Seven Days of Diapers - Fitted Diapers

Another type of diaper that I wanted to try was fitted diapers. These diapers are elasticized along the waist and legs, and the entire diaper can absorb wetness, as opposed to just the liner/booster. However, fitted diapers are not waterproof, so they must be worn with a waterproof diaper cover to contain wetness. I had read good things about these diapers, so I purchased two different brands to try them out: Thirsties and Kissaluvs.

I bought a Thirsties Duo Fab Fitted cloth diaper with aplix (hook-and-loop) closure. (This was actually a diaper suggested for nighttime use, as well as daytime use. More on nighttime diapering solutions tomorrow…) I like that the diaper not only has a thick, absorbent liner, but you can also stuff additional boosters under the liner. The diaper is a bit bulky, and it doesn’t seem to fit well with any of the diaper covers that I own (bummis, econobum, Flip, Palm Tree). I don’t own any Thirsties diaper covers, so perhaps the Duo diaper would work better with a Thirsties cover. Using it with the covers that I own always seems to lead to a small leak somewhere – once it was along a leg, so the next wearing I was very careful around the legs, and I had a leak by Zach’s stomach. I just can’t seem to get a cover to contain every part of the diaper.

I also bought a Kissaluvs Fitted Cloth diaper, size 2 (20-40 pounds). Zach is on the lower end of this weight range, so perhaps the diaper is just too big for him, but it has leaked every single time he’s worn it.

It doesn’t seem to be too absorbent to begin with, and it cannot be stuffed with any additional boosters. (I suppose you could just lay something in the diaper…) The diaper is soft, inside and out, and the elastic is gentle on Zach’s skin. However, I have enough diapers that do not leak, so I’m not really interested in continuing to use this one, especially if I have to change Zach’s entire outfit every time he wears it…

Overall, I’m not a huge fan of fitted diapers. While the concept of a diaper that absorbs all over is nice, in practice, I wasn’t a fan of either brand I tried. I would prefer to have a super-absorbent booster (or two) in a diaper to absorb wetness, rather than having Zach wearing a diaper that could get wet at the waist or around the legs or on his back, or worst of all, wet everywhere… I expect that I’ll try these fitted diapers again once Zach gets a bit bigger, to see if a bigger baby leads to a better fit, but for now, they’re at the back of my diaper piles.

Please stop by All Things Ng tomorrow for a discussion of nighttime diapering solutions!