Preemie Cloth Diapering?

[Inquiringmind]

My son came a little early and weights in the 5 pound range. It seems like it will be forever until he fits into the cloth diapers we have for him. Does anyone know what options there are for cloth diapering preemies? Prefolds scare me a little bit, but is that realistically my only option at this point? Any recommendations on what/how many I should get?

[octobermom]

My DD arrived on the 8th at 5lbs 7oz and yea were in preemie diapers.
What I like best..
Nanabottoms preemie AIOs
preemie prefolds with eaither bummi orginal NB covers or bummi superbrite covers.

Deanna

[SuburbanTreeHugger]

If I have another one, I will start out with preemie prefolds and Bummis Original covers unless something better comes along. Prefolds are great because you can work them to fit your child's needs - fan out the back, the front, wrap around the kid, trifold, whatever your LO needs based on how they pee/poo.

My DD is in the large diapers and I still love the Bummis Original covers because they are so trim. The Flip disposable inserts fit well in them as well (though not sure how they would fit in a newborn cover).

I don't know about the Thirsties diapers right now but most people rave about them so you may want to check into those covers as well.

Good luck!

[quiminco]

My son was also a preemie; they grow so fast that we just used disposables until he was big enough to fit into the bumGenius diapers (at around 6 weeks old).

Green Mountain Diapers has an AIO that fits as small as 4 pounds: http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/allinone.htm

Mommy's Touch also makes a preemie AIO, but I couldn't find anywhere that had it in stock.

A nice thing about using prefolds is they are easy to come by in preemie size, and they make great burp cloths when the baby outgrows them.

[quiminco]

Also... (I forgot this in my previous post )

I would suggest getting at least 18, if not a full two dozen. Tender preemie skin is much more susceptable to rashes and irritation, so you'll need to change change change that baby, and you don't want to be doing laundry every day.

Natural fibers, such as cotton and hemp (though I have heard that hemp can be slightly allergenic to some), are great because you can boil to disinfect them; no messing with bleach and worrying if you've completely rinsed it all out.

I like wool covers because they allow the babe's bum to breath, yet still contain the wet. You don't need very many (which is good, because they can be pricey); 3 or 4 at the most. When a cover feels damp, you get a new one and let it dry; otherwise just keep reusing the same cover.

Also, I don't know if you know this or not already, but zinc oxide wrecks cloth diapers. Unfortunately, zinc oxide is present in most diaper ointments. The good thing is that Northern Essence (http://www.northernessence.com) makes a fabulous diaper salve (including one specifically for when you are dealing with yeast), as well as great wool washes and lanolin (you'll need to lanolize the wool should you choose to go that route) so you can combine your order into one. My son was not only premature, but to this day continues to have issues with sensitive skin. He has never ever had any problems with any of the NE products (I love them )

I hope this helps, and that you little one thrives!