Cloth Diapers: Making Your First Prefolds and Covers Purchase

If you have chosen to go the prefold and diaper cover route, congratulations. In my opinion, this method of diapering requires the most effort, but saves you the most money. When you are first figuring out what you need to get your stash set up, here are some frequently asked questions answered by someone who has once been there:

Chinese or Indian?
I’m not talking about food, I’m talking about which style of prefold you want. I was confused at first, which one was better? After doing some asking around, it turns out that they’re not that much different — except one is made in Pakistan and one is made in China. There are minor differences that probably won’t matter much, such as Indian prefolds tend to have lighter threading, but are softer. When it comes down to it, I personally don’t think it matters too much. I chose Osocozy Indian prefolds because they had a really good deal on Amazon.

What size prefold should I get?
There are so many sizes and it’s generally pretty easy to pick a size because they go by weight range. However, then there is the premium versus regular that you need to watch out for. Don’t make the mistake I did and order three dozen premium-sized prefolds. While the premium size claims to be good for 15 to 30 pounds and the regular size also claims to do the same, the premiums are two inches longer — 4 inches by 8 inches as opposed to 4 inches by 6 inches with the regular. I wish I had done some research beforehand because premiums are meant for longer babies and I have a pipsqueak. I have to fold the front over 4 inches before I wrap it up in a cover so it creates a giant bulge in the front. Oops!

What are good qualities to look out for?
There are so many styles out there, what should you look out for? My big thing is making sure the diaper has an extra gusset around the leg opening. When your baby poops, the second gusset provides extra protection against leakage. Everything else is pretty much personal preference (snaps or velcro, one-size or sized, etc.)

How many of each?
I asked some cloth diaper guru friends of mine and the general consensus seemed to be you can get by with about five covers and two dozen prefolds. I also heard the general rule to have four or five prefolds per cover. With this stash, you can get by doing laundry every other day.

So what did I do? I went overboard and I probably have 20 covers and five-dozen prefolds. Whoever said cloth diapering was inexpensive must have had a lot of will power! Fortunately, I got many hand-me-downs and thrift-store scores.

How much am I looking at spending?
With this method of cloth diapering, expect to spend anywhere from about $100 to $300. I spent $150.

Hopefully this answers any questions you may have had before making your first cloth diaper purchase using covers and prefolds. These were all questions I had in mind before making my purchase and now that I’ve gone through the process, I hope to share this with anyone else out there standing in my old shoes.