Will one-size cloth diapers fit newborn babies? Ones that fit & how to tell
(Smartbottoms born smart 2.0 at smartbottoms.com)
Yes, there are one-size cloth diapers that will fit average size newborns, usually the description of the cloth diaper will tell you when it starts fitting, 5-6 pounds is good unless you have small babies, 8-12 is to big.
If you want to learn more about newborn cloth diapers check out these articles
Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning I receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) from qualifying purchases made through those links. * Indicates an affiliate link
How to tell if a one-size cloth diaper will fit a newborn
Newborn cloth diapers are usually shorter than 10 1/2 inches in length when fully snapped out, and are no more than 4 1/2 inches wide.
My youngest daughter was 8 pounds 2 ounces at birth and within a few days she fit in one-size cloth diapers that were about 11 inches long when on the smallest snap setting and 5 1/2 inches wide.
Most online stores will have measurements of their cloth diapers, or estimated weights they should fit at (for a newborn you want 5-6lbs starting weight) , so you should be able to get an idea of the cloth diaper’s size before you make a purchase.
There are many cloth diapers that are known to run small, for instance I would say that the Petite Crown pocket cloth diaper (not the supreme) runs small and would fit an average size newborn.
Petite crown pocket cloth diaper at petitecrown.com
It is however, very hard to tell if a one-size cloth diaper will be small enough for a newborn when all you have to go on is stock photos.
I highly recommend doing your research on the specific brand and style of cloth diaper you are considering, usually people who have tried the cloth diaper will mention if they feel a cloth diaper runs small.
So, you are going to want to look at lots of pictures and videos of the cloth diaper in question, that way even if they don’t mention the cloth diaper’s sizing you will kinda have an idea of how big it is.
Or you could buy 1 of the cloth diapers you are considering and try it out, if it doesn’t fit your newborn then it can just be set aside until baby is bigger.
Cloth diapers that in my opinion run small enough to fit a newborn are
- Petite crown pocket diapers (petitecrown.com)
- Lighthouse kids pocket diapers (size 1) (lighthousekids.com)
- Lil Helper cloth diapers ( lilhelper.com)
- Bestbottoms covers (greendiaperstore.com)
- Applecheeks sizes 1s (technically not one-size) (newandgreenbabyco.com)
Cloth diapers that will fit newborns will probably say in their description that they start fitting at 5-6 pounds.
Cloth diapers that say they will fit a newborn but also say they start fitting at 8 pounds like most one-size cloth diapers are probably not going to be small enough unless you have a large newborn.
Sized cloth diapers
With the 3 newborns I cloth diapered, I loved size 1 Thirsties duo wraps and Applecheeks size 1 envelope pocket diapers (Applecheeks barely fit my newborns though), I was a huge fan of how long they fit my babies.
Thirsties size 1 duo wrap at clothdiaper.com* Applecheeks cloth diapers at newandgreenbabyco.com
What I usually hear about cloth diapers that come in a size 1 and a size 2 (etc.) is that the size 1 is supposed to fit from birth- 1 year and the size 2 fits from 1 year – potty-training at around age 2.
Another reason that you might want to look into sized cloth diapers, since they are bigger than newborn cloth diapers they can accommodate more absorbency.
Newborn sized cloth diapers typically only fit for about 3 months, however the newborn cloth diaper’s absorbency might not be enough for your baby depending on how much they pee.
So, sized cloth diapers will fit a baby longer as far as both size and absorbency, so I feel they are definitely worth looking into.
These are some of the many sized cloth diapers out there
- Applecheeks (newandgreenbabyco.com)
- Thirsties duo wraps (size 1 clothdiaper.com* & size 2 clothdiaper.com*)
- Cloth-eez wraps (greenmountaindiapers.com)
- Essembly (essembly.com)
To learn more about sized cloth diapers check out my article
Which cloth diapers will not fit newborns?
Some cloth diaper brands do very clearly label their larger sized cloth diapers for example
- Alva baby big size cloth diaper ( alvababy.com)
- Bestbottoms bigger ( happybeehinds.com)
- Thirsties XL pocket diaper (thirstiesbaby.com)
- Redwood XL pocket diaper ( redwoodclothco.com)
- Petite crown Trima plus (XL) ( petitecrown.com)
Unless it’s a newborn horse, these cloth diapers will not fit a newborn.
Be very careful about cloth diapers that have Supreme, Plus, Super in their name, most of these bigger sized cloth diapers will say in their description that they start fitting at 12 pounds.
While something that fits a newborn should say it starts fitting at 5-6 pounds.
If you want to learn about cloth diapers for older babies/toddlers check out my article
Will cloth diapers fit in newborn size clothes?
As long as the newborn clothes aren’t super snug on baby some smaller one-size cloth diapers should fit just fine under newborn clothes.
One-size cloth diapers will be bulkier on a newborn than newborn cloth diapers because one-size cloth diapers have more material.
For more info on how bulky cloth diapers are check out my article
Resources
Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning I receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) from qualifying purchases made through those links. * Indicates an affiliate link
Thirsties size 1 duo wrap at clothdiaper.com*
Thirsties size 2 duo wrap at clothdiaper.com*
Essembly size 2 pocket at essembly.com
Lighthouse kids pocket diaper at lighthousekids.com
Cloth-eez wraps at greenmountaindiapers.com
Petite crown pocket cloth diaper at petitecrown.com
Petite crown trima plus XL at petitecrown.com
Lil Helper cloth diaper at lilhelper.com
Bestbottoms covers at greendiaperstore.com
Applecheeks cloth diapers at newandgreenbabyco.com
Alva baby big size cloth diapers at alvababy.com
Thirsties XL pocket diaper at thirstiesbaby.com
Bestbottoms bigger at happybeehinds.com
Smartbottons dream 2.0 at smartbottom.com
Smartbottoms born smart 2.0 at smartbottoms.com
Redwood cloth diapers at redwoodclothco.com
