We’re roughly seven weeks out from meeting this baby, and I am starting to get things squared away for his/her arrival. We’ve made good progress on the nursery. We have a list of things to buy. We’re talking up the new baby with Nora to help prepare her. And I’m working on figuring out the cloth diaper situation for baby #2.
In the last week, I’ve sold off a lot of Nora’s cloth diaper stash. With her, I only tried three brands of one-size pocket diapers—BumGenius 4.0, Fuzzibunz, and Blueberry. I never much cared for the Fuzzibunz, but we only had four of them so we kept them around for nighttime/last resort diapers. We had maybe four Blueberry, too, but after sticking with those for a while, I finally got frustrated enough with them—they never fit Nora right—that I sold them off. BumGenius was by far our favorite out of the three, so we built the majority of our stash with BumGenius and used them almost all of the time.
I still like BumGenius. But I kind of want to branch out a bit with baby #2. Maybe it makes me crazy, but I decided to de-stash and start with a mostly fresh supply of cloth diapers for the next baby. I was able to sell the old diapers to recoup some of the money that we spent on them back when Nora was a wee one. We kept a few, of course, but not enough—now I’m in a position where I have to re-stash. :)
In a lot of ways, I feel like I’m starting at square one. There are still so many options out there. Which ones do I want to try this time?
Thanks to a tip from my sister-in-law, I scored four Charlie Banana diapers on clearance at Target last weekend. They were only $8/piece! And so it begins.
I’ve heard great things about Rumparooz, so I’d like to get at least a couple of those this time around, but they are PRICEY, and I’ve also heard that they can be bulky, which is never a positive when you have a peanut baby like Nora was. Now, I obviously don’t know what this baby will be like, but at this point I’m preparing for another peanut since that’s all I know.
Then there are all of the “cheap” diapers that I keep hearing so many good things about. SunBaby, Alva, Kawaii. So many people love these diapers, but I am skeptical, because really? A good pocket diaper can be had for $5-8/piece??
My next challenge is the newborn stage. With Nora, we used disposables for the first two weeks or so, then started dabbling in cloth with prefolds and Thirsties covers until she was about eight weeks old, at which point we switched to the one-size pockets. As of right now, I’m holding onto the prefolds and covers, not knowing what we’ll do. I was never a huge fan of them, but I’m also not a fan of flying through 10-12 disposable diapers a day, so… we’ll do what we have to do.
But I find myself wondering if I should look into other newborn options. The teeny little sized AIOs, for instance. Or fitteds. But these all seem expensive for something that isn’t used for very long. But then again, maybe I can find some that are gently used—again, because they aren’t used for very long, so they can’t be that beat up. Or maybe I buy them new, but then I’m able to sell them used for nearly what I paid for them. Then, it doesn’t sound so crazy. But again, I’m overwhelmed with the options and don’t know what I’m looking for.
Anyway, all of this is my dilemma. So if there are any cloth diaper moms out there reading this, I’d love to have you weigh in. What were your favorite newborn solutions? Did they break the bank, or were you able to do it on a budget (either by buying used, or reselling afterward)? And for building your long-term stash… what brands are your favorites? I’m pretty sold on sticking with pockets of some kind, since that’s what we know, and we of course have daycare to consider. We need something easy for Mary to handle. Help!
(If you’d like to see my past cloth diaper posts, click here.)
26 Responses to Cloth Diaper Re-Stash
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About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
We used prefolds/covers from 1 month (we started with g diapers & hated them!) til about now (she’s 9 months) They are a bit more work to put on with the folding but it was nice at the beginning to just wash and not have to deal with stuffing. I’m not as careful when I wash the prefolds either. They are tough! They seem like they would be easy to use while you are on maternity leave.
Daycare would probably like the pockets. We have BG, thirsties and Charlie Banana’s, thanks to the sale. I really like the bum genius. You can also use the $5 off coupon at Buy Buy Baby making them around $13 which is a good price for a new diaper.
With my second, my eldest was still using our one size pockets, so I had the baby in small fitteds with covers until my eldest finally outgrew them. (Sorry planet!) I liked them, but used disposables at night because I didn’t have the patience with cloth leaking overnight like I did with the first kiddo.
I bought one of those cheapie diapers on ebay just to see, and it seems to work fine. I don’t think it would hold up to multiple kids, but it seems to be working well in my diaper rotation now. It’s cute too! I’d say, get one, and see if you like it once the baby is born.
If you have any gender neutral BG left, I’ll take them. ;)
I love using prefolds with covers and have done so since my 14 month old son was a newborn. I use both Thirsties and Rumparooz covers.I just trifold the prefolds in the cover so no need to mess with fancy folds.
