Shopping For Cloth Diapers? Here’s Your List!

You have considered your diaper budget , the needs of your family, and which materials best suit your ideals. You are now ready to shop for your cloth diapers!

How Many Cloth Diapers Do You Need?

A baby in the newborn stage requires about 16-18 changes a day. They make lots of little messes! The number of diaper changes decreases as a baby grows and sleeps for longer periods. By approximately three months of age, a baby is changed about 10-12 times a day. After one year, the number drops to as little as 6-8 diaper changes. Although you're likely to make back your investment in cloth diapers the initial costs do add which is why signing up for terra20’s Clean Start  for parents of children 0-5 is a great idea. The savings program comes with an initial $25 store credit  and you can accumulate savings points over the year to but other products or more diapers!

Newborn Cloth Diapers

Investing in a separate set of diapers for the newborn stage is not necessary to begin cloth diapering from birth but it is a great way to ensure that your baby’s diaper fits perfectly. Depending on a baby’s body, many one-size diapers do not fit snugly until a baby is at least 8 pounds and/or 8-12 weeks old.

An ideal set of newborn cloth diapers would include enough diapers to allow for 2-3 days between washes.

Some of the items can be used throughout a baby’s diapering life including the newborn and small prefolds which can be added absorbency in prefold and pocket diapers.

The Newborn Shopping List

• 24-36 infant-sized prefold diapers
• 4 newborn diaper covers
• 2 One-Size diaper covers
• 2-4 All-In-Ones or pocket diapers for outings, longer sleeps and caregivers
• 2-4 pocket diaper inserts

I'm a fan of pocket cloth diapers because they they can be stuffed with an insert or two to make them a one-piece diaper. Since the insert is removed for laundry, I find they wash up better than thicker all-in-one diapers.  Alternatively, the Bummis Cloth Diaper Kit for infants is a great choice  because it comes with everything you need to start diapering your newborn. It takes care of a whole section on your green baby gear shopping list.

One-Size Cloth Diapers

This collection of reusable diapers includes a variety of cloth diaper styles and can be used from birth, or approximately 2 months old, until potty training. Washing will take place about every 2.5 days with this number of diapers.

The One-Size Shopping List

• 8-10 prefold diapers
• 4-6 diaper covers
• 14 pocket diapers
• 14 pocket diaper inserts

Cloth Diaper Accessories

While these items are not strictly necessary to begin cloth diapering, they will make diapering easier and less messy! The accessories are listed in order of which items I believe are most useful to help you organize your baby registry or wish list.

• 2-3 small Bummis Wet Bags for travelling, daycare and outings
• 2 large Bummis Wet Bags for storing dirty diapers at home
• Flushable Diaper Liners for when baby graduates to eating solids
• 2-3 Stay-Dry Boosters to add absorbency for overnights
• 4-6 Wool Dryer Balls as dryer sheets will coat your cloth diaper reducing their absorbency!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by terra20. As a mom to two boys, I use their CleanStart program myself! All opinions are my own.