What (if anything) should I add to my newborn stash?

[dm718]

Hi everyone-  I posted sporadically in the CD forum, but certainly not a regular.  Hoping you can help me out to see if there's anything I should be adding to my nb stash.

For context - my husband is not on board yet with cloth diapers (though he admitted workhorses & snappis are cute yesterday!).  I'm not going to get into his reservations, but I'm sticking with the idea that we can't know what works best for our family if we don't try multiple options.  I've agreed that we'll try disposables as well, so we don't need enough to cloth diaper exclusively to start.

I'm wondering if there's anything else we should be trying.  I've tried to get in different levels effort involved (I doubt prefolds will be a favorite), and different fibers.  I'm trying not to spend much until we have a decent idea of what types of products work for us (so we may start with Chinise cheapies, and if we like the AIOs, move onto more durable ones as our little guy grows).  He's skeeved out by used clothes, so used diapers will not win over his reservations (though the resale value of GMDs appeals to him).  The main type of CD I can think of that we're not trying right now is pockets.

Here's what I've purchased so far (all in newborn size, though I've also ordered a couple of small workhorses, OS AIOs and covers as well):

• 12 GMD Cotton Prefolds 
• 3 GMD Cotton workhorses, snapless 
• 3 Snappis
• One set of diaper pins
• 3 Assunta tiny tuckable covers (I hear these may work better as just a regular cover over fastened prefolds or workhorses?)
• 8 THX AIO - I think these have fleece linings
• 8 Newborn Cloth Diaper Coop AI2s, with bamboo inserts.  Some shells are natural bamboo fiber, some are fleece lined.    
  

[rrrrrachel]

What are the coop ai2 specifically? The problem with trying cheapies first is if they suck (which they often do) it can completely mislead you about what's working for you. There are plenty of reasonably priced aio with s good reputation (kawaii comes immediately to mind)

[DGM]

You might want to do a newborn diaper trial too to try brands/styles you don't have. Do you have CD safe diaper cream and laundry detergent?

ETA I was late to the game of buying a wet-dry bag in case I didn't stick with cloth, but I now realize I could've used it just for overnight trips to the grandparents for dirty clothes.

[rrrrrachel]

And maybe get more covers. I like tuckable covers because you can preload them with folded prefolds or flats and they are just as "easy" as an aio.

[mrslka]

Maybe try some other cheap brands that have a better reputation; kawaii makes newborn size pockets, Nickis diapers has newborn aios
Also a couple wet bags for dirty diapers and cloth wipes.
Make sure to use a CD safe diaper cream and laundry detergent.

[dm718]

DGM I'll have to check what diaper cream we have been given, but CD safe diaper cream is a great call. We have a Whole Foods five minutes from our house - good place to pick that up easily? I bought a box of Tide Ultra powder, original scent - I plan to prep and wash with that.

rrrrrachel - I think I read somewhere that the tuckable covers used tucked in aren't great with runny EBF poo. I'm a FTM, I don't know what I'm in for. Have you had this issue? My husband is happy with the resale value of GMDs, so if they can be made as easy as AIOs (and essentially disposables), there may be hope he'll like that option.

[awful]

For the covers, if you are just trifolding the prefold/padfolding the flat you won't be able to reuse the cover but at the same time, AIOs are one time use as well before you need to throw them in the wash. Depending on if your cheapie AIOs work or not, buying covers with prefolds and flats might be a better option even though some covers are more expensive. That system would be much easier and quicker to wash and dry vs. an AIO.

[dm718]

mrslka - thanks for the brand suggestions! I really gave no thought to CDs until we got a puppy in November, and I realized that I was washing the dog bed and/or my car seat liner daily, so diaper laundry doesn't seem so bad. That said, the time to think about and research what we're doing is less than if I thought this was a viable option earlier on. I did get wet bags for my diaper bag and bigger, zip bottom bags for the diaper pail, as well as the most basic Tide powder I could find. Putting CD safe diaper cream on my shopping list now...

[DGM]

I use California Baby diaper cream, but L hardly gets a diaper rash when she's in cloth. We had to CD part-time for a while, and she had a rash almost everyday when in disposables. I know there's lots of love here for coconut oil.

Also, if people gift you 50 flannel receiving blankets, hold onto them. You may be able to use them in a cover once baby is bigger.

[dm718]

So much good advice - will need to step away from proboards in a minute, but to answer rrrrrachel, my AI2s are from Newborn Cloth Diaper Co-op (NCDC). I'm not sure who manufactures for them, they sell under their own label. From the (admittedly limited) research I did, they seem to have a decent reputation as a co-op, and are claiming their products to be CPSC compliant. Lots of claims there...

I'm thinking that if we like a general type of diaper (AIOs, AI2s, prefolds w/ covers, etc), we'll do more research into various brands for that format. I'll be less price sensitive when we have an idea of what will work for us. So if we love the ease of the AIOs but think THX sucks or the fit is slightly off, we'll look for higher quality AIOs. Hope that makes sense? We have a couple of good diaper stores in our area, but they're pricey to start with.

[brandiewine11]

welcome!

I would pick up a couple of different covers, just so you can see what's out there. I liked Thirsties Sz 1 and Rumparooz. If you want to be able to reuse the covers, you'll need to snappi your prefolds and workhorses to contain the poop.

Also, as others mentioned, Kawaii makes good and inexpensive pockets or AIO's.

Just be sure not to discount CD completely if the cheapies you bought don't work for you. If you decide you like AIO's but don't like those for whatever reason, you could try a diaper trial or some more well known brands.

For CD safe cream, we like just plain coconut oil as a barrier, and Grandma El's for the occasional rash.

[MapleMe]

I would recommend some Kawaii Pure and Naturals. They're an inexpensive ($6ish) pocket diaper that fits on larger newborns or slightly after birth. NB AIO tend to run out of absorbency very early, which will result in leaks and can leave you frustrated. I also second the Rumparooz covers. They fit a wide variety of nb sizes and are very well made.

[nanaosaki06]

Maybe some other AIO's for the NB stage? Like, some LiL Joey, Grovia, or Blueberry NB Simplex. Those were all favorites of mine during the NB stage, plus you'll get a feel for the different types of AIO.