First time mama/CD'er stash

[BirthIsAwesome]

I am compiling my cloth diaper stash for my first baby and would like you lovely ladies to comment on my list I need a basic, economical stash that will do the job. No money for extras, but I need it to be sufficient so I'm not going out of my mind, lol.

Newborn
24 Cloth-eez newborn prefolds
3 GMD infant fitted diapers
2 Cot'n Wrap's
2 Litewraps
1 Thirsties Duo-Wrap, size one

Small/Medium (up to 30 pounds)
24 Cloth-eez medium prefolds
3 Cloth-eez small prefold fitteds
4 Thirsties Duo-Wrap's, size 2

Accessories
2 snappi's
1 dozen diaper pins
Wet Bag (for diaper bag)
2 dozen cotton washcloths

[alfabetsoup]

SKIP THE COT'N WRAPS. They are useless. Get Imse Vimse Organic Cotton instead, just as comfortable for baby and don't leak, ever. You'll probably want 6 wraps for the newborn stage.

By Medium Cloth Eez do you mean infant sized prefolds? Or something bigger? The infant ones fit up to about 16 lbs so probably 6 months on average unless your baby is very big. The next size up are massive on a small baby and although some people like prefolds all the way thru to PL, I like fitteds or AIOs on a mobile baby. So I wouldn't get something really big as you might want to switch around the time your baby starts crawling anyway. I would get 12 newborn PFs and 24 infants as you can fold the infant size down for a newborn anyway. DD2 was 8lbs at birth and grew out of the newborn PFs in 2 weeks, then slowed down and didn't grow out of the infants til 8 months.

Also, you'll want at least 2 wetbags and you can NOT have too many wipes/washcloths. I like the ones that have fleece or velour on one side and terry on the other.

[chely7425]

I agree about the Cotn wraps... Our NB stash looks like this:

36 small GMD prefolds
6 NB covers
6 small covers
4 BG aios in whatever the smallest size is (we use these for overnights... snappis becomes amazingly confusing at 2 am...)

I tend to have babies that poop every 2 seconds so that many prefolds and covers was definitely a must have for us! Once my kids outgrow that stash we have more of a one size approach... 36 brown edged GMD prefolds (I think these are larges?) that we fold down at first and a bunch of OS covers, mostly blueberry cover alls and the like. Then we have 12ish OS pockets for DH and baby sitters.

Oh, and I would get another wet bag or 2 and a lot more washcloths. I think we have around 50 with 2 in diapers and I really wish I had more!!! I will be getting another couple dozen before we have 3 in diapers...

[lunita1]

For newborn stage, I had:

36 green-trimmed infant prefolds (they work until about 15 lbs., depending on the covers you use)

10 prorap nb covers
8 small bummis sww

That will get me through about the first three or four months. All of the diapers and covers were bought used or were hand-me-downs. It's hard for one baby to wear out the smaller sizes, so that's a good place to economize. Check your local craigslist.
Then I have 2 dozen Little Lions capri size and 2 dozen premium prefolds (blue edge) and a stash of mostly bummis and proraps in medium. My kids have never outgrown the medium size covers. I don't NEED all of those premium prefolds -- a dozen would be more than enough. They come in handy near the end of the medium range, for night time and heavier-wetting toddlers.

I agree about cot'n wraps --leaky, and weak velcro too.

[chel]

as pp said, you can get by with fewer newborn prefold.

you so don't need 12 diaper pins. i bought a set of 4 and haven't used them at all. i bought 2 snappis and have only used one. they don't get dirty, i just wanted a backup one. same with diaperpins. 4 would be plenty if you used them all the time.

one nice thing about using only prefolds is the snappi is always with the baby, just no way to misplace it! even with using disposies at night, i just put the snappi with the diaper stash and i just put it back on in the morning.

i think 2dz washcloths will work. 3dz might be nice. look around. lots of mass market stores have large packs that work out th 50 cents each. i just use the bulk pack of regular sized washcloths, have held up for dd1 and now used for dd2, with constant use in between in the bath and to clean up spills around the house.

i'm assuming the medium prefolds are the gmd reds? i wouldn't worry about building your entire stash for up to 30lbs. as pp said, you might change your mind about what you like or what works for your baby. plus many covers fit body types better than others, which you won't know till the time comes. plus no need to spend all that money just to have them sit around.


i'm very frugal, and use disposies at night and have done just fine with

1dz orange gmd prefolds - sold for $4 less than what i paid after 5w of use.
2dz yellow gmd prefolds
2 motherease xsm covers
2 motherease sm covers
1 motherease md cover - not used yet
1 bummis nb pull on cover
2 snappis - only 1 used
4pins - never used
18 washcloths

one great thing about prefolds is that while one size might fit best, more than one size will work OK. same with my ME covers xsm and sm, both can work.

so when you are at home you can get away with a more bulky set-up.

