workhorses??

J

jmv

New member
me again. i’m curious about the green mountain clotheez workhorses - i know people have commented on my posts before and ive seen them mentioned around the sub - and im possibly looking into getting some to try and see if ill like them more than my pockets and AIOs. couple q’s:
  • how many of each size should i buy to try?? or just buy the small ones to give a go?
  • do you find you typically have to boost them at all?
  • do any brand of covers fit over them?
thanks friends!! :)
 
@jmv We loved using the workhorse diapers and didn’t try them until our son was close to 2. The quality is amazing and they were the least fussy diapers we put on our chunky little boy. We bought one of size large to try out and 18 in size extra large and used them until we started potty training at 2.5. They wash and dry very well, the flap makes the difference! the Alva Baby covers from Amazon fit perfect over them (we bought 12). Yes they are going to run bulky but being a cloth diaper mom I was always sizing up faster in pants anyway. Haha. Planning to use them for our second child.
 
@ari4ever7 I love the eezkoala fitteds from Temu, they’re my bullet proof overnight diaper with an elinfant cotton and bamboo doubler.

I have some workhorses but they don’t keep baby dry.
 
@jmv I have no advice on "trying" cloth. I jumped in fully with our first.

12 Preemie prefolds (all my babies have been tiny 6 pounders)

24 newborn prefolds

15 orange newborn workhorse

8 red medium workhorse

18 large workhorse

8 extra large workhorse

Looking at our invoices, we spent $571 on this stash plus $25 for each ($250 probably, geez) MyEcoBaby wool cover/pants that replace pants until the kid is potty trained, which is cute and awesome.

$700ish for four kids is pretty great though.
 
@jmv I use workhorses at night for my 9mo, snapless version with a Snappi. She's 18ish lbs and has chunky buns and thighs, and wears a size L. The workhorse plus 1 GMD booster works great for 12hrs overnight. We use prefolds during the day, but I can't imagine needing to use boosters during the day with workhorses when changing more frequently.
 
@jmv PS just in my opinion I prefer esembly fitteds over the workhorses just because of cost. Esembly has 2 sizes. Workhorses have so many, it just ends up being more expensive changing them out all the time.
 
@jmv Yeah I’ve never had any issues! People like the flap style of the insert on the workhorses because they say they’re easier to dry but I’ve never had any issues drying esembly.
 
@jmv I’ve use the newborn workhorse for two babies now and love them! They don’t need boosting because you change them so frequently. After the newborn stage, I use the workhorse for overnight. I use the version without snaps so I can skip sizes and fold down the front and fasten with a snappi. I do love my pocket diapers especially as babies grow and get more wiggly but the workhorse is fantastic for overnights and times you know you need extra absorbency (long outings/car rides/etc).
 
@jmv Not too much experience with them but this is what I can tell you. I bought 5 size mediums (red edge) to use overnight on my 4 month old, love them for that. She was almost 14 lbs at 4month dr appt and at almost 5 months is still on the smallest snap (not crossover). I have boosted them (with a pad folded prefold) but they get really bulky and she’s been doing fine without a booster. She often wakes 1-2 times to eat at night still but I only change her if she’s pretty dang awake already. The diaper is usually soaked by morning but I’ve only gotten a couple small leaks at the front waist where the cover was gapping a little. I have put Esembly size 1, thirsties size 1, osocozy one size, and kinder one size over then no problem. One other thing you might expect, they take a little extra to dry (like 1.5 dryer cycles or a little time hanging after one cycle).
 
@jmv Do you currently have a baby, or are you planning ahead? Question mainly related to what sizes to get to try.

Having to boost them depends on baby's age and how often you want to change them! I never needed to boost the newborn ones - mostly because baby POOPS so much as a newborn that you're changing it so often that it's rare for them to out-pee the workorse, lol!

Older babies, though? I definitely had to boost them - I really didn't use them much between newborn and older toddler stage, so I don't have much experience in that age bracket, but I am confident I would need to add doublers.

Now as a 26 month old, when she's at daycare, I load her up with large or X-large GMD workhorses because they're super easy for the grandparents to use. I bolster each one with either a GMD newbie prefold (fits perfectly in the large) or a GMD Novice prefold (fit perfectly in the x-large). With this bolstering, she generally goes through only 3-5 diapers between 7am and 7pm. If she was getting changed every couple hours, then I really wouldn't need to bolster them.

Many brands of covers fit over them, for sure! The brands I've used with a lot of success are: Thirsties (both duo wraps and sized covers) Cloth-ezz wraps (unsurprisingly, they give a very comprehensive size-fit guide on their website), Nicki's Diapers covers, Kawaii Baby covers, Rumparooz one-size covers.
 
@jmv We started with 6 NB and 3 medium (no snap versions). I just ordered 3 more snapped mediums. My baby is 12 weeks and 12 lbs and wears the medium at night for sometimes a 10 hour stretch, rn it’s more than enough absorbency with no boosting. I think people often end up needing to boost them at night before they outgrow them but I can’t speak to that yet. I think starting with 3 in baby’s current size is a good way to add them into your rotation to see if you like them! A lot of people skip sizes (going from NB to medium to large/XL or small to large).

We’re using thirsties duo and Esembly size 1 or cloth-eez POSO medium covers over the mediums. The size 1 covers are a little tight but they work for now. I would think most if not all brand of covers in the appropriate size or OS will fit.

I love them! They’re so easy to put on and the organic cotton is so cozy. They wash up really well too. And personally I really like the two part systems that separate the cotton diaper from the cover.
 
@ksenija this is so helpful thank you. i think i over purchased on pockets and im nervous im not going to like them as much as i think 🙈 and with the AIOs i’ve heard they out wet them really quickly :(
 
@jmv Different things definitely work for different people and the good thing is there’s a good second hand market for diapers, so you can always try reselling them if you don’t end up liking them as much! You also might find you like the pockets/AIOs for different situations like when baby’s with another caregiver.
 
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