1. I vastly prefer prefolds and covers over all-in-ones. Actually, if you really don't want to do prefolds and covers, I'd look into pockets. All in ones take forever to dry.
2. They say 24-36 prefolds with 3 covers. As someone who pays for laundry, I went high rather than low.
3. I never used liners. Ever.
4. I had a lot of problems with Gerbers and Kushies leaking. I liked the proraps. But my favorite diaper cover is the wonder wraps one size. It will not fit a newborn (unless you give birth to a 10lb baby), but for bang for the buck, I think this is the best one. For pockets, I only ever really used the one size fits all kanga, and it worked well for us.

In case you didn't notice, there's a sticky on the top of this forum about cloth diapering. HTH.

I really like pocket diapers, especially bum genius and happy heiny's. Pre-folds and covers are nice too! I don't like the all in ones and I don't really like wool covers either.

Oops. My bad on the sticky. I saw that when I got home...for some reason when I am on my work computer, I cant go into the forums....

With the pocket diapers...those ones are saying that they need liners, or need to be "stuffed". Do I actually need to stuff them, or will they work well without being stuff? (in your opinions, anyway....they website I am on wants to sell me the liners, so they are telling me they are neccisary).

I have heard that about the Gerber and Kushies...that they arent a good product.

Good to know about the all-in-ones. I hate waiting for the laudry to dry.

I really appreciate the responses!! They really help!

1. Pre-folds or all-in-ones....preferences?

I actually love prefolds folded into covers, with liners - you can buy fleece ones at Parenting By Nature.
I also enjoy pockets for going out, just 'cause they're all in one piece so it's handier. Plus people look at them and go, "Ohhh.. are those cloth diapers?" and it's a good conversation starter. LOL

2. How many diapers am I going to need?

Skipping this one because I didn't start CDing until DD was 6 months.

3. Are liners all that necessary?

Do you mean disposable liners? Heck no. LOL! With newborn breastfed poo, they are completely useless, 'cause the poo just absorbs right through. Once they start solids and their poo solidifies, they become handy because you can just pull them out and flush the poo away. But not necessary. A friend pointed out that, for the times you use them that they don't get pooped on and just get peed on, you can rinse them out and reuse them, hang them to dry, and you can use them each like 3 times that way. Sweet!
You can buy those at Wal-Marts (I know, I know, just sayin'), and I think some Zellers and Sears stores, so not something you should worry about for now.
Something to think about though is fleece liners IF you're going to use prefolds and covers, because they keep the pee away from baby's skin. They're very cheap so not a biggie.

4. Preferred brands? Leakage protection?

Bummis prefolds. Bummis Superbrites. Bummis Super Whisper Wraps are good too. As are both kinds of Motherease covers (sorry, can't remember their names) BUT you can't really fold a prefold into them, you have to use a Snappi to put it on the baby, then put on the cover. Not a big deal but a bit more work.
Pockets fit different kids differently. So I think they're harder to fit right. I too love bumGenius, but they're not known for durability; the elastics wear out quickly.
For newborns, I love the idea of fleece covers. Not sure which to get though. You can look up reviews of stuff online though.

Just to add to my previous comment about Gerber's, yes their flatfolds are fine but their prefolds are garbage. As are their covers.

babies tend to get diper rash when they have diarea so i only use cloth diper after the babies diarea passes....of course after giving the baby at lease 2 boddles of pedialite ...

My son got Diarreah rarely, but when he did, even with disposables he would a rash. With him it was the frequent wiping.... I wouldn't want to wash diarehha out of a diaper either....ewwwwww... That would probably be a "disposable day".

I used 'sposies alot when Cae had diarrhea. All of my diapers were really worn out hand me downs until Cae was like two and I finally had money to buy new diapers (when I started college). The used diapers were just not good enough to contain anything when diarrhea was in the picture.

I'm sort of in the same position. I used cloth with my first son, too, but handed down most of our diapers to friends once he was done potty training, and I don't totally remember how many it took. Do you have laundry where you live? If so, do you have to pay for it? Do you live in a good place for drying things on racks or clotheslines, or do you use a dryer?

If you're doing prefolds and covers, you definitely need more prefolds than covers, because most of the time you'll only need to wash the diaper itself. I had a mix of different kinds of diapers when Finn was little, and that seemed to work fine.

Definitely don't get disposable liners. They're just trying to sell you shit - you don't need them at all.

My biggest piece of advice is to get hand-me-downs, and to buy diapers used! A lot of second hand children's stores will have nice cloth diapers in them, and you can also find them on ebay and other websites. Like most baby clothes, diapers last MUCH longer than they'll fit one child - as long as you make sure that the velcro is still good, there's no reason not to save your money by getting them used.

I'm planning to go through and make a list of what I think I'll need/want diaper-wise. I'll definitely post it for you when I do. Also, I'm pretty sure there are some good older threads about this. I'll see if I can dig them up. (You might also check out the stickies: http://www.girlmom.com/node/2263, and http://www.girlmom.com/node/4520 - they're a little harder to read now because some of the formatting got lost when the boards switched over, but they still have good info).

I've had really bad luck getting diapers second hand at retail stores. I've had a better doing it online. One place to look is the DiaperSwapper.com.