I also have Rumparooz pockets and I really like them. I use them for when we are out and for daycare. They are super easy to stuff. They do have newborn sizes (Lil’ Joey) and I did use a couple during the newborn stage. They contained the newborn poo well. That is the only issue I had with the prefolds and covers for the newborn stage b/c, since I only trifolded them, we had some leakage but only into the cover.
Another one that I like is Tots Bots. They are like a pocket/AI2 b/c the part that you stuff into the pocket is attached to the diaper. They have Teenyfit for newborns and then Easyfit for when they get bigger. I like them b/c they are trimmer than the Rumparooz and they dry quickly. I will say that I get a much better fit with the velcro version of the Tots Bots than the snap and the velcro is strong and lasts.
You could check out a newborn fitted rental, I’ve seen those around. And our stash is mostly bum genius and a few cheap ones off eBay and the cheap ones work great. Definitely worth a try!
We mostly used prefolds and covers during the newborn stage. I also had some AIOs and fitteds that I got at the Luvaboos consignment sale. I really liked the AIOs but my little guy peed way too much for the fitteds. He was completely soaked and uncomfortable in those. I don’t know if it’s too close to your due date but Luvaboos is having a consignment sale on July 21. If you get there when it opens you can get some great stuff. They also have a trial program so you could try some different options.
This comment is not going to be remotely helpful but I will just say that I think you are amazing for using reusable diapers. I bought a stash when Abigail was born and did not one even one diaper. I thought I’d use disposables for a few weeks and then make the transition and it just never happened. So kudos to you!
Hey Heather, we used BG XS diapers from about day four on — they worked for two months with Nell (she was small also). I got a stash of them (24 I think?) on Craigslist in basically brand new condition — the lady who sold them had had a big baby and didn’t start cloth diapering until the kid had grown out of these. Anyway, I stalked Clist for a couple months before this stash came up, but it was worth it — they were awesome, and probably my favorite diapers we ever. For the last part of my maternity leave (between the BG XS and the BG 4.0s, which were still kind of big), I used Kissaluvs 0 with Thirsties covers. Loved them, but daycare needs AIOs, so those were just for home. I’m looking forward to pulling my newborn diapers out again soon! You look great! Good luck with the home stretch!
Hey Erin, good to know! I saw a couple of reviews say that even the BG newborns did not fit well until the baby got to be about 8 lbs., which seems ridiculous! We started putting Nora in BG 4.0s around 8 lbs. But if Nell fit into them right away, it gives me more hope. :)
What is a good price for used BG Newborns/XS? Seems like most of the ones I’m seeing are almost as expensive as buying new… which is great for reselling down the line, of course, but doesn’t particularly motivate me to make a move on any of the used stuff!
Nellie was 6lb12oz, 17″, and they fit her fine right away. Here is a pic of a BGxs on her less than a week after she was born: http://homebythebay.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/dsc_0047-desktop-resolution.jpg. I know she was still wearing them at her 8 week appt, but I think she only got 2-3 more weeks out of them after that.
I paid somewhere between $150-200 for the diapers… I can’t remember exactly. I know the retail for the stash was over $300 not including tax or shipping, so I was pretty pleased (figured I could resell them for almost the same one or two kids down the road).
For newborn stage we fell in love with kissaluvs with a cover. LOVE! Then we moved on to BGs. After cloth diapering for 2.5 years, my favorite diaper has been the BG freetime. I HATE stuffing with a passion, and the freetimes are absorbent with no folding and no extra time in the dryer like I had with the Elementals. We will likely do the same routine with baby #2 when it is time.
When my son was in NB diapers, we used AIOs (Kissaluvs and Blissful Booty-on sale right now for $6.50/diaper). Right now we are using BGs for daycare and at home Diaper Safari and Kawaii GNHW for overnights. We love both of these diapers and if we have another probably build around these. I have a few Rumparooz and while they were good for early on (gussets), they did not work for us as he got older. The rise on them is a bit short. Cloth diaper shopping is so much fun but also a bit scary since there is so much out there! Good luck re-stashing!
Wow, loving the price on the Blissful Booty! Too bad they only come in two (BORING!) colors though! :) But hell, for that price… who cares. I can get cute fluff later. Any idea how well they resell? This very well may be our last baby, so once he/she has outgrown them, I’ll probably turn around and sell them right after that, so it’s a consideration for me. In any case, thanks for the tip, I had never heard of them!
Sorry I’m not aware of the resell on them as I kept mine for baby #2. IMO at the price, you probably could get most of your money back.
Yeah, and really not that big of a deal to recoup costs at that price, either. I mean, they’re cheap. I was just curious. :) Where do you buy yours from? Directly from Blissful Booty?
