Cloth nappying a newborn can be challenging, especially if it's your first baby and you don't have a lot of help.
Having a newborn to care for is a huge adjustment in and of itself, but there are several issues specific to cloth nappies:
It's hard to prepare
You don't know your baby's size or shape until they're born and whether they're better suited for a newborn nappy or can go straight into a One Size (OSFM) nappy.
You need so many nappies
Newborns are changed A LOT! What's 3 days worth of nappies for a 6 month old is only 1-2 days worth for a newborn. This means you'll either need more nappies for the first few months, or wash more often, or bulk out your stash with flats or prefolds, or supplement with disposables.
Keeping up with the washing
All those nappies need to be washed so if you can delegate washing to someone else for those first few weeks, or get someone else to take on some of the other household tasks to free you up, then that takes a lot of pressure off. This isn't possible for everyone; so waiting until things have settle down and nappy changes aren't so frequent can make sense for some.
Newborns grow so quickly!
No one wants to spend hundreds of dollars on nappies which will only be worn for a few weeks.
So what is the best way to approach nappying a newborn?
It comes down to what best suits you and your family, but here are some options:
- Use disposables for the first few weeks until you have bonded with your baby, established breastfeeding, and are starting to emerge from the fog of new motherhood. Then go straight into One Size nappies.
- Have a stash of newborn or small sized cloth nappies (work out how many you'll need based on how often you plan on washing) that will last around 3-6 months depending on the brand and the size/growth of your baby. Justify the expense by planning to use them on future children, or share your stash with a friend or sister - so long as your babies are not due at the same time!
- Plan to use One Size nappies from birth, but be prepared for some One Size nappies to not fit very well for the first few weeks. It is a state that generally only lasts until the baby has put on a little weight.
- Have prefolds and covers on hand for your newborn, to last until they move on to medium or One Size nappies.
- Take it easy on yourself and know that once you have a routine set up for your nappy washing it becomes a habit and much, much easier.
See the Darlings Downunder website for lots of useful information about using cloth nappies.
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