# Did you *really* love prefolds for newborns?



## Beauchamp (Jan 12, 2009)

I tried prefolds with DD and they seemed to irritate her bum. It could've been our extremely hard water, though. I sold all of mine, but with baby #2 coming, I'm debating re-buying some NB prefolds/covers. Or a few packs of Earth's best sposies. (When you look at the Amazon Mom prices, they are pretty cheap.) DD was 8lb 3 oz, so I'm not sure how long we'd be in newborn sizes.

I'm looking at Little Lions seconds to save money, and a few used on Craigslist.

Just wondering if I should give prefolds a second chance for this upcoming baby. Or did you end up loving fitteds/AIOs/sposies so much more? Do you have to change much more frequently when using prefolds?

Thoughts?


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## levans (Jun 20, 2006)

I found prefolds to be not absorbent enough for my newborn son. I preferred the NB fitteds I had instead. The thing was, he would sleep so much (as all newborns do) that his diaper would be soaked quickly and I didn't have the heart to wake him up every hour for changes. I had a half dozen or so fitteds (some I made, some were Crickets, I think) and I wished I had more. When I did use the prefolds, I needed to also add in a folded up burp cloth as a doubler to get him through his naps.

I think that Softbums diapers with the NB pods are a great idea. I really like the Omni diapers I use now with my guy (18 months). I didn't have them when he was a newborn, but I think the system would work out pretty good.


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## goinggreengirl (Nov 7, 2009)

I loved prefolds for the newborn and a little older stages. Until he started trying to roll over during changes, really!


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## seafox (Dec 2, 2006)

we only used prefolds with DS, from birth until now (20 months) I love them! we do use pockets at night, but prefolds the rest of the time. And wool covers. I never had any issues with them.

I don't know if we change more frequently, but if we did, its only helped us with the part time ECing we started doing at 12 months. At 20mos now we usually only have at most 1 or 2 diapers a day (missed pees)


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## samstress (Feb 21, 2008)

well, we only used prefold (from birth until potty learning at nearly two) so i have nothing to compare it to, but if i didn't really like them i would have sought out other options.


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## Yuba_River (Sep 4, 2006)

I really loved kissaluv's fitteds in size 0 with my new little guy, but I was perfectly happy with the newborn prefolds and a cover also. The cheap little prowraps in newborn worked great for us. He was 8,9 oz at birth, and I think he stayed in newborn sizes for a month or so.


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## BummisMom (Oct 6, 2010)

We have used prefolds, all-in-ones and pocket diapers for the past 21 months and I can honestly say that prefolds are by far the most reliable thing we've got. When my son was really small and diaper changes were more frequent, it was fantastic to not have to wash the cover everytime. Saved us a lot of money. That being said, not all prefolds are created equally. Some are softer and more absorbant than others. The ones we use are the Bummis Organic cotton ones and I can't say enough great things about them.


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## chel (Jul 24, 2004)

I loved my gmd prefolds. Dd was in the yellows till 10m. For her she outgrew the by width not absorption. Still using them, now on brown size.


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## Layney82 (Apr 18, 2009)

I actually hated prefolds for my DS in the nb stage. I used the bummis organic ones with bummis covers. The pfs were too long and the covers gaped horribly around his little legs. We ended up using sposies mostly until his BGOS fit around 3-4 weeks. Because he grew so quickly, it just wasn't cost effective to invest in a properly fitting nb stash. The sposies for 3-4 weeks were much cheaper.


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## zinemama (Feb 2, 2002)

I don't think there's anything to love about diapers, period. That said, I was very satisfied with the prefolds we used. They held up great, were easy to use, and 10 years later are now happily mopping up spills and wiping off dust.


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## MEcatlady17 (Apr 30, 2008)

Yup  I really do.

DD was 8lbs when she was born and is built narrow in the hips and bum. She wore her NB Orange edged GMD prefolds for a few months with a snappi. Even my DH learned to snappi them- which says something to their ease of use. I preferred them with a snappi to contain BM poos. I used newborn prowrap and bummis original and snap covers and a thirsties duo 1 and we never had a leak. Poo would get on the cover (especially as we learned to fold and snappi better) but never once leaked out of the covers.

She is still able to wear the yellow edged now at 14 months. Trifolded they work inside a pocket or in a cover and since she is a peanut at 19 pounds with her narrow hips I can still just barely use a snappi to close.

I just put in another order at Green Mountain Diapers for the red edged prefolds and some flats- as well as a few sherpa diapers- so we have the prefold love 

I have a full stash of pockets and some AIOs and I am replacing all my microfiber inserts with cotton or hemp prefolds, inserts, and flats as they are SOOOO much easier for me to wash clean with my HE front loader and well water.


