Another question I get on a fairly regular basis is “Will your cloth diaper actually fit my newborn?” or “I’ve been struggling with leg leaks with my little one, and she is 8 lbs, how can I get the legs smaller?”
Well, you are in luck! I have found a way to make a size even smaller than the generic “small” (which is made by snapping the top row of your 3 x 3 grid into the bottom row). While this isn’t a catch-all fix size, it does help with at least 80% of issues regarding putting a smaller-proportioned baby into an one-size diaper.
Side note: This is also a great way to allow extra room at the top of the diaper for babies still healing with their umbilical cord.
First of all, this is what the open, non-snapped front of the diaper looks like:
Step #1 – Stuff the insert into your back pocket first, making sure that it is lying perfectly flat, with some of the insert reaching both of the sides of the legs. A trick I use is shoving the insert into the top of the pocket with my whole hand, and then slowly pull my arm out of the diaper, keeping my thumb and pinky finger outstretched to smooth the insert as I remove it.
Step #2 – Snap the middle row in the 3 x 3 sizing grid on the front into the top row, essentially making a “medium” sized diaper. The diaper should look like the above photo.
Step #3 – Fold down the top of the diaper so you can only see one bottom row of snaps. This is going to be where we size our diaper.
Step #4 – Taking the left snap flap (ie: the side with 5 snaps, not 3), snap the furthest snap on the right into the third hole in the bottom row. It should look like the above photo.
Step #5 – Snap the two right-most snaps on the right snap flap into the two remaining open snaps on the left snap flap. If you are looking right at this photo, the top and bottom right snaps are snapped in, and the bottom left is not attached. This is what your completed newborn diaper should look like. Here is a side view of the leg holes:
If you are part of the remaining 20% that have leaner babies and might still struggle with leg leaks, adding an extra insert will make the diaper a little bit bulkier, but will help fill the leg hole until your baby’s legs gain a little bit more fat.
Have some other great snap combo suggestions for newborns? Let us know in the comments!
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