Thursday, January 19, 2012

Newborn Diaper Reviews (PART 4) - Prefolds and Fitteds

This is Part 4 of my Newborn Cloth Diaper Reviews series.  I've decided to do this part a little differently.  Normally I do my heart rating system, but I felt I was getting very repetitive in my writing on each of the options in this particular series so I've opted to just write a short synopsis of each one.  While with the All-In-Ones, Pockets, & Covers I tried to spread the love and try them all equally ... I did not seem to do the same with my fitted diapers and prefolds.  I quickly found my favorites and tended to stick to those.  For that reason I am sorry to say that I do not feel that my reviews on these options are as valuable as the others, but I've decided to post what I did notice with each option anyways.  I hope it helps in your selection of newborn diapers for your little one.

** Please note that while I aim to provide the most thorough and honest reviews possible, this review is based on my own preferences and experiences.  Each baby is different and each parent has different likes and dislikes.  What works for one may not work for another, so keep that in mind while doing your research.**





I LOVE the Kissaluvs Cotton Fleece Fitted diapers!  I used these every night during the newborn stage.  They are so soft and snuggly and fit Lincoln perfectly.  Because they have an umbilical cord snap down I was able to use these right from the start.  I found they actually fit better with the umbilical cord snap down so I left them that way for most of the time that Lincoln wore them.  They were very absorbent and paired with any of our covers we never had a leak.  They were especially great at keeping the newborn poop in.  We never had poop escape these fitted diapers so I never got poop on my covers let alone outside the covers.  I also found these diapers surprisingly very easy to use despite the snaps.  There is only one snap per wing so after two or three diaper changes I had the snap routine down perfectly.  As for the look of these diapers, I went for the colored option.  They're a dollar more per diaper, but I love the cute pastel colors and they looked so cute on my boy's bitti bum.

Thirsties Duo Fab Fitted (Size: 1) - $17.00 / 6-18 lbs

I like my Thirsties Duo Fab Fitted.  I love that it's a hook and loop closure therefore a quick change.  I love that it has a stay dry liner so that Lincoln's butt won't have a wet soppy feeling when I take it off.  I love that there's a pocket built in so I can not only stuff the diaper with additional inserts if needed, but it also helps the diaper get cleaner and dry faster than if the pocket was not there.  Another great feature of this diaper is the two size system with a snap down rise.  These diapers fit longer and give you more bang for your buck than a totally sized system or a standard newborn diaper.  The Fab Fitteds also come in super cute colors and a super soft texture.  So many great things about this diaper, but for some reason I never really reached for this diaper.  I always went for my Kissaluvs over this diaper.  It could be because I could use the Kissaluvs earlier due to the snap down rise so they became a favorite early on, but that still doesn't seem like a good enough reason.  I think it was the fit of the diaper.  Although they both did their job, I just liked the way the Kissaluvs fit Lincoln better.  The Thirsties were a little thicker and required a bigger cover.  Most likely this was due to the snap down rise.  Even now though if I use a fitted diaper (which is rare), I will use my larger size Kissaluvs or my Green Scene fitted.  I can't place why I don't favor the Thirsties ... I just don't.

Cloth-eez Workhorse Diapers (Size: NB) - $4.95 / Preemie - 10 lbs

These are fitted diapers made from GMD Cloth-eez Prefolds.  The concept of these is great and so is the price.  I like the trim fit and the absorbency is pretty good with room to spare for a doubler.  They're pretty basic looking, but then again what do you expect for this price?  Unfortunately they didn't fit Lincoln very well.  I had a hard time getting the perfect fit with their snaps.  I saw on GMD's website that they're going to start selling these snapless this spring though.  I would totally buy them snapless and use a snappi.  Then I'd be able to get a perfect fit.

