Dressing My Cloth-Diapered Boy

dressing cloth diapers
The first diaper Cooper ever wore was cloth--that's right. The hospital he was born in uses only cloth, which is very cool. So come to think of it, all three of my kids wore cloth for their first diaper! Anyway, in the hospital and in his first few tiny weeks (he was only 6  lbs 9 ounces!) we dressed him in one-sies paired with those baby nightgowns--I don't know what they're actually called--but they have the little elasticized holes at the bottom. As soon as I was able to drive, Cooper no longer wore his little nightgowns. I really liked how they fit with the cloth diaper and that they didn't constrict his belly, but I needed to buckle him in his car seat several times a day to drive his sisters to and from school. He needed his legs free. My first choice of outfits for my cloth diaper wearing boy is always something one piece--I find that since cloth diaper bums are slightly bigger than disposable diaper booties, little pants, cute though they may be, often tend to seem too tight around his middle. I was lucky enough to get a couple of big boxes of hand-me-downs just before Cooper was born.  I was able to pick and choose my favorite outfits and ones that I thought would work best with his Thirsties.  I chose mostly one piece outfits--long sleeve, short sleeve, long pants and shorts rompers. I've also always liked to put a one-sie under all of his outfits but especially when he does wear pants, that way when his shirt rides up, his bare skin isn't hanging out and getting cold. Any pants I do have are big enough to fit his diaper booty. Another benefit of the one piece outfits are that they are quick--one and done! With my other two daughters to help in the mornings, I don't have time to mix and match cute little outfits any more. That's what happens with the third, I guess!  As opposed to "Pants? Check. Matching shirt? Check? Matching socks? Check.  Cooper gets "You're no longer naked?" Check.
dressing over cloth diapers
Now that spring is here, I'm starting to toy with idea of occasionally just pairing Cooper's cloth diaper with a T-shirt.  The patterns and colors are so cute, it would be fun to show them off. But I am also afraid of getting them dirty. He was in the backyard this afternoon and came back inside covered in dirt and leaves. I'll have to play that by ear. Right now Cooper is 12 months and I find that 18 month clothes work best with his Thirsties because they give his fluffy booty a little extra room. Do you dress your cloth-diapered baby any differently than you dressed your disposable diaper wearing babies? What kind of outfits do you find work best? More Tips: Another clothing option that works great for cloth diapered babies is Project Pomona pants. They are specifically designed to fit over fluff bums-- although Project Pomona pants work great over all diapers.
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47 comments

  • Lovely post! I have eight months old baby boy. I Have recently using Huggies Snug and Dry. It is also comfortable and secure for my baby because it comes with a wetness indicator, which indicates when you change the diaper.

    Kathy Lucero on
  • We make pants and shorts for cloth diapered babies. Jeans and bamboo. They extend multiple sizes and get longer in the leg so babies can wear them for YEARS. We put a lot of work into designing our pants.

    If you would like to do a collaboration or a give-away of one of our ChunkaBuns cloth diaper pants, we would be so happy to hear from you!

    Melanie on
  • I just let my cute little 1 in a half year old go shirtless all the time even when theres company they actully enjoy it she strips anyway so why dont you just let her do what she wants plus I read a article about not drawing attention to it so what better way then to let her go shirtless I think I am not going to be able to yous nude punishments on her because she will like it to much

    chloe on
  • Love that your hospital only uses cloth! That’s awesome!

    Becky on
  • thanks for this post- just started in cloth (8 wks old) and i need to buy winter clothes- glad to know in advance he’ll probably need 1 size bigger!

    jessica deleon on

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