Our baby is a week old today - boy, this week has flown!

Today, DH took our older three to the zoo for several hours. I really needed a little extra quiet time, plus I think he needed to get out of the house! He ended up taking a short run the other night around 9:30 - after all the ‘fun’ adventures he’d been through (tee tee in the floor, water poured from cup onto clothes, etc…).

They had a great time, and I really enjoyed the time to relax a little. Somehow, I kept finding myself in the recliner with the baby in my arms, or sleeping on my shoulder. I just can’t get enough of him!! Babies are so sweet, and those noises - oh, they are so precious!!

DH was fine with my afternoon, thinking that the baby sleeping in our bed part of each night would spoil him more than me holding him so much. Personally, I’d rather have him sleep in our bed part of the time vs. having to hold him for naps during the day - at least full time. For now, the holding is simply selfish on my part!

I WILL have to resume “Mommy” role next week when DH goes back to work, so my holding time will be less. I’m not sure how that’s going to go yet. So far this past week, DH has been wonderful getting up with the kids and letting me and the baby sleep in until 9:30 or 10.

This morning, child #3 woke up sometime after 4, and didn’t go back to sleep until 7ish. DH was up with him til 6, then I got up after nursing the baby. All the screams woke up DD around 6:15 - but stayed in bed at least.

#3 finally fell asleep on the couch, DH asleep in bed, so I took the baby to DD’s room - where we were awake until 7:30, then fell back asleep. Oldest son woke up then, but played quietly until 8:30. Okay, I’m boring everyone - but point being - we really needed that zoo trip today!

I was able to get some anniversary shopping done online. DH and I will celebrate our 7th anniversary next Monday. I had no idea a copper gift would be so hard to buy! (Or that copper was so expensive) I finally found something that has sentimental value for me, and hope it can get here by next Monday…. I really should’ve started on this earlier!

Tomorrow, we’ll be taking the baby to get his circumcision done. I’m already fighting tears, I SO don’t like the thought of my children being in pain. Why are we doing this then? Well, it’s not because we think it’s necessary for salvation - the New Testament makes it clear that this is no longer needed.

But I truly believe that God wouldn’t have established something without any other reason for it - I believe there is some benefit, and that it’s probably a health benefit. This was an outward show of devotion to God, and I still see it that way. We are doing this out of respect and reverence for something GOD established many years ago.

It gave me comfort when I read a passage last week that spoke of Jesus being circumcised. I mean, Jesus is New Testament, and He was salvation - this was not ‘needed’. But He was circumcised as a showing of honoring God, submission to Him.

DH even feels better about it after reading Genesis 17 (I believe that’s where he said). I just wish it didn’t have to hurt. We are waiting til the 8th day, since we know that the Vitamin K levels are at their peak (this assists in clotting). I was confused if you count the first day or not, but the drs. office said to come in on Thursday - so I’ll have to trust them.

I’ll be needing lots of prayers for sure, along with the baby needing them! This doctor gives you the option of going back, but I believe DH will decline. I do hope that I’ll be able to hold and/ or nurse him right away though, to maybe give some comfort. We are glad that it’s a Christian doctor we found to do this - if anything could help.

We’ll still have to stop and get a tube of Vaseline. You’re supposed to coat the area with vaseline to prevent the diaper from sticking to the healing area. We learned with our first that it was much easier to squeeze and big blob all the way around it rather than having to rub it on with our finger or q-tip.

I’m wondering if he’ll need Tylenol or something? I guess I’ve never thought much about it hurting really bad AFTER it’s done, but it must! I know with our last I couldn’t convince them to give a shot to numb it. They insisted that the shot would hurt worse than the procedure itself. DH had to agree that he wouldn’t want a shot, so I had to agree with his decision (though I cried tons!!).

Okay, I’ve got to stop, I’ve been trying not to think about it! I should be better tomorrow night…. Oh, please, please, please don’t leave comments making me feel worse about this - thank you!

