Baby Ultra Cloth Diaper Shop: Cloth diapering a newborn

It has been 10 days and i'm still cloth diapering my lil angel Hannah. Proud to say that she has been on CDs since she got home from hospital at day 2 of life!

CDing a newborn needs a lot of preparation (mental and physical), effort, and not to forget... patience. I myself did a lot of reading on cloth diapering a newborn before i decided to go for it, choosing what i thought would be the most efficient, reliable and economical way of CDing.

Thinking of CDing your newborn? Here are some facts you need to get straight:

Babies poop so many times in a day- meaning you'll need to change their diapers many many times- between 8-12 times a day. So, you'll need to think of a CD that goes well with your budget.
Their poop can be quite runny or sometimes explosive! So you'll need a system that is reliable at maintaining the poop inside instead of outside.
You wouldn't know for sure your baby's birth weight until he/ she arrives.So you'll have to be prepared if the baby turns out smaller/ bigger than expected (the problem is usually with smaller babies as it may be a bit difficult to find a good fitting diaper for them)

Other stuff you should consider:

will you be strong enough to go through all the 'trouble' of cloth diapering after you deliver?
do other people around you support your mission?
who's gonna do the washing up?
how much is your budget and is your CDing choice cost effective ( well, that's one of the main reasons you're CDing, right?)
is it convinient?

Having thought about all that, you still decide to CD you child... BRAVO! Remember, you're doing good for your child and also mother nature. So, here's some advice...

What type of diapers should i use?

Actually, you can use any diapering system you want. Here's some pros and cons:

1) Pocket diapers or all in ones

Pros - easy to use, just like using disposable diapers; wipe and toss
Cons - if your newborn is small, it might be a bit bulky; you'll need tons of these to cater for your newborn's explosive pooping sessions- maybe between 24-36 pieces, depending on how often you do laundry. Having said that, pocket diapers are not too expensive, and if you use one size diapers, they can last for the rest of your child's diapering life...

2) All in twos or diaper covers with prefold/ flats

Pros. - also easy to use; just change the soakers when needed and reuse the covers if they're not soiled (AI2s are easier); flats are really cheap so you can afford to have many; prefolds are thicker and have better absorbency, but they dry longer if compared to flats; you wouldn't need too many covers, but a lot of soakers; prefolds and flats give better fit for newborns especially tiny ones.
Cons - if using flats, it's a little tricky to be folding them especially in the middle of the night!; AI2s are much more expensive compared to pocket diapers.

3) Fitted diapers with or without a cover

Pros - easy to use, better absorbency, may not need to use with a cover (you'll be changing them so often sometimes there's not enough time to collect so much pee!)
Cons -they're slightly more expensive, and as mentioned above- they poop so often that the fitteds wont get enough chance to work at its best.

So, those are the pros and cons, according to my view and experience (which is not too long unfortunately)

This is how we're doing it (thanks Mr. Hubby for being sooo supportive):

We're happy using flats (the plain white square cloth our moms used on us before- if ever they used them!) and a waterproof diaper cover.

Hannah was born weighing 2.6kg, which is kinda small. I was worried at first thinking that maybe my dream to CD her wouldn't become a reality. Anyway, i gave it a try once we got back from hospital and with a little creativity and a lot of good luck, we managed succesfully! Yayyy!

Hannah was diapered using a lot of flats and 3 Thirsties diaper covers (duo wraps size 1, covers size xs and s) plus 1 Econobum cover and 3 prefolds. However, most of the time, she'll be on flats and covers. I hardly use the prefolds because she poops so often that the prefolds weren't used maximally. Maybe i'll prefer prefolds once the pooping subsides!

Hannah in Thirsties Duo Wrap at day 2 of life, weighing 2.6kg

Hannah only needs 1-2 diaper covers per day, and around 10-12 flats. We have a lot of flats, a dozen bought this year and we have a whole lot from the previous children's. We fold the flats with the origami fold, which we find convinient and easy to adjust, especially with our tiny Hannah. We hardly had any blowouts so far and we're very pleased.

We have tried using flats like prefolds, but found it difficult to fasten (maybe because it wasn't intended to be used that way!)

Flat terry folded like a prefold. Note that the umbillical cord stump is still above and outside of the nappy when folded this way.

So, that's our cloth diapering experience with baby Hannah. Hope it will help you decide what best suits you and your newborn's needs. All the best and happy cloth diapering!

MY CLOTH DIAPERING TIPS (how to use flats a.k.a. kain lampin on a newborn- and save lots!!!)

Fold napkin in thirds, making sure it overlaps a little in the middle (to provide extra absorbent layers). In this photo, I've also folded the top to accommodate my little girl's size.