In The Middle of It: Newborn Cloth Diapering

Let me begin this post by summing it up: I LOVE THE RUMPAROOZ LIL' JOEYS!!!! I bought them for three reasons: Convenience, Fit, and Umbilical Cord friendliness. They fit the bill perfectly. I am so, so happy I took the plunge and bought them before the baby was born. And since I already had them, I was able to get some super cute pics of my baby in them before we even left the hospital.

This is Violet. She was 7lbs 14oz at birth, and the Lil' Joeys fit her perfectly on the smallest setting. I didn't end up putting her in cloth for the drive home from the hospital. Fail. I don't know why I didn't. It was just a lost detail in the very long nightmare that is getting dismissed from a hospital. But she did wear them as soon as we got home. I love how well they fit underneath her newborn size clothing. No cloth bubble butt.

She wore them on the smallest setting until her cord fell off at two weeks old. After that I was able to undo the snap down feature which gave her a lot more wiggle room, while still on the smallest setting for the waist. I did put fleece liners in the Lil' Joeys while I waited for Violet to get rid of all the dark meconium poo. That was a tight squeeze. Maybe the biodegradable liners would have been better? I never tried. But her poo turned a lovely shade of yellow within a day or two, so I didn't have to squeeze the liners in for long.

I have 14 Lil' Joey diapers. This stash is enough when washing every night. I hardly use my tiny prefolds and covers that I got for laundry day. But I LOVE the newborn sized Bummis Super Brite. It is a little tricky to get the prefold under the flap in front, but once you get it in it has a super trim fit. I never leave Violet in it for long. So although it has never leaked on me, I haven't give it a good chance to prove it's leak proofness. The Thirsties Duo Wrap in size one fits snugly around her legs, and has more room for stuffing a prefold, but is just generally bulkier than the Bummis so I don't use it as much. But it is a good cover economically speaking because it will still fit Violet for a few months, I think, while the newborn Super Brite is nearing the end of it's usefulness already.

Violet wears her Lil' Joeys even at night. They have only leaked maybe once or twice when she has slept longer than four hours at a stretch (isn't that delightful?!). She has gone over four hours other times without them leaking, though. Maybe I didn't have them snapped just right those other times.

I have been using cloth wipes. My favorite is actually the cheap Gerber wash cloths. I got some in plain white so I could designate them specifically for diapering, and not wash Violet's pretty little face with a pooped on wash cloth. I bought other cloth wipes to try, but haven't liked any of them.

I haven't tried my Wee Essentials wipes cubes yet. Simply because I haven't had the time in these busy first weeks with baby. I've just been wetting the wipes down with plain water as I need them. That's been a little bit of a pain. I need a better system. At bedtime, I put about four wet wash cloths in a ziplock baggie for middle of the night changes. That has worked well so far.

And Rockin' Green laundry soap. Should you get some? Yes, you should. It is simply delightful. After a few washes with the Rockin' Green I did notice my Lil' Joeys smelling a little bit funky. But after an extra long soak in that magic stuff, I could shove 'em straight up to my nose and sniff nothing but cleanliness. The Lil' Joeys do have slight yellow staining. But I don't think it's anything a good long soak and some sun bathing (I guess I'll have to wait till Spring) can't take out.

So far, so good. I was worried that using cloth at the newborn stage would be overwhelming, but it really isn't. I'm really glad I decided to go for it. Give it a go! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.