We've had a few questions of late about using the bumGenius Pocket Diapers for newborns and here's what we've been saying. There are pros and there are cons. Let's start with the Pros:

• This diaper comes bundled with a newborn insert (the absorbent part of the diaper) that is small and trim so it doesn't overwhelm your baby, make his or her bum too huge.
• This diaper also comes with a one size insert that will grow with your baby.  Usually parents switch out the mini newborn insert for the one size insert at about 10lbs and this will take them right throught.  There may be a point where you'll need a boost of absorbency (toddler naps & nights) at which point you can pull out that mini insert and use it as a booster.
• It will grow with your baby and you won't need to purchase another size of diapers.  You won't have any "diaper clutter".
• If you have two in diapers (a newborn and toddler), you can use the same set of diapers for them both.
• No learning curve for the other diaper-ers in your life, as they only have to learn one style of diaper (and then they get to perfect it by practicing 7000 times!)

Now, let's take a look at the Cons:

• As with any One-Size Diaper, it needs to have extra material to accomodate for it's growth up to fitting a toddler.  This can make it seem overwhelming to figure out how to put it on a teeny little newborn.
• They do have a little more "poofiness" to them because of this extra material.  If the inner material is not well approximated to the baby's skin, this can be a cause for leaking (but this can be remedied - see the video for a tip).
• While we typically recommend a set of 24 diapers, we recommed 30 if you are going with a One-Size to decrease the wear and tear over 2-3 years.  This will be a higher up front cost, but over the course of your diapering days, you'll still be ahead for only having purchased one set of diapers.

Have a look at the Learning Series Video Tips for using a bumGenius Pocket Cloth Diaper with Newborn to learn two specific hacks to make this diaper fit well and decrease the incidence of leaking during the newborn phase.  The video was created before the 4.0's were released but the concepts are transferable and work well on both the 3.0s and 4.0s. Are you a bumGenius fan?

Whether you decide to cloth diaper your newborn while you're still at the hospital or whether you start in the first few days, there are few things to keep in mind that will make those early weeks a breeze.

Containment

Since young infants take in only liquid and their little tummies and colons are still developing, their stools tends to be quite runny and are part of every diaper change. Also, since their bladders are quite small at this stage of life, their amount of pee is not copious. Thus, containment is more important for this stage of diapering than absorbancy is. For containment success, choose well-fitting diapers and covers with good leg and back elastics, such as prefolds inside a Bummis Super Brite or the small AMP Duo pocket diaper.

Umbilical Stump

Until the umbilical stump falls off (somewhere between 4-16 days), it's important to make sure nothing rubs against it to aggravate it and that there's enough air flow to keep it dry. Covers and diapers created with newborns in mind are designed with a notch to fit around the umbilical stump - perennial parent favorites are the Kissaluvs Size O fitted diaper and the Bummis Super Brite cover. The all-new GroVia Newborn AIO is shaping up to be a fave as well.

The Joys of Meconium

Meconium is the blackish-green tar-like substance that your baby cleans out of his or her system in the first day or two of life. It is sticky and stains diapers easily, so we definitely recommend investing in a few liners with which to line your diapers. There are flushable options, natural fibre options, and fleece options - so every parent's diapering objectives can easily be met. Liners are also great through the first few weeks as the baby's stools go through various phases (not to mention colors and consistencies!) These make clean-up easy and minimize staining. And of course, if you do get any stains on your diapers, setting them in the sunshine for a few hours will do wonders for whitening your diapers and erasing stains.

Skinny Legs

Babies come in all shapes and sizes - some have lovely rolls of baby fat while others tend to be long and skinny. What to do to keep the diapers fitting if you've got a lanky child? You can either have a few teeny-tiny diapers on hand, such as the extra-small Fuzzi Bunz pocket diaper or the TiniFit All-in-One (one of our all-time best-selling diapers), or have on hand a few extra newborn covers. The overlapping velcro tabs and extra gussets on the Bummis Super Brite newborn cover do a superb job of adjusting to your baby's smaller size.

