Easiest cloth diapers for babysitters: Options for dad, grandma & more
When you start cloth diapering things seem really complicated and overwhelming for a little while till you get the hang of it.
But then what do you do when you have to leave your baby with someone who knows practically nothing about cloth diapers?
Pick cloth diapers that are the easiest to use, easy to put on and take off and one that if it’s dropped the inserts aren’t going to fall out of it.
Leaving cloth diapers with someone who has little to no experience with them is kinda scary, for both parties.
But there a few things you can do to make the experience less stressful.
10 tips for leaving cloth diapers with a babysitter
If you are leaving your baby with someone who knows very little to nothing about cloth diapers here are some suggestions.
- Use cloth diapers with 1 flat surface ( like a pocket diaper).
- Hook & loop/ Velcro is best.
- Explain the wetbag or wet/dry bag.
- Label wetbags if you are leaving more than 1 kid.
- Try not to bring different kinds of cloth diapers.
- If possible demonstrate how you change a cloth diaper.
- Make or find a video they can refer back to for diaper changes.
- If you are leaving an overnight cloth diaper be sure to point it out.
- Remind them to only use a diaper cream that you provide.
- They can rinse your cloth diapers in only water if they feel they really need to.
I also feel that pocket cloth diapers are the easiest style of cloth diaper for people who are unfamiliar with cloth diapers.
They always have just 1 flat surface and if they are hook & loop they are the closest thing to a disposable diaper I have found.
If you are interested in learning about my favorite pocket cloth diaper check out my article ” What is the best cloth diaper?”
What about hook & loop cloth diapers for babysitters?
Hook & loop/ Aplix is just a generic term for Velcro since Velcro is a name brand.
Anyway hook & loop cloth diapers are Da bomb for babysitters, it’s quick and easy and no trying to figure out which snap baby is on, you just stick it on and move on with your life.
The key with hook & loop is you want a high quality hook & loop
- Tots Bots
- Thirsties
- Bambino mio
Are probably the best choices when you are looking for a high quality hook & loop.
Some other brands like Kawaii also have hook & loop options but they tend to start showing wear and not working as well after a very short period of time.
Also the higher the quality of the hook & loop the harder it is for older babies and toddlers to take of themselves.
Are all-in-ones cloth diapers really the easiest?
Freaky, flappy sewn in inserts
Not all all-in-ones are created equal when it comes to ease of use, some have really long inserts sewn in that resemble a scarf.
Others have a shorter insert either sewn into the back or front of the cloth diaper, these can be kinda confusing for someone who is unfamiliar with cloth diapers.
There are a few like the Alva baby and Tots Bots all-in-ones that do just have 1 flat surface.
The Tots Bots easy fit star all-in-one does have a sewn in insert that will have to be stuffed in to a pocket opening in the front of the cloth diaper in order to have the flat surface.
However stuffing the insert in the pocket is something you could do before you leave the cloth diapers with the babysitter.
While the Alva baby all-in-one doesn’t have a flap insert and does just have 1 flat surface the insert that is sewn into the body of the cloth diaper isn’t that absorbent.
So you would probably need to stuff an extra insert into the pocket at the back of the cloth diaper.
Once again if you are prepping the cloth diapers before you give them to the babysitter then it’s not their problem and therefore doesn’t really matter.
Confusing snaps = confusing cloth diaper
Cloth diapers with 2 vertical snaps on each wing seem to be the easiest snap placement for most people to figure out.
Hip snaps
The snap placement that tends to make people swear the most is 2 horizontal snaps and 1 hip snap.
No one knows what to do with that freakin’ hip snap, so most of the time I see people just leave it hanging there unsnapped.
Most of the time just leaving it unsnapped is perfectly fine, but the cloth diaper won’t be sealed properly around the legs.
So if there is a really nasty poo, the babysitter, and baby’s clothes, and the floor, and the dog are gonna know all about it.
Don’t ask me how I know that, cause it was an experience I would rather forget.
Side snapping cloth diapers
I personally find side snapping cloth diapers to be a complete pain in the neck.
When you are trying to put on a side snap cloth diaper it’s hard to see where you’re snaps are.
Because of this if the baby is trying really hard to escape it makes putting on these cloth diapers nearly impossible.
The older version of the Blueberry simplex all-in-one and the Grovia all-in-one are the only 2 cloth diapers I can think of at the moment that would have side snaps.
Having the wings, waist and leg snaps hidden does make it easier to see the print on the front of the cloth diaper, but for me I’m just not willing to deal with the hassle.
I feel any cloth diaper with side snaps should never be sent with someone who is unfamiliar with cloth diapers.
I have been cloth diapering full time for over 3 years and I still have trouble getting side snaps fastened.
To be fair though I do only have 1 side snap cloth diaper, so maybe if I had more and therefore used them more often I wouldn’t dislike them so much.
How to make prefolds & flats babysitter friendly
This is where the padfold becomes your best friend, you just fold the flat or prefold into a long rectangle, put it in a cover and done.
If you are folding them and stuffing them inside a pocket cloth diaper then the babysitter doesn’t really have to deal with them at all.
If for some reason the padfold won’t work out this is a situation were demonstrating how to put the cloth diaper on and having a video for them to refer back to is really really important.
The vast majority of the absorbency in my cloth diaper stash is flats, I always use them padfolded inside of pocket diapers except for overnight cloth diapers when I have them folded in an origami fold.
Resources
Link to Tots Bots easy fit star all-in-one at Totsbots.com
Link to Thirsties hook & loop pocket diaper at Thirstiesbaby.com
Link to Bambino mio solo at Bambinomio.com
Link to Alva baby all-in-one at Alvababy.com
Link to Blueberry side snap all-in-one at Blueberrydiapers.com
Link to Grovia organic all-in-one at Grovia.com
Link to kawaii baby hook & loop pocket diaper at Kawaiibabydiapers.com
