Can You Make One-Size Diapers Work for a Newborn?

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It’s no secret that I love newborn cloth diapers. In fact, one of the most popular places on my blog is the newborn section. One of the questions I was dying to answer when we cloth diapered our first newborn was “will our one size diapers work on him?” Turns out, most of them did not.

With most of our one-size covers, we couldn’t get a snug enough fit around Erik’s bird legs. You can see this with the Flip cover below:

Same with the BumGenius 4.0 one-size pocket diaper. The legs fit better, but were still not snug enough for newborn blowout protection. The 4.0 was also bulkier than the Flip and much higher in the rise.

Other pocket diapers we tried were also not snug enough. Our Imagine pocket diapers from Nicki’s were a bit larger than the bumGenius, and the legs gaped open as well.

NOTE: You may have noticed that in the pictures above, the waistband is not at its tightest setting. This is because both Ingrid and Erik had very round tummies that stuck out, and if I had fastened the waistband any tighter to try and make the leg holes smaller, it would have been very uncomfortable for them.

Erik and Ingrid were both pretty average at birth, 7 pounds and 8 pounds, respectively. But we did find some one-size diapers that fit at birth, either because they had an additional set of rise snaps or because they just run small overall.

They were:

• Funky Fluff diapers have 3 sets of snaps on the rise and that means 4 size adjustments rather than the typical 3. If you like the AIO or AI2 style, then I highly recommend this premium Canadian brand. You can find them in the US at Nicki’s Diapers and The Joyful Giraffe.
• Best Bottoms have a very generous size range, which means they have fit on our newborns AND our toddlers. They are a thicker cover and will not be very trim-fitting on a newborn, but they get the job done and the prints and colors are adorable. The double gussets around the legs help with keeping blowouts at bay. Best Bottoms are available at Nicki’s Diapers, Diaper Safari, Diaper Junction, Kelly’s Closet, and other cloth retailers.
• Buttons Diapers run a bit small. That along with the double gussets have allowed us to use them from birth onward. Buttons is the orange diaper pictured on Ingrid below.
• Diaper Rite covers worked on newborn Ingrid as well. It’s the green cover pictured below. There was some extra fabric, but the leg openings were snug enough to keep everything contained, and that’s where the rubber meets the road. The leg elastics in Diaper Rite covers are tighter compared to most of our other diapers; this plus the double gussets explains why they can work on a newborn. They cost only $8.95 with free shipping. Diaper Rite does have a separate newborn cover, but you can save money by using the one-size cover from the beginning if your newborn is average or larger.
• Softbums are a highly adjustable system by means of a unique elastic system in the legs. The size range is much more generous than your typical “one size” system, and begins as small as 5 to 6 pounds. The Echo is an AI2 style and the Omni is a pocket/AI2 combo. You can find them at Nicki’s and Kelly’s Closet.

 

 

Here’s another trick you can try: 

If the diaper has 2 rows of snaps at the waistband (i.e. like the Glow Bug diaper shown below), fold the waistband inward at the top, leaving only one row of snaps exposed. Fasten only the top row of snaps on the wings to the one exposed row. This will simultaneously shorten the rise of the diaper slightly and make the leg openings more snug. This won’t work with every style or brand, so you’ll just have to experiment. And the reason I don’t recommend folding the waistband down is because it will expose the fleece inner (if using a pocket) to the outside, potentially causing leaks or wicking.

 

Have you used one-size diapers on your newborn baby? Which brands or styles worked best?