flying/huggles/ndh did you do cloth right from the beginning?
Im going to a baby trade show at the end of the month so Im sure there will be some cloth diaper booths.

huggles/sheryl Im not having a baby shower...we dont really do them in england (when I was growing up anyway) and Im very uncomfortable with the thought of having a party for people to bring me presents MIL and SIL already mentioned one and I said no way, people can bring a present for the baby after its born if they want. So I will be doing the purchasing myself, its all the little things I have no idea what we need! hubby mentioned the one shop we went to gave us a list so I will look for that.

my tummy seems more rounder when lying down and jeans feel tighter so in that wierd inbetween stage.

so I was 15 weeks yesterday. I go for my 2nd set of bloods for my screening in my 16th week. And I can go for my ultrasound from 18-20 weeks. MW said that if I go too early I might have to go back if they cant measure anything. So I said Id compromise and go in my 19th week but now Im thinking I will go in my 18th week and can go back if I need, then I will see bub twice. what do you think? my 18th week is the week after SIL's wedding and mum will be here so hoping they will let her in the room as well as hubby.

i had all my cloth diapers when he was born, but we only started using them at 7 weeks. I tried the odd one on at 5 weeks, but they started fitting nicely from 7 weeks so that's when we started using them.

I bought OSFA (one size fits all) nappies so they often aren't quite small enough for a newborn.

1) 5 weeks
2) 7 weeks
3) 14 weeks
4) 20 weeks
5) 24 weeks (today)

Also, i actually did buy my entire nappy system (cherub tree) before he was born, as well as all one kind of bottle and dummy (MAM) and so far everything has worked well for us.
However i do know people that have had problems with buying all one kind of bottle (usually Avent interestingly enough) and then the baby refuses it and they have to go out in a panic to find something the baby will take.

i did look at various different types of nappies before buying. Luckily for me my cousin owns an online cloth diaper store so i had access to all the different brands of diapers sold here, so i could look at and touch all the different brands, then i tried them on a doll, and then i decided which i liked best for a variety of reasons.

I think im the only one here who has used cloth right from day one (I hope to keep her bum sposie free in case she takes after me with the chemical sensitivities). To do cloth for newborns you really either need newborn ones or prefolds and properly sized covers. Prefolds would be by far the most economic, and they can be used as burp cloths or for extra diaper stuffing down the road whereas with the sized ones they grow out of them so quick and you either have to sell them on or hope they last if you store them for the next bub. I was all about sized ones initially, but now that Sara fits into OSFM (one size fits most) I'm liking them a lot. especially the cheap ones from china to be honest.

In the natural parenting forum they're all about trying different brands. I do agree that its best to try the different types (prefolds, fitteds, pockets, all in ones, all in twos/snap in ones) but honestly, once you find the type you like best I think its fine to buy all one brand. A trick i learned is to have a couple velcro covers with double leg gussets and if you go through a stage where your diaper doesn't fit right and leaks a but, throw the cover on over top at diaper changes. Not getting into the habbit of buying multiple brands might help stave off the addiction

thanks everyone, I havent read the link yet but I will read that then maybe your comments will make sense!! I dont even know the basics, but assume they are a washable outer layer and you have a disposable inner layer but much smaller than a normal diaper waste?? am i right so far?

are the cloth diapers more bulky looking in clothing? the ones Ive seen in the store seem so bulky but then again Ive never really looked at a proper diaper.

I just purchased my first piece of baby clothing!!! 4 little onesies as my favourite kids store (mexx kids) 2x in a light cream with dots and 2x striped teal green. there wasnt much gender neutral so I grabbed them plus it was buy one get 50% off a 2nd. I got the 3-6 months as the 0-3 months werent that much smaller. they are so little

Sarah there are some like what you described - they're called a hybrid. Or some people will use a flushable/disposable liner inside to catch most of the poo and then toss/flush it.

