New Baby

Our new baby is here! We have a girl, Linda. She was eight and a half pounds at birth, and she fit into all the tiny diapers. She's a chunky-thighed baby like her sister. She has a bigger bladder, though. She didn't pee for alomost a day after she was born, but when she did pee, whoa! Look out.

Measurements at almost 2 weeks old: 15" waist; 12" hips; 7.5" thigh; 10" rise. Newborn babies have totally different fit requirements from older babies. Fat-in-the-crotch is not a disadvantage when their legs naturally curl up. Newborns don't straighten their legs much. All that curling up makes side snap diapers more awkward than they are later. The diapers that have only one snap work the best, because the distance between the top of the leg and the top of the diaper is less. This makes them fit to the hip measurement instead of the waist. Newborns have a big belly and then their hips, butt, and legs are tiny in proportion.

My favorite newborn combination: Kind Hearted Women (KHW) small, Muttaqin newborn, or Kissaluv 0 under a Righteous Baby FLAM wool cover. The cover is side-snap with just one snap. The three fitteds are roughly equivalent. The Kissaluv has fewer snap settings, and the snaps are reversed (the poky parts are on the front of the diaper instead of the wings). The KHW come with doublers, which we don't use because I'm too lazy. The Muttaqin are slightly larger than the KHW but the snap arrangement is the same. Right now (5 weeks) we're still using the Muttaqins, barely, but the KHW are in the closet.

The pictures are dark because the baby doesn't like the flash. Turn up the brightness on your monitor, maybe. Here she is at 7 days old in a Muttaqin:



At four days old in the FLAM cover:


Of course I have oodles more diapers to review in detail after using them. Of course I have very very little computer time, home with two girls and trying to get enough sleep. Keep checking back. It'll come! As a preview, right now my favorite fitteds are Fluffymail Size 1s under Luxe wool or Mudpie Babies PUL.

Holden's Landing Bamboo Velour

This is a semicustom fitted diaper from Holden's Landing. I chose the size, colors, and soaker style. The bamboo velour inner and outer are hand-dyed and butter soft.





Usually she makes these with a snap-in soaker in a third color of velour. I requested an internal soaker.



It is disappointing that the snap sockets are all white; for a $28 fitted, I could hope for matching snap sockets. Still, custom-dyed bamboo velour is an expensive feature. This diaper has no tag on it. I've already forgotten whether it's a small or a medium. It could be either, by the sizing. It has a very high rise. The front is smooth, no elastic, and the back has a fairly thick elastic in it. Legs are turned, not serged, for a very trim fit in the crotch. The defining feature, though, is the incredibly soft bamboo velour. I wish you could feel it.

Preston's Pants Surprise

This diaper was purchased for me as part of the Great Diaper Exchange on Babycenter's diapering forum. The mom who picked it out did a great job finding something I haven't tried before. It is different and neat and has a panda on the bum!



It's a front-snap pocket diaper, with fleece inner and outer, and PUL inside for waterproofing. The pocket opening is at the back. It didn't come with an insert, so I've stuffed it with a FLAM contour for now. The interior is black, and all snaps are hidden.



The snap configuration is different. For one, it has an umbilical snapdown. I haven't seen one of those on a small pocket diaper yet. For another, it closes with three snaps. It looks like this will give some more flexibility in getting the fit right. We'll have to see; the cabbage patch doll wasn't the best test subject. I love how the snap sockets are colored so that they're black with red in the middle, coordinating with the panda and apple on the back.



I'm excited to try this one on the new baby.

Berry Plush Minky Diapers

Berry Plush Minky AIO diapers, from Jam Tots. These have been around longer than Blueberry diapers. The uber-softness of the minky makes people love them. They also have a good fit. The size small above is a little big on the Cabbage Patch doll, but she's such a cooperative model.




See the snap arrangement? It's a little different, with the nonparallel rows of snaps, and I like the way it makes the diapers fit on the baby. Unfortunately they're all white.



This is an AI2, not a true AIO. The shell can be used separately, and you can purchase extra snap-in soakers for it. The soaker snaps in with two snaps in the back. (Word is that newer M and L diapers have snaps in the front, too. I'd like that.)



The soaker has two flaps that fold out, making it quick-dry. I find it difficult to get the flaps to stay in under the rest of the soaker; it's unclear exactly how they're supposed to go. No biggie; really any way will work.

These diapers get good reviews. People who like AI2s like them a lot, for fit and leakproofness. We have a large blue one that we used a few times on Evelyn, and it's a great show-off diaper, with its incredibly soft prettiness. The only negative (for me) is assembly. I like some of the pretty color options available, and that they're sometimes available with embroidery. Berry Plush are around $26 each, but you can save money by purchasing extra soakers for $8 each and reusing the shells. Jam Tots is a Canadian seller, and Berry Plush are also available at other retailers, such as Diaperware.

Cloth Diapers On the Go

At home, all your clean diapers fit nicely in a drawer or basket. The dirty ones have a home in the handy diaper pail, conveniently located next to the changing station. But what about when you're out and about? Diaper bags are sized for disposables, not cloth, and who wants to carry dirty diapers home?

On the other hand, out and about is a great time to cloth diaper, because then you get to show off the diapers to the other mothers in the restroom. And for those dirties, there are beautiful handmade wet bags.

Now for the challenge of fitting a suitable number of cloth diapers in the diaper bag. My solution to this is: Daisy Doodles "Bikini Bottoms" All-in-twos (AI2s). These are the trimmest diapers around, and they're cute. Lots of them fit in the diaper bag, and they don't take up much room in the wet bag on the way home, either.



