Buy a variety of cloth diapers or just one kind?

This is a question I see a lot, and I feel that most people end up having a variety of cloth diapers whether they wanted to or not.

When what was working a month ago is now leaking and not fitting right, you have to try a few things to find out what works now.

Then after a few months baby will change again, and this is how your collection starts to grow.

If you want a streamline cloth diaper system then you will probably prefer buying one kind of cloth diaper, if you want a lot of options for when something changes then you probably want a variety.

Pros & cons to buying a variety of cloth diapers

I personally own a variety of cloth diapers and I absolutely love having different options and the ability to handle absorbency and/or fit issues immediately.

When I first started cloth diapering, I didn’t know about all the different brands and styles.

If I had just bought one kind of cloth diaper and told myself that ” this is it, this is all we are ever going to buy” I would not have enjoyed cloth diapering as much as I have.

Pros to buying a variety of cloth diapers

• If your baby grows/ changes you always have diapers that will fit
• When your baby needs more absorbency you have it available
• Helps you build up your stash with things you know you like the most
• Very helpful for figuring out nighttime cloth diapering
• The cloth diapers you love for travel may not be what you love at home *

(*Some people love flats and covers for at home but prefer all-in-ones when out and about).

Cons to buying a variety of cloth diapers

• Very hard to streamline your system
• Could be confusing to babysitter or other care providers
• Wash routine would adjust depending on which style you used more of*
• You may end up with some cloth diapers that you hate
• Have to learn how best to use multiple kinds of cloth diapers

(* your wash routine may vary because flats are easier to wash than all-in-ones, so you would need more detergent & agitation for all-in-ones than for flats)

Pros & cons to buying one style/ brand of cloth diaper

When I first started cloth diapering my plan was to buy all prefolds and covers, and just keep everything streamline and simple.

Pros to buying one style/ brand of cloth diaper

• Very streamline stash
• Very simple for other caregivers since everything is always the same
• Easy for partners to help get diapers ready since it’s all the same
• Wash routine is always the same
• Only have to learn to use one kind of cloth diaper

Cons to buying one style/ brand of cloth diaper

• If what you have stops working, it’s harder to fix
• Overnight cloth diapers become more difficult to deal with*
• If you hate the system you have you are more likely to quit cloth diapering

(* overnight cloth diapers sometimes take a lot of trial and error and trying different things, so if you don’t have different things to experiment with it could become very frustrating)

How to get a good variety of cloth diapers?

While I feel having a variety of cloth diapers is good, it’s even better to have a stash where all the cloth diapers have features you will probably like.

Pretty much what I did was, if I had a little extra money and there was a sale, or I found something that interested me in a clearance section, I would buy it.

Now I didn’t just buy everything I saw, I would run these potential purchases through a check list

1. NO (or very little) microfiber
2. Don’t buy covers unless they are big enough for overnight use
3. Must be in my budgeted price range after taxes & shipping
4. Must be adorable (prefer prints)
5. Must be an easily describable print/ color
6. Rise snaps instead of adjustable elastics
7. Waist & leg snaps unless I know this brand has good Velcro/hook&loop
8. All-in-ones must have the ability to add extra absorbency
9. Must have a wider cut
10. Pocket diapers get extra points if inserts will agitate out in the wash

This list is just things that I have found useful over the years when looking at cloth diapers, cause I can really get caught up in wanting a new adorable print and not really paying attention to the rest of the diaper.

So, let me explain why these things are on my list.

#1 NO microfiber

I don’t like microfiber, I know it works for some people but when I take my cloth diaper laundry out of the dryer everything smells great except the microfiber which has a slight smell to it.

#2 Don’t buy covers unless they are big enough for overnight

I have 3 kids, oldest is almost 3 1/2 and youngest is about 8 months and starting to crawl (In case you were wondering, I only have 2 hands so yes, I have my hands full + 1, and yes, we know what causes them 🙂 ).

Covers with folded up inserts are gonna get pulled out, taken apart and spread all over the house (or eaten, depends on the day).

Whereas pocket diapers are harder to take apart, so we tend to use mostly pockets and a few all-in-ones through the day and covers with flats at night.

#3 Must be in my price range even after taxes & shipping

I feel like this one is pretty self-explanatory, but I do feel that sometimes taxes and shipping gets overlooked.

Also shipping costs have gone up dramatically in 2020-2021, the average shipping I used to see was around $3-$4usd now is more around $6usd minimum.

Taxes will depend on where you live.

