First month in cloth diapers (picture heavy)

The first week & a half of Matthew's life, he wore disposables, and I was okay with that. After all, I was laid up after having a c-section (so I wouldn't be doing laundry for the time being), DH had *just* learned how to change diapers and we were both learning how to be parents. Yeah, I guess we still are learning that last one, but you know what I mean. I kinda also wanted to wait until his cord stump fell off, and thought that a week & a half was sufficient. Me <---- rookie.

Anyway, after the pack of diapers the hospital sent us home with ran out, it was decided to keep on with the disposables for a few more days, as I was still having a lot of difficulties getting around and disposables are easy. So DH went to Walmart and bought a pack. Which lasted a grand total of 3 days because Matthew poops a lot. But I'd said when he bought that pack that when it was done, we'd be doing cloth... after all, we had newborn diapers to use, so why not use them? So what if his cord stump hadn't fallen off yet? So with great trepidation, I strapped him into an infant-sized prefold and cover. I immediately doubted the decision to do cloth. And I do mean IMMEDIATELY. They were so so so big and bulky on him. It surprised me because going in, I knew that cloth diapers were bulkier than disposables and the thought didn't bother me at all. But when I saw it in action, combined with the fact that Matthew was screaming his head off, I had the first of many post-partum freak-outs that involved tears. And it wasn't just the prefolds that were big and bulky. His XS Bum Genius AIO's were that way, too. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures because it depressed me that much.

I felt so incredibly guilty that I had to talk and push DH into doing cloth only for me to end up hating it. I felt buyers remorse when I thought of the hundreds of dollars I'd spent on them. I felt bad that others had gifted us cloth diapers, and they might not be used. I felt like a horrible mother because Matthew usually doesn't fuss during diaper changes, yet here he was, freaking out. And later, when he didn't sleep at all because of the change, it made me seriously consider making DH go to Walmart and get more disposables. I admitted all this to DH, and he was supportive about doing whatever I wanted to do. He didn't make me feel bad about thinking of quitting so soon. So I made the decision to keep on cloth for a few more days and re-evaluate.

Over the next few days, I became okay with cloth, even though I still hated how bulky they were on him. I mean, cleaning them is easy. Actually putting the diapers on him is easy, too... just not as easy as a disposable. But one thing still bothered me a lot... enough to go back into disposables for a bit. As his cord stump still hadn't fallen off after 2 weeks, it was common to see blood on his diaper covers from where it had rubbed up against his cord. I didn't want it to become infected because it wasn't properly drying out, so DH went and got another pack. We also received more from my in-laws, so we had about a week & a half's worth of disposables, with the hopes that Matthew's cord would fall off in that time. It did.

But that brief break made me think that disposables weren't that great either. Matthew developed diaper rash pretty much as soon as we put him back in them. It didn't get bad, but that may have been because we started putting on the cloth diaper-safe ointment before every change. But I found it telling that he didn't get the rash until he went back into disposables. He also now hated to be changed, as where after that first day in cloth, he became okay with cloth. Could have been because of the rash. Who knows? Anyway, point being, after those disposables ran out, we went back into cloth, and haven't looked back. He also grew a lot so they don't seem *as* bulky as before, so that helps. It also helps that DH now really likes cloth and is excited to see how much money we'll save at the end.

So given all that, here's what I've found I like and what I don't like.

What I like:

Unbleached Indian Prefolds, infant sized
from CottonBabies
6 weeks, 11 pounds

I actually really love prefolds & covers now. Yeah, they'll always be big & bulky, but when it comes down to it, they're the only diaper I haven't had a leak from. Not a one.

Thirsties diaper cover, size XS
4 weeks, 9 pounds.

Thirsties Duo Wrap cover, size 1
4 weeks, 9 pounds.

Thirsties covers. I have covers from Thirsties and Bummis, and I vastly prefer Thirsties. Reasons why are listed under Bummis in the "selling" section. But other than those reasons, I do like how Thirsties has the Duo Wrap covers, which will last longer on Matthew than just a single sized cover since there are 3 different sizes you can snap to. I do have one Thirsties cover in size XS and one in small, and they both work great, too. But in their case, it's either they fit, or they don't.

Cloth wipes. I made about 20 of my own, flannel on one side, stretch terry on the other. They're the bomb, although I do need to make more since we tend to run short, what with Matthew still needing about 12 diaper changes a day.

Eh.... I can do without, but they're not horrible:

FuzziBunz OS Elite, smallest setting
4 weeks, 9 pounds

Pocket diapers. At this point in time, they're still a little big on him, so we get the occasional leak from around his skinny thighs. We'll give it some more time for him to grow into them. We have FuzziBunz OS Elite, BumGenius 4.0, Kawaii Baby, Lotus Bumz and FuzziBunz Perfect Size small. But so far, he's only tried out the FuzziBunz OS Elite. BTW, in the pic above, the snaps that adjust to the thighs are not set to their tightest setting. I re-snapped them after the picture was taken.

BumGenuis NB AIO.
3 weeks, 8.5 pounds

Bum Genius NB AIO's. The fit is fabulous. However, he gets leaks out the top, which is weird, because the waist is tight enough, the inner fabric isn't wicking out, the rise is just fine and we point his penis down. Could be we have a super soaker on our hands?

Kissas fitteds, size 0
4 weeks, 9 pounds

Kissas fitteds. They work well, but going along with the super soaker suspicion, these get completely soaked very quickly.

RagaBabe Easy AIO, size small
5 weeks, 10 pounds.

Sad to admit, my RagaBabe AIO. He must be super excited to wear it, because every single time I put it on him, he poops in it within 5 minutes. And I'm not even exaggerating... 5 minutes, tops. Every time. So it might work awesomely, but if he keeps this pace up, he'll out-grow it before I get to find out if it was worth the money or not.

What I'll definitely be selling:

Bummis Super Brite cover, size small
6 weeks, 11 pounds

Bummis Super Brites covers. The top part of the cover folds down easily, and so the velcro becomes exposed. The velcro on them is sturdy, which means that it's stiff. And it usually ends up rubbing up against Matthew's bare tummy and leaving red marks, which I do not like even if Matthew doesn't seem bothered by it (see pic above for said red marks). The PUL material is also noisier than I'd like... to me, it almost sounds like a plastic bag. The covers themselves work fine in that they've prevented leaks. But that's not reason enough to keep them when we have other options.

Grovia NB AIO

Grovia NB AIO's. Again, the fit is fabulous. But the way they're constructed (serged edges), it wicks any urine/runny NB poop right onto anything his diaper area is touching. So with this diaper, you pretty much have to change the diaper after an hour, tops, or else you're changing his clothes, your clothes, bedding, blankets and/or cleaning furniture. Too much work for only an hour's worth of "protection" IMHO. There are no pictures of him in this diaper, because he's only worn two of them once, and that was long before I considered taking pictures of him in his diapers.

So that's the run-down of how things stand at this point. Although we're starting to experience the dreaded "stinkies", much to my dismay. I think it's a build up of detergent. Can't comment much on that yet, because I'm still trying to find the best way to strip the diapers. Blue Dawn dish soap didn't work. I'm now trying baking soda. If that doesn't work, I'll order some RLR. As always, I'll update when I think I got it figured out.