is that they are not super absorbant. Once they are wet, they are wet. The all in one diapers seem to pull the wetness away from Zane's skin and the prefolds don't have that quality. Zane gets very uncomfortable when he gets wet (as anyone would) and he will let us know when he needs a changing when he has a prefold on. We do find that we change more diapers when we use the prefold, but they take a lot less time to dry so we can replenish our stash pretty quickly.
It is definitely easier to get a custom fit on Zane with a prefold since there are no snaps to worry about. (Well at least on the prefold.) We're using newborn covers by Rumparooz which have multiple snaps and allow us to get a better fit on him as well. We've never had any leaks or blowouts while he has been wearing a prefold. We have had some almost blowout moments where the mess has gotten out of the prefold, but the double gusset leg holes and the great fit of the covers have held everything in nicely. We also like that (permitted we don't have an almost blowout moment) we can use the covers several times a day before needing to wash them.
The one thing about using prefolds is that they are not super absorbant. Once they are wet, they are wet. The all in one diapers seem to pull the wetness away from Zane's skin and the prefolds don't have that quality. Zane gets very uncomfortable when he gets wet (as anyone would) and he will let us know when he needs a changing when he has a prefold on. We do find that we change more diapers when we use the prefold, but they take a lot less time to dry so we can replenish our stash pretty quickly.
Grovia: Initially we were not a fan of this Grovia all in one newborn diaper. This was because we used it as an overnight diaper one evening and it just wasn't meant for that. Zane is a bit of a heavy wetter and he filled this diaper up. The moisture wicked onto his pajamas and in the middle of the night we were left to change not only his diaper but his whole outfit as well. This is not fun when you are super tired and can hardly open your eyes.
Though this was not a good night time option we later found that it was a great day time diaper when we were changing him more frequently. We were able to get a great fit on him and it was trim enough to fit under his neworn clothes without a problem.
BumGenius Newborn: Not surprisingly, due to it's velcro closure, we can get the most custom fit on this diaper. It's the easiest diaper for other people to use because there is no guessing which snaps to close it on and no folding involved.
The inside of the diaper is flat with only a single gusset liner. We thought that this might cause problems with blowout and leakage however, due to the custom fit we haven't had any issues. The only problem we've had with this diaper is the velcro closure. While the velcro is great for getting a custom fit and makes it super easy to use, when you're changing a diaper in the middle of the night you don't always remember to tuck the closures on the velcro tab. On a few occasions we've opened up the dryer to find a few cloth wipes or a onesie stuck to the velcro on the diaper. Not cool.
We found that this diaper was a cross between the Lil' Joey's and the BumGenius newborn all in one diapers. The outer shell and fit is very much like the Lil' Joey diaper. It has a one snap adjustable fit. The sizing of this diaper is a little different than the Lil' Joey however and we are able to get a better fit around the thighs. The inside is more like the Bumgenius newborn diaper which is flat. It has pretty good absorbtion and keeps the moisture pulled away from Zane's skin. All in all it's a pretty good diaper and one of the first that I will reach for if we are putting him in an all in one.
BumGenius 4.0: Now that our little guy is over 8lbs, he has started to fit into the BumGenius 4.0 one size pocket diapers. These diapers are meant to go from newborn to toddler and can fit babies from 8-35lbs. Being born at 6lbs 11oz, Zane was a bit too tiny for these diapers at birth. These diapers fit when put on the smallest setting for both waist and rise. Since they are able to be set larger for a bigger baby or toddler, they are a bit bulky on our barely 8lb little man.
As you can see, he has quite the big booty in this diaper. This isn't one that we would put him in when dressing him in his newborn clothes, but when we're home and we don't care about how it looks, we think they work pretty good.
I made the mistake of putting him in this diaper a little too early when he had a little bit of a belly and super skinny thighs. The fit wasn't just right on his thighs and I learned this the hard way. I was holding Zane on my lap and suddenly smelled the unpleasant warning of a diaper change. I went to stand up and realized that my lap was covered in poop. Zane had a huge blowout through one of the leg holes and I had quite a clean up job to deal with. I'm pretty sure that he would have had a blowout in any diaper, cloth or disposable, because it was quite a sizeable mess. Still, I opted to avoid using this diaper on him again until we were able to get a better fit on him.
Now that he can fit in the diaper a bit better we've started to use this as a night time option. They are very absorbant and later if we need to increase the absorbancy we can add another insert into the pocket. Zane is a bit of a heavy wetter so it's possible that we'll have to do this soon. For now we love that we can put this on him at night and not have to worry about any leakage. Also, these do a really good job with wicking the moisture into the insert and keeping his skin very dry. This means that even though he soaks the diaper, he isn't waking up in the middle of the night uncomfortable or upset. We'd definitely recommend these diapers to anyone who decided to cloth diaper.
So there's where we stand with our cloth diapering. Or at least it's where we were a few weeks ago. Blogging has certainly gotten more difficult these past few weeks. I'm hoping to be able to keep up the pace but with my return to work quickly approaching we'll just have to see.
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