Post contains affiliate links. This comparison is a little bit tough since the old style diapers I own have been used & washed many times. The new diaper has been pictured both brand new & prepped, and Katie of A Tale of Fluff will be providing her opinions on the absorbency & fit of both, when her little one arrives in April.
When I was getting ready to use cloth diapers on my newborn, I posted a GroVia newborn AIO review. I followed up with photos of cloth diapers on my newborn and my opinions after using them for a month. The GroVia newborn AIO was one of my favorites on him for fit, since he was so tiny. He was also a super soaker and the absorbency just wasn’t enough for him. (If I used them again, I’d grab some hemp newborn inserts to tuck inside.) Even though I am done with newborns, I was asked to do this comparison, and I have to say, I was curious myself. The improvements seemed to be pretty great!
The leg and rear elastic is now encased rather than serged, which I think is part of the reason why the old version appears a bit more bunchy. Initially I thought perhaps it was from the cotton inner shrinking, but when I looked at my original review, it seemed to be that way new.
The perimeter is also turned & topstitched rather than serged. My children have never had an issue, but I’ve heard of some children being sensitive to the serging.
The closure snaps have moved position on the body a bit (the snaps are lined up in the photo above) and the snap down rise has also been moved a fraction of an inch.
Both diapers have a super easy single closure snap on each wing and a flap soaker. The old version was 100% cotton (there was an iteration between these two that was stay-dry, but I didn’t use it) and the new version has soft microfleece for the lining and the top of the soaker.
While the old version was 100% cotton, the new version is 55% hemp and 45% cotton to provide even more absorbency. The body has 2 layers of absorbency under the stay dry lining, and the soaker has 3. They still have a TPU outer and are estimated to fit babies 5-12 pounds.
Here I measured the old (print) and new (citrus) small settings folded and stretched. The old has been used and the new was brand new:
Then I measured /compared again after washing & drying the new diaper 8 times to prep.
I also measured the large setting before I’d prepped the new diaper:
Also the large setting after prepping the new diaper:
Here’s a photo of my little guy in the old style at about 6 1/2 lbs and a few days old.
This diaper was initially one of my favorites because very few fit under his cord, which took forever to fall off, and try as I might I couldn’t keep it dry if it was covered (even changing him every 30 minutes!) I think the additional absorbency the hemp provides will be great, and I really prefer a stay-dry diaper (just a personal preference.) The legs seem that they will still fit tiny babies well, though the rise may be a bit higher. That’s of course, only conjecture.
I’ll update in April/May once Katie of A Tale of Fluff has a chance to try them on her little guy or gal. I suspect her “little one” might be a bit bigger than mine based on her son’s birth weight. 🙂 Update on the old vs. new newborn grovia.
Have you used the new style on a 5 or 6 lb baby?
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. 
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The old style leaks every time on my daughter. I hate it but it’s so cute! So disappointed.
[…] published a post in January comparing the old style newborn cloth diapers to the new style. My issue with using the old style on my newborn was that they weren’t absorbent enough for […]
I like the diapers, they seems so cute!
Nice! I like that it appears bigger than the old size, since DD has ALWAYS been in the 99% for height and weight.
I have what appears to be the old style through a diaper trial and the ruffled legs leak almost every time we use them. LO was 7lb 4.6 oz at birth and that was the first diaper she ever wore. She’s close to 10lb now and they still leak. I’m glad they changed the design; the new leg holes look more like the style of the NB Blueberry Simplex, which is great on my baby. I had decided not to use NB GroVias with future babies, but now I’m reconsidering. Does the new one seem more flexible? Mine feel much stiffer than her other diapers.
Hmm…I did notice that my old one could be a little bit stiff, probably thanks to the cotton. Sometimes a tumble in the dryer can help if you typically line dry. I found the leaks to be because it just wasn’t absorbent enough. Is that what you think was happening, or was it wicking through the legs? I think the new style is great and if I had another baby I’d grab a few. I’d probably still stock up on hemp doublers, just in case!