Potential stash - please critique/offer suggestions!

[solumnay]

Hi All,

I've been eagerly reading up all of the helpful advice on the forum, and think i have a pretty decent stash solution worked out. Would love your thoughts to see if i have too little/too much or i'm missing something important. My main goal is simplicity as I have a hubby that's not 100% on board yet and as a first time mom i don't know what i don't know! Also bonus something that's budget conscious. I'm also in Canada so it makes some options kind of limited. Here it goes:

• 24 prefolds GMD - size medium, found second hand. $100 for the lot. I know these come highly recommend and there is no easy way to get these in Canada so figured this is a good deal. I know these would be quite big in the beginning but im thinking maybe i can get my mom to cut/sew some to a smaller size.
  
• 8-10 Flip covers (on my registry)
  
• 18 Bumgenius 5.0 (on my registry) figured i can use the prefolds to boost these once the babe is bigger
  
• Thirsties boosters x 12 (on the registry)
  

Edit: Forgot to mention I registered for Bummis prefolds x24 in infant size (the smaller ones seemed super tiny, and figured these would work for a newborn?)

Edit 2: Thank you for all the help everyone! Here is my revised stash:

• Thirsties Duo Wrap Covers Size 1 x 8
• Bummies organic prefolds Newborn x 30
  
• Flip Diaper covers x 8
• Bummies Organic Prefolds Infant x 24
• 12 Bumgenius 5.0 Pockets
  
• Thirsties hemp boosters x 12
  

I think i will supplement the newborn stash with FST if they don't get bought off the registry, or do a combination to save a little money. I'll probably pass on the GMD prefolds as they seem to be pretty big, and not cheaper than new ones.

 

[zzareyan]

@solumnay You seem to have a lot of covers on your registry. I have 9 NB covers and 8 OS covers. I could get away with even less but I like all the colours .

I have 2 small bummis pull ons that only fit till 8lbs (tho we're still using them occasionally). 4 of my NBs say they'll work till 12 lbs. The rest (thirsties, bummis, rumparooz) are 16lbs. The OSs fit but are bulky tho the flip is rather trim (it's roomy, but fits LO really well, shame I only have one).

While we do use the infant size prefolds (bummis), they are very bulky. I love the NB size. We have 18 (which is not enough for NB stage, we started out doing daily laundry) and we pad fold. They'll be great as boosters when he's bigger so I feel like they were a good investment.

Which size to start (for covers) with really depends on the size of your baby. My LO was 6.5lbs at birth and around 7 when we started cloth. He's 7 weeks now and 9.5lbs so our NB stash is still going to work for us for a while.

For Canada, I've ordered from Calgary Cloth Diaper, Lagoon Baby, and Well.ca. You can order directly from bummis. I also have two small cloth shops in town where I've picked up prefolds and stay dry liners . If you dont mind ordering online there are Canadian options (small businesses with free shipping).

 

[solumnay]

@zzareyan Thank you! This is great. I think I got carried away with the 5.0s because I thought initially to only do pockets. But I’m seeing the benefits of the prefolds and covers so think I’ll reduce that.

I’ve been looking at adding 6ish thirsties duo wraps for the newborn stage as I read good reviews of these. The NB size from bummies is also called “premie” right? I’m also thinking of using FSTs for the first stage as they are more economical.

 

[zzareyan]

@solumnay Yes the premie/NB size (4-9 lbs I think). The smaller sizes are $12 for 6 most places. They also very recently changed their packaging so you might be able to get the old ones on clearance. The FST are something like 50% cheaper. If you're comfortable with the folding they are a good choice. I havent tried them so I cant speak to absorbancy but a lot of people swear by them.

 

[cv7]

@solumnay I am still pregnant so take this with a grain of salt.

After recieving my stash and washing and seeing how long everything takes to dry I wish i had bought more flats and less prefolds. I like the versatility of the flats too.

 

[fantomas318]

@solumnay If you’re planning to use cloth from the start, I’d heavily recommend ~30 newborn prefolds and 3-4 newborn covers.

 

[solumnay]

@fantomas318 Thank you! Is meconium really hard to get rid of? Is it just that it stains or is there something more to consider? Also 3-4 newborn covers, would that be enough if they go through 10-12 diaper changes a day? I assume they can be reused but heard that poop covers usually go in the wash and I have no idea how many of the 10-12 changes are poopy diapers (zero experience with newborns )

 

[fantomas318]

@solumnay Our hospital actually provided cloth so I didn’t have to deal with meconium - but it only lasted 2-3 days so a single packet of disposables would likely be enough.

I found that we didn’t get much poop on the covers - most early newborn poop is often but in small amounts. Of course every baby is different so YMMV. We also washed daily and I had a summer bub - so that helped with the drying aspect!

 

[solumnay]

@fantomas318 Thanks! I'm still researching this part. How many months do people technically use newborn sizes? And would all in one covers like Flip work for newborns, or are they too big?

 

[fantomas318]

@solumnay My daughter is just over 13w old and still in newborn size. The prefolds we use say up to 13lbs and she’s about 11lbs so I except they will last until ~4 months.

 

[solumnay]

@fantomas318 That’s great to know, thanks! Which newborn prefolds are you using?

 

[peaksprt]

@solumnay I would not cut up the prefolds. The stitching needs to be heavy duty (speaking from experience). Flips might fit if baby is large (they fit my youngest). But I'd get 4-6 either newborn or size 1 covers & 24-36 newborn prefolds. Another option for the newborn stage would be flour sack towels. They're quite thin, so they're not so bulky on a newborn. The mini kite fold is good for newborns. They can be used on older babies too (I double them up). And they're cheap af.

My youngest used cloth from birth. He was out of size one Thirsties covers at around 6 weeks, but he's very tall. I think most babies get 3 months out of size 1.

 

[solumnay]

@peaksprt Thank you this is super helpful! Are bummis “infant” prefold considered good for a newborn? They say 7-20lbs so I figured it would be pretty close? Also great to know about the flour sack towels. I’m not sure how good I’ll be at folding but maybe my mom can sew them into prefolds for newborn.

 

[peaksprt]

@solumnay It might depend on the size of your baby at birth. If it's too big, you can fold down the front or the back or both. My 5 mo old wears a toddler prefold with the back & front folded. He's very tall though (wears 12-18mo) & a heavy wetter.

I saw you asked about meconium too. It doesn't really stain, it's water soluble, comes off easy & doesn't really smell bad. The breast fed newborn poop does stain. So do carrot & prune poops, blood & desitin (don't use desitin on pockets or AIOs). I personally don't worry about stains until I'm looking to sell a diaper. I have not had a stain yet that won't sun out.