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## orange_mommy (Jul 9, 2010)

I don't love prefolds, but I think it is a size issue. I am using infant ones, and they are SO ridiculously bulky on my newborn. By the time I get a cover on, he can't even move his legs. Not to mention from the waist down he looks like he has a tree trunk in his tiny little newborn clothes, lol! He is growing super fast (a pound a week) and was almost 10 pounds a week ago and is now 3 weeks old but I have just ordered some preemie prefolds in hopes that he won't be so burdened down by diaper bulk...even if I have to change him more often! To be honest, my favorite newborn diaper so far are the Happy Heiny's Sherpa fitteds because they seem less bulky under a cover, and don't cut into him anywhere. The Lil Joey's by Rumparooz are great AIO's because they don't seem bulky either, they are so tiny, and are simple to put on, and he can actually move his legs in them most of the time. I have been using Sandy's Motherease for newborns which are too bulky under a cover, but at nighttime (we cosleep) I have been putting a thick blanket underneath him and using the Sandy's without a cover and just changing after each feed. It seems to be a steep learning curve, and I'm sure the preferred outcomes are totally personal... but that's my take on things so far!


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## DevaMajka (Jul 4, 2005)

I don't like pf's- they don't trifold very well, because the thick middle section goes over into one of the edges, and that totally messes with me. I do like flats, though, to "trifold" in covers or as inserts. They wash really well, and dry fast- much faster than pf's. I'm going to try out gerber flats and Thirsties Duos for this babe to be.

I also love fitteds coverless or under fleece pants/pajamas. That's probably my fave, but can be a bit more expensive, especially if you buy new.

I don't like sposies (except maybe at night) for the nb stage because they poop so often, and it would drive me crazy to go through that many sposies.

My least fave would be an AIO, because they take so long to dry, and they are hard to get totally clean.

As far as changing more often, I change immediately after each pee for anything that isn't stay dry. With stay dry inners, I change as soon as I realize dc pee'd, but I don't stress about checking all the time, kwim?


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## Twinklefae (Dec 13, 2006)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Layney82*
> 
> I actually hated prefolds for my DS in the nb stage. I used the bummis organic ones with bummis covers. The pfs were too long and the covers gaped horribly around his little legs. We ended up using sposies mostly until his BGOS fit around 3-4 weeks. Because he grew so quickly, it just wasn't cost effective to invest in a properly fitting nb stash. The sposies for 3-4 weeks were much cheaper.


The bummis kits are infant sized, so they are a little big for average babies (ie. size small, not nb). DS was 9lbs and they fit him well from birth. DD was 7lbs and it took a few weeks before the fit. Now I love them, but she also fits BG, sm FB and a lot of other things at this point.

We had a bunch of used nb fitteds with DD and loved them, but I don't think I'd spend the money on them new. She's 4 weeks old and I'm packing most of them up already!


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## weliveintheforest (Sep 3, 2005)

We really liked them for dd, but liked fitteds more with ds. We liked the simplicity of them but I think the shape of the baby matters. Dd was tinier and didn't fit fitteds very well at first, and with ds I had more tiny fitteds and he was a bit chunkier... they also had different poop. DDs was really runny and would always go up the back and out the sides, but it was not really a problem with ds. I think there are a lot of factors! I didn't think there was any difference in changing, we change after every pee anyway. The nice thing about prefolds is they are cheap, and if you don't end up using them you should be able to get most of your money back if you sell them.


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## cristeen (Jan 20, 2007)

I hated pfs during the NB period. In fact, i didnt start liking them until almost a year, by which point they were not absorbent enough. I use them now to stuff his night time pocket or for mopping up messes during naked time.

In part it was probably a size issue. My DS had super skinny legs and every time we used a pf we had poo leaks until his legs started chunking up around a year. Many fitteds didnt work for us either for the same reason. It took a lot of trial and error to find the right fit of diaper for him, and pfs were not it.


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## RthyCrunchyMama (Dec 7, 2010)

I personally loved my FB and I love GroVia all in ones! So cute, so easy. If you don't want to buy or don't know what you want you could try a rental such as the one at Earthy Crunchy Mama. Could save you some money or at least allow you to figure out your preference with no risk.

Good luck!


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## orange_mommy (Jul 9, 2010)

I finally received my preemie prefolds. My son is a chunky 14-pounder but I have to say I LOVE these things, lol! They are just barely long enough to cover his bum AND his boy parts, but they fit very very trim under a cover so he doesn't have a huge pack of material on his bottom! Goodbye huge "infant" prefolds for now!! The preemie prefolds only absorb about one pee, but that is fine with me because my little man HATES being wet and I was changing him with every pee anyhow. It didn't matter if the diaper could absorb 10 cups of liquid, I had to change him every single time anyway so I might as well have him in a tiny diaper! I SOOOOO wish I had these preemie prefolds when he was first born, it would have enlarged my stash very affordably, as opposed to the ones that fit pretty good but cost an arm and a leg! So please make sure you get enough of the tiny "preemie" prefolds if you are going to give prefolds a fair chance!  (If my 14-pound 6-week-old chubster can fit in them them them probably any newborn can!)

