Early Wednesday morning we welcomed Molly to our family. Baby number 8 for us, she is rewriting the rules of the household already. She is our smallest baby at 6lbs, 12oz. My labor with her was one of my longer and harder labors, but we are recovering nicely and she is a champion sucker and has taken easily to breastfeeding.
Now all of my children have sensitive skin, so hers was really no surprise, except for how fast it showed itself. Her second night was spent in the NICU as we tried to discern the nature of a heart arrhythmia. Thankfully the heart arrhythmia is completely benign. The tape they used for the tests, however, caused quite a reaction.
I thought I would share some of my thoughts on diapering a newborn, before I forget all about them again. In bullets because most of my thoughts are brief and fleeting at this point postpartum.
- I bought chlorine free disposeable diapers, knowing I wouldn’t feel much like doing laundry for a few days after her birth. These cost a fair bit more than generic diapers, but I figured it was worth it to keep things more chemically simple for her newborn skin.
- The NICU we were at used Pampers diapers. These were so heavily scented that I felt like I couldn’t even smell my baby at all. Just walking near her, all I could smell was that stupid diaper.
- But after less than 48 hours in those two kinds of diapers, everywhere they touched her skin was angry, red, and raw.
- So just as her little pee and poo factory was heading into full steam ahead, we switched her full time back to cloth, tossing out our expensive disposables.
- She generated her own load of diapers in just over 24 hours. Need to get those washed quick, before she poops on another cover!!!
- Miss Molly likes to poop without a diaper on. Any no matter how long I wait to start wiping her, she will poop more as soon as a wipe touches her butt.
- One diaper change took me through over 12 wipes (I stopped counting!) prompting me to dig out my cloth wipes as well. Most of my babies haven’t tended to use this many, but some babies just seem to make a big mess every time their diaper is off. What freedom to not have to view these kinds of changes as money lost as your baby pees on each diaper as soon as it is set under their bottom!
- Kissaluvs Size 0 are still my absolute favorite newborn diapers, especially since Molly was so much smaller than my other kids.
- Having a newborn around is a very special time, but no matter how many times you do it, there is always a learning curve for this particular baby.
About the Author
Comments
14 Comments
Congrats to you, mama! You are one smart lady to not try to jump right into cloth in the hospital. Unless you have someone to help you do laundry, I think that it is just too much to think about when you are still getting to know your new little one. I have to ask you though…Did you really “toss out” your disposables when you made the switch to cloth?
Congratulations! I’ve had one that loved to poop everytime a wipe touched them too…although I can never remember which kid did what. You are so very blessed to have 8 precious children!
What am I doing wrong? My little one has a rash everytime I put on cloth diapers. The disposables never lead to a rash even when I use the cheap, scented ones. I use unscented detergent and never any bleach on the diapers. I put cream on each time. I really want to use my cloth diapers, but don’t want her to suffer.
Congradulations on a beautiful little girl! Enjoy the next few months…as you know VERY well..they don’t stay that little for long! Work from home India
Gorgeous baby! Thanks for posting this. I haven’t cloth diapered a newborn, but expect to one day. It will be nice to refer back to this. Congratulations!
As far as cloth at the hospital, I brought a few with me as well as a small wetbag. The nurses didn’t question it at all. DD hardly peed or pooped for the first 2 days, so we only went through a handful of diapers. And if we ran out, the hospital was close to home and someone could fetch more- but there was no need. It was all very easy and I never found a need to use disposables.
how can one use cloth diapers at the hospital as far as washing the diapers? Do you just bring a large wet bag with you, and take them home to wash them?
What a sweetie! We opted for cloth diapers within 24 hours after Eva’s birth. I had hesitated, since I was not sure how I would feel and had been threatened with a C-section. Thankfully her birth was pretty normal and I felt ok. So, I had my mom bring the cloth diaper bag I had packed. It really was so simple to use cloth, even in the hospital. None of the nurses really even questioned it.
Congratulations on your little cutie!
Just wanted to say congrats, especially since my 6 lb. 12 oz. newborn Molly is about to turn 3. Congrats and enjoy your tiny bundle!
Congratulations on your new baby and your birth. I had to be hospitalized after birth center birth for 9 days and was heartbroken that we couldn’t use our cloth diapers right away. My little one never had rash problems, but I didn’t notice a similar propensity to poop without a diaper on. I started her on elimination communication after 8 weeks of un-diapering her and letting her poop on a towel and then re-diapering her. I finally googled “can babies tell when they need to poop ahead of time?” and found a whole bunch of info on the practice of EC. It could be an option for you since your little one is already so aware of her bowels.
Congrats, and I’m wondering if we decide to have another if we’ll use dd’s at all, or just bring our cloth with us to the hospital. I guess it depends on if I go into labor 3 weeks early on not. Hypothetically speaking. And good lord, woman, how do you manage 8 kids?
Congradulations on a beautiful little girl! Enjoy the next few months…as you know VERY well..they don’t stay that little for long!
What cover do you like to fit over the Kissaluvs?