Good news - he’s gained weight since we brought him home. He was 7 lbs. on our scales, and now he’s 7.5 lbs! They are supposed to be back to birth weight by 2 weeks, so he’s doing good. Our scales aren’t as accurate as baby scales, but they were pretty close with our last baby.

He’s still sleeping a good bit, having 2 or 3 times a day where he’ll be awake for 1 to 2 hours at a time. He’s so fun to watch when he’s awake, I just wonder what he’s thinking as he looks so intently at our busy crew.

He’s been looking a lot like oldest brother when he was a newborn, but tonight, something about his sleeping face looks so much like his sister at that age. I can’t wait to see ‘who’ he becomes! But for now, I’m loving every second of this newborn stage!!

“Little Mommy”

Yep, I made it not even 3 whole days before resorting to a pacifier - something we were able to keep from getting addicted to on our last 2 babies. Well, they really didn’t even like them, so that helped.

Our first baby was such a happy baby, and a baby with a paci. It seemed that when we took it from him soon after his 2nd b’day, he became a lot more moody and fussy, never going back 100% to that perfectly happy child. So thus, we weren’t too fond of ever using a pacifier again. UNTIL…. Friday night…. I managed to find an old one stashed away in the kitchen….

I’m not sure if it was the spaghetti sauce (I tried not to use too much), or the Caesar salad w/ croutons (garlic?) - but we had one fussy baby from 10 PM until nearly 4 AM. We did get a little sleep in the middle of all that, but not hardly any until 1 or 1:30.

He did take the paci for a little while, then got upset all over again. I’m not sure if he was really hungry, but I was bone dry. (Note to self - be sure to drink LOTS more water, especially in the afternoons and evenings.)

The next night, same thing, only not as long. Okay, I had kept myself from salad with our steak, and DH held off of the garlic salt on the meat… So, maybe it’s not the food?

Last night, I decided to try putting him down for the night earlier. We’re not the earliest to bed/ earliest to rise family normally - our bedtime for the kids is 9 or 9:30.

It hit me that maybe he’s just over stimulated by that late at night. I can see it, and you could too if you were around the older three for more than 15 minutes. They’re not bad, they just have fun = are a tad bit excitable.

So, this has put feeding the baby around 9 or 10 PM for the last ‘awake’ time , but the problem being is that he doesn’t want to go to sleep then!

He’s tired, but still needs to have something in his mouth. I’m okay with feedings every two hours, he needs them, but I have to draw the line at being a human pacifier 20 hours a day.

Overall, last night was better. When he did wake up, I simply fed him in our dark bedroom, just one side, then would put him back down. I think it was 10 when he went down for good, and this was MUCH better than the previous nights!

We’re really glad that uncle and aunt brought over some paci’s in his gift bag! He’s starting to get the hang of them, and will take them for 15 or 20 minutes IF he’s not too tired. We’re not using them until they are completely necessary, but we have had those moments.

On another note, I am SO not following the feeding ’schedule’ they suggest - it just doesn’t work with us. The baby is a little jaundice, so he’s especially sleepy today. I’m feeding him when he’s awake, but then he’s asleep 5 minutes later again (and not eating).

Breastfed boy babies are more likely to become jaundice for some reason, oh, and add Caucasian to that. All three of my boys have been this way. You just have to get them to nurse as much as you can, and hope the sun shines in the window enough to strip them down and let ‘em soak! We did have sun today, so we turned up the heat and stripped him down to his diaper.

He’s getting in his 8 or more feedings a day, just in his own time. I personally like it when he has 2 or 3 maybe 1.5 hrs apart, cause then he’ll go 4 or 5. I’m able to get some things done, take a nap, or spend time with the other ones during these long stretches.

Okay , this is about as much one-handed typing I can do for now,

“Little Mommy”

Remember I told you that I had found a really good deal on some cloth diapers?? The site has been down this week, but it’s up today! For some really good deals on supplies - plus a 10% discount using the code “Clover”, AND FREE shipping for orders over $49….. visit: http://www.babyhopesclothdiapers.com/.

