When Camden was a mere 9 days old I compiled a list of the newborn cloth diapers we were using and my initial thoughts. You can find my newborn cloth diaper review chart here.
Camden is now 3 1/2 months old and has been out of his newborn cloth diapers for at least a month. We moved right into the discontinued Bum Genius 3.0 AIOs. (you can find a few left at Green Diaper Store and Sweet Little Blessings)
Below you will find a brief overview of each newborn cloth diaper we used. Some will vary greatly from my original thoughts for noted reasons. Remember Camden was born 9lbs.
- Lil Joey’s: absorbency increases the more they are washed. Lil Joey’s became my go to diaper from about 10-13.5lbs. Camden has meaty (not chunky) thighs so there were some red marks but nothing bothersome. I will definitely keep my Lil Joey’s stash for next babies because they are already broken in.
- Goodmama Newborns: My favorite newborn fitted. I used the double brites which are cotton velour beauties. I found them to be very absorbent and nightworthy. I stopped using the GMs well before Camden outgrew them because of my preference for an AIO system. The soft turned and topstitched seams created a comfortable fit all around. I would bet they’d still fit Camden now at 15+lbs. If you are interested in purchasing Goodmama diapers you need to like the Facebook page. That is where Suzanne posts preview pictures and gives you a heads up when she will stock.
- SBish: Leak-proof nighttime diaper. Not the softest or the prettiest but it gets the job done every time. You must sign up for the Sloomb newsletter! You will receive awesome sales codes! Also, join Erin’s Facebook page for great drawing opportunities.
- Little Boppers: Cute, soft, good daytime cloth diaper. Stretchy. Fits to 15lbs approximately. 1st and 3rd Friday Anne stocks on Bitty Fluff and periodically her store. Little Boppers also has a Facebook page.
- Mutts: same as Little Boppers. I get requests all the time on how to buy these!! I wish I could tell you the magic time but I can’t. Please join Michelle’s Yahoo group MuttaqinBabyAnnounce for alerts on when she stocks. Also, check Little Fluff Monster and Muttaqin Hyena Cart.
- Cutiepoops: Easy to use, trim. Once a doubler was added Cutiepoops were absorbent enough for daytime use.
- Ragababes AIO: Although stuffable I’d love to hear how in the world these tiny things can be stuffed! I love Joy and I love the quality of Ragababes but the AIO always leaked for us. I haven’t tried anything but the newborn size. They are the diaper you will grab for though because of the sposie like ease.
- Ragababes Step 2 size 0: I became a huge fan of these when Camden was about a month old; when he wasn’t pooping every hour and I could just snap in a new insert. However, Camden does not like to feel wetness so every time he pees in it he gets fussy. I would recommend this system to anyone…if you can get your hands on them! I pray Ragababe is able to increase their production to meet everyone’s needs.
So, what newborn cloth diapers work best?? For Camden it was the Lil Joey’s after 2 weeks of “prepping” them and Goodmama newborns.
Do you wonder how I get anything done with a cutie like this around???
Catherine W says
This is a pretty old review, we didn’t use any of these.
Andrea S says
I’m new to CDing – I have 3.5 week old girl. She’s had diaper rash on and off since day 2 of her life outside the womb. I have a large stash of cotton prefolds that I use with size 1Thirties Duo wraps, and some Lil’ Joeys and a Kissaluv fitted and a number of Thristies Fab Doublers… I love how easy prefolds and a snappy are for my girl, but I HATE that she gets a rash so easily (I think it’s the EBF poo – she has them a lot and in large amounts) Because of her rash issues, I use a blow dryer to help her get totally dry, we use Mother Love Diaper Rash and Thrush ointment, and when it’s really bad, we go to sposies and desitin for a couple of diapers in a row. I’m so dissapointed at how wet prefolds are and worry they will make the rash worse. So, I’m looking into buying a bunch of fitted for her and thin stay dry liners. I’m on a budget though and I’m shocked at how expensive the fitted and liners are.
