Variety Stashes

If you speak to any seasoned cloth mom, they will tell you that the best kind of cloth diaper stash is not a uniform one where your entire stash is made up of one type of diaper (check out our blog post on types of diapers here) but rather a diaper stash made up of lots of different types of diapers. This can definitely be a bit overwhelming when you just start cloth diapers because you don't really know what to buy or what a variety stash looks like. So I'm here to help you out with that!

A variety stash is usually made up of at least 2 or 3 types of day time diapers and also 2 or 3 types of night time diapers, a good variety stash has at least some pockets, some all-in-ones and/or snap-in-ones for day time use AND at least some flats with boosters and fitteds with covers for night time use. You will find that as you become more experienced with using cloth diapers, you will see the value of each type of diaper differently, especially based on your family and child's needs. For the OSFM (one size fits most / 5kg+) stage as well as the newborn stage variety stashes are wonderful.

PROS:

• Different types of diapers work well for different occasions ie: Night time, day time, creche, heavy wetter, light wetter, forceful wetter, newborn, toddler, wetness sensitivity etc.

• Having different types of diapers to work with makes your stash versatile and adjustable, for example flats and boosters can be used in any nappies to boost them; your child might suddenly start to have a higher urine output during a growth spurt or during the winter time when they retain more water.

• Flats being the most versatile of all nappies can be used as a day time or a night time nappy or even as an insert for a pocket of a cover when folded.

• Having fully absorbent fitted nappies with covers are great for night times as they are quicker to put on than folding and attaching flat diapers on tired toddlers.

• You can even get specialised night time diapers made with many, many layers that gets put on the bum more like a disposable in one step, unlike a fitted and a cover which has 2 steps.

An example of a variety day time stash for the OSFM stage:

• 12 pocket diapers

• 6 All-in-one diapers

• 6 Snap-in-one diapers

• 6 flat diapers (hemp, cotton or bamboo or a mix of)

• 6 absorbency boosters (any absorbent fabrics)

• 2 fully absorbent fitted diapers (cotton, hemp or bamboo)

• 4 covers (softshell, PuL or water resistant fleece)

• 24 fleece liners (to line baby's diaper helping to clean up poop messes and keeping baby's bum dry)

This list is not set in stone or exhaustive, it is purely an example. There are a few extra changes here to the recommendation of 24 changes and 3 night solutions but it makes your stash a bit more versatile, giving room to change things up as needed. IF you are a mom that doesn't like pocket diapers then you van have more Snap-in-ones or more All-in-ones.

Another example of how a variety stash can free you up is if you don't have a tumble dryer and its raining for a week then your flats will dry much faster than your fully absorbent fitted diapers or your pocket inserts, which are many layers. In this case you can use your flats, which dry relatively quickly, as inserts in your pockets or as night nappies. It means you always have a solution instead of having to resort to disposables.

CONS:

You need to wrap your head a round the types of diapers and their pros and cons (check it out here)

Comment below to tell us how you have found variety stashes and how they work for you. Or if you feel hesitant let us know!