I have found myself in full nesting mode. A feeling I never really got for my first, for a mixture of reasons, firstly my little one arrived very prematurely, and we were in-between selling our house and buying a new one. So I am diving straight into the full mamma-prep mode, and enjoying every minute of it.

As part of this I’m getting together my change table and baby essentials, and have even popped in my order for a newborn nappy hire pack. This will be my first time using newborn reusable nappies. My firstborn was a little complicated, so we weren’t able to, and I’m super excited to see those gorgeous prints on my little ones tot. So what do you really need when preparing for cloth nappies with your newborn?

Reusable Nappies

Newborn reusable nappies typically size from 3-5kgs, (some brands like BubbleBubs will go from 1.8-8kg), which means your little one will outgrow newborn nappies by approximately 8-weeks. This is why a hire-pack really comes in handy.

So the real question is how many, and what type. Typically we suggest 26-30 nappies, which will give you enough for 3-days before you have to do a main-wash, essential when you’re time constrained with a newborn. As far as type or style, this is really dependent on you. If you’re experienced in cloth you possibly have a preference, however a lot of new parents use a nappy hire pack to let them try a variety.

Cloth wipes

A stack of cloth wipes, plus a container of water or spray bottle at the ready will get you through all those poo-namis (poo explosions). Although not quintessential, if you’re making the leap to cloth nappies, then cloth wipes are super easy to add to the mix, and super efficient. I tell everyone, cloth wipes will change your life. One wipe will catch so much more than a disposable. A pack of 25 wipes will see you through to your main-wash. You can experiment with keeping them in a water container, or some people prefer to keep them dry and spray when required. The Cheeky Wipes mini Kit, has everything you need to get started including essential oil which acts as a natural preservative so your wipes can stay moist for 2 – 3 days as well as making your wipes smell amazing – please remember that we strongly recommended to only use water with your wipes for the first 6 weeks.

Suitable Nappy Cream

This one is a must-have for any newborn, but needs to be considered when using cloth nappies, as some nappy creams contain essential oils which can stain cloth nappies. My go-to is Sudocrem, its widely available, and affordable, two super important aspects for any parent about to go on parental-leave.

Trifolds/Boosters

Not sure how to boost your newborn’s nappy? You can add prefolds or trifolds to baby’s nappy to give more material to absorb the wee, or as newborns are quite small, some people prefer using face washers to boost their nappies until their little ones are a little bigger and need something a little more purpose built. Just put the extra insert in the nappy either under the existing insert or on top, give both a try and see what works best for you and your bub. The only rule when it comes to boosting nappies is to make sure any microfibre inserts are not against baby’s skin. Our newborn packs include Bubblebub’s BamBams which come with a trifold. We’ve had many parents use these very successfully in both the BamBams and the all-in-one style nappies in our newborn packs.

Spacious onesies

Cloth nappies tend to give your little one a bit more of a booty (especially if they’ve been boosted) so you may need to size up one zero, or choose brands that are a little more spacious in the booty department (Bonds Zippies are a great choice here).

Dry Pails

Dry pails follow best-practice for cloth nappies, plus they are far safer than having a bucket of water in your house (major drowning hazard). Dry pails are simply containers that allow sufficient airflow (think lots of air holes) and can hold used nappies until your pre-wash, and then another one to hold until the main-wash. These are supplied with all our hire-packs, and are essential for cloth-nappy use. Check out our blog here if you’re not too sure how to implement.

Wet Bags

Another essential for any new parent on the go. A good wet/dry bag is a waterproof zip up bag that will have two pockets, one to keep spare nappies and clothes, and the other to store-used nappies and cloths until you get home. Our favourite is the Skip Hop and Go bag, which has a mesh pocket at the front, so you can see what you have, making re-packing easy.

And for cloth diapering, thats all I need. Now to get started on the re-setting the nursery and pulling out all my onesies for a wash.

Keep your eyes peeled on our socials as I do a few deep-cleans and sanitisation on prams, bassinet covers etc to get everything ready.

Is there anything you would add to our cloth-nappy newborn essential list? Let is know below.