By the way, I just lay the prefold flat in the cover and put them on. I don't use Snappis (having anything sharp close to my baby terrifies me) or anything, just lay one in and wrap him up! I also tried laying two prefolds in the wrap (using Thirsties size X-Small), one slightly higher than the other so between the two of them, they covered the entire inside and that worked well also... still less bulky than the "infant" size prefolds.)


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## sosurreal09 (Nov 20, 2009)

I have always disliked prefolds. I bought some when I first had DD and then never used them b/c I thought they were a PIA for various reasons. They are now my un-paper towels lol


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## Chamomile Girl (Nov 4, 2008)

Another prefold lover here. We had the GMD orange edge when DS was born and they worked great but only lasted about three weeks because he grew so fast. I used them with the Mommy's Touch newborn covers which I also loved. When he outgrew those I used yellow, red, and now brown edge GMDs with the regular size Mommy's Touch covers (can't say enough good stuff about these. He wore these from about two months, and they still fit him now at almost two years), Thirsties, and Bummi's covers with some nice wool Imse Vimses for night time.

I just stashed my stash (heh) last week because he is only wearing dipes at night now, and it made me so sad. I'll miss my covers. They were so freaking reliable. I have a bunch of green edge GMD's that I never even got to use







.

I borrowed a couple of dozen Fuzzybunz from a friend when DS was about 8mo old to test drive and I hated them. Hated. They were fussy to wash, smelled futzy even when clean, and I hated stuffing them. Plus I could never get a good fit on the legs. So back to prefolds I went.


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## Monkey Keeper (Nov 20, 2009)

We did infant prefolds and Thirsties Duo size 1s for DS as a newborn, and I was a CD newbie. LOVED them. Would never go back to 'sposies, and I'm intimidated by the washing peculiarities of AIOs or anything not cotton/hot water/bleachable  DS was a bigger newborn, though, bottoming out just under 9lbs. He was 15lbs at 2 months and pretty much out of the infant prefolds and sz1 covers at that point. We always snappi, and we double up for night time.


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## fionamom (Jan 27, 2007)

Hi! If i could do cloth diapering again i would do just prefolds. But make sure they are thick and trimmed to size so they are not too bulky. I really loved GMD prefolds, they are very absorbant. Their newborn size(orange edged) fits well into nb covers. I used a sposie for overnights for both my kids, and mostly GMD prefolds with bummis and thirsties covers. Also liked bum genius but over time really preferred the all cotton option bc i found synthetic materials to hold odor. As far as i know, the GMD newborn prefolds with covers seems to be well-loved/well-regarded for cloth diapering newborns, but i have been away from the cloth diapering forums for a year or so so i could be out of the loop. If i could do it again i would also try snapped covers over prefolds for an older toddler bc she would would undo her velcro cover tabs.


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## hennylou (May 11, 2011)

i had great luck with the gdiapers in the newborn size. as soon as she outgrew those we tried the next gdiapers size, which we did not like (lots of leaks and too many "parts"), so switched to gmd prefolds, and LOVE them for 2mos and up.


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## akind1 (Jul 16, 2009)

prefolds did irritate my LO also, but once I added a stay dry liner (bummis microfleece), it didn't bother him at all. perhaps you could try adding one? I started CD'ing when he was 7 months old, and have never looked back.

for the LO on the way, I plan to CD part time at first, as I still have sposies left over from DS that he grew out of. just using prefolds and covers (with the liner, of course!).


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## kaypea (Mar 15, 2011)

We used prefolds from the day DD's cord stump healed, so about 10 days old. We had two sizes, and for the first couple of weeks the smaller size looked a little bulky, but after that she chunked up and they were fine. We never had any irritation problems. We had two NB bummis wraps and a bunch of smalls, and while the smalls were a bit big, they worked fine, though we usually tried to use the NB covers as long as they weren't pooped on. We washed diapers every second day with our stash at first, and ended up buying a few more Super Brites covers to extend laundry day. Oh yeah, and until she was four months or so, we used a snappi. Once she started grabbing, we put the snappi away, and just trifolded. We used MotherEase One-size bamboo fitteds for night-time, but otherwise, we've been using nothing but prefolds from the start, and DD is now 27 months, and almost out of them. LOVE!


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