Diaperswappers is great for deals, esp. on small/newborn dipes 'cause mostly people are trying to sell off their small stash so they can replace them with bigger ones. They have a Canada section there, but unfortunately shipping is so much more in Canada than in the US it's sometimes cheaper to buy from an American and have it shipped across the boarder! (Though that does take longer.) So don't limit yourself to the Canada board. DS also has a baby carrier section you might want to check out as per your other thread!

Gah, sorry for all the posts here, I probably look like a weirdo. I for some reason get really into diapers (and babywearing!). LOL!

1. Pre-folds or all-in-ones....preferences?

All in ones take forever to dry, I second using pockets, not only for ease and convenience, but because they're the closest to 'disposable' that I've found. You do need an insert for each one, microfibre is the best type of inserts. Bumgenius so far is hands down, the best pocket I've tried.

Personally I use bamboo fitteds, and then wool covers or wool longies, but that's a lot more work. I have BumGenius for daycare, and they're pretty rad.

2. How many diapers am I going to need?

for a newborn? I'd go with 12-16, so you can go 2 days between washes. I definitely agree with signing up at diaperswappers.com , you can save a lot by getting used, though look around and ask questions about condition before you buy. If you ever need any help if something is a good deal or not, PM me, I'm naivete there too, and I'll help you out.

3. Are liners all that necessary?
Disposable liners are not necessary at all. A lot of people like them once their babes are on solid food, because they can just shake the solids and throw it away. With me, I have a toilet shower installed next to the toilet, and I spray off any solids before throwing it into the washer. The only necessities I'd say with CDing:
* Diapers
* Cloth wipes! SO much easier, because you can throw it in the pail with the diaper, instead of having to carry it to the garbage alone.
* A pail with a tight fitting lid
* A wetbag/pail liner that you can wash with your loads
* You might also want small wet bags (waterproof bags) for if you're out and about.

4. Preferred brands? Leakage protection?
Bumgenius is definitely a recommended brand like I said, BUT they do leak, especially once the microfibre insert is full, it'll come out the leg openings. I don't use them for overnight, for sure, though I've heard some people do and just put two inserts in. You can also look at Gdiapers, some people who are newish to CDing like the ease of these as well.
For night times, honestly, I'd stick with fitteds and a good cover. My go-to night time diaper is bellabottoms fitteds and procare covers, they fitteds are made out of terry so they're not super absorbant but they don't leak, like at all. The procare covers are absolutely bulletproof for leakage. Great for night times, though a fleece liner is good because it keeps the moisture away from the skin.

I have been soo slacking in ordering these diapers. I really need to get on that.

Naivete, where did you get your toilet shower. I remember seeing it advertised once, however I don't remember where!!! I wanted to get one hooked up in my bathroom...now I have idea where to get one!

Thanks for the help! I think the most frusterating thing is that I cannot find a store to go into, to buy diapers, it all has to be done on-line. I like to actually view things before I buy them....

Bumgenius sells a toilet shower, you can also usually find one on ebay or on diaperswappers. I got mine on diaperswappers.

If you are handy you can make your own diaper sprayer thinger fairly cheaply. I am not of course so I bought mine from Parenting By Nature.

Alllright!!!

So I have settled down and bought some diapers. I have 12 Happy Heineys one size pocket diapers. I am also getting a package of the pre-folds, and some diaper wraps. (unfortunatly the wraps don't appear to come in one size). I was also able to find a diaper shower, (the bumgenius one), and it is coming very soon.

I was fortunate enough to finally find a store near where I live, that sells cloth-diapers (very rare where I live)....so I am very happy about that.

I am on vacation from work...so I am trying to get as much done as possible

bum genius rocks for people who are use to a sposie but are scared of cloth.
also diaperswappers is a great place to get cheap used diapers.
We use cloth at home except at night because Blake pees too much and sleeps for 12 hours.

OK so since I've seen a few posts about bGs I have to mention.
I love these diapers. The design is perfect, it fits so well and for so long. And the stretchy tabs! *Sigh*
So why is it that they come up with this amazing design and brilliant stretchy tab idea, and then use weak velcro and these elastics that die? 'Cause that totally ruins them for me. And they are otherwise so amazing! (
LOL!

I had a whole bunch of kushies covers with prefolds, and I would double them up and they still leaked. I also had the kushies all in ones, and those were even worse. At first I regretted getting rid of my cloth diaper stash, but next time around, I'm going for quality. I used to think leaky diapers were just a part of using cloth. I want to try the bum genius.

Bumgenius leak as well. I find with the BGs you need to be really vigiliant on changing, because once the microfiber insert is full, there's nothing else to absorb so it goes right out.

That's why I mainly use fitteds and covers, or fitteds and wool. The BGs is what I recommend to people trying it out because they're the most similar to disposables. The fitteds are TONS more absorbant, and even if they're full they don't squish out which is great for night time, I use pro-care covers for night and wool covers during the day.

Plus longies are adorable, I have so many pairs of knitted pants. I just got a pair done up with megatron knitted into one side and optimus prime on the other leg.

If you want total leak coverage, go for wool and fitteds though. More work, but such a better system, once wool is lanolized it's like totally bulletproof.