Do you have any suggestions about keeping a healthy bottom in cloth?
Shannon says
You can still use the prefolds but you need something like a fleece liner to wick the moisture away. This will not only help your baby with the wetness factor but also protect the inserts from any medication or ointments that may get on the diapers otherwise. I would just go buy some fleece and cut it out yourself in the shapes and sizes you need. Super cheap and easy to do. :)
Jennifer R. says
I have a question for you Autumn, I’m sure you have gotten this question before but it gets difficult rooting through every response on every page. So here it is.
I am now pregnant with my first baby and really want to cloth diaper when the baby is born. I have slowly convinced my husband it is the best thing to do to save money (he’s the frugal type) and for me I feel its way better for the environment. Your website has by far been one of the most helpful when it comes to figuring thing out as to what type of diaper to use, but my question is if I want to try some of each (which I have heard is best before committing to one style to type) how much of each should I buy, that’s good enough to get started, without having to spend a bunch of money on every other brand known to man, only to find out I like one style better than all the others?? Any suggestions??
Autumn Beck says
I would go the diaper trial route. For the newborn stage try a rental program like the ones Pooters Diapers and Sweetbottoms Baby offer. Diaper Junction and many other boutiques offer trial packs- usually of one sized pockets.
Morgan N. says
So glad to hear that the lil’ joey’s was one of your favorites. I’m not currently pregnant, but we are going to start trying for #2 in a couple of months and I have never CD a newborn. I started CDing DD when she was 11months. So I have mostly BG 3.0 in large and OS pockets and Thirsties size 2. My first was 7 lbs 10 oz 18.5 in when she was born but put on weight fast. She was over 10 lbs at 2 months and she is short and chunky at 18months. Anyways I was wondering if getting a newborn stash of lil joey’s would be good enough or worth it if the next baby puts on weight like my first did? and how many would we need? I need something easy for DH to change because he is still hesitant about using CD, but will use pre-stuffed pockets and AIOs. I love you page and recommend it to all my friends that are thinking about CDing. Thanks for everything you do.
Allane says
Hello,
Thank you for posting all of this great information.
My question concerning newborn diapers is regarding method. It seems most of your suggestions are for certain brands (which is great!) but I would like to know your opinion on which method is best for newborns. It seems from what I have read that fitteds are recommended for newborns, as well as prefolds? I have been leaning towards the prefolds because for as many times as a newborn will need to be changed, I will need to have a lot of diapers on hand, and they seem to be the cheapest and easiest to clean. Would you recommend combining them with another method, or do you think keeping the baby solely in prefolds for the first few months is a good way to go?
My plan was to do that, and then switch to an AI2 and/or fitted one-size after 6 months (?).
Also, I’m not sure how the pocket diapers and the AI2’s differ from each other.
Thanks so much for your help, and all of your great work!
Autumn Beck says
For me, fitteds are the easiest, least hassle system to use with newborns. They hold in everything, they are usually more absorbent than prefolds and the fit is awesome. Newborn cloth diapers have great resale value or you could choose the newborn cloth diaper rental programs offered by many stores like Pooters and Sweetbottoms Baby Boutique.
I always switch to pockets or AI2s at about 15lbs. Here is an explanation of the different systems: https://www.allaboutclothdiapers.com/new-to-cloth-diapers/cloth-diaper-systems/
Many, many parents use prefolds from day 1 with huge success. Now that I am using flats I could definitely see myself using them on a newborn.
Liz says
This may be a silly question but I was wondering if it is safe to use Baby Powder with AIO’s and Pockets? I have read and heard lots about creams but have never read or heard anything about Powders. I assume is it okay but we all know what can happen when you assume. Thanks!
Autumn Beck says
Hi, Liz! It looks like you didn’t receive my response to your email. I contacted Rachel of Bee All Natural and this was her response:
Mariah says
Hey, I know this is a very old discussion but, I’m a new CD momma (7weeks) and if you like the AIOs for newborns you should try kissaluvs newborn AIO! Super soft & lasted longer for my 9lb baby than the lil Joeys.