I wasn’t thinking I had that much stuff, UNTIL I checked out! Oops! I had to go back and remove a few things, still spending over $100. That’s a killer for me, but I keep hearing in the back of my head how these pay off over time.

What’d I get?

Some fleece covers on clearance (last ones?)

Cot N Wrap covers (clearance)

Bummis covers (I wanted one or two name brands in case the no names weren’t good)

Wickeeze Bamboo diaper (clearance?)

IV Contour (Not as cheap as prefolds, but I wanted at least one for easy changes for DH)

IV One size (Longer life)

Hemp Inserts (clearance?) Hemp is a GREAT soaker, so these will be for naps and overnight times.

There’s still 2 other sites I’m eyeing products on - different products/ different sizes. For what I bought above, this was the best site/ prices. I’ll get the other items up when it’s not 11:17 PM!!

Little Mommy

I’ve now gone from “Nine Months or Less” to “Nine Months and More”. LOL. Surprisingly, I don’t feel miserable, but instead feel only 6 or 7 months pregnant. Yesterday was the first time I looked at my belly and really thought “Wow! This is getting big!”.

My original gut feeling was the baby would be 2 to 3 days early, or 3 to 4 days late (or was it the other way around? I don’t think it was…). Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 14th would be that last day - so we’ll see if my prediction was right.

My weight guess was 7 lbs. 3 oz. to 7 lbs. 8 or 9 oz., but I’ve now changed that due to the lateness. I believe this will now be my first baby over 8 lbs., and my guess is between 8 lbs. 2 oz. to 8 lbs. 8 oz.

My family has all these number games they’ve tried to play - the birthdate being divisible by 3, or related to the number 12 somehow (though one of our children already messed that up).

I’m happy that all of the ‘not so great’ b’days are now passed, so it can pick whatever day it would like now. The baby won’t have to have a Friday the 13th b’day, or share the day with someone else - it will have it’s own special day! Of course, we’ll just be happy with them being here…

I’m getting a little bored now, since I’ve been ready for this little one for weeks now. I’m about to give up on shaving my legs every day - the nurses will just have to deal with it. Think about it, docs thought I was having the baby at 32 weeks, 6 days - so that’s 8.5 weeks now that I’ve been on alert!

So tonight, we pulled out the playpen and baby swing. Baby son had a rough time, since he thought it was all for him. We would say it was for the baby, but to him, HE is the baby.

He managed to figure out he could crawl up on our bed and climb over into the playpen - thankfully big brother started laughing, and I caught him just before he made it into the bassinet part. It’s not made for that much weight, plus, he’s still got a yucky nose.

Same with the swing, he wants to get in it SO bad!! I’m really beginning to see how busy I’m going to be once the baby comes. Not because of taking care of the baby, but keeping DS away from the baby and all of their ‘toys’.

I’m hoping that having it up for a day, or two or three, or another week…. that he will get used to things and not bother them anymore. At least until the baby comes and begins using them.

He was really sweet this morning, picking up big sister’s baby doll so carefully, and beginning to rock it back and forth in his arms. He had the proper holding position and everything! And for once he didn’t throw it to the ground when he was done. He and big sis began quite an argument/ yelling match over who was going to get to hold the baby doll.

Yep, it’s going to be PRETTY interesting around here for the first few days and weeks…. This poor baby will have to be locked into a room when I shower and such, just to protect it from very loving siblings.

I’m still hanging right around 143 to 143.5 - exactly 27 lbs. from my beginning weight, but 13 lbs. shy of what I normally weigh at delivery.

My cravings have turned to chocolate - ice cream sandwiches, Rolos (that hit me last week), Hershey’s Kisses. This is a boy sign, plus the fact that I’m ALL up front.

Girl signs - I don’t feel like they are about to fall out at any minute (for the entire pregnancy), and I’m carrying higher in general.

I can’t believe we still haven’t really discussed names, but we aren’t too concerned. Since each child gets named based on which name they look like, even if we had a name it could change once we saw them.

