new and indecisive. prefolds vs aio`s?

LGator2484

Hi everyone, I'm new here from the jan 15 board. ftm with a baby girl due jan 26th.

I'm really excited about cloth diapering, and almost ready to start buying. my plan currently is to buy:

2 dozen gmd prefolds (1 dz orange, 1 dz yellow)
~8 covers in various brands (some thirsties, blueberrys, bummis)
~10 nb size pockets, various brands (charlie banana, fuzzibunz, alva)

But as I'm shopping, I see tons of nb size aio`s out there, which makes me think maybe I should give them some consideration. It seems like they would be easier, but I'm sure there must be downsides. I know they take a long time to dry, but what else? I'm scared to commit to a diapering strategy!

painttheair14

I don't do pockets, but here's my story:

I started out with almost all aio before my son was born. They leaked every time for us (probably poor fit) and we quickly became a prefold family!

Moral if the story: get a few of each and once the baby is here, order more of what you like. You can even sell stuff you don't like in a Facebook group or on the swap thread here!

TJ1979

I agree.  I used AIOs for my first but didn't start CD until she was 12 weeks.  So I got mostly AIOs with my 2nd, and hated them.  Prefolds and flats were the only things that worked to hold in that nb poo.  But MH wouldn't even try prefolds or flats, so as she got bigger and fit the AIOs better, he used those.  So yeah, get some of everything.  Buy all the diapers.

lookame3639

I have a preemie and the only AIO right now that works for her is the bum genius. I have a few thirsties and she peed right out but I'm pretty sure it's because the leg had pretty large gaps.

I like prefolds, pockets, and AIO (as well as fitteds) for different reasons. Pockets i can adjust the absorbancy on pretty easily also hemp inserts and bamboo inserts impressed me how much pee the hold while the outside that touches baby felt pretty dry. Prefolds i can adjust the size on. AIO are just like a disposable diaper easy on, easy off. Fitted are pretty awesome by how much they hold and they are easy to put on.

the best thing to.do is get a few of each type and figure out what works best for you and your baby. Also what works now may not work as baby grows, you may hate fitted now but when you have a 15 lb baby you may love them for overnight.

mrshudson618

I would skip the AIOs for nb size. Prefolds and covers give you a second barrier for all that runny poop, and NBs outgrow the absorbency of most AIOs really fast.
If you want something that goes on easier than prefolds, you have the pockets. They go on like an AIO, but washe easier and you can easily add more absorbency when you need it.

megbmeg

I'm a complete newbie at this, since LO isn't due until December. But when we first decided, yes, we want to cloth diaper, I was sure all I wanted was a bunch of AIOs because they seemed easiest. But the more I've read and seen, the better prefolds & covers sound, and the better it sounds to just have a variety and figure out what works. It sounds like you're going to do try that  

The only thing I don't see on your shopping list are some GM workhorses. I've heard they're really great for NBs and easy for MOTN changes especially, so you might get a few of those to use with the covers you've already got. 

karenhorning

I did mostly prefolds with snappis and covers because it's inexpensive and great at containing runny poop (poop has to first escape the prefold and then the double gussets of the cover... which never happened yay!) but had some NB AIOs for easy daddy/overnight changes.  NB Pockets would have worked for that same purpose but I wasn't sure how well stuffing tiny pockets would work.  The AIOs I liked best (Blueberry NB & Thirsties size 1) had optional pockets so I could add absorbancy if needed (did with the Thirsties but never needed to with the Blueberry ).   We tossed the AIOs in the dryer (turning the Thirsties inside out to expose the MF) with the prefolds and they were pretty much dry by the time the prefolds were dry. 
We also had RaR's Lil Joey NB AIOs and they were a PITA to get dry, they were too All-In-One for their own good, you couldn't get expose the MF at all...and we also out grew them absorbancy wise by 2weeks.

haileyq

GMD workhorse fitteds. They go on easily, no folding, then you just slap a reusable cover over it. And the NB sizes are cheap, just over $5. Can't buy AIOs for that!

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km_md

I agree with the previous suggestion to test some things out. When I first started I had pockets and AIOs. After using them on my baby for a while and trying a bunch of new things, now I have pockets, AIOs, fitteds, prefolds and covers. I like them all for different reasons. But the AIOs are my least favourite so I'm glad that I didn't have a whole stash of them to start off with.

YellowLily2013

We loved the BG NB AIOs. They were the trimmest option which was critical for how tiny NBs are. Yes, the absorbency sucked quickly but I made tiny hemp doublers which worked like magic. (A cloth wipe would do the trick too IMO).

We also had fuzzibunz xs pockets. And HATED them. They almost always leaked. Since the leg holes gapped -- there's no hip snaps on the xs!

We had prefolds too but I could never get a good fit without being too bulky. Honestly I didn't get into prefolds until 6 months old. But after that I did like then and even really like flats. SO, I think both of them may be a part of baby #2's newborn stash when that comes around.