Is this what it is like to using prefolds or am I doing something wrong?

[bright_eyes]

I am currently using pre-folds on my 4 week old baby and can hardly keep up with the amount of changing I have to do. I have 25 prefolds that I got second hand and I find I need to change him every time he pees. This means I have to wash diapers daily because I change him so often that I don't quite make it through 2 full days. He pees once and the prefold is totally soaked. I feel like I am unbuttoning his sleeper a little and feeling for a wet diaper a million times a day. It is such a pain to be changing a diaper so often. It means I can't even keep him in my wrap for a long period of time and just let him have a good long sleep on me because I'll discover he's had a pee and have to take him out and change him. I've started using disposables when I want him to have a longer stretch of sleep. Especially at night because changing him that often means I'm guaranteed to have him wide awake at one point in the middle of the night and he is a pain to get back to sleep during the night.

Is this what using prefolds is like??? Or am I doing something wrong? I've heard that prefolds need to be washed quite a few times before they become really absorbent but mine are second hand, so I'm assume they've been washed enough but maybe not? But I am not quite sure how being more absorbent would keep baby from feeling the wetness from a single pee. If it's absorbent enough would the moisture be completely wicked away from a baby so that they don't feel wet?

If this is what using prefolds is like, how do you keep up with the non-stop changing? I do love the idea of baby never having to sit in his/her own pee and peeing dry all the time but at the same time, I am finding it so hard to keep up with the amount of times a newborn pees!!!

[tinyblackdot]

There is nothing wrong with your prefolds. That is just how it is with a newborn. They pee all of the time! If you want to get a CD that will wick away the moisture, you might try something with fleece, like a fuzzy bunz and use your prefolds as the inserts. They pull moisture away from the skin like disposables. The older you lo gets the longer they go between peepees but thats part of CDing. I washed every day usually and sometimes on bad days it was 2 times a day. If you want to stick with prefold, i would really suggest getting a dozen more of the infant size. My dd could wear the infant size untill she was about 20 months old. And like i mentioned before you can always use them as inserts.

If i where you i would get 12 fuzzybunz or some other type of wicking CD to use overnight or when you are out running errands or nap time so that you lo isnt sitting with urine on their skin and the can go for a little longer between changes. But really you should change them as soon as they are wet.

You could also get a fleece or suedcloth sock that you would put the prefold into and then lay that into your cover like a trifolded prefold.

[Blueone]

Newborns pee a ton. My husband is still amazed. I bought 26 diapers and that really made it easier to wash every other day. I use cotton diapers but add a strip of fleece from a baby blanket I cut up to keep moisture away. But the only time I do that is at night. I have been considering doing it all the time though and will be cutting up more of that blanket today.

Also, if you're concerned about him sitting in a wet diaper and developing a rash I would put a bit of a cloth diaper friendly cream on him, like California baby. I generally only change him before he eats, and then 20 minutes after if he's awake still. If he's asleep though, I just let him sleep. Sitting in a wet diaper for a bit hasn't hurt him yet. I just be sure to add a booster before nap time or night because otherwise he leaks.

[curiouscanadian]

I'd say it's a combination of things. Newborns do pee a LOT. Just ask any ECer. Up to 20 times a day is not unheard of. The good news is that it doesn't last forever, DS now goes through MAYBE 8-9 diapers a day?

I too am obsessive about changing a diaper as soon as it's wet, but have to ask if it's bothering him, or just you? If it's not bothering him, I would never wake a baby up just to change their diaper. Well, unless they're dirty as well as wet. IME, a baby that young generally won't sleep long enough for it to cause a rash unless you don't change it when they wake up or do it repeatedly.

If it's absorbent enough would the moisture be completely wicked away from a baby so that they don't feel wet?

No matter how absorbant a diaper is, unless there is some sort of stay-dry later (generally microfleece or suedecloth) to wick the moisture away, they will feel wet. If it's really bothering you, I would second the suggestion of trying a pocket diaper or some sort of stay-dry liner or sock. When DS was younger I changed him a LOT during the day but very quickly switched to BumGenius diapers at night, after which point I only needed to change him maybe once at night.

HTH!

[sunshynbaby]

Nope, newborns pee like crazy, but I would be changing them no matter what (even with sposies) because I don't like ds to sit in urine. I double up the prefolds at night for ds.

[PoppyMama]

If your little one doesn't have super sensitive skin I would stop changing with every pee. I have never done that and my babies never had rash problems until they started to eat a lot of solids. I've know my youngest to pee three times in 15 minutes but it's such a small amount and unless the diaper is going to leak I change approx. every two hours. You can make some fleece liners that will wick moisture by cutting up old fleece blankets or getting some fleece at a fabric store but I don't think it's always necessary.

[Galatea]

Yep, newborns have to be changed every hour, but I agree, if it is just pee, not a big deal. Or try a stay-dry pocket diaper.

[lifeguard]

Sounds pretty normal to me. Like pp I don't wake a sleeping baby to change diapers. When ds was a newborn our pattern was to change him right before he bf'd - & since he ate constantly (never more than 2 hours) we changed him plenty. Ds never pooped while sleeping so I never had to worry about waking him for that.