I haven’t tried any baby powders yet… And prolly wont. We had thrush coming out of the hospital and on and off since. I stopped using traditional baby wipes and set up a hair drier at my diaper changing station. My LO loves to have his butt dried between changes and it speeds up the airing out process that helps with the yeast issues.
Maren says
Thanks for this post. I’m due with my first child in August and recently downloaded your Ultimate Guide to Cloth diapering, which is great. I noticed that Sweetbottoms baby boutique has a newborn rental pack for Clover Organic diapers and thought that might be a good way to go for the first couple months while I’m still new to cloth diapering? Do you have any thoughts on this?
Autumn Beck says
Highly recommend them :)
Vera says
I just found your site and am loving it! I am pregnant with my fourth, but new to CDing (my husband is home with the kids during the day and I work, so he had to be on board since he does most of the laundry and he finally said YES!) Anyway, we are using the BG Elementals on our 15 month old and he will share them with his new brother or sister, we love them (except staining, which I am still trying to figure out how to fix). Anyway, what I am having a really hard time with, is the newborn diapers. I can’t figure out how to justify the cost vs. disposables… when my babies were newborns, we were going through about one $20 pack of diapers a week. So, if we could use the Elementals starting at 2 months, that would mean about $160 I would spend on disposables. If I bought 18 of the Goodmama newborn diapers, for example, that would be $522! Yikes. Even the cheapest newborn CDs are more than $160 for a decent newborn stash (we are washing diapers once a day right now, but I know it is VERY easy to get behind on laundry with a newborn around! With 4 little kids, I don’t want to cut our supply too short). This is our last baby, so it’s not like I will get to use them again. I know some people re-sell them, but I know nothing about resale value and I am notoriously bad about trying to sell through things like ebay (I just don’t have time). The other newborn diaper issue I am having is size. My only full term baby was 8 lbs 9 oz. My two late preemies (36w6d and 35w6d) were 7 lbs 14 oz and 6 lbs 13 oz (both would have been pushing 10 lbs if they had been full term!) And generally my babies fatten up pretty quickly – both of my first two were in the 95th percentiles for weight by 8 weeks, though my third has stayed pretty trim. I have NO idea whether this baby will be early or not – it took a lot of drugs and bed rest to keep my last one in, so there’s a decent chance s/he will be early, but we just don’t know. And if baby is NOT early, there’s a very good change s/he could be BIG. So I am reluctant to buy a big stash of newborn diapers if this baby will outgrow them in a week (my 1st baby came home in Size 1 diapers – the newborn size of Pampers leaked from the beginning; my second was in newborns for about a week and then went to Size 1; my third lost weight and was in preemie diapers for a couple of weeks, then newborns, and went to Size 1 probably around 7 weeks). Sorry this is so long, I am just really debating whether to go with cloth for our newborn, or whether to just do disposables until s/he grows into the Elementals. Would love to hear your thoughts…
Autumn Beck says
Great thoughts :) Have you looked into newborn cloth diaper rental programs? Pooters, Sweetbottoms baby and lots more (http://www.google.com/search?q=newborn+cloth+diaper+rental+program&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&client=firefox-a&rlz=1R1GGHP_en___US429) have them available.
Vera says
How awesome is that?! Never even knew such a thing existed! Will look into it for sure. Thank you!!
Misty says
You could also look into Happy Heiny’s Mini. They are a “one size” pocket diaper that range from 4-15 lbs so they last longer than most newborn diapers. Autumn I would love to read a review on those. I am seriously considering them for my next LO but since my first LO is only 5 mos now I’m planning to wait a little longer.
Callie says
I bought some 6 Lil Joeys, 5vGoodmama newborns and 12 prefolds (12 preemie and 12 infant). Will the proraps fit over the goodmamas? How many covers should I buy? Do you like the Imse Vimse covers at all?
