How many sposies?!?

[Dee-Groovy]

I want to CD but I'm planning on using sposies until my LO can wear a one-size diaper. Happy Heiny's and bumGenius say their one-size dipes can be used on 8 pounders but I've heard the fit isn't that great so I'm gonna try to wait til 10 pounds, which is the weight limit for newborn sposies. I'm going to breastfeed and having a girl, so I whipped out the handy Kellymom weight chart and found that she'll probably weigh 10 pounds around 5 weeks.

So here's the math:

5 weeks x 7 days a week = 35 days

35 days x 12 dipes per day = 420 diapers!!!

That's $75-$80 if I buy jumbo or value packs on sale...

Is this math right? I have a lot of concerns about CDing from day 1 but I'm re-thinking it b/c I don't wanna throw that much money in the garbage (literally). My biggest concerns are the CDs won't fit properly and/or they won't get clean in my super-duper hard water. I'm planning on doing a sampler package from Jillian's Drawers, plus a HH OS to find out what fits best (and if I can stand PFs and covers b/c they're so much cheaper), then buying a whole stash at once.

Sorry this is rambling - it's hard to explain all the factors here. I guess my basic questions are 1) is the math right for the sposies and 2) do you think a first time mom with super hard water can/should CD from the beginning? Any thoughts or input are greatly appreciated!

[littlecityfarmer]

For the money you'd spend on 'sposies, you could get a couple dozen newborn prefolds and some pro-rap newborn covers... The diapers make great doublers and wipes when baby is bigger, and the covers can be saved for later babies or donated to the toy-clothes bin. Just a thought!

[kathteach]

I didn't CD until DS was about five months old. I do agree you go through about 12 disposables a day, maybe a tad more.

I have to caution you about one-size diapers though. In my experience they never quite fit right at any stag.e. Maybe you can find some one-size lovers on the diapering forum though that will help you out. I hated my one sizers, and DS at almost 17 months still doesn't have a good fit in them. They're my emergency dipes. I wasted a lot of money on them.

[marisa]

Is anyone going to gift you any sposies at a shower or anything? My church gave me about 200 or so newborn diapers and a few packages of size 1 so I'm set for a while!

I have never been happy cd'ing in the beginning. It's hard for me to keep up with regular laundry and adding diapers to the mix stresses me out. I've never been able to get a good fit - proraps fit wonky on my babies (they always had big poochy bellies) and I couldn't afford anything else to be used for such a short time.

[scheelimama]

I think your math is about right, though you can never really predict when they will grow out of newborn diapers. Some babies are born too big for them (so save your receipts!), some grow out of them in 2 weeks, and some don't grow out of them for 2-3 months.

I'm also not a fan of OS diapers really. Especially not in the smaller sizes. I'd rather use prefolds and proraps (or bummis). I have either made most of the diapers we use or bought them used. They are very expensive, I agree. But I still think we've saved tons of money.

If you knew some people IRL who cd'ed and could look at them and get a feel for what you might like or if you were already crazy addicted to cd's, I'd say, go for it with a newborn. But honestly, everything about life with a newborn can be so overwhelming. I had a great cd newborn stash, was crazy obsessed with them, and still ended up using sposies on dd2 off and on the first few weeks, just because it was all so overwhelming.

[xelakann]

So I'm not sure where you live, have you considered using a diaper service until the babe can in fit in the one size. That is what we are doing. We are going with the bumgenius one size, but decided we'd wait until after the newborn phase.

For 4 weeks (plus one free week) a diaper service is costing us $68 bucks, and that is for 70 prefolds, and then I found a local lady who sells diaper covers for $5-7 bucks each (She has a website if you are interested). After that we will wash at home and use the bumgenius.

Also there are gdiapers (the flushable ones)... I'm not trying to discourage you from using disposables, I'm just sharing what we are doing. Good luck!

[pixiesmommy]

Just wanted to jump in and say, "Don't stock up!"