Fit

One issue that often frustrates new parents is that the small diapers they so carefully researched and purchased before their baby was born don't seem to fit. And it's often true - there is something about newborns that makes an 8-pound newborn fit differently in a diaper than an 8-pound, 6-week-old infant. Despite the intent of various diaper manufacturers to have larger diapers "fit from birth," more and more leaders in the cloth diaper industry, New & Green included, are recommending that parents set aside their one-size and sized diapers until about 6-8 weeks of age and use newborn-sized diapers at birth. There are some great options that will allow you to keep using those newborn prefolds long past the newborn stage, and avoiding all that extra bulk definitely makes the extra investment worth it. And as always, if you don't want to purchase extra diapers, you can always rent them. Easy! But now, we want to hear from you - how did you successfully get through those early days? What made the difference in your family?  

Photo Credit - SCA Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget

As many of us hit the road for summer travel, there's a common question raised by cloth diapering parents: can I travel with cloth? How do I make it easy? Along with stories from three veteran N&G moms, Amber, Kelly, and Anne, of how they cloth diapered while on the road (and in the air), here are five tips to make it a trip to (not) remember.

Know What You Like

Being in unfamiliar places and in cramped spaces is not the time to try out the cutest new diaper out there. Bring what you know and what you're comfortable with so that changes go quickly and easily. If you do want to try out a new style or combo, purchase your diapers far enough ahead of time that you've got time to try them at home a few times first. And knowing what you like doesn't just apply to the diapers themselves - if it's possible, pack your diapering supplies in baskets or pretty bags that will make you smile each time you see them. The comforts of home and feeling organized and stylish go a long way to the sense of satisfaction and relaxed-ness that should accompany a good trip.

Know Your Storage

No matter how you're traveling - car, train, boat, RV, or airplane - you want to be judicious with your use of space. Pocket diapers, such as the AMP Duo, with microfiber inserts or the BumGenius One-Size Microfiber insert are a great inexpensive thin-yet-absorbent option. Covers with prefolds are also very trim. Plus, prefolds can be rolled up like socks and stuffed in between other items, making for very efficient packing! The FLIP diaper is also one that excels in a travel situation, because it was created with versatility in mind - it's a trim cover with your choice of three inserts: organic cotton, microfiber, or a disposable biodegradable insert. For example, if you have a 14-hour plane ride to Australia in your near future, the flexibility of the biodegradable disposable insert may be just for you.

Know How Often You Can Wash

If you won't have access to laundry facilities and will be hauling a week's worth of diapers home, you'll obviously pack differently than if you'll be staying in someone's home and can plan to wash every day or two. Be sure to think through your trip and then plan for the longest stretch you'll have to go between washes. If you're camping, you can wash in the campsite and save space on the number of diapers you have to haul around. If it's going to be more than 3-4 days between washes, be sure you have a large, zippered wetbag to haul the dirties, plenty of diapers and wipes, and some Rockin' Green Shake It Up! pail fresherner if you're worried about stink. (Stink really only becomes an issue if there's lots of solids left on the diapers or if diapers are left for several days in a hot location.  However, in close quarters, like a car, adding a deodorizer to your wetbag can be a way to feel extra-secure that no one will be able to complain as you cross the miles - at least about stink, that is.)

Be Prepared

In French cooking, it's called mise en place ("everything set in place"), but in everything else, it's merely "preparation is everything." Before you hit the road or head to the airport, have all your diapers and accessories ready to grab - pocket diapers stuffed, prefolds folded and placed inside their covers, all diapers prelined with flushable diaper liners (for especially easy poop management), water bottles filled, and wetbags packed. That way, no matter where you end up doing diaper changes, you can change quickly and neatly. (Other parents will marvel at your calm demeanor and obvious skill....)

Prepare for the Worst

There's nothing worse than not having diapers when you need them, say, if the airlines lose your luggage (the ones where you packed all your diapers) or you run out of diapers in your carry-on - that makes a normally stressful situation hit Level 5 in no time flat. Be prepared for the worst by having diapers available in multiple bags and locations, with wipes and small wetbags too of course, so that should stressful events happen, figuring out how to Get Diapers Right Now won't elevate the stress level. If you're still leery of traveling with cloth, be sure to check out our whole series on Cloth Diapers on Vacation. There you'll find more tips and strategies on cloth diapering away from home, including Cloth Diapers on Vacation :: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Cloth Diaper Laundry on Vacation, and Cloth Diapers on Vacation :: Camping. We'd love to hear from you too - what ways have you made traveling easy with cloth diapers?  

