Which size to start with?

Your baby is about to come into the world. Or is he or she already "on this side of the belly" and you are using the moment when he or she is sleeping to make a final decision? A newborn baby is so tiny. But is it worth investing in newborn diapers that will fit better, or is there no point, because after all, they will grow out of them soon?

What size of reusable diapers should you choose? This is a common question that parents ask before buying reusable diapers for the first time. In this article, we will advise on how to choose the right size and what to consider when buying.

Let's start with the newborn size.

Wool covers available on the market are not all the same, and you need to pay attention to this when buying them. Thus, the newborn size of one brand can fit a baby up to 5 kg, while with another brand it can fit up to 7 kg. Such information is usually given by manufacturers in the product description.

According to centile grids, the average Polish boy reaches a weight of 6 kg at 2.5 months and 7 kg at just under 4 months. Girls are smaller and weigh 7 kg on average around 5 months of age. But how do you know if your baby will grow according to the average? You can make some assumptions about your baby's weight based on several factors:

•     girls are smaller than boys
•     if both parents are slight build, most likely the baby will not be big either, and vice versa: tall parents with a strong body build will usually have a bigger baby
•     if the baby is born with a weight of less than 3.5 kilograms, the chances of the baby reaching the mentioned 6 or 7 kilograms earlier than 3 months of age are not high
•     a large newborn, with a birth weight of about 4 kg, will gain weight quickly
•     an important indication of the baby's weight is how much their parents weighed on the day of birth

Based on these assumptions, you can judge whether the Newborn (3-6 kg) or Mini One Size (4.5-9 kg) will work better for your baby.

With older infants, it's so much easier to make a choice because we know exactly how much our baby weighs at the time of purchasing diapers. It's best to choose a size so that the baby's current weight falls in the middle of the weight range listed for a given diaper size.


Example:

For a baby weighing 6 kg, a Mini One Size diaper (4.5-9 kg) will work better than a One Size (6-15 kg).


The better the diaper size fit, the more comfortable it is for the little one. On the other hand - a better fit means better-fitting elastic bands at the thighs and waist.


What happens when a reusable diaper is poorly fitted?

•     The contents leak outward
•     the diaper prevents the baby from moving freely
•     you cannot put on a body in the size that our child wears - it is impossible to fasten it
•     in the case of newborns, such a diaper will lift the bottom up and cause an abnormal lying position in the child
•     a parent who is not able to fit a diaper well will easily become discouraged with the idea of reusable diapering

There's a reason why you can choose between several diaper sizes, and it's not worth it to buy too big diapers.

Mini One Size diapers will be too big for most babies in the first 2-3 weeks of life.

One Size diapers, although they often have a stated lower limit starting at around 6 kg - they actually start to lay well on a baby at around 8 kg.

One Size Plus diapers are a size that finer babies will not need to use at all until the end of diapering.