Fitted Diapers

Average Unit Cost:

$5.00 to $18.00 each

Suggested Best Uses:

Great for use as your regular diapering system. The snug fit and extra absorbency makes them great for overnight use (if you use a different daytime system).

Availability:

Common item carried online and in many specialty diaper shops

What They Are & How They Work

Fitted diapers are based upon the same principals as pre-fold diapers, but they have added convenience by eliminating the need to fold, tuck and secure by shaping them with seams and gussets and sometimes also provide enclosure materials such as snaps.

There's a huge variety of fitted diapers on the market made out of different kinds of highly absorbent materials and come in a variety of styles, shapes and colours. They can be super cute or pretty darned ugly, but most will agree that no matter what they look like... this is a workhorse diaper that delivers! I personally love it as my overnight diaper. Since you use a cover with these, what they look like doesn't really matter as long as you love the way it goes on and comes off, and how it does its' job.

Some manufacturers make covers designed especially for their fitted diapers, but like pre-fold diapers most of them will fit into any cover designed for use with pre-folds and fitted diapers. Wool covers are awesome for overnight use, and plastic or PUL covers are awesome for daytime (and are a great way to hide the not so cute varieties.

Materials

You want the most absorbent materials you can afford that are soft and wash/wear well. Some fitted diapers have additional materials sewn into them to soak up extra wetness. Other styles use cloth blends with highly absorbent materials to soak up excess moisture and big messes. Beware of materials that touch your baby's skin that can get course and scratchy when washed and dried under certain conditions (eg. line drying). Cotton terry can become like sandpaper under the right conditions, while bamboo always stay soft even under the roughest washing conditions. Remember that we're not using fabric softeners here, so the material of the diaper really counts.

Cost

You can pay a lot or a little for fitted diapers, ranging in price variety from $5.00 each to almost $20.00 per diaper (nearly the same price as a pocket style or All-In-One (AIO) diaper). Also consider that many fitted diapers are sized as well, so you will need to purchase a new set of diapers once or twice before potty training.

Fit

Just like any other tailored or shaped diaper, how it fits your little one is going to be a major factor in your success with it. I have found that with the fitted diapers there is a great deal of variety, especially because of the variety of sizes available.

Function

Picture the situations you'll be diapering in. Think about when, where and how will you be using your diapers. Are you a stay-at-home parent who will never venture further than the local supermarket and a walk in the park for the next couple of years? Do both parents work and is your child in daycare for a portion of the day? Do you like to take regular adventures out of town and even have regular overnight out-of-town trips? These are all important factors to consider if you plan to exclusively cloth diaper because some systems are more convenient and/or better suited to different situations.
You may decide you want a variety of types/styles of diapers based on what situation you'll be using them. For example, I have a mix of fitted, prefold, pocket and AI2 style diapers for my own day-to-day use. I have tried to instruct the grandparents how to use fitteds and prefolds with snappis and wool covers for overnight use, but they stick with the AI2s and Pockets (provided that I've pre-stuffed them), even though it means they're changing his bum every couple of hours overnight. Different strokes for different folks... and that includes every caregiver that you will be counting on too if you want to exclusively cloth diaper.

Fashion

Fashion is one major reason for the growing popularity of cloth diapering. They're just cuter than disposables... hands down! When I talk about fashion in a cloth diaper, I'm talking about style and how much variety and customization is available for each product in terms of colours, patterns and styles.Some diapers threw fashion out the window completely in favor of function, and others (like fitted) rely partially on covers to complete the fashion statement for them. Many manufacturers have invested a lot of time and love on fashion using cute colours, designer prints and seasonal styles that change every year. If fashion is something that is important to you, it is important to factor this element along with other items on the score scale because fashion alone won't make for a successful diapering experience. After all, the diaper's job is for poo and pee collection first and foremost... the rest is fluff (but we do like our fluff!).

I personally don't think that the fashion of a fitted diaper matters too much, since it is covered up until you are doing a bum change... but others may feel differently. There is definitely a lot of variety and you can even get fitted diapers in different colours to hide that telltale yellow of pee!

Fun

You are going to be changing thousands of diapers before you hit potty training... so the experience should be as fun as a bum change possibly can be, right? I have a lot of fun snapping pictures of puffy butts in a myriad of colours and prints matched with cute outfits, but I also have fun with the experience of shopping for and maintaining my diaper stash. Trying new things out is also fun, especially when it's something new and solves a particular problem (like overnight leaks)!

Think about to the overall experience that you are going to have with fitted diapers and their accessories. I personally find that the day to day maintenance of changing, washing and drying fitted diapers to be super easy... and as an added bonus I don't have to change the cover every time I change the diaper (only if it gets poo on it).

The only downside is travelling with them, particularly the cotton and bamboo varieties that get super wet and messy when soiled (and really stinky when they sit for any period of time... make sure you have a good sealed wet bag for travel).

As a result, I find that they're a good diaper to use at home or when you are travelling and have access to laundry facilities within a day. They're particularly good as an overnight diaper, and when used with a good cover they can go several hours under fire of extra wetness when most other diapers would leak.