We are looking for a few cute bums!  On August 7, 2011 we're doing a New & Green Photo Shoot in North Vancouver.  We are looking for cute babies and their moms and/or dads to join us for a morning of darling diapers and sweet smiles. Apply Now! All Model Applications will be reviewed as they are submitted and those chosen will be contacted on July 28th.  Thanks in advance for your interest! And whether you are applying to be a model or not, we have a great contest for you.  Read on. We love Vairdy's work so much that we've partnered with her to offer you the chance to WIN a 1 hour Mini Photo Shoot with your little one. Vairdy's photo shoot will include:

• 1 hr mini shoot at your location of choice with immediate family
• 10-15 images in a password protected online gallery
• 5 of your favourite images - receive one 5×7 print and a low resolution digital file for each of your five faves

*Shoot must be booked before November 30, 2011 If you are not in the Vancouver area or just want to get your hands on some new gear, we have a portable prize for you: Up for grabs is a Bright & Beautiful 3 Pack of BabyKicks 3g One Size Diapers. How to enter: Head over to Vairdy's Blog to check out her work and then leave us a comment below about what you love about it and let us know if you'd like to win the photo shoot or the BabyKicks Diapers (or either!). Extra Entries: "Like" the Vairdy Photography Facebook Page (be sure to leave us a comment that you did this) Subscribe to the New & Green Newsletter (and leave us a comment to let us know you did) Contest will close on July 26th at 5pm PST.  Open to Canadian Residents only. PS - Don't forget to go and apply to be a New & Green model.

In our on-going laundry science series here at the N&G blog, we've looked at "the swish factor," water quality, and how important it is to use plenty of water, but does it matter how long your wash cycle is? Absolutely. As you'll remember from our discussion about why using plenty of water is important, part of what makes washing diapers different than washing any other type of laundry is that most of the dirtiness is on the inside, rather than just sitting on the surface. Obviously, it's going to take extra time to get all that water through the diaper rather than just dealing with the dirt and grime on the surface. Let's take a look at the washing routine recommended by many diaper manufacturers and then discuss why they even make these recommendations: *Rinse on cold *Long wash on warm or hot *Double rinse

Why Take the Time?

"Rinse on cold" - You need to have sufficient time to loosen and drain away any lingering nasties - you know, like the uric acid that's been sitting on the diaper for two days and those little pieces of poo that remain after dumping the solids in the toilet. It's sort of the same reason as why you scrape your dishes before you put them in the dishwasher - the more gunk the washer has to deal with, the more cycles you're going to have to do in order to get them truly clean. "Long wash on warm or hot" - You need time to activate and fully dissolve the detergent and give it time to do its work. Different detergents require different amounts of time to become fully activated. The length of time required for this will depend on the type of detergent, the temperature of your water, the amount of water, as well as the water quality.  Once it's fully activated and doing its work, it needs sufficient time to fully bond with the grime so the grime can be lifted from the fabric and washed away. "Double rinse" - You need to allow time for the detergent to be completely washed away too. If you skip this part of the cycle, it's easy for detergent residue to be left on your lovely fluffy fibres, which can cause leaks, diaper rash, and possibly even extra-stinky diapers because of a chemical reaction that happens when urine hits that detergent residue the next time the diaper is used. These recommendations certainly apply no matter what type of washing machine you have, but they are even more important if you have an HE machine. Since you have to trick your machine into using enough water and there's not much swish to have sufficient cleaning action, allowing enough time is absolutely crucial. And of course, when you're done washing, you've got lots of options for drying your diapers - hanging them on a line, drying them on a rack, or tossing them in the dryer. Just like the wash needs plenty of time to restore them to their glorious fluffy state, we hope whatever method you use to dry them will give YOU plenty of time to rejuvenate yourself as well!