What’s In My Cloth Diaper Stash?

Here at RSM, I love teaching people about cloth diapers: I know they can seem intimidating and confusing, but really they’re a fantastic and frugal way to diaper your little one! But like a lot of things, it’s helpful to see what a real live mom uses in her own home. So here I’ll explain and show you what’s in my cloth diaper stash! (Cue the cheesy game show host calling out “Whaaaaat’s in her diaper staaaaaaash?”)

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Ok, so if you’re not familiar with the current situation here at RSM, I have a tiny two year old girl who wears fluff. She’s the reason for the diapers, and I’ll be showing you what a toddler cloth diaper stash looks like. (It’s not much different from that of a younger baby except that some sizes might be different of course, and that we don’t need as many diapers, since she’s able to go longer in between changes.)

During the Day

From when she wakes up until it’s bedtime at night – including during her one two-hour nap – my daughter wears a combination of pocket diapers and all-in-ones. I feel like these do a great job of keeping her from leaking, and they’re the quickest to put on her. You’ll see in the photo below that pocket diapers are currently the majority of my cloth diaper stash, which is a bit amazing if you’ve read my earlier cloth diaper posts about how much I loathed stuffing them!

I probably change her four times a day: when she wakes up in the morning; when she goes down for nap; a while after nap/when she poops in the afternoon; and before bed.

We currently have a plethora of pocket diapers in different brands, both new and used, and tons of inserts (remember that each pocket diaper will come with at least one insert, sometimes two). We have three AIOs that I really trust, which are all from Thirsties. We’ve bought some other brands before but they just don’t fit her right. I blame my tiny daughter, not the diaper, for that issue.

Just a reminder when you’re looking to buy diapers: “hook and loop” is the name for generic Velcro; it’ll be cheaper than snaps but you have to be careful when washing that it doesn’t get messed up or stick to anything else (e.g. fold it down on itself before throwing in the wet bag). Snaps can be a few dollars more but in my opinion last a lot longer, and I like them much better.

And if you’re confused on some of the terms I’m using, have no fear: check out my Cloth Diaper 101 post to be enlightened.

Overnight

Ok, Bad Mom Confession coming up: I have not changed my daughter’s diaper during the night since she was a newborn. True story. I just haven’t had to since we started using cloth!

One of the beautiful things about cloth diapers is that they’re so customizable. You can adjust sizes, mix brands, pick and choose styles like I have, and build-your-own. It’s frugal and makes a hell of a lot of sense.

We use waterproof covers, a prefold, and an insert for my daughter’s diaper overnight. Even when she was less than one year old, this would hold her over for 10+ hours, as a kid who breastfed throughout the night. (We did try having a prefold and two inserts, but that was so bulky and ridiculous that it made her lay funny and actually made it more prone to leaking through the leg gusset, so we toned it back down.)

I personally don’t use prefolds and covers during the day anymore, even though they’re the cheapest option, because they take a bit longer to put on, and my kid is crazy.  We currently have five waterproof covers and I do diaper laundry about every four days, which works out perfectly.

Everything Else

This wouldn’t be a full disclosure review unless I told you about all of the other diaper-related junk we’ve got, so here goes nothing. This section will include all of the non-diaper items you should consider when building your own cloth diaper stash.

These are the wet bags that I have. I’ve gotten two and I love them. They’re super strong and durable, and are big enough to hold at least 15 soiled diapers. For travel there’s also an exterior pocket but I normally don’t need it. We have some hooks on the side of our changing table that we hang the bags from. When it’s time to wash diapers, simply dump the bag out and then turn it inside-out, and toss in with everything else. (Just don’t let these go in your dryer – like the covers, that waterproof liner will disintegrate and melt over time.)

Once your child starts eating solids, you’ll need to get the poop off of the diaper before you wash it. I have a Spray Pal which I’m not crazy about (it’s better than nothing but could use some serious design help), but I do really love my Aqua Nexis sprayer. It’s been well worth the money… we’re talking every poop from when Kiddo start solids, until they’re fully potty trained. I’d do the math but I think it would just depress me. You can see more about the sprayer, including a video demo, here.

And I can’t lie, we do keep a small pack of disposable diapers around for when we go out all day, or when Mom has forgotten to finish washing the cloth diapers. Oops. I just get the cheapest ones I can find – usually HEB brand. We also have a Diaper Genie (aka Old Faithful) which has lasted us almost 5 years! I used to have another diaper pail too, but I hated it, even though it was “designed for cloth diapers”. You can see that honest comparison review here.

Finally, the wipes. I use cloth wipes for everything kitchen and meal related, but I didn’t like using them for toddler poop. So I use disposable wipes – yep, the cheapest unscented basic ones I can find – and toss those in the Diaper Genie too. You can read about my advocacy with cloth wipes here, I just couldn’t do it long-term. That was my breaking point and that’s ok. I don’t feel guilty that cloth wipes are not a part of my cloth diaper stash anymore. The beauty of cloth is the customization, right?

Tah-dah! Now you have a glimpse into the cloth diaper stash of a fluff Mama and her toddler. This is all the real honest-to-God stuff we use on a daily basis. Got a question? Send me an email – I promise to help! I love cloth diapers and want you to, too!

And of course be sure that you check out all my cloth diaper content, from the general introductory explanation of cloth diapers, to the best all-in-ones, to the best waterproof covers, and my wash routine!