Prefolds: Old-School and Awesome

Prefolds are what most people think of when they hear someone talking about cloth diapers. They are simply a rectangular piece of cotton fabric with an absorbent pad sewn lengthwise down the center of the rectangle. This is what I wore when I was a baby. They're called prefolds because even more old-school are flat diapers, which are just large, square pieces of cotton that have to be folded to get an absorbent pad in the middle. Flats are what our grandparents would have worn. Ironically, you do still have to fold prefolds a little bit to fit them on a baby.

Prefolds have to be fastened, and they need a waterproof cover to prevent leaking. My mom used pins to fasten the prefolds I wore, but pins are not popular fastening options anymore (though pins are actually my favorite fasteners). Most people use tight-fitting covers that hold the prefold in place without a fastener. The covers fasten with velcro or snaps and work pretty much like disposables, once the prefold is placed inside. Alternatively, some people prefer to fasten the prefold using a Snappi. Snappis work a bit like the fasteners on ace bandages: they're T-shaped, stretchy, and they have little claws at each end that grip the diaper. There is one claw at each hip and one down the crotch of the diaper. Fastening a prefold gives you more flexibility with your covers. If the diaper is fastened, you can choose any kind of cover, because you don't have to make sure it will hold the diaper in place. In the summer, you can just let your baby crawl around without a cover, and the breathability of just the cotton is great for the baby's skin.

Prefolds are by far the cheapest of the main cloth diaper options. They usually run about $24 a dozen (as opposed to $24 a diaper for some AIOs). They are also extremely easy to care for--they can withstand bleaching, really hot washes, etc., and they dry significantly faster than AIOs. They are also extremely flexible. Different folding techniques have different advantages, and you can choose different ones depending on the time of day and your baby's fit and absorbency needs. I think it's fun to learn new folding techniques, and it really isn't hard at all. I love being able to have so many options, and I love that they are so easy to care for. I also really like having only cotton touching my baby's skin. The major downside with prefolds is that most secondary caregivers will not want to use them, so you'll probably have to provide something else (AIOs or disposables) if you want to leave your child with someone. Some people feel that prefolds are not daddy-friendly either, though my husband likes them better than fitteds or pockets.

I love prefolds; in fact, they are my favorite diapers. I started using them because they're cheap, and now I really wish I'd started using them sooner. They're obviously the most comfortable and least restrictive diaper my daughter wears. They're just so clean and simple, and they work amazingly well.