Seeking Prefold advice for newborn - 6 months

I've been reading the Help for New Users (cloth) pages and I think I will try prefolds for Phoenix to start with for the first few months. I have a few questions to help me start my own stash.

1. Is there much difference between cotton, bamboo and hemp for containing poo and wetness?
2. Are they good to also use at night as in the day or do they need boosting & what would you boost them with?
3. What are the best PULs to use with a prefold? Would 4 in each size suffice?
4. Would an Eenie PUL be ok to use with prefolds?
5. Are PULs the only way to use a prefold?
6. A prefold looks very long for a newborn, do you fold it over at the front inwards or outwards or at the back?

Hi Dusty

I am new to cloth nappies but my little girl is almost 6 weeks old and we have been using prefolds during the day as our main nappy.

[LIST=1][*]Is there much difference between cotton, bamboo and hemp for containing poo and wetness?
We bought the swaddlebees cotton prefolds andalso some bamboo ones. To be honest, we prefer the cotton ones even thought I would have thought they would be less absorbant. Both are really good and because of the cover, we haven't had any leaks at all. I actually have to make sure that the cover totally covers the prefold and it doesn't stick out over the cover or else the prefold absorbs the wee and the bit that sticks out over the cover makes her clothes wet.
[*]Are they good to also use at night as in the day or do they need boosting & what would you boost them with?
We don't use them at night but only because they are more difficult (in my opinion) to change and take longer. We use BBH at night time that snap. We boost them with either Peapods night boosters or BBH Bamboo fold ups.
[*]What are the best PULs to use with a prefold? Would 4 in each size suffice?
We have 2 BBH PUL's and 2 thirstie PUL's. I prefer the thirsties only because the legs are gusseted and seem to fit her better. That said, now she is getting bigger - all the PUL's are fine. 4 is working really well for us right now.
[*]A prefold looks very long for a newborn, do you fold it over at the front inwards or outwards or at the back?
The newborn swaddlebees prefolds that I bought aren't too long for my little girl but the next size up ones are. I just fold them inwards at the front - I guess it doesn't matter if you do it at the front or the back but I think if they were folded at the back, when she goes to sleep she might feel the big lump? Not sure

Good luck with it! We are loving prefolds and my DH is using them without any difficulties at all.

Subscribing - good questions. I'd like to know too.

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The newborn swaddlebees prefolds that I bought aren't too long for my little girl but the next size up ones are. I just fold them inwards at the front - I guess it doesn't matter if you do it at the front or the back but I think if they were folded at the back, when she goes to sleep she might feel the big lump? Not sure

Good luck with it! We are loving prefolds and my DH is using them without any difficulties at all.

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Thanks for your thoughts Starangelk! I didn't realise you could get prefolds for newborns I'll have a look into those. Glad you are loving prefolds and congrats on getting to 6 weeks!

again great questions!

I have a few prefolds from a wonderful BB member and so like the look of them for NB. but again need to get my stash up!

Thinking about doing the nappy service to start with too.

Hi Dusty!
DD1 I only used AIO's in the early days. I used Maz prefolds with DD2 and they are great, they are terry with sewn in bamboo I believe. I used then until DD was about 5 months however I also used some fitteds in the later months, she has now moved onto sharing her sisters AIO's and pockets.
I found that the prefold did not need boosting in the early days however later on I did boost them with bamboo if I was going out.
In the earlier days I would use prefolds at night but then moved on to fitteds once she started to sleep for longer periods, she has been in dedicated night nappies for about 2 months now (she is almost 7 months).
I am not much help with the question on using PUL covers as I only ever use fleece which work great, once again Maz has fantastic covers, I never had a leak when I used them with her prefolds :)
If the prefold is to long you can fold it over at one end, DD2 was 2.3kg when she came home and I managed to fit them on her.
Just my experience but I hope it helps a little.

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[*]Would an Eenie PUL be ok to use with prefolds?

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I haven't used prefolds so can't help with most questions... but I did use some eenee pouch pants. Is that what you're referring too? I've never seen eenee pul nappy covers. Do you mean, could you use the prefold instead of the eenee washable pouch inserts? Probably- though I'd imagine they would have to be newborn prefolds as the pouch is pretty small in the pouch pants.

Oh and on the topic of cotton, bamboo & hemp... cotton is least absorbent, hemp is next and bamboo is the most absorbent. So cotton will generally need changing more frequently and bamboo will be able to be left for longer (good for nights). Cotton is also then the quickest to dry so soemtimes a mix of fabrics is handy otherwise if you have all bamboo for example you may be waiting too long for them to dry.