# 4-5 Must be adorable/ easy to describe

Cloth diapers being cute is a huge deal for me, I also totally prefer prints to solid colors but it’s not just because of cuteness.

My husband and I both are Tetrachromats, we are part of the 25% of the population that has 4 color receptor cones in our eyes (most people have 3, color blind people have 2).

This means we see more colors than most people, why this matters is that my husband is very literal about shades so if I say, ” Can you get me the red diaper?” when it’s kind of an orangish red he won’t know what I’m talking about.

But if I get a cloth diaper with dogs on it and I say, ” Can you get me the diaper with dogs on it?” well a dog is a dog, shades don’t matter, and it just makes everyone’s life easier.

Now you could also have the opposite problem (which is statistically more likely) where you have several cloth diapers that are each a different shade of red and your partner honestly can’t see the difference.

#6 Rise snaps instead of adjustable elastics

I personally do not like adjustable elastics and neither does my husband, I find them cumbersome, and they make the front of the diaper scrunch up weird.

I know some people love them, but I just don’t.

#7 Waist & leg snaps unless I know the brands hook & loop

Velcro/ Aplix/ hook & loop has to be good very good quality, or it just isn’t going to last very long.

A few cloth diaper brands that do have very good hook & loop are

• Thirsties
• Tots Bots
• Bambino mio

There are also a lot of cloth diaper brands that don’t offer a hook & loop option at all.

#8 all-in-ones must have the ability to add extra absorbency

I do really like how easy all-in-one are as far as how you don’t have to track down inserts or explain what goes in them to anyone helping with laundry.

But once my babies get older, I’ve always had to add extra absorbency, sometimes just a little booster will do it but other times I need to add a lot or the diaper just isn’t gonna work for my baby.

Typically, cloth diapers that are known for being super trim and narrow between the legs are not easy to add absorbency to, there just isn’t anywhere to put it.

Most all-in-ones have the ability to add a little bit of extra absorbency, but because my kids pee like elephants that usually isn’t enough.

So far, of all the all-in-ones that I have tried the TotsBots easyfit is the trimmest, while still being super absorbent and easy to add extra absorbency to.

#9 Must have a wider cut

Cloth diapers with a wider cut tend to be able to hold more absorbency.

This is important for me since I have heavy wetters so I need to be able add a lot of absorbency.

#10 Pocket diapers get extra points in the inserts agitate out

Normally when you take off a pocket diaper you have to pull the inserts out of the pocket.

But there are some pocket cloth diapers that have what’s called a “tunnel pocket” which means they have an opening at the front and the back of the diaper.

Since the pocket diaper has 2 openings more water can move through and help the inserts work their way out.

I love tunnel pockets because them I don’t have to double check that all the inserts got pulled out of the cloth diapers.

Handling overnight cloth diapers with just one brand

Start out by just doubling how much you put in your baby’s cloth diaper for daytime (this will be trickier with all-in-ones, I’d suggest a good quality hemp insert to start with and adjust from there).

Most of the time I see parents that have, let’s say 30 Alva baby pocket diapers for daytime but then have something completely different for nighttime, like a few fitted cloth diapers and covers.

I do also see some people that are able to use pockets during the day and pockets at night (or all-in-ones, or flats and covers, whatever their preferred system is).

For me, we love pocket cloth diapers for daytime, but I have never been able to get pocket diapers to work well overnight.

If you have a stash of very small cut/ narrow cloth diapers those will be especially hard to make work for overnight.

But if you like flats and covers, that system is super easy to make work for nighttime, as long as you don’t have covers that are super narrow between the legs.

Also, as your baby gets older, they will most likely need more absorbency.

At this point the amount of absorbency my kids need for overnight won’t even physically fit into an Alva baby pocket or even a Thirsties pocket diaper.

For my 2 toddlers I need size 3 Thirsties duo wraps and for my 8-month-old I need a size 2 Thirsties duo wrap.

Unless there is some magical insert that I just haven’t discovered yet, there is just no way I could use Alva pocket diapers for overnight.

So, if all I had was Alva pocket diapers my life would be way more frustrating

Resources

Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning I receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) from qualifying purchases made through those links. * Indicates an affiliate link

Link to TotsBots all-in-ones on Totsbots.com

Link to Charlie banana cloth diapers on charliebanana.com

Link to Thirsties duo wraps on clothdiaper.com *

Link to Cloth-eez workhorse fitteds on greenmountaindiapers.com