Getting Started with Cloth Diapers so You’ll be Set for the Long-Haul

Getting Started with Cloth Diapers so You’ll be Set for the Long-Haul

May 26, 2014 by Jelli 2 Comments

Getting started with cloth diapers is half the battle. Once you learn the lingo and the different styles of modern cloth diapers, learning how to use cloth diapers is relatively easy. Get yourself set up for long-term cloth diapering success by purchasing what I like to call a “growth stash.”

Now, what on earth is a cloth diapering growth stash?

A growth stash is a set of diapers that will work for your baby from the time they hit 10lbs. until he’s a potty trained diaper veteran.

Most of the time, growth stashes are made up of one-size (OS) pocket cloth diapers, which are sized by simply adjusting the snaps at the front or sides of the diaper to fit your growing baby. Bumgenius OS work best for my son, but we preferred Sunbaby OS diapers on my daughter.

Another way to create a growth stash is by choosing to use only two sizes of prefold diapers, one for when baby’s smaller, and one for when he’s a little bigger. I did this with my second child and it worked great and saved tons of money. The way this works is that you fold the prefolds to fit your child, here’s a tutorial.Photo Source

Why buy a ‘growth stash’ if I don’t even know if I’ll like cloth diapering?

There are a few benefits to choosing a growth stash from the very beginning.

Cost savings- The best way to save money is to have cloth diapers that fit throughout the entire diapering stage of your baby’s life. If you buy a few dozen one-size diapers, you won’t need much else to successfully CD until your child’s out of diapers, unless you opt for cloth baby wipes.

Resale value- OS diapers go for great prices when you re-sell your diapers secondhand at sites like Diaper Swappers.

Effortless- Since you’ll only have one cloth diapering system to learn, you’ll become a pro in no time and be able to change your child’s diaper in your sleep. Only half kidding

Babysitter-friendly- In my own experience, one-size diapers are the easiest kind of cloth diapers for babysitters. They’re so much like disposables that most sitters don’t mind at all!

What’s in your growth stash?

Glad you asked. Wink. Right now we actually use two growth stash diapering systems: one for daytime, one for nighttime.

“Why two systems, I mean, you just said I’ll only need to learn ONE?!”

Relax, relax. You really do only need one system. I have two because I’d initially purchased a few types of diapers (including pockets and prefolds) when my first child was born to figure out what worked best for our family. Since I’d already invested in both types of diapers, I chose to use prefolds for daytime and the easy change-them-in-your-sleep OS pocket diapers for nighttime.

Prefolds were less expensive to stock up on initially, so I purchased two sizes of prefolds for the daytime growth stash and stuck with the initial purchase of about 12 pocket diapers for nighttime. These pocket diapers have held up very well for both of my children.

My two little cloth diaper testers.

Show me the numbers, already!

My current daytime diaper growth stash includes about 25 infant-sized (12.5 x 13.5″) prefold diapers, 6 diaper covers, and 1 Snappi (fastener). We also have about 25 medium (13 x 15.5”) prefold diapers waiting in the wings.

The nighttime stash includes 12 OS pocket diapers, a mix of Bumgenius, Sunbaby, Kawaii, and SmartiPants and a handful of hemp doublers.

So there you have it, a simple solution to start cloth diapering on a budget so you’ll be set for the long-haul! If you make a wise initial investment, you’ll be set to save tons of money (and landfill space) using cloth diapers on your baby.

Learn more about cloth diapering:

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