Hospital bag -

PJs (warm and cool)

Houseshoes (I can’t stand walking barefoot on strange floors and in bathrooms!)

Mid-pregnancy clothes for after baby is born. These would be clothes from when I was around 6 months, but also easy for nursing.

Snacks. Hospital food and snacks aren’t always the best. When I went in with the kidney stone, the milk they gave me for cereal was 8 days old!! Plus, don’t forget hubby will get hungry too!

We’ve taken books before, but found we really didn’t read them.

Shampoo, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, hairdryer, MAKEUP - you know, all of the necessities!

Oh, we haven’t packed a blank sheet of scrapbook paper!! What for? To have an extra set of hand and footprints, should I ever in a million years get a chance to scrapbook again. prednisone frequent urination

Don’t forget cameras and video cameras. Better NOT to ask for permission to video - you might be denied. Be sure you have charged and extra batteries. Thankfully, DH checked our batteries last night - since most of them were empty! They’d been packed so long that they had drained.

After birth care

If they offer ice packs, TAKE THEM!! This, along with warm soaks in the tub, will really help ease any pain - trust me!

Be sure to use a small amount of the Lansinoh they give you if nursing, and pay attention to how the baby latches on. While you might can stand an incorrect latch in the beginning, it will QUICKLY turn to major pain, bleeding, and scabbing.

I personally won’t follow the strict 3 hour schedule they’ll insist on. My last baby would nurse 4, 2, 2, 4 hours, or something like that. As long as they get in 8 to 12 feedings a day, are gaining weight, and wetting/ pooping enough - they are good!

We’ll be leaving the cord attached for at least an hour. The research I’ve found online has been really neat to read - the chances of jaundice are greatly reduced by leaving the cord on longer. Both of our boys had jaundice. All of our children took 5 to 6 weeks to lose their cord stump. I’m hoping by leaving this attached longer, it will shorten this time frame as the articles suggest.

Circumcision is something we do with our boys, only because God must’ve had some reason for it. While we understand it’s not law now, God seems to have the most awesome facts hidden behind His requests.

When done on the 8th day, Vitamin K levels are at their peak, which results in less bleeding. We’ve never waited that long, since that would require another trip to the hospial and huge copay, but it is something I’m interested in, especially since we’re not doing the Vit. K shot this time. In place of this, I’ve been taking Alfalfa the past few weeks.

When caring for this diaper issue, we found it easier to buy a tube of vaseline. We could then squirt it all around the ‘pecker’, coating it extra well so the diaper won’t stick - without having to touch it with our fingers or q-tips.

Hmm.. did I forget anything? I’m thinking some of you preggie moms that are due AFTER me will be having your BEFORE me now. Hopefully it will be soon… LMK if you have any questions you’d like addressed, and if I have time, I’d love to address them on the blog for other moms.

“Little Mommy”

Oops - I missed posting on my 36 week day! (I can’t imagine why I’d forget????)

The Lord has been watching over this little one this past week for sure. I had contractions for 3 days straight - strong ones - anywhere from 3 to 20 minutes apart. I would be up at night til after midnight, unable to sleep because of them.

Let me tell you moms, STRESS is the absolute worst thing you can have in your life while pregnant and nursing! I learned this with my first child, and it’s been the same each pregnancy/ after birth. While I try not to overstress myself, we can’t always control what outside stressors come our way!

Well, I had really - REALLY - been praying that the Lord would at least give this little one another 2 weeks. While it’s lungs should be fine now due to the steriods a few weeks back, there are SO many other things going on these last few weeks that are just as important!

The Lord heard my prayers, and I hadn’t changed AT ALL! Thank you Lord! I just knew I’d be at 6 cm or something from all we’ve been through this week. So, still around 1.5 to 2 cm, 25% effaced, and I’m not sure about station #. I know it’s head isn’t engaged yet - no pain constantly yet.

