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One Size Cloth Diapers vs. Sized #FallFluff

As I researched what cloth diapers to buy, I kept getting lost in the terminology and abbreviations. After familiarizing myself with those, I was able to make more sense out of the posts and references I read. Certainly the best way I’ve learned has been by doing though!

I still sometimes get mixed up about fitted and sized, often saying fitted when I mean sized. Fitted means the diaper is designed to “fit” baby’s body. Non-fitted diapers include prefolds, flats, and diapers without elastic or some means to fit snugly around those thighs. Fitted diapers can be sized OR one sized.

Sized diapers fit certain ranges (age, height, weight). They cannot be worn from birth to potty; whereas one size diapers are designed to last from birth to potty. One size diapers offer a variety of ways to adjust their fit as baby grows. Usually it’s to adjust the rise but some also adjust the leg elastic.

We mostly have one size diapers because I wanted to stretch our diaper stash dollars. I didn’t think it’d matter that much. I mean, why pay the same price for a diaper that can’t be worn as long?

I’ve learned it’s not that simple!

  • One Size may fit from birth to potty, but since it’s used more often over the course, it will wear out quicker.
  • OS tend to fit babies better in the middle. They tend to be too big on newborns and too small on potty training babes.
  • Sized fits better at each stage and handles the different movement stages well.
  • As baby grows, you need to “size up” when they out grow the current size and restash. (But that in between sizes time can be awkward.)
  • OS works well to diaper multiple children at the same time.

We have a few sized diapers and I do like them. In our experience, sized fit our skinny minnie better. We still successfully use OS, but they would have fallen off if we used them at day one! I still think OS is a more economical option. However, if you are going to end up diapering a few kids, you’ll use the sized diapers enough to justify the cost.. I think! So, (no surprise) I like having a variety to choose from… I wouldn’t want all OS or all sized.

Just gimmie some of each!

Which do you prefer: One size or sized?

Don’t forget to see what Mariah and April have to say too!

Stacy

Friday 23rd of September 2011

I am not diapering yet, but I have started collecting some sized diapers. I am still doing research and enjoy reading blogs from Moms who have been there so I know what I am getting into. I will probably add some OS to my collection once I actually have children.

all natural katie

Wednesday 21st of September 2011

It sounds like I would need to have a mix of both, especially for newborns babies.

Tiffany U

Wednesday 21st of September 2011

I have some of both. In the beginning (6 months ago) I got all OS thinking they would be great for both my toddler and my infant and some brands fit both better than others. The sized diapers that I have tend to fit both girls body type better (both have narrow waists but chunky thighs and bellies). Ive found I like having both (in fact Im trying to have a little bit of everything so that diapers that dont work in some situations work better for others and vice versa)

Samantha Cuhel

Wednesday 21st of September 2011

I think OS diapers are a nice way to cover a majority of baby's diapering time. I lucked out in the sense of newborn diapers vs os diapers because my son was 8 pounds when he was born. He fit into bumGenius 4.0's the day he came home from the hospital. Of course at 8 months I have no idea if they'll really last until he potty-trains, but even if OS diapers wear out faster because you are using them all the time, I think in some cases they are still worth it.

Allison B

Tuesday 20th of September 2011

I also have some sized and one-size diapers and I think it all depends on the day which ones I grab. I like both styles. I've found that I can often get a more customized fit with a one-size diaper because the weight ranges on the sized diapers often aren't accurate with my skinny boy. It took forever for him to fit into the fuzzibunz medium even though he met the weight for it. Even now at 25 pounds and 19 months he's slimming down a bit as he grows taller and the diaper is not fitting well (can't get it tight enough) on waist and thighs.