Seven Days of Diapers - Prefolds

I thought I’d start out my reviews of diapers with the simplest diapers that I tried – prefolds. Prefold cloth diapers are a simple rectangular piece of fabric, but they are one step above a flat diaper in that prefolds have an absorbent layer already sewn into the middle. (With a flat diaper, you must manually fold the diaper to get extra absorbency where it’s needed.)
I purchased two different brands of prefolds: bummis BeautifulBASIC and econobum. Both systems include a diaper cover/wrap and three prefolds. I wanted to try prefolds because I liked the simplicity of a prefold diaper, as well as the fact that the covers could be re-used.

I tried the bummis prefolds first. The prefolds are made from organic cotton and are used with a bummis Super Whisper Wrap. The prefolds are thick organic cotton, and the wrap has adorable green polka dots. The wrap came with hook-and-loop closure (a fancy name for Velcro).

While I really wanted to like these diapers, they’re just not my favorites. They absorb well, but they are so incredibly bulky that I had a difficult time fitting clothing over them. I was concerned that I was doing something wrong, so I re-read the instructions and watched bummis’ how-to video on YouTube. I was doing everything according to the directions, and the baby on the video also had a pretty big hiney. Perhaps these diapers will be better once Zachary gets a bit bigger, but right now, they’re just too big. (I do, however, keep the cover on hand to use with other inserts in the event that I run out of diapers before laundry day.)

Do not be fooled. The camera is not adding ten pounds - Zach's hiney is just that big...

The other brand of prefolds that I purchased is econobum. I once again received one diaper cover and three cotton prefolds. The reason I wanted to purchase the econobum system is that it is advertised as an easy, affordable way to cloth diaper your baby. According to their branding, from birth to potty training for around $100!

The econobum prefolds are cotton and not quite as thick as the bummis prefolds. The cover also looks a bit “cheaper” and feels thinner, but it has snaps (a plus in my book) and it has performed just fine through our uses. Zach’s tush was still pretty bulky with these prefolds, but not as bulky as the bummis. Once again, these are my back-up diapers, but I do use the cover with other inserts if I’m in a pinch.

After my initial go-round with prefolds, I wanted to give them another shot using a Snappi. Snappis are these really neat stretchable plastic three-pronged devices that are used to fasten the prefold before putting on a diaper cover. The Snappi allows you to fold the diaper to look more like a fitted diaper, rather than the tri-fold method that I tried first. After watching a few videos on YouTube of other mamas using Snappis, I felt confident enough to try it on Zachary.

My very first Snappi diaper. Not too shabby, and I've gotten better since then!

I think I would have benefited from using slightly longer prefolds, but I was able to fold and Snappi a prefold on Zach. It was definitely less bulky than using the trifold method, but it wasn’t as absorbent, either. Perhaps the Snappi would work better with longer prefolds, but we have so many other diapers in our stash that I really like that I don’t feel like I wanted to spend more money on additional prefolds…

So, in my mind, a few of the pros of prefolds:

-          They’re simple to use. No stuffing pockets or snapping in liners. Just fold the cloth, lay it in the cover, and secure to your baby. Easy peasy!

-          The covers, so long as they don’t get soiled, are reusable. This allows for my loads of diaper laundry to be smaller than if I had to wash the entire diaper each time. (I wouldn’t recommend using the same cover for subsequent diaper changes, though. It’s a good idea to have at least two covers, that way you can allow your just-used cover to air out while you use a different cover.)

-          The prefolds that I purchased were thick and absorbent. I was also able to vary the way I folded the prefold to add extra absorbency during extended periods (e.g. naptime).

-          They’re very economical. As I mentioned, econobum claims that you can diaper your baby from birth to potty training for less than $100. Talk about savings money compared to disposables – that’s three or four boxes of disposable diapers!

A few of the cons of prefolds:

-          They are very bulky – by far the bulkiest of the cloth diapers that I have purchased.

-          While the prefolds are very absorbent, they don’t wick away the moisture like other diapers/inserts do. I wouldn’t use a prefold at night because Zach is a fairly heavy wetter, and I wouldn’t want to have that wetness against Zach’s skin for the entire night.

-          With the two brands of prefolds that I purchased, the prefold just sets in the cover. I prefer a little something to help hold in the inserts, like snaps or pockets.

So, overall, while I am not a huge fan of prefolds, I do like having the option available to us. They’re an economical option for people looking to cloth diaper, and the prefolds are absorbent. Plus, once we’re done using the prefolds as diapers, there are lots of uses for your prefolds around the house!

Please join us on All Things Ng tomorrow for a discussion of pocket diapers!