[Ola_]

If by "medium prefolds" you mean the red edge, then I wouldn't get any less than 24 newborn prefolds. If you by medium mean yellow edge then you could probably get by with less newborn ones as long as you don't mind them being quite bulky at first.

[averlee]

For my daughter, we had 40 diapers of various sizes, and used every single one, every day. She did not like to feel wet, so I was changing her every time she peed, every half an hour or so. (Even disposable diapers say right on the package to change them immediately when wet or soiled.)

[BirthIsAwesome]

yes, by mediums I meant the red edge, and by infant I actually meant the newborn size orange edge GMD's. However, I just found a lady who is selling 1 dozen used preemie prefolds and 1 dozen used newborn prefolds, so now I am thinking about just buying 1 dozen of the yellow edge small prefolds and 2 dozen of the red edge prefolds. Do you think that would work? I also decided to replace the 2 Cot'n wraps with 3 Bummis Super Whisper Wraps, due to all of you ladies advice that the Cot'n wraps are no-good

The reason I am building my stash to 30 lbs. now, is because I am PCS'ing to Italy in June. I would rather buy them now than pay extra shipping later; plus I have to do prefolds and covers moneywise---I can't afford the AIO's and pocket diapers even though I'm sure they are much more convenient than prefolds once baby is mobile! So they pretty much have to work, lol :P

[Mom2SammyJoe]

If you need more wipes, cut up a t-shirt. The fabric doesn't fray in the wash. I like these more than my the double-layer flannel wipes I sewed during my pregnancy. They are nice and thin and can easily clean all the nooks and crannies.
Also, we don't leave the house everyday. One wetbag was ususally good enough. If I needed something else, a re-used Ziplock worked great. Or get one more use from your bread bag before you toss it.
Also, we added to our stash for DD's first Christmas. The grandmas wanted to know what to get her, and she is very comfortable in her new diaper covers! Don't wory about getting it all now. Give yourself some time and watch craigslist or let people know what you REALLY need when they offer something for the new babe. Then, if you have to pay full price, you can do it later after you have exhausted other options.
Another tip: we use a five gallon pail for our diaper pail. We have a lid for it but don't usually cover it. I dump the dipes in the wash and rinse out the pail with hot water and we are good to go. We paid $3 for our bucket, but oftenthey can we found for free.

[chel]

i've heard great things about european strollers and carseats. one would hope you could find decent diaper stuff, but i understand now the reason to buy ahead. i would focus on covers. how bad could the prefolds be! though you might buy some gmd browns for changing pads and last resort diapers

also possibly 4 snappis

[lunita1]

It looks like you can buy a good variety of cloth diapers in Italy.

for help googling what's available, Pannolini lavibili is "washable diaper" in Italian. From what I can tell, copripannolini means diaper cover. It looks like you can get Happy Heiny's, Bum Genius, Fuzzibunz, etc.

Here's a site with links to Italian online diaper sites http://www.pannolinilavabili.info/in...-online/Italia

[chely7425]

If I were trying to buy an economical stash to 30 pounds this is what I would buy:

24-36 yellow edged GMD prefolds
24 brown edged GMD prefolds (skip the red for economy reasons, the brown work just fine with the front folded down)
5-6 NB covers with the stump cut out
5-6 one size blueberry coveralls
snappis/pins
2 wetbags
36 wipes/washclothes
some fleece to cut up for stay dry night time liners

I would be perfectly happy with that stash.. in fact, despite the fact that I HAVE pockets and fitteds... I mostly just use the stash I listed above

[octobermom]

A few questions
1) how long do you want to go between washes?
2) how often would you like to change as in as soon as wet or are you okay say changing every 2 hours (we'll assume as soon as poopy)

Reason I ask... I'll CD a newbie right now she is now at 7 weeks. I like washing every third day and I tend to change as wet but she also does a 2-3 hour daily nap and we go all night in the same diaper (ussually).. Saying that though I'm still averaging 15 diapers a day I have
36 prefolds (I'll be down to like 1-2 by wash day)
9 AIOs (4-8 typically make the wash)
4 fitted (3 at least end up laundered these are the nighttime diapers)
having 50+ diapers by wash day is quite normal.. (there small so yes they fit fine)

Deanna