Featured in these photos are two Daisy Doodles: a PUL AI2 and a Wool-in-two (WI2). See how trim they are? They fit more like bikini underwear than a diaper. The picture below shoes the long wings with four sets of snaps, giving them a wide range of fit. These are also available with front aplix closure.





Inside the diapers, see the snap-in soakers. (They're also available as lay-in soakers.) They snap in with two snaps in the back. The front of the soaker flops around, and should be tucked carefully inside the outer after the diaper is on the baby. The key feature of this design is that the soaker can be snapped out and replaced with a clean one after a pee. This means that in your diaper bag, you can carry extra soakers, and they take up even less space than another AI2.
The AI2 below is pictured with the shell next to its soaker, an extra soaker, and a Daisy Doodles doubler. The doubler fits inside the soaker, between the two layers of absorbent material.



Soakers are available made of microfiber or hemp. They're topped in stay-dry microfleece or suedecloth. Above, the soaker is hemp. Below, see a microfiber soaker.



I like to carry at least two shells and a couple extra soakers around in the diaper bag. I switch back and forth between the shells at changes, giving the just-worn shell a chance to dry out between uses. As the soakers do not have elastic at the legs, every poop is certain to dirty the shell. The lack of elastic on the soaker is part of what makes them fit so well in the diaper bag.

The Daisy Doodle WI2 (the solid purple one in the photos) is a rarity, but it is my favorite. The PUL AI2s leak pretty quickly; it's important to change them shortly after a pee. This is a price of their extreme trimness. The wool shell gives more time. However, if the baby poops in it, the shell of the AI2 must be washed, and this is more trouble with wool. Christa made this WI2 for me as a special request.

There's another advantage to the AI2-with-extra-soaker system here: they're affordable. A PUL AI2 costs $16-$19; extra soakers are less than $5 each. For five out-and-about diapers, that works out to about $64 (which qualifies for free shipping). Choose your colors on your custom order, and Christa usually ships them within a few weeks. Incidentally, the shell without a soaker snapped into it makes a good swim diaper.

Backpack and Backpack

What to obsess about when cloth diapers and baby carriers are all purchased? How about diaper bags! I'm a fan of multiple diaper bags: a mama needs a small, light one for quick trips; a medium-sized one for medium-sized trips; and a backpack for real walking.



This is the Jujube Be Right Back in Sienna Swirl, modeled by my husband. We've been using it for a few weeks for my daughter. There are pockets for everything, and it's a fabulous diaper bag, although heavy. For a potty-trained two-year-old, it's serious overkill. So...



This is the Jujube MiniBe in Sienna Swirl. It holds my daughter's change of clothes nicely, along with some bandaids and a few wipes. There's a small pouch in the top to use as a wet bag for the dirties. Best of all, she can carry it herself!

When you know what you want

When you know exactly what you want, but not where to find it, the diapering forums can help. My best friend wanted a denim diaper like one of mine, with a jean pocket on the back. Mine was a HyenaCart find from years ago, not something readily available. Not a problem - I know where to go! I posted an ISO (In Search Of) thread on DiaperSwappers with a detailed description of what I wanted: a medium AIO made of denim with a pocket on the back, like from an old pair of jeans. Within a few hours, a WAHM sent me a private message (PM) offering to make the diaper for me. Within two days, the diaper was paid for (via PayPal), sewn, and on its way to my friend!


My friend is completely thrilled. It's exactly what she wanted, and she loves the belt loops that Meagan (the WAHM) added as a finishing touch. And did I mention that she only charged $14 including shipping? $14 is a very low price for an AIO, even without shipping included! If you want some custom AIOs with velcro and internal soakers, send a message to chloecat at DiaperSwappers, or email Meagan. If you want something else, and don't know where to find it, post on the forums. I used this same method last year to acquire some Sesame Street diapers when my daughter wanted to wear Big Bird all the time. It's a great way to find exactly what you want.

Minky Training Pants

After cloth diapers, cloth trainers. Of course there's a dizzying variety of these available, too. Cloth trainers are less bulky and less absorbent than cloth diapers, and they can be pulled up and down. Some have snaps on the hip, for easier removal, but clever toddlers may realize that those are really diapers. We prefer trainers without snaps. We also like trainers with patterns or colors that appeal to Evelyn, because then she'll wear them. Evelyn chose the zebra print herself.

These trainers come from Blueberry Diapers. The inner and outer material is minky, super duper soft. In between is microfiber. These trainers are more absorbent than any others we've tried; they're the only ones worth wearing at night. They still leak with a big pee, but they absorb enough that the bedsheets are a bit wet instead of soaked in pee.

The colors and patterns available are stunning, and of course the minky is stunningly soft on the inside and outside. They're waterproof (until they're full), but not breathable. They get very sweaty inside with exercise.



The blue pair is a size small, and the zebra is a size medium. There's a big difference in sizing here. The small is a little snug on Evelyn's legs. The medium looks huge on her. In these photos, Evelyn is two and a half, 36" tall and 28 lb.



Overall, we like these trainers, but I'm not fond of ordering from Blueberry Diapers. The trainers are $19 each, which is a little high, but I expect to pay more for minky. Of greater concern is Blueberry's customer service, which by all accounts is poor. When we ordered the zebra trainers, a package shipped immediately... with a zebra cover in it. It did come with a return label, which was very useful, since it was completely the wrong item. Weeks later, the correct item arrived, without a return label or any other paper. It is quite a contrast from the personal service and concern I'm used to when purchasing diapers.