Welcome to Team Fluff Bum. If you’re still waffling on the idea of cloth diapering your babe, I understand; it’s a big decision, and there are a lot of pros and (some) cons. And the research…uffda! It can be seriously overwhelming; I’ve been there.

Do not let it discourage you!

For me, the pros have far outweighed the cons, and I’m happy to be a resource for you anytime–wanna talk about poop? I’m down. I am among millions of cloth diaper moms, so you’re in luck. There is no shortage of resources out there for you as you get started; cloth diaper moms make up a massive, knowledgeable, and loving community. I’m in tons and tons of cloth diaper groups in my area and on social media, and I love it! These women have been my saving grace for any questions or concerns I’ve had along the way. With all these helpful resources accessible to you, one thing is for sure…

There’s no reason why you can’t cloth diaper successfully.

There may be times you want to quit, or maybe for you, it will be smooth sailing from the get-go; you just never know, but at the end of the day, you can do it! I’ll help. Team Fluff will help.

It’ll be a lovely, fluffy, poopy adventure.

Anyway, if you’ve truly decided to go ahead and give cloth diapering a whirl, you’re likely wondering: what do I really need right away? Great question.

Let me first say, you can go SO MANY different routes when it comes to cloth diapering–I will talk about that in another post–but here and now, I plan to share the route we chose because for us, it was:

• less expensive,
• practical,
• convenient,
• high performing (less messy),
• and achievable for my family.

But do take note: there is a lot of trial and error that goes along with cloth diapering.

You need to find what works best for your family and your baby. In fact, before you read on, I have to be totally honest with you: the “stash” you’ll see below is going to be cut in half and replaced with wool covers and flats.

Wait…what? So why am I sharing this info?

I’m sharing this info because the truth is: my Thirsties stash is not entirely working for my son. Around 6 months old, we started noticing that he was extremely (and I mean extremely) sensitive to wetness. This combined with his busy busy, active little lifestyle did not make for great success while using PUL covers exclusively. The key word here is exclusively. I would say that my son is a bit…atypical. I still highly recommend this route because it will most likely work successfully for most babies and most families. Unfortunately, for us, only using PUL covers and prefolds became problematic because my son needed something even more breathable and even softer that wasn’t exactly in our price range (of course). That is where wool comes in. But price of wool is expensive, and there are additional factors that come into play (hand washing, lanolizing, etc.), that I personally would find difficult to tackle right off the bat. If you’re feeling ambitious and you have the cash, wool is a fantastic option. But like I said, and the reason for this post: if you can start with this stash and use it exclusively or make some tweaks along the way, as I have, it is a great, relatively inexpensive, and convenient way to go, in my opinion.

OK: enough of my spiel. Here’s what I would register for if I were a first-time cloth mama…

Prefolds – Size 1 (18) ~ We chose to do prefolds and covers because it’s the most cost effective of all the cloth diapering options. Many people are afraid of this route because of the folding, but it’s really very simple (shoot me a message if you need suggestions). The amount of prefolds you need will depend largely on your baby and your washing schedule, but this amount has been more than enough for me because I wash every other day. These fit 7-15 lbs, roughly. You’ll need to upgrade to size 2 prefolds around 16 lbs (so you can add size 2s to your registry now or later).

Thirsties Duo Wraps – Size 1 (6-8) ~ We are huge Thirsties fans in this house. The PUL inside allows the cover to be used a few times before it needs to be washed because the inside is wipeable/water resistant. We alternated covers each diaper change, giving the covers time to dry out between changes. In the rare occasion we’d have a blowout, we’d just toss the cover in a wet bag until it’s washing day and pick a new cover. Note: These are JUST covers. You’ll need prefolds inside these covers, if you go this route. We prefer hook and loop, aka velcro or aplix, but you can also purchase snaps. The size 1s are adjustable and fit 6-18 lbs, roughly, but if you’re finding your newborn isn’t getting a good fit with these, for some reason, there are sized Thirsties covers (newborn/preemie to large), but they do not have rise snaps to adjust for when baby gets bigger; therefore, they’ll only fit for those first couple months. If you have a local diaper service, that can be SUPER helpful the first couple weeks if you just want to rent diapers (and maybe your mom will treat you and pay for a month or two of free washing from the service–we did that and it was fabulous). Otherwise, don’t fret if you feel it’s best to use disposables the first couple weeks. You’ll have a ton of free diapers from the hospital to use up anyway, so that’s an option too!

Snappis (3) ~ These are for fastening the prefolds. You can also use Boingos, but we prefer snappis. We keep two at home and 1 in the diaper bag.

Pocket Diapers or All in Ones (AIOs) (3-5) ~ I like to have a couple pocket diapers/AIOs as backups if I’m out of prefolds for some reason (hey, things come up and washing day gets delayed sometimes). I have 3 pockets (Thirsties) and one AIO (Grovia) for on-the-go, usually having a few stuffed in the diaper bag. This is just personal preference because I find it easier to throw one of these on my son while we’re out instead of folding a prefold and putting on a cover. Pocket diapers are awesome because you can stuff them with as little or as many inserts as you want for extra absorbency. The inserts agitate out in the wash, too, so when the diaper has been used, there’s no need to fidget with the diaper and take out the inserts. AIOs are great too because it’s a complete diaper; it’s the closest thing to a disposable diaper (dads and babysitters love them for that reason). All the liners are attached to the diaper, so once it’s worn, you can go ahead and throw it in the wet bag until washing day. Easy peasy. Note: Some people decide to do an entire stash of just pockets and AIOs. This is another great option, if you’d rather avoid the prefolds, folding, and covers. The downside, in my opinion, is cost (these diapers are more expensive and you’ll need about 20-24 since they’re one-time use), and drying time (they can take awhile to dry since they’re one complete piece).

Wet bags (4) ~ These are for storing dirty diapers until washing day. I recommend getting 2 smaller, zippered wet bags, 1 large pail liner wet bag, and once baby starts having solids, you’ll probably want an additional large wet bag in the bathroom or laundry room, wherever you decide you’re going to be spraying/dunking/swishing poopy diapers.

Cloth wipes (30) ~ I make my own wipe solution and put it in a glass spray bottle and use flannel cloth wipes. The dirty wipes go right in with the dirty diapers, so it’s kind of a no-brainer to use cloth instead of spending money on disposable wipes but totally up to you.

And that’s it! In my opinion, this is all you really need right away. Now that I’ve been through this once, I know that it’s good to start small, figure out what works and what doesn’t, and then build and change your stash from there. After a couple months, you will want to look into overnight diaper options (HIGHLY recommend Grovia O.N.E.) for when baby sleeps longer stretches in the night or if you have a heavy wetter; size 2 covers and prefolds; and of course, making any adjustments to your stash based on your discoveries as you go along. Like I said, there’s a lot of trial and error that goes along with cloth diapering, and babies have different needs. My hope is that this stash gets you started on the right path, but if not, don’t fret: there’s a whooooooooole lotta cloth options out there. Try not to #buyallthediapers :).