Buying a newborn stash

[springbride]

Hi mama's!
I am getting ready to order some CD's for this babe, due a about 7-8 weeks here.
I am planning on getting 2-3 AIO is XS & S and doing prefolds with a cover for most of the time and a few snappies as well.

How many covers should I get, do they come in as many sizes as the AIO's? Where can I get some quality covers?
Also, what is the best kind of prefolds? I found some gerber prefolds at Wal-Mart, but anything from Wal-Mart at $1/each kind of scares me!

[femalephish]

Ok, I don't have a baby yet- so I can't tell you much for sure, but here's what I'm planning;

1.Covers come in lots of sizes. And, from what I hear you shouldn't skip the littlest size, because you want them to fit well to prevent leaks. I read the best reviews about Thirsties brand covers, so we picked up some of those. (you can buy them here http://www.naturallytrendy.com/item_...aper-Cover.htm) We also got some cute covers at a local natural baby store.

2. From what I have read, Gerber prefolds at walmart aren't really absorbent. But quality prefolds are still pretty inexpensive... like 24$ for 12. Again, I got these at a local shop but lots of MDC moms buy them online- hopefully someone with more experiance can give you more help!

Good Luck!:

ETA: I think you need 6 covers if that's all you are using, but may be able to squeek by with less if you are also using AIOs. Some covers just need a quick wipe inbetween changes unless they get poo on them.

[flower01]

The most popular prefolds for a newborn are from Green Mountain Diapers. They are the orange edge prefolds and are 21 for a dozen.

I do not recommend the Gerber prefolds although some mom's seem to be okay with them. They are not very absorbant, but if you really want to save money they may be good enough until your baby needs the next size up.

As for covers, the most popular brands are Bummis and Thirsties. My favorites were Thirsties...everybody likes different things about different diapers. Try a couple of each.

The most common recommendation is to start with 24 - 36 prefolds and 4-6 covers. I only had 2 covers for my first baby and we made it work, but i definitely plan on having more for this next one.

The beautiful thing about CDing is that you can do it as cheap as you need to. If you only want to buy 24 prefolds...then if you run out you can learn how to fold up flannel recieving blankets as diapers. I did this all this time.

[springbride]

So what is the difference between the green mountain prefolds and the chinese prefolds?

[Ola_]

Originally Posted by springbride

So what is the difference between the green mountain prefolds and the chinese prefolds?

From what I understand, chinese prefolds just describes prefolds that come from China, there are also indian prefolds. You can often get bleached and unbleached versions of each.

Green Mountain Diapers is a company that sells prefolds, there are other companies too like Little Lions or CottonBabies. These companies may sell indian or chinese prefolds, but they each have their own source. I've heard that even though you're getting, say indian prefolds, one source may have better quality ones than another. Clear as mud?

I would say that all of the online sources are better than the ones you'd get at WalMart probably. Here are some of the online retailers so you can read some more about them:
http://greenmountaindiapers.com/prefolds.htm
http://www.little-lions.com/page3.html
http://www.cottonbabies.com/index.php?cPath=28
(there are may other retailers too, these are just a few off the top of my head)

[RGsMom]

Each company does have different sources for their prefolds. I have the Green Earth Prefolds which are Diaper Service Quality. They hold up really nicely and absorb well. Thirsties are our favorite covers to use, but when our son was first born, we used some green Earth ones also since we could get a smaller fit with the Newborn size of those.

You really only need a couple of snappis - they can just be reused each time or alternate two of them if it got slightly damp. We actually didn't use the snappis more than once or twice, we planned on using them more, but it was just as simple to fold the prefold and place it in a cover.

[AngelBee]

Originally Posted by RGsMom

Each company does have different sources for their prefolds. I have the Green Earth Prefolds which are Diaper Service Quality. They hold up really nicely and absorb well. Thirsties are our favorite covers to use, but when our son was first born, we used some green Earth ones also since we could get a smaller fit with the Newborn size of those.

You really only need a couple of snappis - they can just be reused each time or alternate two of them if it got slightly damp. We actually didn't use the snappis more than once or twice, we planned on using them more, but it was just as simple to fold the prefold and place it in a cover.

For some reason, I thought Green Earth covers weren't being made anymore. What a dumb dumb! : I really liked them for baby #3 but have some Proraps instead since I thought GE's weren't being made.

[Michigan Mama]

Congrats on the coming babe! I have #2 coming in Aug and am now getting my nb stash all ready.

I plan to use mostly fitteds and prefolds, with a few aio's thrown in for the moments when I can't think straight. I'm thinking I'm going to plan to wash daily-ish, because I'll have 2 in dipes and my washer basin is small. So I'm thinking 15 or so dipes (30 for every other day washing). I'm going for 6 covers because that newborn poop gets on the cover fairly frequently. You can hand wash the covers and hang to dry, which will help, so you aren't always waiting for them to come through the wash. I like Thirsties covers and I've also been knitting some wool soakers/shorties.

Standard prefolds come in premie, newborn, infant, regular and toddler - I think that's right. Then you have brands like Green Mountain that come in more sizes, but it just depends on what you are looking for. I use standard pf's and will be getting some nb because my ds1 was sort of a small baby. A lot of people can skip to infant pf's, but they would be bulky on a small nb.

I like to use premium prefolds, which are a little thicker and more absorbant (layered 4x8x4), but some people like the standard prefolds for a trimmer fit (4x6x4).

Think that's all I have to add for now! hth!