Newborn - prefolds or terry flats?

[alineanne]

i like prefolds taht u can snappy as they're less folding!
terries def more versatile but we found them a bit bulky ona newborn

[MadMumof3]

I was using flanelette flats in the Special Care Nursery and for those 1st few weeks they were fab. when Meghan came home tho i did have some cotton prefolds but she out wee'd them pretty easily . so theya re now puke cloths and i have fitteds.

if it were a choice between flats and prefolds i would say that hemp or bamboo prefolds would b good. i had a couple that one of the WAHM made specially for Meghan and they were a hemp inner. they worked wonderfullly. especially at night as they were nice and thick. and definately a good cover is the way. i prefer fleece or wool on Meghan and also have a BUmmi's Polar cover which is excellent

[swm]

Thanks for all the replies. I am already loaded up with nappies for my toddler so am after an inexpensive way to get me through the newborn stage. I don't really want to spend $10 each for a hemp or bamboo prefold as my first bub grew so quickly I would only be using them for 2 months. I have all the inserts, boosters etc I need as hopefully my older one will already be TTed when bub arrives.

I was thinking about the cotton or "chinese" prefolds, which a couple of you have mentioned. Two questions:

- are these absorbant and do they do the job?
- can you use a snappi on them? I don't really feel comfortable not fastening them under a cover and don't want to bother with pins.

If you have used both these and a bamboo or more expensive prefold, how would you rate the two against each other?

[waawa]

Originally Posted by swm

I was thinking about the cotton or "chinese" prefolds, which a couple of you have mentioned. Two questions:

- are these absorbant and do they do the job?
- can you use a snappi on them? I don't really feel comfortable not fastening them under a cover and don't want to bother with pins.

Yes, you can snappi them.

We used ordinary infant Chinese prefolds for the first 4 or so months, and mostly premium sized prefolds after that, and were very happy with them.

You can just put in a hemp booster if you need boosting for longer periods; these are quite a bit cheaper than buying a full hemp prefold. But you're changing a newborn so often anyway that the absorption isn't really a big issue. I've tested their absorbency at 250g of fluid, which is plenty for a newborn, about the same as some older flannelette fitteds on our testing (Funky Buns, Kooshies, Cuddly Bub, Zappies.); also roughly the same as a small Fuzzi Bunz insert.

A premium Chinese prefold I tested as absorbing 450 g, in the same ballpark as Tots Bots s2, Bumkins Youth (the big ones for kindy and older aged children), Kissaluvs s2, Kind Hearted Woman Hemp.

The size of the infant prefolds was fine on my six pound boy with the front folded down a bit. When he grew out of the waist, we switched to the bikini twist fold, which extended their life further.

Those particular prefolds, bought four and a half years ago, went on to be used as pocket stuffers, then boosters for night nappies. I'm still using some as boosters. There's another dozen that's been used as burp cloths by my SIL for the past year, and that dozen is about to go on to its fourth or fifth life, donated to a newborn loan pack. So you can really get your money's worth out of prefolds, no matter what kind you buy.

Lara

[Debbie Lee]

Prefolds sound like a plan then!
Bring on April so I can go shoppin'!! hehehe

[swm]

Debbie, you are being very restrained. I've only just found out I'm pregnant and am already thinking about what to get! I will try and wait another few months before I buy anything though.... two dozen prefolds it is, I think!

[MinkeyMoo]

I used flats for A and prefolds for D. I maust say I never had a blowout with the prefolds. I cant quite remember what I did now but I didnt even use a proper fold, just folded one in 3 and kind of splayed the back out. They are much trimmer and work the best, I found, with PUL covers.

Edited to add, I used chinese cotton prefolds. Yes they work and yes you can snappy them, although I found the stretch hemp terry ones easier to snappy once they start moving around a bit.. I found them fine for when you change 10ish a day for a newborn but as she got a bit bigger, used two of one folded in three and layed in the cover. I started using fitteds from about 3 mths with the odd hemp prefold.

[Debbie Lee]

Hehehe... I'm only restrained because of finances. The moment DH gives the green light, it's all over! PMSL
I also wanted to find out the gender of bubs before I went too crazy. With Gabby I had too many "unisex" coloured nappies. This time I can go all-out boy if I want! Muhahahaaha!
I'm kind of glad I didn't go too girly with Gabby's nappies tho. Little Bee will be able to wear most of her nappies when he's bigger

[Kat-Pati]

Prefolds are good because they have an absorbency layer in the middle. You can pleat the nappy and fan out the ends.