Week 2 Cloth Diaper Favorites

Week 2 of cloth diapering went well. We are happy with our fluffy butt and as he has been eating pretty much non-stop the diapers have been similar. I would say 1.5-2 hours is what we change, sometimes sooner depending on what he does and what diaper he is in. We have had some funny moments where Fulton decided he liked to wait to use the restroom until either A- we have the diaper off or B- we just put a fresh diaper on. It's made for a lot of laughs but for that second one - I am SO glad we aren't using disposables. Little man can mess as many diapers as he likes I just wash them.

Week 2 Favorites

Little man has grown quite a bit and is still little but not as little.

All in One - We have the most varied types of All In Ones. I've been trying them out and so far SmartBottoms Born smart are still a winner. We have 3 of them and I wait for them to come back around in the cycle. We are also using Grovia newborn all in ones and blueberry all in ones that are discontinued but we do love them. I won't go on about them since they aren't findable. We also still love the little joeys but now that his umbilical  has fallen off I think that Smart Bottoms and the Thirsties Natural All in One for Newborns is perhaps a close second. Friends. I can't tell you how much it absorbs it's amazing. So far natural fiber totally wins. We do have some Thirsties all in ones newborn that we had some trouble getting a good fit in the legs when he was smaller but now at 7 pounds 10 ounces we are doing much better with these but they don't absorb as much and aren't as trim. If I were to do it again I would skip the regular all in ones and go for the natural but we still use them.

Thirstiest all in one natural on a 2 week old newborn.

SmartBottoms Born Smart in Sprinkles on a newborn

Pocket- We tried apple cheeks size 1 this week and I LOVE THEM. We stuff them with the GMD newborn pre-folds and this is amazing. I will say it makes for a fluffier butt so some of his clothes don't fit as well but it absorbs! A great mid afternoon diaper when he seems to do a good amount of his production.  I do want to try them overnight but I would need to put him in a bigger sleeper for that.

Pre-folds -  We are using GMD, Thirsties hemp duo and osocozy. I still appreciate the Thirsties for the absorbency and dryness but a few things we have done. I started using fleece liners with the prefolds which has helped baby stay dry and made me feel better.  Definitely like Green Mountain over Osocozy. More absorbent.

Flats- We have flour sack towels but no other flats at the moment. I don't think it's fair to pick a favorite when I've only tried one option and it works for sure. I would say you definitely could do newborn cloth diapering with just flats or prefolds and covers and it would be super economical and easy to clean. I would say if you have people who are hesitant to help you with the cloth journey this would be the options that require a little more effort as far as putting it on the baby. Anything absorbent can be a diaper so don't shy away from the flat option. We haven't purchased any addition flats at this time but could be something to try at some point.

Fitteds- Favorite is still the Ecoposh newborn fitted. So absorbent. They wash great, they don't leak, great fit. LOVE these! My little boy pees a lot and it's amazing how these hold up for the long naps.

Covers- I'm still loving the Rumparooz Newborn covers but the Thirsties size 1 covers are now fitting! WOOHOO! And let me tell you I like where they fit on the legs better as I don't think it is as low and lets move a little more. So week 2 favorite cover may be Thirsties size 1 but only a hair over the Rumaprooz and I honestly think either one would be a great addition to your diaper stash. For the little baby I would definitely go with Rumaprooz.

alright I think that wraps up week 2. I though it would be fun to include a few pictures of him in the diapers. If that helps I can do some more of this in the future.

Fulton John - Naming Our Son

When I was in college I learned about the story of Nehemiah. I learned how he asked the King for permission to go build the walls of Jerusalem. I was inspired by the story and it really impacted me that a cup bearer to the King could go and protect a city despite opposition. If you have never read the book of Nehemiah I recommend it.  I'm not sure when but at some point I had thought that Nehemiah would be a lovely name for a boy.  I shared this with my husband and for our marriage when we have talked about having a child we have referred to the child we hoped to one day have as Nehemiah.