If you've been following my blog for awhile then you'll remember my tutorial on how to sew your own Upcycled T-Shirt Winged Prefolds.  I created these after I found a tutorial for daddy flats and wanted to improve upon the design.  These turned out to be my favorite prefolds and I loved using them.  They're by no means a nighttime diaper, but for the day they are great!  I love the trim fit of these prefolds and I love the stretch of the fabric.  I could really get a great fit on the waist.  They were also very easy to put on and worked great with a Snappi.  I used these with my smaller covers like my Bummis.  If I needed more absorption I could add a small doubler without adding too much bulk.  I also loved that I could create really cute prints from t-shirts I had at no cost, or go out and buy knit fabrics and create even cuter diapers and a small cost.  In the end my greatest love for these diapers came from the fact that I made them myself and it was a great feeling to know that Lincoln was wearing diapers made by mommy with love.

In the beginning of my cloth diaper research I said I was not going to try prefolds.  They just seemed like too much work and cost was not a factor for us in cloth diapering.  Why bother I thought?  Well, I'm glad I tried them and especially glad I tried the GMD prefolds.  They were such great quality and turned out to be quite fun to master the various folds.  That being said, I didn't use my prefolds that often.  I mostly just used them to say I did, but in reality I found them to be more work and bulkier than my other options.  As for Cloth-eez (GMD) Prefolds vs other prefolds, I can't say much.  They are the only cotton prefolds that I used.  They do seem to be a great quality though.  They fluff up very nicely and absorb quite a bit of liquid.  The sizing also seemed to be true to what they said as far as baby weight.  So, am I glad I tried them? Yes.  Will I continue to use them?  Probably not.

DIY Extended Tab Prefolds (Size: NB) - $2.00 / 6-13 lbs **using GMD Prefolds**

While testing out my prefolds before Lincoln got here I realized that the wings were hard to wrap around my teddy bear model.  This sparked my DIY side to take over and I came up with the idea to sew Extended Tabs on my Prefolds.  I wasn't sure if they would really be better, so I only sewed tabs on half my prefolds.  I ended up loving them though.  They really made wrapping the prefolds around Lincoln's waist a lot easier and also extended the life of my prefolds.  It seems like prefolds always get too tight on the waist before they get too short on the rise.  This leaves an awkward size gap.  The tabs really solve this problem.  My only dislike with the extended tab prefolds was the fabric I chose to make them with.  While flannel worked ok, I think a knit terry would have been better.  The more I washed the flannel the better the Snappi worked with them, but I think a knit terry would have been nice to give stretch to the tabs and work better with a Snappi.


I'm not really sure I'm even qualified to write about these since I only used them once.  Honestly I just forgot that I had them.  The one time I did use one it worked very well though.  These can realllllly soak up some liquid and it didn't even feel that wet.  I'm definitely going to keep them around to be used as doublers.  That's the great thing about newborn prefolds.  After you're done using them as a prefold they have so many other uses.  They better have a lot of uses with this price though.  They're more than three times the price of a cotton prefold.  Worth it?  Yes, if you're going to use them as doublers later on.


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If you would like to purchase any of these diapers for your little one, then please visit their website links above or help support this blog by visiting one of my affiliate stores: Sweetbottoms Baby BoutiqueKelly's ClosetDiaper Junctionor Thanks Mama. 


**This review is comprised of my own opinions and was not influenced by any outside source.  The products were purchased by myself and were not given to me or asked to be reviewed by any outside source.  No advertising was purchased in order to feature these products. **

2 comments:

  1. I've loved reading all of your reviews of your newborn stash! Sorry I suck at commenting, though - you know how hard it is to sit down and write with a newborn baby! I feel accomplished just to have been able to read a post or two, LOL..

    But anyway - great job on all the reviews. I really wish I was skilled enough to give the extended tab prefolds a try, but I don't know if I could do it without ruining my diapers! Glad they worked well for you, though!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Selina! I totally know what you mean about typing. I'm amazed I have time to write any of these posts.

    I was afraid to alter my prefolds at first too, but so glad I did. : )

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Thanks so much for taking the time to show your support with a comment! I LOVE reading all of them and will try and answer any questions that you might have. :)