I'll make a photo montage of my diapers and changing system when i have a chance. I've got every different type and it mmight make more sense with a visual :-)

Oh and yes some of them can be quite bulky, especially the one size fits most ones, but there are also very trim brands that aren't much thicker than disposable. And you can buy things like bodysuit extenders to give extra room for cloth, and big butt pants too. And baby legging are quite popular among cloth users as well whick keep the legs warm but show off the diaper (and give easy access for changes too) Most of mine are quite trim though and haven't been a problem with clothes fitting.

Hoorat for your first baby clothes!

I use AIO (all in one) pocket nappies, so they are a waterproof cover which then gets inserts put inside the 'pocket'. Each one has a microfibre insert and a hemp insert. The microfibre absorbs quickly and is soft against baby's bottom, but the hemp locks the wetness away, stopping it from leaking too quickly.

I then use a disposable/flushable liner to catch the poo's (and to protect the nappy on the odd occasion i put cream on his bum).
If he just wee's, then i wash the liner once and reuse, then throw away after second use. If he poo's then i just chuck it away.

With prefolds that ndh mentioned, I think it also depends on the brand of prefold you buy becuase the ones i have are very bulky and i couldn't use them on logan until he was about 3 months or something as they were just too big and bulky. (i got a pack as a gift). They're apparently brilliant for night time though as they are very absorbant and hold the wee better (mine are cotton), but i still use a disposable at night so don't use them for that. In fact i only use them if i know i won't be able to change his nappy in 3 hours for whatever reason. I'm not a big fan of the ones i have (econobum) as I find them very awkward to get one and just a mission basically. However i do know that some other people love them.

re cloth diapers being bulkier than disposables. Again, it depends on the brand and the type of nappy you choose. My sil uses one kind which is definitely very bulky and she always has to use the next size up of clothes. Logan's cherub trees on the other hand are no bulkier than a full disposable. Yes, when you put a clean disposable on it's much less bulky, but as soon as they've wee'd twice the disposable hangs and bulges and gets much bigger. The cherub tree nappies i use are one size when i put them on and the same size 3 hours later when full of wee. And he fits into the "right" size clothes. When he grows out of an item, I have on occasion used a disposable in that same piece of clothing for whatever reason and even with that the clothing is still too small. So no, not all cloth diapers are very bulky.

Also, what i like about the cloth is if you put certain clothes on over a disposable, as soon as the disposable is full it pulls to one side and you have this weird bulge pulling the clothes skew (normally if there's poppers in the crutch or something, the nappy goes down one leg and the clothes cling to the other leg - looks very odd. With the cloth nappies this doesn't happen. No idea if that makes any sense though LoL.

Huggles there are two sizes of prefolds - you probably have the second size. Are Cherub Trees an AIO with a pocket for extra boosting or just a pocket? Cause technically an AIO is wash and wear with no extra bits to add.

I've taken photos of everything. I realized after a video might have made more sense but i don't like talking on camera lol. Waiting for them all to upload then will put together a beginners guide to cloth - with pictures! Lol

Maybe mine are then referred to as pocket nappies, and not AIO?
I always used to call them pocket nappies, but have since heard people referring to pocket nappies as AIO so i got confused.
The inserts go in the pocket, so no, they are not really wash and wear, there is stuffing involved.

I didn't know there were 2 sizes of prefolds. Econobum only has the one size, but they are sewn so that you fold it in 3 lengthways for bigger babies, and widthways for smaller babies. But folding it widthways makes it really wide between the legs, which is why logan could never wear them. Then i discovered a website showing how to do different folds using snappies, so i did those for a bit. Today he's got one on folded widthways for the first time (i ran out of cherub trees - wash day). It's still a bit wide, but at least now he can move his legs around it.

I have a trifold booster pad for my cherub tree made from really nice soft material. It's virtually the same shape as the prefold. If my prefolds were made from that i would very likely use them a lot more often.