I was at 144 lbs., still 12.5 lbs. away from my usual delivery weight. I have to remember that I did start this pregnancy nursing a LOT, and around 6 lbs. lighter than usual.

I am really excited because today I got my order of Cheeky Maiden soap in!!! My hair is now happy. I’ll let you know when I get a chance to use her baby bottom spray - but if you don’t want to miss out on a sale price, click on her button on the right sidebar to get that now! She also runs deals for 3 bars/ $12, and shipping is only $2.99 for orders over $25.

This was easy for me, since I had two MAIN products I knew I wanted - and wanted to stock up on. As I’ve mentioned before, soaps can be very harsh on babies skin. My DD is the worst - even her poor head turning firey red when we used children’s shampoos on it.

So, this baby will be different. We will use only Cheeky Maiden’s all natural soaps! I chose the Plain Jane bar this time, mainly because I’ve never used it - and it’s fragrance free. This should be great for all the children to use.

Today, I also tried to snag a great deal at Walgreens (sorry, I meant to post this for you all earlier in the week). They had Huggies diapers at $10/ pack. When you combined online coupons, rebates, and in-store coupons - these were FREE.

Somehow I managed to mess up - costing me $11! I didn’t realize the $3 instore coupons were IN the pharmacy, and they were closed when I got there tonight. I also didn’t realize the online rebate coupons were for specific sizes - only 1 of my 3 packs was the right brand/ size. Then the online coupons only allowed me 1 instead of 2 printings, and I didn’t realize I would have to use another computer to get the 3rd $5 off coupon.

Still, I got 3 packs of diapers for $10.50 plus tax - I’m just bummed they weren’t free like I thought they would be. We didn’t have any newborn diapers, so those will be nice. My babies have all been under 8 lbs., so they are too small for size 1’s for at least 2 weeks.

I’m still hoping to find some great deals on unbleached prefolds and diaper covers for daytime use. I had found one site, but when I went back - it was down! I’ll let you know if it comes back up.

Everyday now, the children talk about the baby coming! They even stick baby dolls in their shirts and talk about having a baby in their tummy/ coming out of their tummies.

Did I mention the girl name “Sarah” has stuck with DD? That name is a consideration for us - one, it’s a Bible name (we all have first names that are in the Bible), and two - it’s my grandmother’s name. There are still other ones in the running too though. DS is liking “Moses” for a boy - well, it IS in the Bible.

Last thing I want to remember….

I began packing my bag on Thursday morning, since the contractions were picking up. Once I finished my things, I discovered that I hadn’t been very clear with my children. They thought I was packing to go to the hospital RIGHT THEN to get the baby…. Poor little things - they were so disappointed!

I then mentioned that we would be going to the hospital on Friday, to see the dr. To this they responded, “To get the baby?” Oh, they are SO ready! Me, I am, but I’m not! There’s still so much to do!

Don’t forget - next Friday starts our giveaway week!

“Little Mommy”

Today, I’m having a guest post, since I know very little about this product. I was excited when Lara from Sugar Sweet Baby wrote me about her wraps, as this is something I have been very interested in myself.

With our first baby, I had found a little carrier at a yard sale - but hubby wasn’t too wild about the bright neon colors, so he put a nice ‘male suitable’ Snuggli on the registry. Well, my carrier was so flimsy, it wouldn’t hold up a newborn’s head.

His looked nice, and had a nice snap feature across the top of your back (adding extra support/ less back pain), but the legs were so tight! Our babies had chubby little legs, and these didn’t fit very well into the small openings on the Snuggli. Plus, it was pretty complicated (IMO) to get the baby in and out of.

With our last, we encountered reflux at the very early age of 2 weeks. So basically, you could get NOTHING done because he had to be held ALL of the time. The carrier (DH’s) was the only one that would support a newborn, and I couldn’t stand the hassle of getting it on and then getting him in it. We tried a sling from DH’s boss, but it too offered little support.

