Cloth diapers for newborns

We promise you one thing: you'll melt at the sight of our diapers on your little one's bottom. They look simply adorable. Our diapers for newborns are gentle on delicate skin. The extra small wet area helps prevent your baby from getting sore in their first days of life.

Our newborn diapers in a nutshell:

• Wrapped in cloth from the first day of life.
• Fits babies from approx. 2-5 kg.
• The umbilical snap keeps the navel free to heal.
• No pinching cuffs on back or legs.
• Matching inner diapers are available with PUL, TENCEL™ Lyocell and wool.
• Absorbent inserts can be customised to fit baby's delicate skin.

Our ManufakturWindel is a multi-size diaper. In contrast to the growing-in (or onesize) diaper, we can thus guarantee a better fit. It was clear soon after we started that we also needed a newborn size. But it should not simply be a mini version of the other sizes. A newborn makes different demands on a diaper. With the thin little legs and narrow hips compared to the belly, the diaper must fit perfectly and at the same time be gentle on the delicate skin. No elastic should pinch, especially when the baby lies on its back for a long time. And then there is the umbilical cord residue that has to heal after birth.

We spent two years fiddling with the newborn size in order to take all these aspects into account satisfactorily. Then we had it extensively tested by test families and further improved it with the valuable feedback. This is not so easy given the short time you have to test the diapers. In our blog posts you can read how our test families fared with the newborn diapers.

Here we show you the outer diapers, inner diapers and recommended absorbent inserts for newborns.

Freedom for the fresh navel

Our diapers always fit more snugly than disposable diapers. With our outer diaper for newborns, you can be especially sure that your baby's fresh navel has enough freedom to heal. It offers a very special highlight: the snap in the middle. You simply close it downwards. This gives enough space for the umbilical cord and any clamps.

How long does the newborn diaper fit?

Depending on your baby's starting weight and gain, the length of time that newborn diapers will fit is very individual. Some babies can wear the diapers for their first three months of life until size 1 fits really well. If a baby starts life as a premature baby, he or she may have to wear the smallest size for longer.

In the case of the son of a dear customer, the "Newborn" even still fit at almost 16 (!!!) months, 8.5kg and 74cm. Stuffed with a hemp prefold. Tight, but works ;)

Outside diapers materials and designs

As with sizes 1 and 2, newborn outer diapers come in many different and ever-changing designs.

The inside varies: From quick-drying microfleece to natural-coloured sherpa to plain or colourful flannel, everything is possible. You will also find newborn diapers made of wool in our range.

Do you want a very special outside diaper design for the birth and as a reminder of the first time together? With us, you have the opportunity to get a custom made outer diaper.

For lasting memories

Such beautiful diapers also look great on a birth card.

In order for the inner diaper to stay tight, it should fit snugly into the folds of your baby's legs. That's why we have developed newborn size inner diapers to match the outside diapers. These are shorter and narrower than the standard size. In addition, you can adjust the elastic band. We show you how to do this in the Help Center.

You can recognise the inner diapers for newborns by the coloured snaps. They are available in PUL (polyurethane), TENCEL™ Lyocell or wool, in different colours and designs.

You can find out more about our PUL, wool andTENCEL™ Lyocell fabrics in our knowledge database in the Help Center.

When your baby is "newly hatched", its epidermis will not yet be fully developed. The skin is then particularly sensitive to wetness. At the same time, it will excrete urine very frequently in small amounts. When it comes to defecation, there are such and such children. Some make small amounts several times a day, others make quite a lot at once every few days. Often the stool "shoots" into the diaper with some pressure.

For all these reasons, we recommend:

• High-pile liners that stop the stool (terry cloth liners or flannels). Absorbency level 2-3 is usually sufficient.
• Liners or inserts that keep the skin dry (reversible prefold, cuddly fleece liner, woolwalk liner).

Please do not use disposable diaper liners with newborns. It does not adequately catch the liquid bowel movement.

We have a few of our most popular absorbent inserts of the right size in our range. Among them is our

three-ply sewn organic cotton terry cloth insert,

the organic cotton Herkules Prefold cream, 

and the booster in newborn size.

The following inserts can be used universally and are also perfect for sizes 1 and 2.

• Organic cotton reversible prefold
• Cotton prefold
• Reversible prefold

Of course, you can still use the newborn inserts as a booster.

We recommend a combination of two absorbent inserts for the newborn diaper, depending on the diapering rhythm:

• On the skin side, i.e. as the top insert, we recommend our flannel made of organic cotton terrycloth. Due to its high pile, it holds the liquid newborn stool optimally and absorbs liquid very quickly.
• Underneath, a hemp prefold looks particularly good. It can be folded perfectly to any size, is very absorbent despite its low volume and dries quickly.

As an alternative to the hemp prefold, you can also use one of the prefolds mentioned above. There are different folding techniques for these flexible inserts, which we show you in the Help Centre. This way, the insole can be adjusted according to your child's needs.