Autumn Beck says
Yes, proraps work great over Goodmamas. I would have atleast 5 covers. With the Goodmamas there won’t be leaks but you may have some with prefolds which would require changing out covers more often. Imse Vimse are good covers. I didn’t try them over Goodmamas though ;)
Jessica says
I have loved the Bum Genius Elementals with my little guy–however, he is 7 months old today and almost has outgrown them! He has been on the largest rise setting since 5 1/2 months. He is 18 lbs now and isn’t chubby but is just long in the torso. I am so, so disappointed b/c I was hoping my stash would last until potty training since I have about 20 of them! Anyway, any suggestions for what to use next? He is starting to leak from them because they are getting a little too small. (We use the Sbish at night and he is in size large in those already, too.) So sad because the BG is a great diaper.
JoDe says
I love newborn Mutts!! The only problem was my son was over 9 lbs at birth and grw out of them extremely fast! :(
Jessica says
HELP Im so overwhelmed with cloth diapers- my first will be born in about 3 weeks, and I would really like to have a successful CD experience but im just overwhelmed.
I took your advise and started with different brands from your My Recommends Ive got:
1 Flip cover with 7 inserts
1 little beetle (IS THIS AN AIO?? or do I need an insert??)
4 Thirsties Duo Wrap size 1
2 Kawaii baby covers
1 thirsties pocket with the double inserts size 1
3 bumgenius OS pocket with matching inserts
1 bumgenius bamboo fitted size S
4 under the nile 11×14 prefolds
4 Nikky poly covers
Im thinking Ive got more covers than I do inserts/prefolds? What do you think I should invest in to get me to a good place to start with before this bundle arrives?
When I prep – do I wash 5-7x using my classic rock detergent for every wash or NO detergent?
Also where do you stand on cloth wipes? do you use them and if so what cleaning solution do you use.?
I know I have a million questions. Your website has been so helpful and Ive waited to ask my questions to see if I could find out by just reading but I think its time to get my Autumn help!! THANK YOU!! you are a life saver.
Jessica
Autumn Beck says
Wipes: Ragababe are the best. Blissful Booty solution is best.
Yes, you have a ton of covers. If you are on a budget I’d get some nice prefolds or affordable fitteds like Pooters. What Little Beetle product did you buy? Can you give me a link?
rebecca says
i love, love, love the gdiapers tiny g newborn diapers with gcloth inserts – have you tried those?
Amy says
I love my Muttaqins! My daughter is two months old (she is our first and therefore our first try at cloth diapering) and they are in my top two favorites. My other favorite would be the Sbish. The other diapers in my newborn stash are Lil’ Joeys, Goodmamas and Kissaluvs. The Kissaluvs are wonderful, too, and I reach for them often, but I wish the snap configuration was a little different. At first the Goodmamas didn’t work for me, but in the last two weeks they have become some of my favorites. Sadly, the Lil’ Joeys, the ones I most wanted to love, haven’t worked for us. We have had leakage every time we’ve tried to use them (and they’ve been prepped a lot; I thought that might be the problem). Something about the shape just doesn’t fit our daughter’s waist. We always get leakage on her back because they just are not very snug.
So glad to hear your take on the newborn diapers! Thanks for the input.
Erin says
My daughter is 6 weeks old. She started out at 6 lb and is now about 8.5lb. Her thighs are too skinny for her cutiepoops and I am really bummed that I can’t use them yet.
Dinika says
Help! My son is 11mo and we are expecting number 2 in July. I LOVE this article, and really want to try lil joeys but what next? I am interested in trying some AIO one size since I will be diapering both and was almost set on bum genius and then I read your article on tots bots….is there a trial pack of all the AIO that I can try? I have been doing flatfold and wool soakers so I need a test run. Also budget is low but I don’t mind used!
Autumn Beck says
Many stores have trial packs: Diaper Junction, Jillian’s Drawers, Kelly’s Closet… I liked the tots bots on Sterling but Camden can’t wear them without developing a bad rash. They are a little bulkier too than the Bum Genius os are.
