# How Many Covers/Prefolds?



## dovemama

How many do I need? I am planning on using the Thirsties Duos, and any prefolds that work.


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## eirual

I think in the early days, the suggestion is 12 per day. If you launder frequently and use a dryer to dry, 2 dozen should do you. I personally ordered 3 dozen because with a summer babe on the way I figure there will likely be weekend trips (cottage, camping, etc.) and we line-dry when possible, so it gives a bit more of a cushion.

I got 4 covers since they can be re-used and dry quickly.


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## dovemama

Awesome! Thank you! And four covers were enough? That blows my mind since we used to use Bumgenius and had to wash every.single.time.


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## eirual

I'm hoping 4 covers will be enough (I forget how many we had last time around with DS, now 6yo, but we're gearing up for another babe who hasn't arrived yet).

I'm fairly certain I have a couple small Bummis covers left over somewhere from when DS was a babe if need be, but being entirely PUL on the inside (not mesh like the original bummis we used) I figure even if there's a blow-out we should be able to just wipe-down....and we'll be doing a combo of CD and EC, so we'll likely be doing a lot of just not even using a cover over the summer.


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## clovergirl

With prefolds and covers, my usual recommendation is at least one cover for every four prefolds in your stash. Newborns can easily go through 10-12 diapers a day, so that means if you'll be cloth diapering full time with prefolds/covers you'll probably want at least 24 prefolds and 6 covers in your stash. That will have you washing about every two days, if you want to be on the safe side you may want to get more.

The covers can be wiped down easily or even hand washed in a pinch, they dry very quickly. Most people rotate covers between uses so in my experience having 3 covers a day to work with (one on the baby, one ready for the next change, one airing out/drying from a hand washing) is probably better than 2 (what if both get poopy one right after the other?!). Then at the end of the day, you can throw all 3 into the diaper pail and you have 3 fresh ones to start over with for the next day.


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## dovemama

Wonderful! Thank u for all of the great advice!


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## Justmee

I also only had 4 covers in each size (newborn, small, med), and they were thirsties. I hand washed them out and dried them in the bathroom. This was for ds who was born in Feb, and I didn't have the sun on my side, lol.

I also found that there was a lot of overlap, when I had double the covers. Ie: the extra smalls fit from birth through 3 months, the smalls started fitting at 1.5 months and fit through 8 months, the meds started fitting at 6m and fit through potty training (really!), so even though I only had 4 covers in each size, I often had 8 that fit him at any given time.

I had 2 dozen newborn prefolds, and a whole bunch of infant and regular ones (because the prefolds I used for my girls also, not just for him). In the beginning I sometimes had to grab an infant prefold if I was out of newborns, but I also didn't wash more than every 2nd or 3rd day since I had plenty of diapers, and an outside space to store the dirties where they didn't bother anyone.


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## myk

i'd definitely go with 3-4 covers and at least 12 diapers per day - so if you want to do laundry on alternating days you're going to need 24 prefolds, but for the earliest days 36 is handy in case you have a really rough day and can't get to it when you expect to. when baby gets older 24 diapers is certainly enough, so how many prefolds you buy depends on what sizes of prefolds you're getting.

green mountain diapers makes diapers specifically to match certain covers, so a medium cover goes with a certain size of prefold. a small goes with another size, a newborn goes with another size, large with another size - they're easy to use cause you don't have to fold them up to make them fit into the cover. you'd get quite a few smalls, fewer mediums as baby pees less often as they grow.

bummis and a lot of other places makes 2-3 sizes - newborn/preemie is optional, then infant size, then premium size. many people just get the infant and premium sizes. the starter package of diapers comes with 24 infant diapers and 4 wraps, and the bigger box has 18 premium diapers and 4 wraps.

econobum comes with 12 diapers and 3 wraps per box, and is supposed to be able to be folded in such a way as to last from start to finish, so if you buy 2-3 boxes you're good to go, period. i'm not as impressed with the quality of the covers, i do like the thirsties covers much more, but they'll do if you're trying to save money.


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## dovemama

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Justmee*
> 
> I also found that there was a lot of overlap, when I had double the covers. Ie: the extra smalls fit from birth through 3 months, the smalls started fitting at 1.5 months and fit through 8 months, the meds started fitting at 6m and fit through potty training (really!), so even though I only had 4 covers in each size, I often had 8 that fit him at any given time.


Thanks for mentioning that.

Ok, so I think I am going to get the Thirsties duo which only comes in size 1 or 2, because I really don't want to spend too much money on different size covers if they overlap.

Toddler dd is wearing econobum/wonder wraps/hemp babies these days & while the econobum does the job, the covers really stink. They cut into her skin, and don't snap all that easy.

I didn't start cloth diap. her until 6 mos or so, and then it was with AIO's so I am new to the prefold idea. So far though, I really like using them with dd. Much less wash!

Thanks everyone. I guess per your suggestions I will get about 36 infant prefolds and go from there!


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