In the picture below you can see an example with the organic cotton terry insert (newborn) and a booster (newborn) underneath. The Booster insert is a super absorbent combination insert and is therefore especially suitable for use at night. Thanks to the special structure, the insert retains fluid very well even under compression and is therefore the perfect insert for example in the sling when pressure is applied from below.

For more tips on how to combine booster inserts for your newborn, visit the Help Center.

Below you can see, for example, one way of folding the organic cotton reversible prefold into a so-called "Pullerdamm" for a newborn boy.

Many manufacturers now offer diapers in newborn size. Despite the name, these are very different in their sizes and wearing comfort.

Our Manufaktur diapers can be used from 2 kg and are therefore also suitable for premature babies. As the inner diaper lies in the fold of the leg, you can adjust it to fit the smallest and thinnest little legs. Most other diapers lie against the thigh. This is where a newborn is often still very narrow and sensitive to pressure. But if the diaper does not fit properly, the diaper will leak.

Another point is the small wetness area. Especially "freshly hatched" babies are particularly at risk of becoming sore in their first days of life. Moisture and bowel movements affect the sensitive epidermis much more quickly. With the Manufaktur diaper, only the most necessary excretory area is covered and the danger zone is much smaller than with other diapers.

Of course, you don't want to bother with diaper washing during the postpartum period. The AI3 system of the ManufakturWindel makes it easy for you. Most of the time you just throw the absorbent inserts in the wash. For example, with a newborn AIO or pocket diaper you need 8-10 diapers per day, so about 24-30 diapers in total. With us, three outer diapers and six inner diapers are enough, as well as a corresponding number of absorbent inserts, which you can also continue to use with size 1 and 2.

If you are interested in part-time diaper-free, our diapers are particularly suitable. They can be changed quickly and even thin inserts such as flannels do not fall out when they are removed.

Would you like to cuddle your baby in a baby carrier or sling? Then it might be good for you to know that the hip cut of our diapers is particularly advantageous for this. Nothing presses uncomfortably against your tummy or legs.

You don't need disposable diaper liners until your baby reaches the age of complementary feeding, when his or her stool becomes firmer. Because:

• Disposable diaper liners can cause the diaper to leak.
• Because of the smooth surface, the liquids simply slide away and can get more into the inner diaper.

That's why we recommend using high-pile absorbent inserts made of terry cloth for liquid baby stool. The loops of terry cloth hold the chair in place perfectly. This is especially advantageous for "bigger explosions". Perhaps you have heard of the phenomenon that with plain disposable diapers the stool occasionally shoots up the back to the nape of the neck. This can't happen with our diapers. Here, the stool only reaches up to the cuff of the outer diaper. Body, sleeping bag and trousers stay clean. In fact, with cloth diapers you have less laundry :-)

A newborn's skin is particularly sensitive to wetness. So it's important to keep it as dry as possible. We have some tips in our Help Centre on how you can combine soaks to achieve this.

Another tip about the inner diaper: When your rather delicate child has outgrown the newborn diaper, you can possibly continue to use the inner diapers for a while and button them into size 1. This saves you having to make the standard size smaller.

How to care for your newborn diaper

The outer diapers can be washed in your coloured laundry at 40 °C. If you use woollen diapers, they should be washed in the washing machine. If you use wool diapers, they should be put in the woollen laundry.

PUL and TENCEL™ Lyocell inner diapers can be washed with your coloured laundry if they are not too dirty. Otherwise, they can be washed together with the inserts at 60 °C. It's best to put them in a laundry net to prevent the coating from being damaged by zips or the like.

If you have greased woollen inner diapers, you can simply rinse them off under the tap or brush them dry. Washed woollen diapers must then be greased again with lanolin.

The inner diapers should not be put in the dryer. This is not even necessary, because they dry very quickly on the line.

Inserts can be put in the washing machine without pre-treatment. Before that, you should store them in an airy and dry place. Milk stool and small amounts of solid stool are completely detached from the fibres by detergent and are completely pumped out of the washing machine. There is no residue to worry about as long as you choose the right detergent and wash program:

• Prewash or delicate rinse incl. pump down.
• Standard or cottons program at 60 °C with heavy-duty detergent (adapted to the water hardness!), if possible with water plus; spin moderately (800-1,000 revolutions).

You can find morehelpful tips for washing in the Help Center.

I have already been able to test the newborn diaper and am absolutely thrilled. The fit, even with a healing navel, is great and the nappy fits amazingly long.
The inserts can be adjusted to the volume of pee very well and it saves a lot of laundry, because we often only had to wash the inserts, the inner diaper I sometimes just washed by hand. The outer diaper withstood liquid stool explosions. I would always prefer it to all other newborn diapers. vermiculus 14 Sep 2016 (Newborn diaper Waldsee rating)