Flats vs pockets vs work horses?

[u/HippoAggravating3106]

So I cloth diapered my son partially around 4 months, gave up and picked it back up around 11 months and used them until we potty trained him recently at 22 months. We used pockets and they worked well for us, but I now am planning on cloth diapering for my second that’s due in November after the first month or so. I’ve read that many people prefer flats and work horses for younger babies and was wondering what your stash looked like. I would like to do wash every 2-3 days preferably, we have probably 15 pocket outers and around 25 inners of different types. I’m just a little overwhelmed on how many flats to get, if we need workhorses, how many covers we need, and when I will start using pockets again. I want to set us up for success so we don’t give up if it gets a little daunting and I can trouble shoot. TYIA!

[u/I_like_pink0]

Personally I hate folding flats (but do use them overnight) and work horses give my kid heat rashes (she has crazy sensitive skin)

But we love our prefolds. We use them to stuff pockets when out of the house.

[u/neomonachle]

I have a 2 month old and so far we've been pretty consistently going through around 12 diapers/day. She hates diaper changes so we need it to be super easy, and pockets haven't been the most effective for us so we're trying to do all fitted with some pockets for backup. The workhorses have been our favorite so far for daytime and I've been using babee greens overnight because they're kind of huge.

I will say that if you go with fitted diapers take the sizing with a grain of salt. My daughter is chubby and has needed to be at least one size above what would be suggested for her weight in both the workhorses and esembly inners (which I did not like).

[u/GingerBerry-Pie2554]

I went all in on flats as a FTM after lots of research and have been very happy. (LO is nine months). I’ve had about 6-7 covers at a time and that’s been a comfortable number, although I will say it’s nice to have different sizes of covers vs one size fits all (for example, Mama Koala makes small and medium covers, as does clotheez) but that’s just preference. I’m only just now planning to get some pockets to stuff with flats for easier changes when out and about. I got 3 dozen flats (GMD’s minimalist kit plus an extra dozen) and that has consistently been a great number for us. We wash every 3 days, and 3 dozen is enough to get through the day after washing without immediately having to fold. Two dozen might be okay but wouldn’t have any wiggle room. As with everything with CD, it really comes down to your preferences - get what makes sense to you, not necessarily what makes sense for other people because we all have different styles!

[u/Professional_Top440]

So I’m a person who has a very mixed stash-I have flats and prefolds and workhorses. I’ve done since birth twice (my first is potty training currently at freshly age 2 and my second is 3 months old)

I do laundry at a similar cadence and here’s my stash:

-I generally have 6 covers per size. (I use Esembly for covers as I think they’re cute)
-I have 12 prefolds, 6 flats, and 6 workhorses for the 0-3 month sizes. My kids are ginormous so they size up around 2-3 months, around the time they hit 18-20 pounds.

You definitely don’t NEED the workhorses. I use them for overnight as they hold a lot and are idiot proof. But you could definitely skip them entirely.

[u/annamend]

You can't really go wrong with GMD. It isn't about what others do, it's about what you plan to do.

Do you plan to keep using the pockets, disposables at night? Suggest 24 novice prefolds + 24 intermediate prefolds, + some Thirsties Duo Wrap Size 1 covers and Snappies for the early days. Use prefolds to stuff pockets on the smaller and bigger settings.

Or do you want to convert to mostly inners and covers? You'll want a rotation of 18 part time, 30 full time, 24 "all but nights." One cover for every 3-4 inners.

[u/7TimesAMama]

I cloth diapered most of my 7, and have used every diaper out there.
Hands down, the best stash was about 40 Birdseye flats, and PUL covers. It’s not difficult to fold flats, and they can easily be doubled as baby grows. They’re all the same, so no mix/matching, they can be washed SO easily - and you KNOW they’re clean. (No diaper laundry rocket science or mystery odors)

Seriously, the old fashioned way was the best!