When we found out I was pregnant we decided not to know the gender. We were so thankful for a baby we had no preference if it was a girl or boy. I would do it this way again as it was a lovely surprise at birth. We had the names picked out early on. We never consulted a baby name book we just thought we knew boy or girl what the names would be. If you surveyed our close friends they would have told you Nehemiah would be the name of a boy. 

A week before my water broke we were in the car running errands. Okay - in reality Paul was taking me to get chocolate sea salt popcorn that I was craving. I had felt like the name for a boy had been on my heart and I had wondered if it really was going to be Nehemiah but had not mentioned it. In the car, as I'm stuffing my face with popcorn my husband asks if I'm sure about the names for our baby. It started a conversation that lasted about 10 minutes. We talked through the name for the girl. We were sure. The name for the boy we decided wasn't Nehemiah but was going to be Fulton John. It was the craziest conversation in that we were both so open to the change, didn't have to debate on names we just knew. No baby name books needed. 

Fulton John. 

Fulton is after Venerable Fulton Sheen an American Bishop of the Catholic Church who died in 1979. Fulton Sheen has impacted my faith in so many ways. His book "The World's First Love" is perhaps my favorite. It gives a beautiful understanding of the role of our Blessed Mother. If you have questions about her and how to view her I recommend it. He's written some other books that have really impacted my husband including The Life of Christ. I asked him which one of us suggested Fulton and honestly we don't know but we both remember being quick to like the name. While pregnant with Fulton I went to St. Patrick's Cathedral where his body is. At the time we were still unsure if Fulton would make it this pilgrimage really encouraged our hearts. Fulton Sheen helped my faith and helped lead my husband back to the Catholic faith. It was only fitting that Venerable Fulton Sheen be the inspiration for our sons name. Fulton means bird or bird catcher. What kept my heart comforted through my pregnancy was the idea that God's eye is on the sparrow, knowing that if He was watching a bird he was definitely watching my child. 

The middle name had been long decided: John. My husband lost his father this year. It was his dad David John who inspired the Catholic faith in him. As a child he will tell you didn't see the beauty or goodness of the church but now as an adult who has come back to the faith he remembers the lessons his dad tried to instill in him. John is also the name of John Paul II whom my husband and I have a strong devotion to. Turns out John was also Fulton Sheen's middle name but we had it picked out before we were sure his name would be Fulton John. We also realized after Fulton was born and named, that it's actually the first name of his godfather too. John means "Yahweh is gracious". I didn't know this when we picked it but you can ask my husband - I find a way to name everything grace. In fact that is what my name means. It is such a grace to us that our son, who was conceived during the year of mercy and born during the hour of mercy, is here.  Grace and mercy have completely surrounded this little man and I pray they will continue to. 

It was Fulton Sheen that interceded for us during our birth. It was his writing that encouraged me during labor. It was my husband reading his book to me that gave me so much to think about and so much hope to hold on to. Then God amazed us with his addition to the name. Our son was born on the feast of St. John of the Cross. 

So the question we have been asked what was Fulton's name going to be if he was a girl? We wont's be sharing. We feel God may one day bring us a daughter and that may be her name. Who knows maybe one day we will have a child named Nehemiah.  Only God knows what is to come for our family. 

We ask that Venerable Fulton Sheen, Pope St. John Paul II, St. John of the Cross pray for us and our son that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. 

What did you name your child and why? I love hearing the inspiration of people's names. 

Week 1 Favorite Cloth Diapers

I sit here with my little boy asleep on me amazed that he's now 9 days old. Before he was born I spent a lot of time, more than I care to admit, reading and watching and learning about cloth diapering.  We started cloth diapering him in the hospital. I wish I could say he didn't have a disposable on his butt but after delivery after we bonded through skin to skin (after he peed on me)...the nurses took him to weigh him and measure him and handed him back in a diaper. We had an incredibly hard labor, which I will share the story of soon, and the last thing I could think about was worrying about his diaper. We didn't know if he would need to be put in the NICU so while he was watched we used disposables but at the first mention of us being discharged he got his first fluffy butt. 