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I haven't used prefolds so can't help with most questions... but I did use some eenee pouch pants. Is that what you're referring too? I've never seen eenee pul nappy covers. Do you mean, could you use the prefold instead of the eenee washable pouch inserts? Probably- though I'd imagine they would have to be newborn prefolds as the pouch is pretty small in the pouch pants.
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Thanks Meow yep I meant the pouch pants. I thought I would give this system a go as an inbetween disposables/cloth as DH wants to give them a go too.

Other questions I have...
With prefolds is there any other folding other in folding the two outer lengthwise inwards that needs to be done to put the nappy in the cover? Do you use clasps (not sure what the technical name is) or does it just get shoved in so to speak?

Also I just realised that covers don't have to be PULs. Is that right? You can use fleece/minkee/wool as appropriate covers?

I'm learning so much already!

I had planned on using a combo of prefolds and flats with DS1 when he was a nb. TBH, I found prefolds to be completely useless, unless I wanted to change his nappy every 30 mins. Flats were a much, much better way to go. Even flanny flats, which we had to use for awhile, because DS was so tiny.

I know some people find prefolds work for them, but equally, I know others who have found them as hopeless as I did. Probably depends alot on your baby. Just wanted to put it out there, so you're aware, and have a contingency plan. (Flats are an awesome contingency, and they are NOT hard at all ;))

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I know some people find prefolds work for them, but equally, I know others who have found them as hopeless as I did. Probably depends alot on your baby. Just wanted to put it out there, so you're aware, and have a contingency plan. (Flats are an awesome contingency, and they are NOT hard at all ;))

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Thanks Janie for your experience and perspective. I just bought a pack of terry flats today in preparation and TBH that is where most of my cloth experience lies having nieces and friends kids use them. Not sure about how to do newborn folds though or how to use flanny flats. All to be discovered on this exciting journey of ours :D

A lovely BB friend has lent me some prefolds to try out so I'm getting a mixture of options now.

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With prefolds is there any other folding other in folding the two outer lengthwise inwards that needs to be done to put the nappy in the cover? Do you use clasps (not sure what the technical name is) or does it just get shoved in so to speak?

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I am not very good at explaining this in type but... I always folded mine in trifold but leaving wings at the top to wrap around babies waist, it looks like an upside down triangle, you fasten using snappi's although if your cover is snug enough you don't necessary need to.

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Also I just realised that covers don't have to be PULs. Is that right? You can use fleece/minkee/wool as appropriate covers?

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I always used fleece/minkee with mine, yes you can also use wool.

I think it does depend on the baby and the prefold, as I said above I used Maz's and they were great, I could go up to 3 hours between changes.

Dusty, I used the same fold from birth to about 18 months (we used a mix of flats and mcn from 8 months). And I used flanny flats in exactly the same way as terry towelling, they're just helpful when bub is small as they're not bulky like tt. We used flannies until ds was about 5 months, and started to out-wee them.

We planned to use prefolds with Abi but so far she's far too small for any of the covers we have so were looking at buying some new ones this fortnight.

As far as covers go, were looking at bummis original covers. You don't need to use PUL covers with prefolds, you could use fleece covers or wool soakers/longies. The wool will help keep your bub the driest as it let's the moisture evaporate off, the next best is fleece.

Most of my prefolds are cotton so when she starts to wee more I'll start boosting them with some bamboo inserts I have left over from Erin's nappies which are mainly bamboo, I'll just lay them between the nappy and the cover. You can also use microfibre cleaning clothes. Just fold them up to fit, but don't put microfibre right beside your babies skin as it'll dry it out.

Subbing to read tomorrow.
I'll be using prefolds for a while for this one. Have already got most of my stash sorted, lol.

ETA - will mostly be using Maz/fleece covers. Trying to avoid PUL over the warmer months myself, as DS is very sensitive to it.

I've been using the Bummis organic cotton prefolds & covers since DD was about 2 weeks and love them, I also have a couple of BG's OSFM and small IB's that I use. I got the infant size and they are suppose to fit until bubs is about 7kgs, so only my little munchkin should get about 6-7 months use.

I bought two of the Bummi's original covers and I find they are useless but I love the bummis superbrite covers with the double leg gussets (have 4 of them now) and proud to say NEVER had a poo-polision leak out of them yet!