What is a Cloth Diaper?

A cloth diaper is just like a

• disposable with only difference that cloth diapers are reusable.
• Traditional cloth nappy except that cloth diapers will have a water proof and stay dry layer. That is baby will not feel the wetness and baby’s clothes will not be soiled.

Structure of a Cloth Diaper:

• Outer waterproof PUL shell: helps keep pee and poop within the diaper and not soil other clothes. This is the pretty cover we see on the cloth diapers.
• Inner Soft absorbent material: This is the part that absorbs all the liquid and holds it within. Inserts can be natural fabric, in which case baby will feel the wetness or it can be stay dry, which will keep the surface touching baby’s skin dry.          

Why one preferred over the other?

Natural: Some people prefer to go 100% natural with inserts made up of cotton, bamboo cotton as these are more airy and breathable.. Not all babies are sensitive to wetness, natural fibers can be preferred here.

Stay Dry: This can be made up of fleece or suede layer, both give 100% dry feel or material can be cotton velour which will be damp on being wet. Most babies are sensitive to wetness and stay dry inserts can be preferred here. Suede can cause allergies or rashes in some babies, we need to check if the baby is allergic to suede. Suede is one material in Cloth diapers which has known to cause diaper rashes in most babies. I use suede, but for longer duration, it does cause rash on my baby. Fleece is the most preferred stay dry insert.

• Adjustable snaps which can be sized from birth to potty training: Cloth diapers grow with the baby. That means they can be used from a weight range of 5kgs to 17kgs , in terms of age it would be approximately from 4th month to potty training. For newborns, it is better to go for a newborn size as one size diapers can look huge on them. The snaps we see on the cloth diaper cover are for the size settings which we need to do in order to get a correct fit on our babies. There are two different snap settings, rise ones for waist size and vertical ones to adjust thigh size. A snug fit is very important to make the cloth diaper work correctly. Very tight settings of the snap might cause discomfort to the baby whereas loose fitting will cause leaks.

 

• Accessories:

1. Extra layer of insert like hemp: hemp is the most absorbent type of insert, which can be paired with other inserts to increase absorbency which can last up to 9 hours. Recommended for night time diapering.
2. Wet bags: these are the bags which come with waterproof layer, which can be used to store soiled diapers. These are very useful while travelling and also help keep the smell within. They come in different sizes and amazing prints. I have a ton of these.
3. Stay dry fleece liners/ suede sleeves: These are extra layer which can be used over any insert/cloth piece to make it stay-dry, so that baby will not feel any wetness.
4. Velcro converters: Cloth diapers mostly come with snap closure, if required it can be converted to Velcro closure for ease of use with these converters.
5. Wipes: Like cloth diapers, we can also opt for these reusable cloth wipes instead of disposable wipes. These can go into the laundry along with your cloth diapers. Simple square cut cloth pieces can be used as wipes.

This post was getting too long, so I have covered different type of diapers here. Hope this can help you to select the right cloth diapers based on your requirement. Please feel free to ask me anything about Cloth Diapers.