Cloth Diapers and Preemies

Before I got pregnant, I saw a Dragon's Den episode (a canadian version of Shark Tank) showcasing Apple Cheeks cloth diapers. I had never heard about these new modern looking cloth diapers before; my understanding previously had been that cloth diapers were a piece of cloth that you pinned on your baby with clothing pins! Clearly I could not have been more wrong!

During V's hospital stay, the diapering had to strictly be disposable for infection control issues. This policy made a lot of sense to me, besides, V's tush was much too small for even the tiniest cloth diapers. That didn't stop me from browsing (ok, ok, becoming completely addicted to buying) cloth diapers between hospital visits. Receiving a packages in the mail was my guilty pleasure while V was in the hospital, a little harmless pick-me-up when other things were not going so well.

Generally speaking, I think preemies are great candidates for cloth diapering, primarily because they tend to be super constipated from iron supplements. V spent 3-7 days without having a stool. While I was worried about that for quite some time, it also meant that most of her cloth diapers remained poop free for quite some time. So if you are hesitant about cloth diapering because you don't like the idea of dealing with poopy diapers, know that your preemie has a good chance of being more on the constipated side of that continuum.
Lots of other blogs explain the differences between flats, prefolds, all-in-ones, pocket diapers, etc. Of course, cloth diapering is very baby dependent. However, I have some comments that I think are generally true for preemies:

1) We were told to avoid having V's legs butterfly out (avoid the frog legged position). We tried the prefolds, but found that there was too much bunched material between her legs. This material forced her into a frog legged position. For that reason, we quickly decided prefolds were not for us. The prefolds we bought are still put to good use: we use them as wipes! The preemie size works great for that! 

2) Preemie bellies tend to be rather large, so your preemie will probably grow out of the newborn sized diapers at a lower weight than the maximum advertized for that diaper. For instance, V grew out of the newborn Bumgenius at 10lbs instead of the advertized 12lbs.

3) While your preemie was very likely extremely tiny at birth, because most are hospitalized until their due dates or beyond, they may not be so tiny when you get home. Since most hospitals do not allow cloth diapers during hospitalization, your baby may have grown out of the preemie sizes by the time you are home. For us, the newborn size worked for a good 3 months, but V was already too big for her preemie cloth diapers when she was discharged. So don't go too crazy buying up preemie diapers (the same goes for disposable brw!).

4) Again, because of the concern about frog-legging, I think sized diapers (which fit a specific smaller range of weights) are better than one-sized cloth diapers (which can fit from 8-35+lbs). The one-size just tend to have too much fabric bunching between the legs at the lower weights.

In the end, we decided to do a mix of both cloth diapering and disposables. That way when we go to the multiple doctors appointments, we can use a disposable and not have to think about how we are going to stash a poopy diaper for half a day. But at night our sweetie can stay comfy and nice and dry thanks to the super fluffy and soft cloth diapers. Win/win!

To give you an idea, we have tried : Grovia newborn, Grovia AIO, Applecheeks size 1, bumgenius one size, bumgenius newborn, bummis organic prefolds, sweetpea covers, rumparooz covers, as well as some by work at home moms, which I all found so-so...

Here are my favorite combinations:

FuzziBunz Perfect Size Cloth Diaper (<-- Awesome affiliate link!)*. I LOVE these cloth diapers !!! The smalls started fitting V when she was 7lbs because of her tummy, and still fit her now at 12+lbs. They keep her dryer than the disposable diapers! At night, we add these (<-- Awesome affiliate link!)* hemp inserts and she is dry dry dry in the morning after sometimes 8 hours, and this despite the diaper being super heavy with pee! It's awesome!! Be sure to get the small ones again to minimize on the bulk! Had V been a little bit smaller when she got home, I would have probably gone for the XS size, but with her big belly, the small fit her perfectly, even at 6lbs 5ounces.

How cute is her little tush in her FuzziBunz Perfect Size Cloth Diaper (<-- see how I snuck the affiliate link in again? Its because they really are my favorite!)*

My second favorite combo is the Thirsties Duo (<-- Awesome affiliate link!)*. It has the same dry feeling and great absorption as above, I just find the leg elastics a tad tight on V.

Lastly, an honorable mention to Bummis Tots Bots (<-- Awesome affiliate link!)* because my husband loves them so darm much! I think its the softness and cute prints that sells him on them!

Hope you liked my cloth diaper overview for preemies!

Have you tried cloth diapering your preemie?

Xo

C

*Btw, affiliate links don't increase any of your costs and can help supplement my cloth diapering guilty pleasure. Thanks for clicking :)