First diaper: Sprinkles - Born Smart Smart Bottoms. 

This is what his dad chose. I mean who wouldn't love a donut diaper. The nurses and the hospital photographer kept saying they had never seen anything like it before. In fact they said they never have seen cloth diapers in the hospital. I'm surprised with how popular cloth diapering has become and the awareness of it. The reason most I've read give for not doing it is not wanting to come home with laundry. I was willing to risk it as I work in a hospital and every single thing that came home first thing when straight into the washer. I don't regret it at all. If I had it to do again I would cloth from the beginning or at least from his first diaper from me on.  We used disposable liners through the meconium stage and the diapers have no stains even when the liner didn't work. So don't let meconium scare you. 

So a week in what do I think about cloth diapering? 

I love it. 

I think with all my research I wasn't naive about the things that we might encounter and it also helped me know some of what was needed and what wasn't. What it couldn't tell me was what size the baby was going to be when he came out or what would fit him. So we bought and were gifted a variety. We chose to do a newborn stash which I know some people don't because they say its such a small window they fit in them, but we wanted to cloth for health reasons so we were willing to make the investment. We also figured we hoped to have other children. 

Baby boy was born 7 pounds 1 ounce at 20 inches long. He was born at 38 weeks 3 days.  He lost some weight as babies do and I think got down to 6 lbs 3 ounces at one point. My milk came in and this breast fed baby has grown. Last measurement was 6 lbs 15 ounces. So we were dealing with small legs small waist and a cord stump. 

Week 1 Favorite Cloth Diapers

Best Fitted: Ecoposh fitted- these little guys rock. We use with a cover to be safe but honestly I don't think we even need it. They are made from recycled water bottles apparently. We ordered off zulily because it was way cheaper and we were trying to stay on budget. My husband loves them and I think they are wonderful for overnight. We have ordered a few more. 

Best cover: Rumparooz newborn cover. Hands down the only one that fit when he was down in the 6 pound range and now that he's gone back up I can get some of the others on but week 1 this was  our main jam. We have 3 snaps and 1 with hook and loop. I believe I like the snaps better.  Runner up is best bottoms. We only have one so he's only had it on the bum a few times but it's the only diaper of them all he isn't on the smaller size. 

Best prefold - Thirsties duo hemp. I know everyone loves the green mountain prefolds and I like them too. Why then did I not pick them? The GMD orange edge prefolds are wet all the way through and all around when I go to change him. Thirsties stay dry the outside. and stand up to more time overnight. Little man doesn't wake up upset he's wet. I will say for prefolds of all kinds I've been using the angel wing fold with a snappi. Other uses may yield different results. These are more expensive but time will tell if thats worth it. We thankfully were gifted 3, and 2 we got on super sale. I wish we had more but its enough to cover a night.  We were gifted 12 orange edge refolds and I have been using them during the day when I can change him much more frequent. They do a great job and I love how easy to wash and dry. 

Best all in one- this is a hard one. We tried Thirsties- which I like but the legs have a gap and we had a leak so I need a chunkier baby for those. Grovia newborn all in ones have been good. No leaks but they take a long time to dry. Little Joeys and Smart bottoms give us the best fit for certain. So what's my favorite between these two? I may pick Smart Bottoms Born Smart because they are more trim and easier to fit in the car seat. Love them both though on my little man. Smart Bottoms does win on prints. 

We didn't try any all in 2s, disposables or wool. I also didn't even try and put my little man in a one size as most of them start at 8-10 lbs I do have a few brands and styles but until his cord is fully off this is what we are working with. 

We tried a few other things I didn't list on the favorites. Maybe when we finish newborn cloth diapering I'll do a run down of everything we tried and my thoughts if anyone would be interested in that. 

What are your newborn favorites if you cloth diapered? 

For those wondering- it really is easy. Wear and throw in the washing machine. If you can work a washing machine you can do this. Alright little man is waking up and needs a diaper change. 

If you have any cloth diaper questions let me know.  I'm just a first time mom navigating the cloth world. Oh how sweet is a fluffy little butt. 

Anita