Lili says
I love ecopipo (Mexican brand) they have a new born pocket diaper.
It has velcro, but it has 2 rows of snaps so it can also work for a preemie.
Tina says
What a cutie! My son is 4.5 mos and long and skinny. None of his newborn stash has fit since about 11 lbs. (he is currently 14.5 lbs) because of his long rise. I looooved the goodmamas too, but he grew out of the rise on those first. I also really liked the lil joeys. My absolute favorite newborn diaper was Tinkle Traps prefold fitteds….they are very absorbent, and you can get a great, trim fit from very small to about 12 lbs. for us…and they are inexpensive! Thanks for sharing all your diapering insights!
Melissa C says
We just got a new stash of BG 4.0’s. Do we need to wash these a bunch of times to increase absorbancy?
Autumn Beck says
no, just prewash.
Melissa C says
Thanks! But Lil Joeys do? Is this because they are made of different materials?
Autumn Beck says
BG’s are pockets (unless you are referring to the Elementals) so they don’t need prepping. I really think the leaking occurs on the Lil’ Joeys because they are so tiny. My decrease in leaking probably occurred because I made sure to change more often.
Nichole Belleavoine says
Camden is adorable!
I just wanted to write because I didnt see Soft Bums mentioned in your review. Soft Bums get so tiny they can even be used without leaks on a 5 pound newborn. The drawstring sizing system will make it so they fit any size baby without red marks, or leaks. Check them out http://www.softbums.com/
Marcela says
Just curious, why is Bum Genius 3.0 AIOs being discontinued?
Autumn Beck says
probably to release a 4.0 … or it just wasn’t a big seller :)
noel holley says
actually i called and asked cause i was curious, but they said they’re switching to just selling the one size pockets, and the newborn size AIO’s. that’s the trend that the cloth diapering world seems to be going, and what is most economical/practical. :)
Hayley says
What a cutie!! My 5 week old is definitely big but has such skinny thighs, it has really been a challenge to fit him well. I have best bottoms, rumparooz, and sbish…I can see the BB working well later but it takes some manipulating to make sure they are on good enough to not leak, but my favorite diaper has been the rumparooz for sure, you can set it to the newborn size and it fits so well, fairly trim, and never leaked! I just hope they keep working well!
mamaler0y says
I want to know if Happy Heineys One Size newborn premies are any good.
Autumn Beck says
Haven’t tried them. Kim at Dirty Diaper Laundry may have.
michaela says
i have a 4 week old. we love the happy heineys mini one-size diapers. they are our go to diapers the main diaper in our stash. we’ve also tried tots bots (tiny fit), lil joeys, workhorse w/ thirsties duo wrap. so far happy heineys have worked best for us. i liked the lil joeys but they leave red marks on my daughters legs (she’s thin around the waist and has chubby legs). the happy heiney’s have rarely leaked (and 1/2 the time i am sure its our fault for waiting to long to change). hopefully this helps.
Jennifer says
Thank you for posting this. My daughter who is a little over 2 months old still is too small for her cloth diapers. She weighs about 12 lbs, and the lady who made her diapers said that they were for 10lbs and up. However, when I put them on her she cannot bend at the waist. I will have to buy some of the newborn ones until she can comfortably fit into the Tiny Toots cloth diapers.
Morgan says
Which SBish diaper is your favorite and ‘most’ leak-proof? How do you use these guys – with a cover?
Autumn Beck says
They are all excellent. I use the bamboo fitteds most. I do have a snapless that is excellent but I like having snaps. The snapless is gentler on thighs and is more economical. For a cover you can use wool or a PUL cover like Thirsties.
Kim says
Aww, he is a cutie! Loved reading this, as my little girl (5 weeks) has meaty thighs too. :) She was 9 lbs. 15 0z. at birth! At 5 weeks she is bigger than most 3-month-olds, so we have loose newborn soiling but bigger size. Will have to try the Joeys, though we do love our bumGenius.