Pixie got diaper rash (horrible, blistery diaper rash) from almost every sposie on the market and it took lots of trial and error to find ones that would work for us, and if you have a stockpile of, say, Pampers, it might not do you much good if babe can't tolerate them!

Manda

[Lexi_029]

We plan to use the BumGenius one-size diapers too but for the newborn stage we have some prefolds, like 8 covers, and 6 AIO newborn diapers that I bought before I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I'm hoping that will cover me and I think my aunt miiiight be buying a package of newborn sposies even though I'd prefer not to use them. She said that for the first week or so it would be the best bet with the meconium because it would ruin the diapers.

[Da WIC Lady]

Originally Posted by Lexi_029

We plan to use the BumGenius one-size diapers too but for the newborn stage we have some prefolds, like 8 covers, and 6 AIO newborn diapers that I bought before I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I'm hoping that will cover me and I think my aunt miiiight be buying a package of newborn sposies even though I'd prefer not to use them. She said that for the first week or so it would be the best bet with the meconium because it would ruin the diapers.

Walmart.com has the flushable diaper liners for what I consider a decent price. I put a huge number on the registry just because we have a ton of CDs that I've gotten either free from a friend or for cheap second hand. My MIL had to CD DH, so she is intrigued about the new style CDs, and is behind me like she is with breastfeeding.

Anna

[melissakc]

I am the rare CDer who likes the OS diapers! I used them (Mother-ease) on DD from about 3 months and she is still in them, which I love. I used sposies for about a week, until the meconium was gone and I was up and around at home. Then I used XS CDs. It's more expensive to do it that way bc the genius of the OS diaper is the fact that you just buy them once, but I am using them again for baby #2, so now it will end up being super cheap.

[Isaac'sMa]

I think your math is right.
I don't think you should be discouraged by the hard water issue. Don't be intimidated! There are threads about this exact thing over in the Diapering forum and tons of advice, though it would probably take a little trial and error to get the routine *just right* for your water. I second the post that said you could get a bunch of PFs and covers for about the same price as the sposies. The PFs could be used later in the OS dipes or as doublers too.

I have two friends who have tried the OS dipes and they didn't fit right at the beginning or later... if you already have them, I hope they work for you.

[Dee-Groovy]

Wow thanks for all the different info and viewpoints!

I love the idea of buying PFs and covers for the same price as sposies or using a service. However, I'll admit that I probably won't use anything that's harder to use than a sposie for at least the first few weeks. With PFs and covers it seems to me like I'm diapering the baby twice each time. I'm worried that I'd spend $ on cloth, then get overwhelmed and end up buying sposies anyway.

Lexi and Anna, I've heard that meconium stains come out of diapers if you sun them, so you shouldn't have to worry about liners or ruined dipes.

If/when I buy sposies I'll definitely save the receipts!

Heading over to the diapering forum now...

[Da WIC Lady]

Originally Posted by MajorGroover

Lexi and Anna, I've heard that meconium stains come out of diapers if you sun them, so you shouldn't have to worry about liners or ruined dipes.

I'm not worried about it, just wanted to offer a solution in case someone else was. All my stuff is second-hand free or cheap, and since this is the last one (that we're planning on right now) I'm not sweating it, nor investing too much $.

Anna

[Isaac'sMa]

Originally Posted by MajorGroover

However, I'll admit that I probably won't use anything that's harder to use than a sposie for at least the first few weeks. With PFs and covers it seems to me like I'm diapering the baby twice each time.

Heading over to the diapering forum now...

I hope you got some info on your hard water issue over in the diapering forum...there are so many nuances to everyones water but also a lot of experienced mamas there!

Don't be intimidated by the PF/cover combo. It's actually really easy!
1. Just put the PF in the cover
2. velcro it onto the baby
3. Check the edges to make sure the PF is totally tucked in. Wha-la!

But, I can also understand if the laundry issue is just too overwhelming at first.