It was probably one of the $20-$30 ones you find at WalMart. He was pretty heavy, and so he fell to my knees the first time I tried it. I got it adjusted better, but then he still sunk so far into it that the opening closed him up and you couldn’t hardly see him. Plus, it seemed to strain my back - a common complaint of baby carriers/ slings.

While I really appreciated the offer to use it - it wasn’t doing a thing for us. That’s when I started hearing ladies at church talking about different options…. And even now I’m hearing about “Wraps”. So, Lara’s website really sparked my interest, and I’ve anxiously awaiting gettting MY wrap from her in the mail. Plus, her being a fellow WAHM - well, I LOVE supporting them vs. a big retailer.

She has different options, but due to living in hot/ humid Alabama, I’m choosing her Bamboo wrap. It’s a little more expensive than the cotton, but is a cooler material for mom and baby. After trying my share of carriers, I can understand the heat issue! You can read more about the options on her site.

Again, since I know very little about these at the moment (until I get to try my very own from her!!), here’s Lara!

As a Mom of two, I find myself thinking “I am only one person”, so Bamboo Baby Wraps have been a life saver!  I have an active 3 yr old boy, and an 8 ½ month old girl. 

I am not the type to sit around, neither is my son!  When I first had Callie in June, my son was very ready to be on the go, it was finally nice out (we live in NY).  So literally the week  after I got out of the hospital, off we went, just the three of us for a walk.  Yes, I was a little sore, but I needed  to get out of the house, I was tired of being tired! 

I wrapped my new little bundle, Callie, in a Bamboo Baby Wrap that I had made.  I “frogged” her little cute legs and she instantly was calm and content.  We took a very short walk to the park, and I was able to push Logan in the swing, while having my little girl close.   

I literally use my Bamboo Baby Wrap everyday now, from grocery shopping to taking walks. *Tip: tie the wrap before leaving the house this way when you get to where you are going, you can just place your baby in the wrap.

I love that Callie sees me putting the wrap on and gets excited!  Last week, she cut a tooth and nothing would calm her down.  I placed her in the wrap and she fell asleep for an hour and a half!  I was in heaven, since normally she only sleeps for maybe a half hour. 

I believe in what I make, and the materials I use.  Bamboo is an amazing material, it is so soft, light, airy, strong,  hypoallergenic, anti bacterial and odor free,  biodegradable, and lastly is Eco-friendly (the crops do not need to be sprayed with any chemicals to grow).  

I have tried many baby carriers, one that cost $150, and the buckles would dig into me, and my little one did not like it!  I was upset, that I spent that much money on a carrier and it didn’t even keep my baby snug.   

I do believe that Baby Wraps keep your Baby snug and comfortable without any strain on your back.  Every wrap is customized for you, so you can pick your favorite colors to express your style. 

Special - Take an additional 15% off your $30 purchase, sale ends March 1^st!

Lara

 



 (Be sure to mention you read about her product on Nine Months or Less!)

Question from a reader:

Did you ever buy those cute little pee pee tee pee’s?  The first time I saw them I was laughing prettty hard, but now I keep hearing more about them and am wondering if it would be wise to pick them up - or just deal with the whole pee thing which really doesn’t bother me anyway.

Great question!! And boy did I enjoy the laughs that went along with this idea.

I had never heard of these before, I guess I don’t get out enough - but they were pretty much what I imagined. They have a provision on their site where I can’t use the image without permission, but here is the direct link to view this - http://www.bebabean.com:80/products/pptp.aspx.

Basically, this product is a cone shape cloth product that slips over the little boy - supposedly shielding you, as the diaper changer, from any ‘missiles’ shot your way. HA HA HA  - I’m laughing all over again. (And not at the commentor - but the product)

I’m open to hear any comments/ feedback from others on this, but here’s my take:

My boys didn’t give us much trouble, we rarely had incidents with flying tee tee. I guess we had more with our first (and probably Daddy more than me??), but we just used a baby washcloth to cover him if it was going to take us more than a second to switch diapers.

