First Days

[Ninetales]

I'm trying to decide whether to use my cloth from day one or start out with disposables. I'm confused because some people have told me I should start with disposables because I'll be so exhausted and whatnot, and because of the meconium. But other people have said that meconium was no big deal for them and doing cloth is no harder the first few days than the sposies.

Which did you do, and what do you recommend?

[cristeen]

We did cloth from the start, and at the time I had to do a load of laundry every day, I had so few dipes that fit. We didn't have any meconium, but honestly I looked forward to that load of diapers - it was 5 minutes that I could have all to myself.

[lifeguard]

We didn't from day one but it was really because I was not up to doing the extra laundry. My healing was slow & those first few weeks were terribly painful for me. The meconium was finished before we left the hospital & really was not a big deal.

[Chamomile Girl]

We did cloth from the get-go...no big deal. We had three dozen newborn prefolds and had to do diaper laundry every other day. Now we have two dozen prefolds and we still have to do diaper laundry every other day.

[thefreckledmama]

Our last baby was our first in cloth. We used sposies for the first month or so, mostly because the infant prefolds and covers were waaaaaaay too big for her. Also, we had the sposies from the hospital, so I figured why not use them up?

This time I'm planning on doing cloth from the beginning, and I'm buying newborn sized diapers and covers so we can.

In terms of laundry in the first days/weeks...In my experiences, cloth diapers hold in the newborn poopsplosions much better than sposies (actually poop disasters in general, newborn or otherwise). I was still doing a load of baby laundry every day or two, to wash things she either spit up on, or pooped on. I really don't think it would be any more of a hassle to add in diaper laundry, but it might even cut down on the clothes/blankets/etc. that were having to be washed because of sposie diaper leaks.

[Pinoikoi]

I am going to do cloth from the getgo.. my last two were in sposies for two or three days each and then switched.. but they were hospital births, so...

[ExuberantDaffodil]

I was told to start with disposables to catch the meconium. Also, she was a lot tinier than I anticipated, and all her cloth diapers were waaaaaay too big for her. So, for the first couple weeks, we used sposies. BIG mistake. Two months later, and hubby is still spoiled. I was pretty tired those first couple of weeks, but honestly doing laundry isn't real "work" to me, so I don't think it would have overwhelmed me. If I could do over, I would have prepared more preemie-newborn dipes to fill in until the smalls fit and just cloth diapered from the get-go.

[desertgirl01]

I used Kissaluvs Size 0 from the beginning. The meconium did not stain the diapers at all. I actually looked forward to doing my first load of "dirty" cloth diapers...once the novelty wore off I still do not find the diaper laundry to be an inconvenience (daughter is now 8 months old).

Disposable diapers do not hold in the newborn poop explosions, so you WILL be doing laundry regardless if you've chosen cloth or disposables!

[Xavismom]

Originally Posted by desertgirl01

Disposable diapers do not hold in the newborn poop explosions, so you WILL be doing laundry regardless if you've chosen cloth or disposables!

We learned that the hard way too

I have NO idea why most people like sposies. DS had multiple daily poo blowouts while we waited for his cord to fall off so we could use our cloth. Havent had even ONE poo blowout since.

The sposies also leaked pee all over, and we tried 4 different brands in that first week and a half trying to find one that wouldnt!

If we ever have a second baby, I'm going to figure out how to do cloth from the get-go.

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by Xavismom

I have NO idea why most people like sposies. .

I have given this some thought.. 1) I think there are LOTS of people that throw away a sposie with the poo wrapped up in it instead of shaking it in the toilet. So i guess they think that they have to "deal" with poop less. Second, most people I know IRL use sposies.. and people tend to do what they have seen done.. I only ever baby sat babies in sposies, so that is what I was used to seeing by the time I had my own babies.

[gentlestrengths]

I have always used disposable for the first few weeks. Usually less than one bag of newborn sized diapers and then I start using the cloth. I have never even tried the meconium with cloth - but I ALWAYS here that it will stain and ruin the diapers. We use olive oil on our babe's bum so that the meconium wipes off easy and smooth (who wants so to scrub a newborn bottom??) and I always thought THAT would stain the diapers. i guess - what is the big deal...they'll be marked up sooner or later anyway, but personally, I enjoy the convenience of disposables for the first 2 or so weeks. No washing, just chillin' with the new baby.

I also have 4 other kids that need tending, so maybe I just have more on my plate and don't want the extra work right then. I tend to take it REALLY easy for the first month after the baby is born. It is a mini-vacation for me. I love it!

[desertgirl01]

Seriously, the meconium didn't stain the diapers at all! I don't think it really matters anyway, because you'll usually end up with breastmilk poo stains. Sun bleach!

[Mrsboyko]

Once we were home from the hospital (well, even on the way home) DS was in cloth. We had to go back when he was 5 days old becasue his jaundice got really bad and he was admitted for 3 days. I wasn't expecting that so he was once again in sposies for that time. Then till he was probably 3 weeks old we did sposies at night (they are just easier to put on in the dark IMO) and cloth during the day. It spread the laundry out a bit more that way too. I was washing every 3 days or so.

He was big, so by a month old he was fitting in smalls really well and all his newborn stuff was getting pretty tight. It was really sad to use those diapers so little, but if there is another in our future, I will still have basically new NB diapers to use.....

[judybean]

Breastfed baby poo stains way worse than meconium (I don't think meconium stains at all.. it LOOKS nasty, but it doesn't STAY on diapers).

Paper diapers (that's what my girls call disposables in this house.. I didn't even prompt them!) simply cannot contain explosive breastfed baby poo!! I think they make SUCH a mess and that's way worse, imo.

Plus, I don't want to sit in a paper undies, so there's no way I'd put my teeny, tiny, sweet, soft newborn in a paper diaper. I will swaddle him/her in the softness of cloth.

[AllieFaye]

My second child has only ever worn cloth. However, I used newborn fitteds with touch-tape tabs for the first three months, and waited on one-size pockets until I was sleeping better. I can't imagine going to sposies now. I wouldn't recommend it for even one day; meconium was never a problem.

[leighann79]

We did cloth from the start. Infant prefolds and covers (Litewrap and Imse Vimse Soft). He wore a prefold home from the birth center at 5 hours old.
He was 8 lbs 8 oz.

[Pepper44]

We used cloth from the beginning for the most part--we had a hospital birth and didn't bring enough cloth with us, so we had to use a few sposies until we got home.

The meconium wasn't a problem at all. We use wide strips of fleece laid in the diaper as a stay dry layer, and so if anything stains it usually gets on that. I figured worse come to worse if the meconium was that bad we could throw away the piece of fleece, but it was fine. It washed right out.

With this new babe we'll use cloth from the start, and I'm planning a homebirth so we won't have to worry about packing cloth to take to the hospital and getting strange looks from all the nurses.