First baby - does this sound like a good plan?

[frioct3]

I'm expecting my first in June and know I want to use cloth, but I'm having trouble figuring out what will work best for my husband and I.

My husband is completely against prefolds or anything with "too many parts".  He really likes the idea of all in ones, but I'm a bit worried about the drying time.  I am pretty bad right now at remembering to take things out of the washing machine to dry and I'm a little paranoid that I will end up running out of diapers because everything will be either dirty, or sitting in the washing machine still wet.

Right now I'm thinking a combination of 12 one size all in ones and 12 size small fitted + 3 or 4 covers might be okay.  I think as the baby gets big enough the fitted diapers don't fit any more the number of diapers might have decreased enough that we could get buy with the all in ones (maybe adding another 6 at that time).

I'm not too worried about cost, although I don't want to go completely crazy.  Likely I will be at home with baby for the first year (yea for Canada!) and then I will be back at work with baby in daycare.  I assume most day cares are not really supportive of cloth because it's one extra thing for them to manage but honestly I haven't looked into that at this point. 

I'm okay with laundry every other day for now.  I should have lots of help at the beginning (first grandchild on both sides and everyone lives within 30-40 minutes).

Thank you to everyone to takes the time to read and respond!

[onetwoten]

Our first baby too, and I was also very adament I had no desire to use prefolds. That said, we ended up getting a set of Bummis preemie size (4-10lbs I think), and I actually really enjoyed them. The trick is that you don't have to do anything other than trifold them, and lay them in the cover. We didn't snappi, didn't fold, or maneuver anything, we just laid it inside. Didn't leak once. I would totally do this again for the early days. 

Our stash is exclusively pockets, and I really enjoy that. We stuff them as soon as they come out of the dryer (everything goes into the dryer right now, but in summer I'm going to try to line dry outside), that way once it's time to use, we just put it on and snap it, no worrying about layers, etc. It makes it just as easy as using disposables, especially if she's fussy, we're not trying to lay out and put on different pieces. 

Our baby was 8lbs8oz, and we started cloth at about 2 weeks, just over 9lbs I think. We could have started earlier based on sizing, but we had purchased a box of newborn diapers so we didn't have to start laundry right away. 

We used 2 bummis covers and 10 prefolds, along with a stash of about 24 smalls and one size diapers. We generally washed every 48 hours or a little more. If you were reusing the covers, you could do less laundry, but we never really bothered. I definitely wouldn't have less than two dozen diapers total. In the beginning, it's just so touch and go with how often you change them. Sometimes she would go 3-4 hours in between changes because she was too content for us to bother her, but others she'd get changed 3 times in an hour. 

Definitely be careful with the AIO's, especially if you're not great at remembering things in the washer/dryer. I found even my microfibre inserts took a long time to dry, and wouldn't have wanted to be waiting for AIO's. For quick dry inserts, look for something that is a flat square meant to be folded, similar to a prefold. These dry nice and quick, which is great if you realize you've forgotten to flip the wash! I had three all in ones that I started with, and I ended up not using them at all because they took easily 4 times as long to dry as the rest of my stash. If you're using the pockets and stuffing them right out of the dryer, then they're just as easy as AIO's, but will dry faster, and will go on easier than fitteds and a separate cover. 

My favorite diaper ever are AMP OS Duos. They're pricey new, but hold up really well if you can find some used. They fit 7-38lbs, and I find the fit is perfect. I also love her hemp and bamboo inserts. We've sold off all our other diapers, so our whole stash now is these diapers-- I've got 28, and we do diapers every three days or so. 

Let me know if you have any other questions!

[onetwoten]

Oh, and I wanted to say depending on which daycare you use, many of them are ok with using AIOs or pockets, providing they are prestuffed, and you provide a really good wetbag for them. 

[frioct3]

Thanks!

[greencrunchymom]

I would go with pockets instead of AIOs for drying time and also because they will get cleaner.  Just make sure your pockets are stuffed and you will be fine!

[AnnieA]

My DH was less than thrilled about the idea of PFs but he did ok with them once I showed him how to just fold them in thirds and lay them in the cover. He really loves our Flip diapers. Unless I have the pockets already stuffed, something about those confuse him and we always end up with problems. He does best with the Flip system.

[rinap]

I had the same experience AnnieA did with my husband and other helpers. Prefolds are consistent and straightforward. They find pockets confusing unless I *always* have them out and stuffed, which is problematic around laundry time. This may change as my girls get more and more mobile, but consistency counts for a lot.

[cristeen]

If you're planning on putting the LO in daycare down the line anyway, then I would go with OS pockets.  I don't care for AIOs for the same reasons you mentioned - more difficult to wash and take longer to dry.  We did start off with PFs and fitteds, but at 11 mos we switched to pockets and they are so much easier now that he's mobile and doesn't want to sit still for diaper changes.  We'll be starting with PFs with this new little one, but that's because DS didn't fit in even smalls until he was almost 3 mos old.  When they fit, we'll be switching to pockets. 

My absolute fave pocket are Rumparooz.  I've seen them on a NB, and I use them on my 2.5 yo.  Their internal gussets catch everything even if it's not on perfectly.  Some people have a problem with the low rise on them, but my super tall guy still fits in them just fine.  The dipe does not have to come up as high as their navel, just because most do in the beginning.  At this point I'm good as long as his penis and his butt crack are covered, and they fit more like bikini underwear - under his little belly, which is more comfortable for him anyway.  One of the other nice things about the RaRz are that the inserts snap together, so even my DH can pull them out of the laundry basket, stuff and change if I haven't gotten around to doing it.  The other brands of pockets we have are far more difficult for him to figure out.  We have the MF inserts, and they dry pretty quickly, by design. 

[icy02]

I disagree and love my bG AIo's. That being said, I love my pockets too, but when my whole stash was pockets and I had to stuff them all after each wash, it made diaper laundry way more of a chore. I like having both. If I forget to do laundry, I know my pockets will be dry fast. Also, I prefer the AIO's when someone else is watching my son as I don't like to have to pull out cold, pee soaked liners hours later. Ugh. I prefer to just dump diaper into the pail with a minimal amount of touching. Oh, and IMO they aren't any harder to wash then pockets. I was all my diaps together, so no difference to me.