I can only imagine that I’d be laughing each time I attempted to situate this cone over a little boy, and be laughing hysterically when he DID tee tee and the thing shot clear across the room! Can you see it - come on, you can and admit, you are laughing too!

I mean, I can see this handling a small trickle okay, but when our boys went - they REALLY went!

So, to answer the question - No, I’ve never bought these, and don’t forsee doing it anytime soon.

How about any of you? Have you heard of these, or had experience using them?

“Little Mommy”

Looking back over the past 5 years, from the time I was about to have my very first baby shower to present day, I can see HOW MUCH has changed in what’s really needed, and what will soon pass.

For those of you I know reading that are pregnant with your first, I hope this helps you a little as you begin to plan your registries and make purchases for your little blessing! Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll share what I personally believe in and recommend.

Things To Get (MUST HAVES):
*Diapers!! Cloth or Disposable (or both). These might not seem like fun things to register for, but believe me - you’ll be grateful! Not all towns have a great diaper place such as we do, to find diapers at WAY below normal costs.

We have a local mom and pop store that often offers LUVS big cases for $11.98 - $12.98. These are ‘on sale’ at larger stores for $16-$18. LUVS also used to occassionally slip coupons in their boxes, though we haven’t seen this in a while. They also offer $3 coupons in Sunday inserts (again, haven’t seen this lately).

Register for different sizes, stopping at size 3. You don’t want 20 packs of size 1’s - then have to drag them all to the store to exchange them.

On average, we probably could’ve used 2 packs of newborn diapers. I believe there are less in a pack than size 1, but for our children (all under 8 lbs.), size 1’s were just too big! We had to fold them over for weeks!

I’d say 2 packs newborn, 2 to 4 packs of size 1, 4 to 6 packs of size 2, and with our middle child - she was in size 3 for over 2 years! BUT our baby at 18 months is a size 5 - so no two are alike.

Even though I am looking to go cloth, we still will probably end up buying a pack or two of newborn disposables - to get through the meconium stage. We already had a couple packs of size 1’s from before, and will keep these on hand for outings and emergencies.

Breastfed babies are all I can speak for - they poop a lot (once or twice a feeding/ 8 to 12 times a day), and this would be a LOT of cloth to wash!

I would say brands are easy - avoid cheap store brands!! They leak, velcro doesn’t work great, they can rub the baby’s skin the wrong way…. I’m a thrifty shopper, so of course had to try the cheap brands. They just don’t work!

Another thing against cheap brands being they don’t work well with circumcised little boys! We found they would stick easily to the healing skin - causing it to rip back open. The inside liner just doesn’t match the quality of brand name diapers.

Oh, one tip for circ. boys - you’ll need to buy a squeezable tube of petroleum jelly. You won’t want to use a q-tip to allow the jelly  (at least I didn’t). We would just squeeze a generous amount all of the way around the healing skin.

The jelly prevents the gauze or diaper from sticking as bad. We would also rub some on the diaper in that area. DO be aware that a lot of bleeding is NOT normal, and call the pediatrician if it keeps up. We were also told to be sure and ‘pull down’ the skin each diaper change.

With one of our boys, we didn’t do this every single change, and the dr. ended up having to pull it down after it had begun healing ‘closed back up’. A LOT of tears for Mommy and baby!

As you read above, we use LUVS, but mainly because of the price. They have worked well for us, though if you let them get completely soaked (as a mom of 3 little ones is likely to do), the moisture WILL seep through the diaper and wet your child’s pants. (This is true for Huggies as well)

Between Huggies and Pampers - ooh…. a hard one. We tended to go with whichever one stores had on sale, and which ones had coupons. BUT that was 5 years ago, and stores rarely mark down these packs to $5.99 anymore.

Pampers was overall the best one as far as moisture not seeping through. I also found that Huggies had a design printed on the front of their diapers - which was cute - but it would rub off onto the baby’s clothes. Yep, the ink would bleed right through and come off onto some really ‘before’ cute outfits.