I actually haven’t bought any. I won one on a giveaway and it ended up being one of my go to NB diapers :)
I will be interested to see what you end up doing. We used the BG for our son after you recommended them and really like them. We are expecting baby #2 in December and our son will likely still be in diapers so we will need to buy some more for our newborn regardless.
I am going to CD baby #2 and have been ordering from Co-ops on FB. I have been able to find brands like Kawaii, Happy Flute, Alva, and THX for $2-5/diaper. They do custom orders and get some really cute prints. It gets a little stressful to follow because they have to meet minimums to place an order, but I think I will be in good shape from NB to potty training when all of my diapers come in.
We used prefolds + thirsties covers religiously throughout the NB phase. I love elementals so we use those almost exclusively now. The new design doesn’t require as much drying time and comes in the Albert and lovelace prints which are fun!
GL! I’ve LOVED CDing so far!
When you get back to nighttime issues – we have found 2-3 of the Alva 4layer inserts inside of a pocket will get us at least 12 hours with our super soaker. I was at my wits end until this solution was suggested to me and it has worked perfectly for the last 6 months!
Hi Heather- Congrats on baby #2!! I am a new mom to an 8 week old so I am not an expert on cloth diapering by any means, but I have been using prefolds with my daughter with thirsty covers and those snappies to hold them in place. I couldnt be happier! Yes you have to fold them up but I actually prefer them over any of the bumgenius or other all in one diapers we have. It’s easy to tell when she is wet and she seems very comfy! We only had to invest in two additional thirsties covers and the snappies. For my shower we received a set of Bummies and a ton of gerber prefolds. I must admit that I LOVE the gerber regular inexpensive cloth diapers over the Bummies or any other cloth diaper we have. I highly recommend them, they work great- no leaks!- and wont break your bank! They wash up well and bleach in the sun. I am sure it will be a game changer when she is older and starts eating solids, but for now we are very happy with the simple old school cloth diapers!
Try SoftBums! I haven’t officially tried them yet (or any cloth diaper for that matter) but that is the brand we are going to build our first stash out of. I haven’t read any negative reviews and they look so, so, so much easier than any of the others in the cloth diaper shop.
Interesting that you don’t prefer your Fuzzibunz they are our favorite followed up my Bumgenius. I heard about the Charlie Bananas on sale but our Target doesn’t have them on clearance (not that we need any more diapers). My personal least favorite is Tiny Tush and our Oh Katy diapers are alright. You may want to see in your area if there is a cloth diaper person who will come to you and let you see all the different kinds. We have one here in Orlando I plan to ask for help before making any more purchases.
What a great post! For moms, everything is a incredible challenge for all of us. Cloth diapering is absolutely awesome. I really find this so helpful with our baby’s comfort and with our budget as well. I’ve been using cloth diapers since my baby was a month old. I was hesitant at first but when I actually tried it, it works just as I wanted.
My baby boy is a little over 4 months old and we have used CDs since he was about a month old. My cousin told me about Assunta Store – it’s an online diaper shop run by Americans living in China. Proceeds benefit a charity that takes care of abandoned babies (especially those with special needs/disabilities). They have a number of options, but we use the One Size Pocket Diapers. They have recently started making Newborn Pocket Diapers, too. Diapers are about $5 each, and microfiber inserts are $1.25 or something close to that. I’ve heard that they are similar to BumGenius, but I’ve never used anything but Assunta, so I can’t give a comparison to any other brands. We have been happy with them, and they are so inexpensive that we bought 50(!) of them. Our son goes to daycare, and they use them just fine. We also bought a bunch of the wet/dry bags for daycare, travel, the diaper bag, etc. Everything we’ve bought there is good quality, and the customer service is excellent. It does take a little while for everything to arrive from China, but it isn’t too bad. I placed two orders about a month apart and the second order didn’t take as long as the first. And shipping is often free, with their coupon codes. They have a website: http://www.assuntastore.com, and a Facebook page. Good luck, whatever you decide!
I’m curious what you ended up getting for your “re-stash” for Vivienne. I’m expecting my first baby in February, and I’m trying to figure out what to do in the newborn stage. I have purchased some BG 4.0s for later use, but I’m going back and forth between using disposables at first or getting some nb sized CDs. I know a lot of people recommend using the prefolds and covers, but I’d really like to avoid this. Just wondering what has been working for you. :)
Hi Jennifer! I hope to do a post about this soon. We ended up doing newborn AIOs this time around, in a variety of brands. At six weeks, Vivienne has now outgrown/is outwetting them, so we are in the process of switching over to one-size pockets again.
Oh yay! I was about to email you to ask about he newborn AIOs and what you decided on/if they are working. I’m starting to build a stash and looking into newborn at the moment.