Newbie question - stash?

Mrs.vtjaime

Hi girls. I'll apologize in advance for my ignorance. I am so overwhelmed by all of the options. I've read through the FAQs, but I'm almost as overwhelmed by them.

Ok, to the point. What should go in a starter stash? I thought I wanted AIOs, but reading here about how long they take to dry, I'm rethinking it a bit.

So I guess my questions are these: if you were to start fresh today with your first newborn on the way, what would you purchase to get you through the first three months? I don't really want to start with disposables, because of how many diapers we will go through at the beginning.

Within that first three months, will I get a sense of which types I like for when my daughter gets bigger? Or will it likely change as she grows? What should I register for upfront?

Thanks in advance, and I hope I'm not an annoying newbie!

Athena0809

Don't apologize, we've all been where you are!

You are right about AIOs take longer to dry but honestly not something you notice terribly, I never did. If I could start fresh I would make up my NB stash of XS GroVia AIO and snapless workhorses and XS covers (my fave are thirsties and imse vimse) I love the workhorses sooo much (they are a fitted prefold) if I only had those I'd be fine with that!

namara5532

What I ended up with for the newborn stage was 3 dozen osocozy newborn prefolds, snappis, and 6 newborn covers.  We started with 2 dozen, but during growth spurts he sometimes wets every hour, so we bought a 3rd dozen.  For a few weeks now, he's been in flips OS with the newborn prefolds as inserts, but he also has a few cute pockets for special occassions and night.  I wouldn't change anything (except maybe get a different brand for the newborn covers as the elastic started wearing out in the last couple weeks I used them).

I suggest getting a couple diapers in the different types/brands you want to try out.  There are several diaper trials out there you can try, but even without a diaper trial diapers retain their resale value if they're well cared for, so you could sell what doesn't work for you.  I picked Flips mostly for the cost effectiveness as we only need 5 of them that will last until potty training, but you may value something easier to put on or with a better fit.  If you have a cloth diapering store near you, seeing the diapers in person is helpful.

frogkisser

Newborn diapers that we loved: Swaddlebees Simplex, Happy Heinys Mini One Size

Newborn diapers we did not love: Kissaluvs AIO, Bumgenuis XS (just not enough absorbency)

Something I would like to try if/when we have another LO: Tot Bots Tiny Fit

BrendaLou1969

I had Lil'Joeys and BG AIOxs.  I liked both for different reasons.  HOWEVER, after using an emergency prefold I kept on hand for wash days, I would have saved ALL THAT MONEY and used prefolds and covers for the newborn stash.  They really are not that difficult to use.  I spent hundreds of dollars on my newborn stash which I would have much rather used on designer diapers for her now that she is older.  [However, for special occassions, those CUTE, but crappy china diapers off of ebay work in a pinch for picture time.]

lili1228

We have always loved AIOs and PP is right about not noticing, we don't even have a dryer! I thought I should try pockets too based on the FAQs but I ended up really liking AIOs as I had originally thought. What did not work for others, might work for you.

MrsSwanie

I would have started with prefolds.  I was extremely intimidated by them but have started to use them and am realizing they are not that scary! 

I did find that NB GroVia's took forever to dry.  I didn't notice that with my Lil' Joey AIO's.  But, I ended up selling all my Lil' Joeys and buying prefolds.  The Lil' Joeys worked for me for about a week and then started leaking like crazy. 

My absolute FAVORITE NB diaper has been the Bummis Tot Bots Tini Fit.  If they would last longer I would buy more than the 8 that I have! 

I'm still a newbie to cloth diapering as my DD is only 5 weeks old, but I am finding that it is a bunch of trial and error.  I didn't know I was going to CD before my DD arrived, so I didn't do as much research on NB diapers as I should have.  If I had, I probably would have saved a ton of money! 

Froggy76

If I could do it over again, I'd just get 2 dozen orange GMD prefolds and 6 covers for the NB stage, and maybe a few pockets or AIOs for outings or grandma.  I liked the BG XS AIO until she outgrew the absorbancy around 7ish weeks.  You could also try some smaller diapers that might fit a newborn- like Kawaii or FB small.

I'd also get at least a dozen yellow edge GMD prefolds for the "in-between" stage when NB diapers don't fit anymore and OS is still too big.  For us, that period lasted a little over a week.

For beyond the NB stage, I'd get a mix of sized (FB small) and OS (like BG 4.0s) and then see what works before buying more.  The yellow edge PFs will still fit for awhile to round out your stash until you decide what you really like.