Pampers has different styles. If you want luxury - definitely go with the Swaddlers! These are SO soft, and the tabs are smaller. This is one thing I didn’t like about some of their styles - the tabs were almost an inch wide, and would cut into the baby’s leg. Don’t quote me, but I ‘think’ it was the Baby Dry style??

We never stuck with the same brand for another reason - each size fit different. So what brand worked great at size 1 might not be the same brand that worked at size 2.

So, here I am saying to register, but you don’t know which to register for! Confusing, I know - but diapers can be. You have to learn what you like and what works best for you. Pretty much I’d only recommend LUVS, Pampers, and Huggies as far as disposables go.

You can register for these, but do NOT open all the packs - as much as you want to prepare the nursery and have everything ‘just perfect’!! This way if a particular diaper doesn’t work great for you (or your baby is allergic to it), you can swap the unopened packs for a different brand.

Be sure when changing your newborn’s diaper, to always fold down the front, so the diaper doesn’t rub on the umbilical cord - causing it to bled and ooze. I believe it’s Huggies that has a notch cut out for the cord, but it’s been a while, and we only had a sample from the mail.

Wipes - Go natural with homemade wipes from flannel or terry cloth, or buy UNscented wipes! While the scented wipes DO smell good, they contain CHEMICALS that make them smell that way. A brand new baby doesn’t need harsh chemicals - I really have no idea what these people are thinking inventing this stuff.

Avoid diaper rashes and allergic reactions by choosing unscented. And if (when) you do face diaper rash, do NOT use wipes! No matter the kind, they all contain chemicals, and will burn that poor baby’s bottom.

For diaper rash, we use Bordeaux’s Butt Paste (not sure of spelling). Desitin would make our daughter scream, and some others just weren’t thick at all. You mainly want one that is high in zinc, as this is the main ingredient fighting the rash.

For cloth diapering, avoid diaper creams altogether. These will not wash out of the fabric, but will instead affect the absorbing action of the material causing leaks.

You also need to be sure to rinse the diapers, then wash with a small amount of soap in hot water, then rinse once or twice in cold water. This removes any excess detergent that could irritate that little bottom.

I haven’t learned all of the soaps yet, but the most common diaper soap is Charlie’s. I’m not sure that I’ll try it, we ourselves have had to use ALL Free and Clear (or allergen free) for each of our babies. They came out with such pretty skin, but immediately began breaking out in red bumps and splotches.

It took several weeks to realize it was our detergent. Not just for the baby’s clothes, but ours as well. It makes sense, for here is this little one laying it’s head on your shirt! (Not to mention bath soap on you - another post)

Dreft can be expensive, and some babies could still react to it. It does have a strong smell. The Free and Clear has been the ONLY detergent we’ve found that wouldn’t bother our babies. ALL isn’t too expensive, and they often give coupons for 50 cents (which doubles) and $1 to $1.50 off!

Do NOT use baby powder!! It is now known that baby powder has an ingredient that causes cancer. Breathing in the powder will place this in your baby’s lungs. For best treatment besides diaper cream, try go without a diaper when possible, change diapers frequently, and oh - you can cover diaper cream with Aquaphor … it’s like Vaseline, but thicker.

I still have to say that cloth diapering is the ‘healthiest’ way to go. I wish I could share all the ‘dirt’ on disposables, but I’m not that knowledgable yet. I have read some great articles, exploring the dangers hidden inside those diapers! Convenience is tempting, but if you really open your eyes to what chemicals are in diapers - you’ll very likely be swayed to cloth as I am being.

Just do a Google search on:

*what dangers are in disposable diapers

*why are disposable diapers dangerous or unhealthy

*risks using disposable diapers

And I’m even MORE convinced on this now, as my pregnancy nose is really kicking in…. I am almost knocked over by the smell of LUVS. I’ve not noticed it until the past few packs, so I don’t know if it’s new, or just being pregnant - but you can smell the chemicals STRONG!

Okay, diapers alone are overwhelming aren’t they!! Give me a little more time, and I can get you some great links for diapers/ deals.