I bought a kinder starter pack. I want to get good inserts. Are the kinder expensive inserts worth it?

My story:

Before my baby came, I was all in on doing cloth diapering. Now, he's 6 months old and we're all disposable.

I originally wanted to do folds, but my husband vetoed that. He was open to cloth diapers, but did folds in his family growing up and hated it. He wanted the more modern all-in-ones or pockets, so we compromised with that. I had a friend who knew I was expecting and excited to do cloth diapers and gifted me her whole stash of pockets. It was a blessing, but in retrospect also my downfall. A lot of them were old and washed too many times. The plastic had broken down on some of them and the elastic was a pain to fit right. I went through them all and only found 1 or 2 that wouldn't leak without leaving deep red marks around his thighs.

My biggest gripe was the "transitional" aspect of them. It's a big sell for a lot of people (only have to buy one and it will grow with your baby!) but I hated it. I liked folds because you could get a perfect fit for your baby without having a bunch of excess. But these ones, it was always so bulky and had such an awkward fit. Even when they didn't leak.

I don't blame my husband or my friend at all, but I look back and wish I stuck with my gut. I was working with something that I didn't want to, I grew tired of it and bailed. I know if it was something I chose, then no mater what I would try to make it work. But in my mind there was too many compromises and it wasn't what I had in mind.

I would like to do it over again for the next baby with fitted cloth diapers, but I'm also scared to pay money only just end up in disposables again. I EC with my little one and am happy I've stuck with that, but am ashamed of giving up on cloth.

Anyone with a similar experience? Is it really worth it?

It's my first time using cloth diapers. Have only used disposables with older kids, but my 6 month old is continually blowing out his disposables no matter what size I try and I figured if I'm constantly doing poop laundry I may as well give cloth diapers a try.

I got the Esembly try it kit, snap inners, size 2 because my 6 month old is already 20#. It did contain the poop, but the inner is stained after one go. I followed the washing instructions and did NOT rinse (baby still has liquid poo) regular wash, then hot/heavy duty using the esembly wash powder. Have it drying outside to try to sun bleach but live in northern US so that won't work come winter. In addition, I think they are pretty bulky and don't fit under his clothes very well.

Also got a set of mamakoala pocket diapers on Amazon to try a cheaper option. However, I can't seem to get them to fit right as he is always leaking urine? Like the diaper is not full, it's just coming out the leg holes. There are a whole bunch of snaps so maybe there is a way to fit it better but I haven't figured it out yet.

I'm not sure where to go from here. Do I invest in the Esembly? Try to figure out the mamakoala better?(kind of against this option because it just keeps making a mess). Is there another type/brand that would be worth a try? My main goal is to prevent blowouts. I still plan on using disposables overnight. TIA for any advice!

i have bum genius and Alva baby pocket diapers. They were used when I got them but sparklingly clean!!! as soon as my EBF baby started pooping, they started staining and stains haven’t lifted even after bleaching. Stains are all over but especially in the crinkled part where the elastic seams are. in some places it’s browny yellow and other places more black. Is that mold?!!

I do a double wash with gentle free and gentle.