Did I not prep enough, or is this how prefolds are?

[lucy_v]

I'm a first-time mom, hoping to CD, and after using disposables for the first two weeks, decided to try the cloth diapers out today on my little girl. (I've got the orange edge cotton prefolds from GMD and Bummis & Thirsties covers.) I prepped the prefolds with 3 or 4 hot-water washes (each followed by drying in the dryer). The prefolds became soaked very quickly today when she peed on them... soaked through, after one pee. Does this mean I need to prep them more, or is this how they handle wetness?

Thanks!

[justmama]

sounds about right to me. are you using a 4x8x4 prefold like an infant chinese prefold? or are you using something thinner like a standard prefold or a preemie prefold? my kids always peed through prefolds. peed through in that as soon as they wet you can feel the wetness on the outside of the diaper. Fitteds are that way too unless they are heinously bulky things. but the wetness will absorb to other areas of the diaper and some people leave them on for a second pee. i personally liked to change when the baby wet because i wouldn't want to sit on a big wet wad of cotton. I put fleece liners in overnight so that my baby felt dry and comfy but i didn't have to wake ot change diapers after they stopped pooping at night.

[quiminco]

For prepping, you can also boil the diapers for about 12 minutes to save a ton on water bills (I boil, rinse, boil one more time then dry on hot. They aren't completely prepped at that point, but you can start using them without a problem. They continue to quilt up with subsequent washes).

Even though the wetness seeps through after one pee, the prefolds will hold a decent amount. Karen has a great tutorial about cloth diapering on the Green Mountain Diaper website.

My son is a pee-pot deluxe. At night I put him in a prefold with two hemp doublers with a wool cover, and that keeps him dry until morning, so the prefolds are more absorbent than they seem. Good luck!

[Michigan Mama]

They may continue to get more absorbant, but they will feel wet through after one pee. I agree that they will hold more, it's a matter of preference how often you change. Some people change after one pee, some people wait a little longer. Using a fleece liner helps wick moisture away so baby doesn't feel the wetness as much. If you wait toooo long, you will get leaks. Any cover is only as good as the absorbancy underneath. If the diaper is really wet but no leaking onto the clothes, then the cover is doing its job!

[chel]

i used the unbleached GMD orange edge prefold. I did minimal prepping. like one hot wash with soap and one just with hot water. normally newborns don't pee alot at once and i just assumed as time went on, the diapers would finish prepping as they got washed when dirty.
you might just have an extreme heavy wetter. my dd wore the orange diapers till about 2m, we moved and I sold them, but they weren't outgrown. even at the end, she couldn't soak one with one pee, but if i left one one for 2-3hrs they were soaked. after using dispossie, you might not be use to how often you need to change cloth diapers.

[lucy_v]

Thanks for all the responses!

I'm using these prefolds: http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/...s.htm#prefolds They are 4x8x4, Indian cotton. I did read & follow Karen's (GMD) tutorial too.

I was changing her diaper when she peed & soaked a new one right before my eyes, so I know it wasn't from multiple pees. When I changed a wet diaper that she had been wearing for a little bit (less than an hour), the crotch of the prefold was soaked through. I didn't feel any wetness outside of the cover, just a slight dampness on the inside of the cover. The top & bottom of the diaper weren't wet, so I could use those areas for wiping/cleaning her. So it sounds like this is pretty normal...?

I'll probably try the hemp or fleece doublers for nighttime. Does the plain hemp do a good job of wicking away moisture from the skin, or is it just an extra absorbent layer?

Thanks again!

[kickinitbabystyle]

Sounds right for cotton prefolds to me. I def recommend hemp as a doubler. It isn't stay dry though, so your baby will still feel the wetness.