Destination Prefolds

A prefold diaper is the closest you will find to what your grandparents probably used on your parents. As the name implies, a prefold is a folded piece of cloth, usually made of cotton or a cotton/ hemp blend, fitted over the baby and fastened into place (the plastic Snappi has replaced the infamous diaper pin of yesteryear). There are many different ways to fold the cloth based on the needs of your baby.

A prefold diaper is not waterproof, so a shell or cover is needed to keep baby’s clothes (as well as Mommy, Daddy and other cuddlers) dry. Most covers are made of polyester and plastic, a few are wool—more and more, reusable diaper companies are creating covers with adjustable sizes and super cute colors and designs.

When cloth diaper advocates talk about prefolds, they stress on the fact that they are the money-saving option. A high grade prefold diaper costs, on average, $5 per square, and the covers to go over the cloth square about $13 per cover; using 24 squares in a two-day loop with a newborn, as well as 6 covers, you’re looking at about a $200 investment—IF it is a system that works for you and Baby from newborn to potty-training.

Besides being a cheaper option, prefolds are good for a trimmer look (if your baby is not a heavy wetter, which would result in using multiple prefolds at a time, or adding doublers). A tri-folded prefold is going to fit better under baby’s pants than a bulkier All-in-One or pocket diaper. At night, prefolds can be joined with hemp doublers, but this may not work so well for babies who rash easily (like mine). The natural fibers of prefolds will keep the wet against baby, and after long exposure this can create diaper rash. To prevent rash, you can use a fleece liner between your baby’s bottom and the prefold; diaper cream is also an option, although not all diaper creams are good for cloth diapers.

There are so many ways to fold a prefold that often one feels they are taking a course in origami rather than diaper-folding. But when you have a crying newborn, or a wiggly toddler, on your changing pad, one often isn't up for fancy folding. Something practical and simple is what works best. Below are photos of the most common (as well as most simple) ways to fold a prefold:

Prefold fabric before folding

Bikini Fold: Good for when baby has chunky thighs and needs more room between legs.

Angel Wing Fold: Adds more fabric
around thighs to prevent leaking.

Tri-fold: The most basic fold. Several can
be folded ahead of time so that the prefold
 only has to be placed in the cover. These are also
convenient when out and about.

There are inserts you can use instead of tri-folded prefolds. Babykicks and Thirsties both make hemp and cotton doublers that can be used as inserts. Bumgenius makes a polyester insert called Flip that has microsuede sewn on one side of it; when baby pees, the wet goes through the microsuede into the insert, keeping both the microsuede and the baby’s bottom drier. I highly recommend that you do NOT use diaper cream with microsuede, because over time the oil and zinc oxide in the cream can build-up in the fibers and actually make the insert water-proof! If that ever happens (believe me, it happens), never fear—you will just have to strip your diapers.

Strip diapers? What's that? Another post for another time, I'm afraid, but an important post nonetheless.

The video below features the following brands:
BabyKicks Prefolds
Gerber Flat Sheet
Mother-ease Diaper Cover
Thirsties Diaper Cover
Flip Diaper Cover
Flip Diaper Insert
BioBottoms Wool Diaper Cover
Rebourne Wool Diaper Cover
Snappi

Please watch, learn, comment, teach. :-)