Prefolds Vs Contoured

[Baby Brian]

I'm relatively new to using cloth diapers and have been using Adult Cloth Diapers' Leakmaster to a great success (with PUL pants). Unfortunately they tend to sag on me, even when pinned tightly and using a onesie the waist tends to sag a bit on me as I am active. Also, the folds are not comfortable to sit on for any length of time.

[mahleedl]

Brian, I'm curious about contours for all the same reason, so I'll be following this thread to see what others have to say!

[square_duck]

Are you pinning these on right? The pins should be at the hip bone or above, but not below. If they aren't pinned above the hip, they will slide down

I have tried the contour diapers from ADC and they are ..."OK" for what they are. They are 4 ply all the way through and come in either gauze or Birdseye. The problem (for me anyways) is that they are to long. I usually get medium size diapers in cloth or disposables, but for some reason the contour fit ones are cut to narrow in the wings and won't fit me, so I had to go with larges which are ok around the waist, but are to long front to back so getting them to fit snug is difficult with out folding the top over in front,(or back) which creates a bulkier wait band area..

Other than that for a 4 ply diaper they feel fine, if not a bit thin since I am used to more bulk, but thats just me.

Baby-pants has a contour fit diaper that is 4x8x4 with a center panel like a prefold, but with out the bulk of the sides, so they fit better. The problem I see though again, is that they 'look' like they are to long, so fit lengthwise is again an issue for me.

You might inquire of Baby-pants as to the dimensions of their contour diaper and give them your dimensions to see how well they might fit, or what size would fit you best.

I have thought of ordering them to try but the costs bugged me a bit. Plus I have plenty of diapers to play with already, so I don't really 'need' them, but the style is interesting

Hope this helps, and if you do order a few, let us know with a review and such. Turtlepins ordered a few and has been using them recently and seems to like them since they cut down on bulk, but he wears 3 at a time so I don't know if they really help that much or not, but he seems to be liking them...

I too will watch this to see how things develop. If I do order any I'll post my impressions as well

[Bettypooh]

I sewed most of my diapers some time back, before I discovered that they fit me much better shortened by folding I'll fix that in the next batch Try that first with what you have, then once you find your ideal length, measure them. And do this after wearing awhile to take fabric stretch in account The 'bikini twist' fold may also help if your personal parts will stay in place as that also shortens length My next sewing session may also include a contour shape- I can never tell how I'll feel and I only sew when I'm in the mood to do it. If I get frustrated I put it all away till the next time One of my main beefs with most cloth diapers (mine included) is the rectangular soaker area. I want to extend it ala 'wings', but as a very amateur seamstress still I fear going so far all at once.

[willnotwill]

I've got a couple of countours but mostly mine are just flat diapers I fold.

[JBonn]

While I rarely use cloth, what I've found fits quite well are the "ultimate" series of diaper from AngelFluff.

[Angela Bauer]

I have tried many styles of contour diapers, and never felt any effective or comfortable.

[CDLover]

I too use flat square diapers and attach them with ordinary infant diaper pins.

[Baby Brian]

Thanks all. I do pin my overnight/early morning prefold on just above the hips and about as tight as I can get them. I know about the length problem too as mine are also about 2 inches too long on me. I just fold the top down and them pin them on

[redneck diaper boy]

Prefolds bunch up between your legs but that is where the absorbency is needed. The hour-glass style has nowhere near the absorbency of the rectangular. The only advantage of the

[square_duck]

It might also just have to do with how you fold the prefold. I know thats redundant but I have futzed around with that a bit and I found that the simple 3 way (or what ever it's called) seems to work the best. I have been sitting most of the day in a night weight prefold and gerber style snap on pants and don't have any discomfort.

Just fold the diaper in 3rds lengthwise and fan out the back portion and bring the front up, adjust for your waist and pin snug. Then I also go back after I stand up (I'm usually lying down for this because pinning standing up is a pain, I can do it with disposables but not cloth, go figure ) anyways, I then go back and redo and fold or unfold around the back of the legs for a smoother transition between folded and unfolded, then pull up the plastic pants and tuck everything in. I haven't had much discomfort with this and it seems to work.

As for length of wear, you can do a couple of things, like try cutting back on some of your fluid intake, less fluids in means less fluids out, and avoid diuretics like coffee and tea and soda...they just make you pee and make things worse, but maybe you already know this

Second, try using a booster inside a night weight diaper. That way it will be extra material as a soaker, but wont add a lot of extra bulk in places that will cause discomfort. The booster could be a childs prefold diaper or one of many that are made available on the net or on Ebay...even some of the new diaper inserts for childs pocket diaper would work because of the new super absorbent materials they use like bamboo and micro suede and micro fleece.

This would help extend what you are wearing and help cut down on needed changes and leaks. I might try this as I saw some of these inserts at a store I was in a couple of days ago, and they intrigued me for use as a low bulk doubler.

Just more thoughts, hope some of this helps!

[Baby Brian]

Oddly enough I've never though about folding it differently since I started 6+ months ago. I had tried several different folding methods back then but found I liked the old

[redneck diaper boy]

I have tried many styles of contour diapers, and never felt any effective or comfortable.

[Angela Bauer]

I have been using the larger pins for a long time. Have you ever had an infant style pin pop open and stick you?

No I have not. I have been pinning my own gauze diapers since 1976. Most of the time I have used The First Years style 3200 diaper pins which went out of production circa 1996. Fortunately I bought a bunch of them and they last forever.

[BabyJune]

I've never used prefolds since I like to make my own diapers out of diaper flannel and Birdseye. There are various types of folds you could try using flats

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

Because contour, or hourglass, diapers, the difference being that contours have elastics at the legs; at least all the ones that I have seen in the way of baby diapers since the 1960's, are shaped, that shaping is done by removing material from the standard rectangular/square diaper. This meand that unless made up for, contour diapers will never hold as much

the only way around this is to use more layers of material. I am really not fond of soakers or inserts because it takes longer for the wet to move through the extra layers of material into a part that is less thick. This holds the caustic wetness on the sensitive area between the legs longer, which is what you DO NOT want. It is better to have 3 layers of material evenly spread throughout the diaper than a two-laner diaper with a four-layer soaker

[Cottontail]

(Joining the conversation late -- sorry!)