Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Diaper Pins Vs. Snappi

I'm not sure what it is about diaper pins that is so intimidating, but most people are really loathe to use them (as was I until fairly recently). One of the major objections that I frequently hear regarding cloth diapering is that parents and caretakers don't want to have to use pins. If you think about it, there's really nothing that bad about a safety pin. As long as you aren't completely careless, the worst that could happen is you prick your finger, it hurts for about half a second, and you move on. You'd have to be extremely careless actually to prick your baby.

However, it is completely possible to use cloth diapers without ever touching a diaper pin, thanks to the Snappi. As I mentioned before, it works a bit like the fasteners on ace bandages: it has little claws that grip the cloth at each hip and down the crotch. While there are internet Snappi gurus all over the place, I am not the biggest fan. Admittedly, it is easier to stretch a Snappi quickly over a prefold on a vigorously squirming baby than to try to pin the diaper. However, if you don't have a thick enough prefold, the claws come through the fabric and leave little red marks on the baby's hip (which can't be comfortable). There is a serious learning curve to learning how to Snappi that nobody tells you about. You can get it on on your first try, but it takes a while to learn how to put it on well. Finally, in order to stretch it tight enough to keep the crotch claw from coming off during wear, you have to pull a strip of rubber really, really tight down the baby's crotch. I don't feel like this is particularly comfortable for my baby girl, much less a boy. It nearly always comes unclipped, and my baby isn't even mobile yet. However, if the crotch claw comes unclipped, the only thing keeping the front of the diaper from slipping out from under the Snappi is the cover. I must admit, though, that there are times when my daughter is too wiggly to use pins easily, and I reach for the Snappi whenever that happens.

I actually really like diaper pins. I think the most comfortable diaper for daytime is a cotton prefold fastened with pins. I can't completely verify that because I don't remember wearing diapers, and my daughter isn't quite capable of communicating her opinion. However, a well-pinned diaper stays in place well without pinching or rubbing. Only the soft cotton prefold touches the baby's skin, and there's nothing squishing the crotch area. You have the freedom to use looser diaper covers, which tend to impede movement less than the kind with velcro because they don't cinch the tummy tightly. In the summer, you can let your baby crawl around in just the prefold without a cover because the pins can't fall off or come unclipped. This gives your baby's skin some valuable breathing time (something you can't get with disposables at all). It's also easier to pin certain folds (like the bikini twist) than to Snappi.

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